Text and Interpretation: The India Tradition

Book Detail:

• Brand: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
• Edition: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of Pages: 231
• Release Date: 15-09-2005
• EAN: 9788124603376
• Package Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Languages: English

Description:
Linguistic communities function as interpretative frameworks, shaping the way individuals perceive and assign meaning to sensory experiences and language. India represents one such interpretative community, where the Brahminical, Buddhist, and Jain traditions have long engaged in intellectual discourse and debate. The presence of strong interpretative traditions highlights the enduring significance of key texts and the intellectual freedom enjoyed within these traditions.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of India’s interpretative traditions, particularly focusing on how meaning is determined in verbal texts. It explores textual structures, different types of textual situations, and the evolution of shared interpretative methodologies known as Shastra-Paddhati. The study also establishes various typologies of meaning, textual contexts, and interpretative strategies.

Key elements of interpretation—such as verbal testimony, meta-principles (sarvabhauma siddhanta), coherence (sangati), meta-rules (paribhasha), common judgment principles (laukika-nyaya), grammar (vyakarana), exposition (nirvacana), and verbal symbolism—are thoroughly examined. The book also highlights their application across different types of texts, including shruti, smriti, and kavya, and analyzes the interpretative approaches of thinkers such as Shankara.

This scholarly work is particularly relevant in the current resurgence of interest in Indian intellectual traditions, covering fields such as linguistics, semiotics, philosophy, logic, and poetics. It serves as an essential resource for students and researchers in these disciplines, encouraging deeper inquiry and debate in the study of Indian knowledge systems.

Author:
Kapil Kapoor is a distinguished scholar specializing in Indian linguistics, philosophy, and literary traditions. With an academic career spanning several decades, he has extensively researched and written on the intellectual and linguistic traditions of India. His works are widely regarded as authoritative contributions to the study of language, meaning, and interpretation within Indian philosophical thought.