The sphoṭa theory of the perception of words was first propounded by Bhartṛhari (5th c.) in his Vākyapadīya. Unlike the sphoṭa theories of Patañjali or the pre-modern grammarians, Bhartṛhari's theory can hardly be discussed without taking into account the aspect of perception, more specifically, the perception of sounds as words. On the basis of Bhartṛhari's philosophy, Maṇḍanamiśra (7th-8th c.) further developed the theory in his Sphoṭasiddhi. In this, he attempts to logically explain the validity of the unitary entity of sphoṭa, no doubt prompted to do so by the vagueness of Bhartṛhari's formulation of the concept.
Maṇḍanamiśra probably composed the Sphoṭasiddhi and focused on establishing the existence of sphoṭa because it perfectly corresponds to his epistemology. In this lecture I shall try to show how he used the sphoṭa theory to construct his doctrine of perception.