Vyakarana
(“analysis”) One of the six Vedangas.
These were the auxiliary branches of
knowledge connected with the Vedas,
the oldest Hindu religious texts, and all
the Vedangas were associated with the
use of the Vedas. In its essence,
vyakarana is the study of Sanskritgram-
mar, which was obviously essential to
understanding the Vedic texts (which
were written in Sanskrit). Vyakarana’s
role as the gatekeeper to the Sanskrit
language made grammar the queen
of the traditional learned sciences,
and in many contexts it is what is
meant by the term vidya(“knowledge”).
Aside from vyakarana, the other
Vedangas are shiksha(correct pronun-
ciation), chandas(Sanskrit prosody),
kalpa (ritual instructions), nirukta
(etymology), and jyotisha (auspicious
times for sacrifices).
Vyakhyana (“teaching”) Mudra
In Indian dance, sculpture, and ritual, a
particular symbolic hand gesture
(mudra), in which the tips of the thumb
and index finger are touching, with the
rest of the fingers extended, and the
palm facing the viewer. This is the hand
gesture used to signify explanation or
exposition; for this reason, it is also
known as the sandarshana(“exposit-
ing”) mudra. Since the teaching gesture
indicates a person of higher spiritual
attainment, it is also known as the chin
(“consciousness”) mudra.
Vyana
In traditional Indian physiology, one of
the five bodily “winds” considered to be
responsible for basic bodily functions,
the others being prana, apana, udana,
and samana. Unlike all the others,
which are given specific locations in the
body, the vyana windis believed to per-
vade throughout the body, to keep
things moving and mixed together.
Vyapti
(“pervasion”) In classical Indian philos-
ophy, vyapti is the key condition deter-
mining the validity of an inference
(anumana). The accepted form of an
inference has three terms: An assertion
(pratijna) containing the thing to be
proved, a reason (hetu) containing
evidence to support the assertion, and
supporting examples (drshtanta). In
the stock example “there is fire on
the mountain, because there is smoke
on the mountain,” the assertion is
that there is fire, and the reason is that
there is smoke—with the underlying
assumption that smoke invariably
accompanies fire. In a valid inference,
the reason accounts for every case of
the thing to be proven; vyapti, or perva-
sion, is the term for this invariable
association between cause and effect.
For further information see Karl H.
Potter (ed.), Presuppositions of India’s
Philosophies, 1972.Vyas
In the traditional Ram Lila(name given
to any public dramatic presentation of
the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Hindu epics), vyas is the nameVyasA vyas, or stage director, at a performance
of the Ram Lila, Bombay.