Sanskrit term referring to utterance in the sense of linguistic performance
Shabda
(
Sanskrit
:
????
,
IAST
:
?abda
), is the
Sanskrit
word for "speech sound". In
Sanskrit grammar
, the term refers to an
utterance
in the sense of
linguistic performance
.
History
[
edit
]
In classical Indian
philosophy of language
, the grammarian
Katyayana
stated that
shabda
("speech") is eternal (
nitya
), as is
artha
"meaning", and that they share a mutual co-relation. According to
Patanjali
, the permanent aspect of
shabda
is
spho?a
("meaning"), while
dhvani
("sound, acoustics") is ephemeral to
shabda
.
Om, or
Aum
, a sacred syllable of
Hinduism
,
Buddhism
,
Jainism
and
Sikhism
, is considered to be the first resonating vibrational sound within an individual being. It also denotes the non-dualistic universe as a whole. In Buddhism, Om corresponds to the
crown chakra
and white light.
Bhartrihari
, on the other hand, held a
shabda-
advaita
position, identifying
shabda
as indivisible, and unifying the notions of cognition and linguistic performance, which is ultimately identical to
Brahman
. Bhartrhari recognised two entities, both of which may be referred to as
shabda
. One entity is the underlying cause of the articulated sounds, while the other entity is the functionality that is used to express meaning. Bhartrhari thus rejected the difference posited between the ontological and the linguistic by
logicians
. His concept of
shabda-brahman
which identified linguistic performance and creation itself ran parallel to the Greek concept of
logos
.
Language philosophy in Medieval India was dominated by the dispute of the "naturalists" to the
Mimamsa
school, notably defended by
Kumarila
, who held that
shabda
designates the actual phonetic utterance, and the Sphota school, defended by
Mandana Mishra
, which identifies
sphota
and
shabda
as a mystical "indivisible word-whole".
In religion
[
edit
]
Hinduism
[
edit
]
?abda
(????) means relying on word, testimony of past or present reliable experts,
[1]
[2]
specifically the
shruti
,
Vedas
.
[3]
Hiriyanna explains
Sabda-pramana
as a concept which means reliable expert testimony. The schools of Hinduism which consider it epistemically valid suggest that a human being needs to know numerous facts, and with the limited time and energy available, he can learn only a fraction of those facts and truths directly.
[4]
He must rely on others, his parent, family, friends, teachers, ancestors and kindred members of society to rapidly acquire and share knowledge and thereby enrich each other's lives. This means of gaining proper knowledge is either spoken or written, but through
Sabda
(words).
[4]
The reliability of the source is important, and legitimate knowledge can only come from the
Sabda
of reliable sources.
[2]
[4]
The disagreement between the schools of Hinduism has been on how to establish reliability. Some schools, such as
Carvaka
, state that this is never possible, and therefore
Sabda
is not a proper pramana. Other schools debate means to establish reliability.
[5]
Sikhism
[
edit
]
In
Sikhism
the term
Shabad
(Gurmukhi: ???) has two primary meanings.
The first context of the term is to refer to a hymn or paragraph or sections of the
Holy Text
that appears in
Guru Granth Sahib
, the main holy scripture of the Sikhs. The Guru Granth Sahib is organised by chapters of
ragas
, with each chapter containing many
shabads
of that
raga
. The first
Shabad
in Guru Granth Sahib is the
Mool Mantar
. The script used for the
Shabad
is
Gurmukhi
.
Shabad
is the term also used to refer to hymns within other Sikh scriptures, like
Deh Siva Var Mohe
.
Shabad Vani
is devotional singing of hymns from Sikh scriptures.
[6]
The second use of the term
Shabad
in Sikhism is for the holy name of God,
Waheguru
.
[6]
Other faiths and philosophies
[
edit
]
Esoterically,
Shabd
is the “Sound Current vibrating in all creation. It can be heard by the inner ears.”
[7]
Variously referred to as the
Audible Life Stream
,
Inner Sound
,
Sound Current
or
Word
in English,
[
citation needed
]
the
Shabd
is the
esoteric
essence of
God
which is available to all human beings, according to the Shabd path teachings of
Sant Mat
,
Surat Shabd Yoga
,
Eckankar
, Vardankar (a split-off from Eckankar),
[8]
[9]
and
Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
DPS Bhawuk (2011), Spirituality and Indian Psychology (Editor: Anthony Marsella), Springer,
ISBN
978-1-4419-8109-7
, page 172
- ^
a
b
- Eliott Deutsche (2000), in Philosophy of Religion : Indian Philosophy Vol 4 (Editor: Roy Perrett), Routledge,
ISBN
978-0815336112
, pages 245-248;
- John A. Grimes, A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English, State University of New York Press,
ISBN
978-0791430675
, page 238
- ^
Anantanand Rambachan (),
Accomplishing the Accomplished: The Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Sankara
, University of Hawaii Press, p.29
- ^
a
b
c
M. Hiriyanna (2000), The Essentials of Indian Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass,
ISBN
978-8120813304
, page 43
- ^
P. Billimoria (1988), ?abdapram??a: Word and Knowledge, Studies of Classical India Volume 10, Springer,
ISBN
978-94-010-7810-8
, pages 1-30
- ^
a
b
2001, Studies in Sikhism and Comparative Religion - Volume 20 - Page 100-110.
- ^
Glossary of Oriental terms and important names of persons and places
- ^
Giamboi, Heather.
Thousands of Visits to Heaven and the Heart of God: "The Most Profound, Vividly Detailed Out of Body Discoveries Yet!"
. Direct Path Publishing.
ISBN
978-0996907309
.
- ^
Twitchell, Paul.
The Shariyat-Ki-Huray Book Two
. Direct Path Publishing.
ISBN
978-0996907378
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Patnaik, Tandra,
?abda : a study of Bhartrhari’s philosophy of language
, New Delhi : DK Printworld, 1994,
ISBN
81-246-0028-7
.
- Singh, Kirpal (1949). A Great Saint, Baba Jaimal Singh. Ruhani Satsang Books, p. 7-9.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Shabda
at Wikimedia Commons