The Absolute in the Third Kāṇḍa of Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya

Abstract

Bhartṛhari’s ontological teaching is usually characterized as linguistic monism, which is justified by the first kāṇḍa (book) of the Vākyapadīya. However, the problem of the Absolute is also discussed in the third kāṇḍa. Sections of this extensive kāṇḍa deal with different topics, but once and again Bhartṛhari elabo­rates on his monistic teaching and justifies the Absolute in different terms and concepts. In the third kāṇḍa, one may identify four basic approaches to the Abso­lute. According to the substantial approach, the Absolute can be characterized as a substance (dravya) or the general material basis of all phenomena. The univer­salist approach considers the Absolute as the all-pervasive universal of Being (sattā). In an epistemological context, the non-dual Absolute is opposed to dual conceptual thinking (vikalpa). The dynamic approach considers the Absolute as the source of the powers of manifestation (śakti). These approaches were not un­familiar to other schools of Indian philosophy. The concept of substance was dis­cussed by the proponents of Sāṃkhya and Vaiśeṣika. Universals were a matter of discussion in Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya. The concept of vikalpa goes back to Bud­dhist epistemology. Parallels to the concept of śakti can be found in theistic doc­trines. Bhartṛhari reinterprets each concept adapting it to his monistic teaching. As a result, alternative concepts and paradigms are unified in a single monistic worldview, which agrees with Bhartṛhari’s adherence to perspectivism. He holi­stically treats the Absolute – as the totality of all phenomena and manifestations.