Tantrayukti – Vyakhyana, Svasanjna, Nirvachana, Nidarshana

By Prof. A. Rangaprasad Bhat

Vyakhyanam

Vyākhyānaṃ – Emphasis :-
vyākhyānam is the explaining or emphasizing the details of a given monograph.
Example – Purūṣa with twenty five tatvās have been explained in this tantra (Sushruta Samhita). Where as only the twenty-four tatvās constituting this body have been mentioned of about the Purūṣa  in other Āyurvedatantrās. 

तन्त्रेऽतिशयोपवर्णनं व्याख्यानम् । यथा- इह पञ्चविंशतिकः पुरूषो व्याख्यायते, अन्येष्वायुर्वेदतन्त्रेषु भूतादिप्रभृत्यारभ्य चिन्ता ॥सु.उ/३३॥
tantre’tiśayopavarṇanaṃ vyākhyānam | yathā- iha pañcaviṃśatikaḥ purūṣo vyākhyāyate, anyeṣvāyurvedatantreṣu bhūtādiprabhṛtyārabhya cintā ||Su.U/33||

vyākhyānam is the explaining or emphasizing the details of a given monograph.
Example – Purūṣa with twenty five tatvās have been explained in this tantra (Sushruta Samhita). Where as only the twenty-four tatvās constituting this body have been mentioned of about the Purūṣa  in other Āyurvedatantrās. Thus emphasizing the specificity of the subject as per the school of thought followed by the author in comparison to the one followed by authors of other schools  is known as vyākhyānam

Svasanjna

Svasañjñā – Comprehension of Technical term :-

अन्यशास्त्रासामान्या स्वसञ्ज्ञा । यथा- मिथुनमिति मधुसर्पिषोर्ग्रगणं; लोकप्रसिद्धमुदाहरणं वा ॥सु.उ/३४॥
anyaśāstrāsāmānyā svasañjñā | yathā- mithunamiti madhusarpiṣorgragaṇaṃ; lokaprasiddhamudāharaṇaṃ vā ||Su.U/34||

Svasañjñā  yukti  denotes the specific terms specially used in Āyurveda (asāmānyā) and not the one with common meaning as in śāstrās other than Āyurveda (anyaśāstra).

Example- The term ‘Mithuna’ in śāstrās other than Āyurveda points pairing; copulation etc.,.
Where as in Āyurveda the word mithuna means the combination of mixture prepared from honey and ghee (mithunamiti madhusarpiṣorgragaṇaṃ).

Same holds the case with the common term Catursneha which is to be grasped in Ayurveda as Mahāsneha.

Nirvachanam

Nirvacanaṃ – Etymology :-
निश्चितं वचनं निर्वचनम् | यथा- आयुर्विद्यतेऽस्मिन्ननेन वा आयुर्विन्दतीत्यायुर्वेदः ||Su.U/३५||
niścitaṃ vacanaṃ nirvacanam | yathā- āyurvidyate’sminnanena vā āyurvindatītyāyurvedaḥ ||Su.U/35||

निर्वचनमाह- निश्चितमित्यादि| उदाहरणमाह- यथा आयुर्विद्यतेऽस्मिन् इत्यादि||Su.U/३५|| nirvacanamāha- niścitamityādi| udāharaṇamāha- yathā āyurvidyate’smin ityādi||Su.U/35||

Nirvacana is the etymological derivation of a term. The subject that which deals with Ayush aka life (Āyurvidyate) and the means of maintaining ayush aka longevity (Āyurvindatī)is Āyurvedaḥ.

Nidarshanam

Nidarśanaṃ – Comparative examples :-

दृष्टान्तव्यक्तिर्निदर्शनम्  । यथा- अग्निर्वायुना सहितः कक्षे वृर्द्धि गच्छति तथा वातपित्तकफदुष्टो व्रण इति ॥सु.उ/३६॥
dṛṣṭāntavyaktirnidarśanam  | yathā- agnirvāyunā sahitaḥ kakṣe vṛrddhi gacchati tathā vātapittakaphaduṣṭo vraṇa iti ||Su.U/36||

Nidars’ana is the term used when the meaning of a word or sentence gets distinctively indicated (vyaktirnidarśanam) with suitable examples (dṛṣṭānta).

Example:- agnirvāyunā sahitaḥ kakṣe vṛrddhi gacchati (The fire of a burning charcoal inside confined place like a room grows flaming  and occupies the entire room, when it comes in contact with vāyu ); tathā vātapittakaphaduṣṭo vraṇa iti (so is the case with vraṇa aka ulcer, which gets increasing in its size and depth with in its sthāna aka confinement when it gets vitiated with the vāta,pitta and kapha doshas.
Here the distinctive indication of words is “agnirvāyunā sahitaḥ for vātapittakaphaduṣṭo” and “kakṣe vṛrddhi for the words vraṇa iti”.