Padārtha

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padārtha (T. ཚིག་གི་དོན་) has two distinct meanings:

  1. the sense or meaning of words[1][2]
  2. categories of experience (as used in the Indian philosophical schools, such as the Nyaya)

Etymology

The term padārtha is a combination of two words:

Hence, padārtha indicates "the meaning or referent of words".[3]

Meaning of words

The Vyākhyāyukti identifies four aspects of the meaning of words (padārtha):[2]

  • synonyms (paryāya)
  • definition (lakṣaṇa)
  • etymology (nirukti)
  • subdivisions (prabheda) perhaps implying subsidiary meanings, or “connotations” [2]

Categories

The Indian Nyaya school identified sixteen categories (ṣoḍaśa-padārthāḥ) of experience. The Nyaya presentation of these categories is refuted in the Vaidalyaprakarana.[1][4]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Internet-icon.svg ཚིག་གི་དོན་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. Vyākhyāyukti
  3. Mishra, Umesh (1987). Conception of matter according to Nyayavaisesika. Delhi: Gian Publishing House. pp. 345–347. 
  4. Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. Vaidalyaprakaraṇa