वाक्यदोषो नाम यथा खल्वस्मिन्नर्थे न्यूनमधिकमनथकमपार्थकं विरुद्धञ्चेति ।
vākya-doṣo nāma yathā khalv asminn arthe nyūnam adhikam anarthakam apārthakaṁ viruddhaṁ ceti |
(Caraka-saṁhitā: 3.8.54)
“Fault in a statement is known as follows in regard to the object [which the statement describes]: (1) deficient (nyūna) [i.e., the statement fails to sufficiently convey the nature of the object; the statement is too laconic], (2) verbose (adhika) [i.e., the statement uses more words than necessary to convey the nature of the object; the statement contains redundancy or irrelevant content], (3) meaningless (anarthaka) [i.e., the statement does not make sense; the statement does not convey any object], (4) incoherent (apārthaka) [i.e., the statement does not convey a complete sense; the statement contains syntactically disjointed content], (5) contradictory (viruddha) [i.e., the statement conveys an idea of the object that is contrary to the actual nature of the object; the statement is erroneous].”