"Existence" is that great _summum genus_ which is found in cows, horses, &c., differentiated by the various subjects in which it resides; and the inferior species, "cow," "horse," &c., are not really different from it; for the species "cow" and "horse" (_gotva_ and _aśvatva_) are not really new subjects, but each is "existence" as residing in the subject "cow" and "horse." Therefore all words, as expressing definite meanings, ultimately rest on that one _summum genus_ existence, which is differentiated by the various subjects, cows, &c., in which it resides; and hence "existence" is the meaning of the stem-word (_prátipadika_). A "root" is sometimes defined as that which expresses _bháva_;[333] now, as _bháva_ is "existence," the meaning of a root is really existence.[334] Others say that a root should be defined as that which expresses "action" (_kriyá_); but here again the meaning of a root will really be "existence," since this "action" will be a genus, as it is declared to reside in many subjects, in accordance with the common definition of a genus, in the line-- "Others say that action (_kriyá_) is a genus, residing in many individuals." So, too, if we accept Páṇini's definition (v. 1, 119), "Let the affixes _tva_ and _tal_ come after a word [denoting anything], when we speak of the nature (_bháva_) thereof," it is clear from the very fact that abstract terms ending in _tva_ or _tá_ [as _aśvatva_ and _aśvatá_] are used in the sense of _bháva_, that they do express "existence." "This is pure existence" from its being free from all coming into being or ceasing to be; it is eternal, since, as all phenomena are developments thereof, it is devoid of any limit in space, time, or substance: this existence is called "the great soul." Such is the meaning of Hari's two _kárikás_ quoted above. So, too, it is laid down in the discussion on _sambandha_ [in Hari's verses] that the ultimate meaning of all words is that something whose characteristic is perfect knowledge of the real meaning of the word Substance. "The true Reality is ascertained by its illusory forms; the true substance is declared by words through illusory disguises; as the object, 'Devadatta's house,' is apprehended by a transitory cause of discrimination,[335] but by the word 'house' itself, the pure idea [without owners] is expressed."[336] So, too, the author of the Mahábháshya, when explaining the Várttika,[337] "a word, its meaning, and its connection being fixed," in the passage beginning "substance is eternal," has shown that the meaning of all words is Brahman, expressed by the word "substance" and determined by various unreal[338] conditions [as "the nature of horse," &c.]