वाक्यवादः (हरियशोमिश्र - विरचितया वाक्यदीपिकया समलङ्कृतः)- Vakyavadah- With Hariyasomisra's Commentary Vakyadipika (Sanskrit Text, Transliteration, English-Hindi Translation & Explanatory Notes in English - Hindi - Sanskrit)

A sentence gives an idea in a single unit of expression consisting of the verb with its Karaka or instrument and adverbs: Akhyatam savyayam sakarakam sakarakavisesanam vakyasanjnam bhavatiti vaktavyam, Savyayam uccaih pathati, sakarakam odanam pacati, sakarakavisesanam odanam mrdu pacati (Mbh, on P. 2.1.1 on Vartika 10). Regarding the different theoretical ways of a sentence one can refer to Vakyapadiya 2.2 where a number of definitions of Vakya are given and the Akhandavakyasphota is established as the sense of a sentence. According to Bhartrhari, a sentence is either a verbal form of words (akhyatasabdah), or a collection of words (sanghatah sabdah), or a class or universal manifested by the collection (jatih sanghatavartini), or one and indivisible (eko'navayavah Sabdah), or under pertaining to the words in a sentence (kramah), or mental impression (buddhyanusamhrtih), or the first inflected word (padamadyam) and all words differing from one another but mutually expecting each other (prthak sarvapadam sakanksam). As Bhartṛhari says in his Vakyapadiya:

Padaprakrrtibhavasca vrttibhedena varnyate/

padanam samhita yonih samhita va padasraya!!

According to the grammarians who accept sphotatmaka vakya as the significant unit of speech, a sentence is either a universal manifested by the collection (jatih sanghatavartini), or the one and indivisible word (eko'navayavah sabdah), or the intellectual assimilation (buddhyanusamhrtih). The first two represent vacika sphota or bahya sphota and the last one the abhyantarasphota when the grammarians divide sphota in two ways. This is according to the opinion of those who consider sentence as indivisible.

Bhartrhari's position is also linguistically correct, because a sentence is a composite whole, a unit of speech, no meaning being possible without a sentence idea which emphasises a certain action. At the same time it is correct from superempirical point of view also, because, it accords no place to divisions and parts, as reality being one (without a second) and eternal.

It is a matter of great pleasure that Dr. Banamali Biswal has critically edited Vakyavada of Vamsamani, hailed from Mithila, Bihar for the first time alongwith a commentary thereupon, namely, Vakyadipika by Hariyasomisra, on the basis of four manuscripts preserved in the manuscript - library of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Ganga Nath Jha Campus, Allahabad.

Besides critically editing the work, Dr. Biswal has translated the base text Vakyavada into English and Hindi with Exegetical Notes in English, Hindi as well as Sanskrit languages. In addition to that, he has provided a trilingual introduction which is highly informative as well as research oriented so far as the text and the concerned concepts are concerned. Not only that, the multifaced appendices suffixed to the present work, are no doubt, quite helpful for the readers, because, they play a key role to untie the knots of the base text as well as its commentary to some extent. I hope, the work will certainly cast some new lights on the Indian theories of sentence. The glossary (containing the meaning of the technical terms in English) is helpful for those who want to read the text with the help of English Translation and Notes).

The present work Vakyavada, though a small text, can be treated as a unique treatise on the Indian Theories of Sentence. It is not at all practical to use a language without uttering a sentence formed of meaningful units. Not only the school of Sanskrit grammar but the other philosophical schools, namely, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vedanta, Alankarasastra etc. have also spoken a volume on the concept of the sentence. A sentence (Vakya) is generally defined as the collection of words (Padasamudaya) semantically connected each other. The intellectual Indian schools stated above, quite often vary on some issues or the other related to the concept of sentence. These variations, however, underline the importance of the present work.

The importance of its contents lies on the fact that on the one hand it is related with the traditional branches like Vyakarana, Nyaya, Mimamsa and Sahitya etc. and on the other with modern Indian linguistics. Thus, the present work will prove itself as quite useful for the modern as well as traditional scholars students of Sanskrit to a great extent.

Therefore, I I would like to utilise this opportunity to offer my heartfelt thanks to my friend Dr. Biswal on behalf of the Campus for his commendable endeavour. It is also a matter of satisfaction for us that we have been able to release this publication on the land-mark occasion of 15th world Sanskrit Conference organised by Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. Hence, I once again thank Dr. Biswal for this scholarly contribution with a hope that the work will be received by the scholars with a positive note.

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