sphota
स्फोट sphotaBhartrihari's theory that the meaning of a word bursts forth as an indivisible whole, grasped in a single flash, rather than being assembled from a sequence of varna; the meaning-bearing aspect of shabda.
Where this term appears
- The Four Levels of Speech Treatise
The meaning that bursts forth Bhartrihari gave it a name: sphota , from a root meaning to burst open, to split, to flash out.
- What is Mimamsa? Philosophy
Bhartrhari and his heirs had developed the elegant doctrine of sphota , the "bursting forth" of meaning as a single indivisible flash that transcends the individual sounds.