Ādeśa
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Ādesha or Ādeśa (Sanskrit: आदेश) means 'an order', 'command' or 'advice', 'instruction', 'precept', 'rule'[1]
Meaning
The word, Ādesha appears to be a semantically polyvalent compound representing two homonymous compounds of different origin and formation; it was surmised that ādeśa- in the sense of "substitute" owes its origin to a combination of ā- and deśa-, whereas ādeśa- in the sense of "advice" belongs to the verb ā- diś- "to point out, to teach";[2] it is the combination of ā- meaning 'toward', and diś meaning 'to show or direct'.[3]
Grammatical usage
Nirvachanashastra is a hermeneutic device that is used for word-analysis and derivation. The proper understanding of the relation in nirvachana analysis between a noun and some activity, expressed by a finite verb or by mention of a verbal root came to the fore through the study of Yāska's Nirukta done in the light of a model of substitution according to which model adesha ('substitution') takes the sthana ('place') of the original sthanin ('place-holder') under the given circumstances. Sthana refers to artha ('meaning'), thus nirvachanas are merely place-holders in semantic space; one gets a different thought if one gets a different sentence to represent the same truth.[4]
By using Ādeśa rather than vikāra, and holding on to varna-samāmnāya sound system, Pāṇini was able to achieve economy and brevity in the statements of algebraic system.[5] With regard to the rule, requiring the substitution of soft unaspirate consonants in the place of hard consonants, the ādeśa that takes place in place of a vowel is not sthānvit.[6] Panini uses ādeśa in the sense of 'substitution' and 'substitute'.[7] Vadha is not an independent root in the Paninian system it is an adesa for the root han-[8]
Upanishadic usage
The
In the Sanskrit phrase - अथात आदेशः नेति नेति athāta ādeśah: neti neti, meaning – 'now hence the teaching: not this, not this' of Brihadaranyaka UpanishadII.ii.6, Adesha means 'specific instruction' and not 'substitute'.[10]
In the
Mercantile usage
Chanakya in his Arthashastra, refers to the then prevalent bill of exchange called Ādesha which was an order to a third person to pay up a sum of money on behalf of the sender of that order; in those days merchant guilds performed the functions of banks.[12] There was considerable use of these instruments, including promissory notes, and merchants in large towns gave letters of credit to one another.[13]
Other usages
Aurobindo explains that the intellectual Asura determines his actions by his reason or ideal, the emotional Asura by his feelings; but the Shuddha determines them by the higher inspiration proceeding from the divine experience in the Vijanana, that is what people often call the Adesha.[14]
In the Bhagavad Gita Sloka XVII.22, it is seen that the word अदेशकाले (ādeśkāle) with the dropping of a mātra i.e. ā to a (and thus providing negative connotation), refers to wrong time.[16]
References
- ^ Vaman Shivram Apte. The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary. The Digital Libraries of South Asia.
- ISBN 9004026428.
- ^ Judith M. Tyberg (1970). The Language of the Gods. East West Culture. p. 117.
- ISBN 978-0-415-17281-3.
- ISBN 9788185119885.
- ISBN 9788120804098.
- ISBN 978-0-521-63188-4.
- ISBN 9788178541501.
- ISBN 9788179924198.
- ISBN 978-0-521-63188-4.
- ISBN 978-8175050174.
- ISBN 9788130704234.
- ISBN 9788184502084.
- ISBN 9788170586524.
- ISBN 9788171546671.
- ISBN 978-1-60607-073-4.