Verse 3.3.1

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.3.1:

ज्ञानं प्रयोक्तुर्बाह्योऽर्थः स्वरूपं च प्रतीयते ।
शब्दैरुच्चरितैस्तैषां संबन्धः समवस्थितः ॥ १ ॥

jñānaṃ prayokturbāhyo'rthaḥ svarūpaṃ ca pratīyate |
śabdairuccaritaistaiṣāṃ saṃbandhaḥ samavasthitaḥ || 1 ||

1. From words which are uttered, the intention of the speaker, an external object and the form of the word itself are understood. Their relation is fixed.

Commentary

Unless there is a relation between the word and its meaning, any word would convey any meaning and that does not happen. So the relation between the two is now being explained—

[Read verse 1 above]

[When words are uttered, three things are understood: (1) their own form; (2) an object which is a means to fulfil a certain purpose; (3) the intention of the speaker. The relation between these three things is fixed, that is, not made by man; Of these, the first is closest to the word (antaraṅga). That is why it is understood in any case. Between the own form of a word and its meaning, there is the relation of the expression and the thing expressed (vācyavācakabhāva). Between the speaker’s intention and the word, there is the relation of cause and effect (kāryakāraṇabhāva). As the science of grammar is common to all systems (sarvapārṣada), the latter relation is also spoken of, in order to meet the view of those who hold that the meaning, of a word is only what figures in the mind of the speaker. In that view, the relation between the intention and the word would naturally be that of cause and effect, because the intention would evoke particular words and not others. Whatever be the relation, there is superimposition of the word on the meaning (adhyāsa). By ‘word’, it is chiefly the sentence which is kept in mind, because, according to grammarians, the individual word is only an abstraction (apoddhāra).]

The author now says that the own form of a word is a meaning in a primary sense.