---
type: Concept
bundle: mimamsa-dharma
bundle_version: 0.10.0
id: anvitabhidhana
title: Anvitābhidhāna
iast: Anvitābhidhāna
devanagari: अन्विताभिधान
description: 'The Prābhākara theory of sentence meaning: words denote only as already connected with the other words'''' meanings, so sentence-sense is primary and isolated word-meaning an abstraction; NOT the denial of word-meaning, NOT modern holism as a general theory, NOT syntax-first grammar.'
darshana:
- Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā
text_source: Bṛhatī, Vākyārthavicāra
tags:
- anvitabhidhana
- mimamsa
- prabhakara
- sentence-meaning
not:
- term: 'the denial that words have meaning'
  why: 'Words do have meaning for Prabhākara, but only ever as connected within an injunctive whole; there is no stage at which a word means in isolation. The claim is about the primacy of the connected sense, not the absence of word-meaning.'
  instead: 'Present anvitābhidhāna as the Prābhākara view that words denote only in mutual connection, so sentence-meaning is primary, the pole opposite abhihitānvaya.'
- term: 'modern semantic holism or contextualism'
  why: 'It rhymes with holism but is a specific claim grounded in Prabhākara''''s account of language-learning from injunctions; do not import a whole modern framework.'
- term: 'syntax-first grammar'
  why: 'Again a theory of meaning, of how the connected sense is primary, not an account of grammatical form.'
related:
- /concepts/abhihitanvaya.md
- /concepts/karya.md
- /concepts/niyoga.md
timestamp: '2026-07-08'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Anvitābhidhāna -- अन्विताभिधान

**Not:** denial of word-meaning, modern holism, syntax-first grammar

## What It Actually Means

Prabhākara grounds his semantics in how language is learned: a child hears injunctions, "bring the cow," then "tie the cow," and learns word-meanings only as already fitted into an actionable whole. Hence anvitābhidhāna, denotation of the connected: a word conveys its meaning only in connection with the others, and the primary bearer of meaning is the injunctive sentence, not the isolated word. This coheres with kārya and niyoga, where the to-be-done is the primary unit, and opposes the Bhāṭṭa abhihitānvaya, completing the two schools'' mirror-image disagreement across duty and language alike.

## Audience Metaphor

You learn "check" not from a dictionary but from playing chess, where the word arrives already wired into the moves it belongs to. Anvitābhidhāna says all words are learned and meant that way: never bare, always already in the connected play of the sentence.

## Citations

1. Prabhākara, Bṛhatī; Śālikanātha''s Prakaraṇapañcikā on connected denotation -- see [references/brhati.md](../references/brhati.md)
2. Contrast in Kumārila, Ślokavārttika -- see [references/slokavarttika.md](../references/slokavarttika.md)
