In classical Indian philosophy of language, the grammarian Katyayana stated that shabda ("speech") is eternal (nitya), as is artha "meaning", and that they share a mutual co-relation.
Bhartrihari, on the other hand, held a shabda-advaita position, identifying shabda as indivisible, and unifying the notions of cognition and linguistic performance, which is ultimately identical to Brahman.
Language philosophy in Medieval India was dominated by the dispute of the "naturalists" to the Mimamsa school, notably defended by Kumarila, who held that shabda designates the actual phonetic utterance, and the Sphota school, defended by Mandana Mishra, which identifies sphota and shabda as a mystical "indivisible word-whole".
Traditional Śabda (शब्द) means relying on word, testimony of past or present reliable experts,[1][2] specifically the shruti, Vedas.
[4] He must rely on others, his parent, family, friends, teachers, ancestors and kindred members of society to rapidly acquire and share knowledge and thereby enrich each other's lives.
Shabad is the term also used to refer to hymns within other Sikh scriptures, like Deh Siva Var Mohe.