पश्यन्ति paśyantī

My blog is called Paśyantī:  pronounced puhsh-YAN-tee (पश्यन्ती), with stress on the second syllable, the “ś” a soft “sh” as in “shine.” The four levels of vāk (speech) This framework comes from Sanskrit grammatical and philosophical traditions, most notably Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya, and echoed in Kashmir Śaiva sources like Abhinavagupta’s Tantrāloka, which describe speech unfolding in four stages, from subtlest to grossest: Parā vāk (परा): “supreme” speech. The undifferentiated source of all speech, prior to any distinction of word and meaning. Pure potential, identified in Kashmir Śaivism with the highest reality itself. Paśyantī (पश्यन्ती): “the seeing one.” Speech at the stage where it is still a unified, intuitive seeing or vision; an idea grasped as a whole, before it fragments into sequence or grammar. The name comes from “to see”, reflecting that at this level meaning is seen rather than said. Madhyamā (मध्यमा): “the middle one.” Speech that has begun to differentiate in...

KALINGA — Land of my ancestors Chapter 2: The Maṅgu-Nyāyapati Households Every family carries two kinds of memory. One is written — a gotra recited at a wedding, a temple record, a copperplate somewhere in an archive we have not yet visited. The other is carried on the body — a mark on the shoulder, a name a grandmother would not let us forget, a height, a hunger. This chapter is about both kinds, and about what happens when they don't completely overlap cleanly. I am writing this as a record of our collective memory to be preserved for posterity — for the benefit of curious descendants like myself. I have tried to piece together a probable story based on what I know. Members of the family can provide more details that could make this story tighter, correct any errors, and help me build on this. शङ्खचक्रे Although coming from the Rāmānujācārya sampradaya, I did not receive the śaṅkha-cakra on my shoulders. My father's father did not have one, and did not pass it to my father,...