[Advaita-l] Definition of 'Sūtra, Bhāṣya, Vārtikam, Prakaraṇam...etc.'

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 11:51 AM, Sundaram Venkatraman <svenkat52 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Subrahmanyanji,
>
> Eternally grateful to you for the translations. I am now now able to
> appreciate the beauty of original Sanskrit.
>
> A question arises from the definition of Prakarana. If prakaranas deal
> with only some aspects of the subject of Advaita,  I am wondering how
> appropriate it is to call Panchadashi and Vivekachudsmani Prakarana
> Granthas. They seem to be dealing with the entire subject matter!
>

What comes to mind immediately is that while the Vedānta shāstra (ideally
the Brahmasutras) have an entire section devoted to 'avirodha',
non-contradiction from smritis that are also non-vedantic like sankhya, and
yoga,  the prakarana granthas do not deal with this topic.  They are
focused on expounding the tattva of the jiva , jagat and Ishvara and the
sadhana .

Some more topics of the above nature could be pointed out.

regards
vs





> Regards,
>
> Venkat
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On 27-Oct-2016, at 11:18 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> 2016-10-27 8:01 GMT+05:30 Sundaram Venkatraman <svenkat52 at gmail.com>:
>
>> Sri Subrahmanyanji,
>>
>> Can I humbly request for an English translation of these beautiful
>> definitions Sir? I will be much obliged.
>>
>> Many thanks and pranams,
>>
>> Venkat
>>
>
> I shall just make an attempt, which can be improved by others.
>
>>
>>
>> > *अल्पाक्षरमसन्दिन्धं सारवद् विश्वतो मुखम्  १३*
>> >
>> > *अस्तोभमनवद्यं च सूत्रं सूत्रविदो **विदुः*  [Sūtram]
>>
>
> A 'sutra' is characterized by:  Very few letters (that constitute a
> word/s), no ambiguity, essential, multi-faceted, with no pause, free of
> defect.
>
>> >
>> >
>>
>> > *सूत्रार्थो वर्ण्यते यत्र वाक्यैः सूत्रानुकारिभिः  १५*
>> >
>> > *स्वपदानि च वर्ण्यन्ते भाष्यं भाष्यविदो विदुः  [Bhāṣyam]*
>>
>
> Bhāṣyam: explains the meaning of the sutra, through sentences that closely
> follow the sutra. The Bhāṣya also explains its own words. That is, the
> commentator explains his own words too apart from explaining the sutra.
>
>> >
>> >
>> > *पदच्छेदः पदार्थोक्तिर्विग्रहो वाक्ययोजना  १७*
>> >
>> > आक्षेपस्य समाधानं व्याख्यानं *पञ्चलक्षणम्  [*Vyākhyānam]
>>
>
> Vyākhyānam has five components: splitting of the conjoined words, giving
> the meaning of the words, parsing of compounded words, showing clearly the
> syntax, replying the objections.
>
>> >
>> >
>> > *उक्तानुक्तदुरुक्तानां चिन्ता यत्र प्रवर्तते  १९*
>> >
>> > तं ग्रन्थं वार्तिकं प्राहुः वार्तिकज्ञा *मनीषिणः  [*Vārtikam]
>>
>
> Vārtikam: A review of what is said ,unsaid and improperly said (in the
> bhashya) is called vārtikam.
>
>> >
>> >
>> > *शास्त्रैकदेशसम्बद्धं शास्त्रकार्यान्तरे स्थितम्  २१*
>> >
>> > आहुः प्रकरणं नाम *शास्त्रभेदविचक्षणाः  *[Prakaraṇam]
>>
>
> Prakaranam is a treatise or digest that concerns itself with a certain
> segment or part of a discipline, is aimed at a particular purpose of the
> discipline. Thus, a prakarana grantha will not deal with everything the
> discipline is about.
>
>> >
>>
>> > regards
>> > subrahmanian.v
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