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CHAPTER- II

SANSKRIT GRAMMAR :
ITS TRADITION

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1. INTRODUCTION :

From very ancient time, scholars have laid great emphasis

on writing highly scientific grammatical works. As Vyakaraoa (grammar)

has been recognised as the most important amongst the six Vedangas,

so its origin can easily be traced back to the Vedic period. The tradition

of Sanskrit grammatical science in India can be discussed under

three-heads; namely: Pre-Paninian systems of Sanskrit grammar and

grammarians, Paninian systems of Sanskrit grammar and Post-Paninian

systems of Sanskrit grammar. A mere description of th«se

Vyakarapas(grammars) existing before Pinini are given in the

Pre-Paninian
» section. The Grammatical works of Panini
* and of others
related with his work ‘AstadhvavT of that age are discussed in the
••

Papinian Section. And the rest, which composed after Paiiini and

flourished even after the existence of the most systematic and scientific

grammar ‘AstadhvavT. are discussed briefly under the Non-Paninian or

Post-Paninian Section.

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X-PRE-PANINIAN SYSTEMS OF SANSKRIT GRAMMAR &

GRAMMARIANS :

(A) BRAHMA:

As Brahma is accepted to be the elucidator of all knowledge

and learnings, so he is said to be the profounder of Sanskrit grammar

also. There is evidence in the RK Tantra as follows

‘brahma brhaspataye provaca,

brhaspatij^ndraya,

indro bharadv§j§ya,

bharadvaja
J rsibhyah.’
J m
i

From this above quotation we come to know that Brahma

is supposed to be the first elucidator of the Sanskrit grammar. Brahma"

did not leave any branch of knowledge untouched.

(B1 BRHASPATI:

According to the description given in the RK Tantra.

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Brhaspati (about 4000 B.C.) is the next elucidator of Sanskrit grammar

He was the son of Aiigira. Brhaspati, who was a family priest of Devas,

is known to us having various names like ‘Suracarya’, ‘Vakpati’ etc.

W e get in the Patanjali's Mahabhasva that Respected

Bfahaspati taught the Sanskrit grammar to Indra for a period up to

‘Divya Sahasra Varsa.’ The name of his grammar was ‘Sabdaparayana

As we get

‘brhaspatirindraya divyam varsasahasram

pratipadoktanam sabdanam

sabdaparayanam provaca.’

(C) SIVA (M AHESVARA):

i i
Mahesvara or Siva (about 4000 B.C.) was a great ascetic.

His father was Prajapati Kasyapa and Surabhi was his mother.
i
Siva married the daughter of Daksaprajapati. He was the founder of

the six parts of the Veda. In support of this argument a line from the

Mahabharata is being quoted as following

‘vedat sadanganyud dra§tavya.’


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Vyakarapa (Gram m ar) is also a part of the V e d a . H ence he

gave elucidation in connection with the grammar. Lord S iva w as a

p ro fo u n d g ra m m a ria n a nd the nam e o f h is g ra m m a r w a s

M ahesa-Vvakarana, which is clear from the following quotation

sabdambudhim pramathyaiva sahkarena

yaduddhrtam,

mahe^am tad vijanTyat]krtsna^^

vyakaranarnrtam .’'

T h e fourteen concised expressive formulae of Panini are called


/ /
‘M ahesvara-Sutras’ which are also known as ‘S iva Sutras.!(1)

(D )IN D R A :

Indra (about 3923 B .C .) was one of the greatest grammarian.

His father w as Kasyapa Prajapati and Aditi w as his mother. In Hindu

F N :(1 ) y e n a k s a r a s a m a m n a y a m a d h ig a m y a

m a h e s v a r a t;

k r ts n a m v y a k a r a n a m p r o k ta m t a s m a i

p a n in a y e n a m a h .'

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mythology, the Aindra-Vyakarana is considered as the oldest grammar.

But there is no historical importance or any proof of this grammar.

Though the book was destroyed long ago, yet fortunately, two SQtras of

his grammar are available even to-day.

Bhattaraka Hariscandra (100 B.C.) has written about the

SQtras of Aindra-Vygkarana. as follows

(i) atha varnasamuhah.

(ii) naikam padajatam yatharthah padam.

Durgacarya has mentioned the second sOtra in his work

‘Niruktavrtti'. admitting that this is Indra's Sutra.

In Sarasvata's annotation we get the following stanza, where

we get that the Mahesa-Vvakarana is very vast like Ocean. Comparing

to this grammar, the grammar of Brhaspati is like half-pitcher water

and the Aindra-Vvakarana is less than these two. The grammar of Panini

is like a drop of water scattered by a Kusa-grass in comparison with the

above grammars.

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As we get in the verse

‘samudravad vyakaranam mahesvare

tadardhakumbhoddharanam brhaspatau;

tadbhagabhagaccha satam purandare

kulagra vinduyjatitam hi paninau.

(E) BHARADVAJA ;

Bharadvaja (about 3950 B.C.) is the third great learned

person of the Sanskrit grammar. Revered Brhaspati was his father.

Though his books are not available today, yet according to RK Tantra.

he was also an elucidator of the Sanskrit grammar. Great grammarian

Indra taught him grammar. Bharadvaja also imparted the knowledge of

Sanskrit-Vyakarana to many sages.

(F) VAYU :

Vayu (about 3875 B.C.) was a great grammarian of the

Sanskrit language. A grammar by the mutual co-operation of Indra and

Vayu was written first. That is why we get the use of

‘vag va aindravayavah’.

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The Vavu Pur§na is an evidence that he had great command

over the Sanskrit grammar. Vayu was the father of Hanuman^, who

was also a famous grammarian.

(G) VAIYAGH RAPADYA: ’ ^

|/C

The name of Vaiyaghrapadya, who was the son of Revered ?


£ Vasistha, is not found in the grammar of Panini. But we find his name in

This line clearly indicates that he was an elucidator of

Sanskrit grammar. There were ten cantos in the grammar written by ?


Vaiyaghrapadya, which is distinct from the following two lines of the

work Kasika.

(i) ‘dasakah vaiyaghrapadiyah.’

(ii) ‘dasakam vaiyaghrapadfyam.’

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(H) G A R G Y A :

The name of Gargya (about 3725 B.C.) is used by Panini in

three SGtras in his book AstidhvavP


» i

(i) ‘ad gargyagalavayoh’ - (A s t- 7/3/99)

(ii) ‘oto gargyasya’ - (Ast.- 8/3/20)

(iii) ‘nodattasvaritodayamagirgyakasyapa-gllavanam’ -

(Ast.- 8/4/67)

S e ve ra l view s of G ir g y a are found in the books

RK-Pratisakhva and Vaiasaneva-Prati^akhva.


«

Thus it becomes doubtless that Gargya was a great

grammarian and his grammar was fully complete.

(I) G A L A V A :

G ila v a (about 3725 B .C .), who w as a student of

Dhanvantari, was a great grammarian. We get the name of Galava

mentioned four times in Papini's Astadhvavn as given below :

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(i) ‘iko hrasvo’nyo

gaiavasya’ (Ast. 6/3/61)

(ii) ‘trtiyadisu bhasitapumskam

pumvad gaiavasya’ (Ast. 7/1/74)

(iii) ‘ad gargya galavayoh’ (Ast 7/3/99)

(iv) ‘nodattasvaritodayamagargya

kasyapagaia variam.’ (Ast. 8/4/67)

Galava was the inhabitant of Pancaia and a contemporary

of Gargya.

(J) B H A G U R l:

Bhaguri (about 2000 B.C.), son of Bhagura, was also a great

grammarian. Panini has not described the views of Bhaguri in his book 0
Astadhvavl Bhaguri elucided Dhatuoatha. related to grammar.

(K) B H A R A D V A JA :

Bharadvaja is the descendant of Respected Bharadvaja.

The grammarian Bharadvaja under discussion was born near about

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1900 B.C. His views have been illustrated twice in the ancient books

which donot provide us any specific knowledge about his grammar. At

one place in Panini's grammmar, we find the reference of Bharadvaja

as follows

(i) ‘rto bharadvajasya’ (Ast, 7/2/63)

(L) MADHYANDINI:

Madhyandini (about 1870 B.C.), son of Madhyandina, was

also a grammarian. It is clear from the quotations of the books

Rupamala, Kasika. Prakriva-Kaumudfetc. that Madhyandini also might

have written a Sanskrit grammar. But we do^iot find his name in the ^

AstadhvavT. Madhyandini was the pupil of Yajnavalkya. ^

M ) PAUSKARASADI:
\ / ............ ..... ."T-|P ................ ■'.....

Pauskarasadi (about 1800 B.C.), son of Puskarasat, was a

great grammarian. Panini has not written anything about him and about

his grammar. Pau§kara was the short name of Pauskarasadi, who lived

near modern Ajamera.

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(N1 CAKRAVARMANA:

Cakravarmana was also a grammarian and his father was

Cakravarm§. It is obvious that Cakravarmana was born earlier than

PSnini and Apisali because these two authors have quoted the views

of Cakravarmana. As we get in the AstadhvavT

(Ast 6/1/130)

M imam saka has fixed the age o f the grammarian

Cakravarmana at 3000 B.C.; but according to the great scholar B. N.

Jha, the author Cakravarmana was born nearabout 1775 B.C.

(01 CARAYANA:

The respected Carayana (about 1750 B.C.) wrote a certain

Sanskrit grammar. His father was Carapl. There is a saying that

Carayana had a good stock of blankets, he provided every pupil of his

school with a blanket.

(P) KASAKRTSNA:
*

Kasakrtsna (about 1700 B.C.) was the descendant of Bhrgu.

Though in Panini's list of grammarians we do not find his name, still the

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p re se n t g ra m m a ria n s co m m u n ity h as re g a rd e d him as a top

grammarian. Even Vopadeva has admitted the fact that the respected

Kasakrtsna was one of the eight reputed grammarians. His several

grammatical rules which explained in the ancient grammatical books

are evidences of his efficiency. His work on the ‘Dhatu’ is called

‘Sabda-Kalpa’,

(Q ) S A N T A N U :

/
The great grammarian Santanu (about 1700 B.C.) explained

the Sanskrit gram m ar in verse. He was the first elucidator of the ‘phit-
_ t_ _
sutra’. Santanu w as the father of BhTsmapitamaha.

(R) S A K A L Y A :

t t
Sakalya (about 1675 B.C.) was the son of Sakala. Panini
/ _ __
has mentioned the opinion of Sakalya four times in his b ookAstadhvavi.

Those sutras are quoted below

(i) ‘sambuddhau sakalyasyetavanarse.’ (Ast. 6/1/127)

(ii) ‘lopah sakalyasya’ (A§t. 8/3/19)

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(iii) ‘sarvatra sakalyasya’ (Ast. 8/4/51)

(iv) ‘ikoh’savarne slkalyasya hrasvasca.’ (Ast. 6.1.27)

(S) APISALl:

Appall (about 1650 B.C.) was a great grammarian. He was


born earlier than Panini because Panini has quoted the opinion of Apisali
<?

directly in his book Astadhvavl as we get

(i) ‘va supi apisalet)’ (Ast. 6/1/92)

‘Apisalasala’ was the name of his school. His educational


institution was well developed.

01 KASYAPA:

Kasyapa (about 1650 B.C.) was the descendant of Kasyapa.


He was a great grammarian as Panini has also cited his views twice in
his book Astadhvavl They are as follows

(i) ‘trsimrsi krseh kasyapasya’ (Ast. 1/2/25)

(ii) ‘nodatta svaritodayamagargya

kasyapa galavanam.' (Ast. 8/4/67)

(2 8 )
OJ) SAKATAYANA:
*

The eminent grammarian Sakatayana (about 1650 B.C.)


/
was the descendant of Kanva.

Sakata

was his father. In several old
/
books we get the views of Sakatayana. In Panini's Astadhvavf the
* mm

opinions of Sakatayana have been quoted thrice. They are as follows

(i) lana sakatayanasyaiya’ (Ast. 3/4/11)

(ii) ‘triprabhrtisu sakajtayanasya’ (Ast. 8/4/50)

(iii) ‘vyorlaghu prayatnatarah sakatayanasya.’ (Ast. 8/6/18)

' /
It is obvious that super grammarian Sakatayana wrote an

important grammar, which is not available today. Still accumulating

various sutras of his grammar from different books it becomes clear

that there were the description of common Sanskrit words and also

Vaidika words in his grammar.

(V) GAUTAMA:

Gautama (about 1650 B.C.) was also a grammarian. But

we donot get his name in Astadhvavr We find the views of Gautama

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quoted in many old books like Mahabhasva. Taittirfya-Pratisakhva.

Maitravamva-Pratisakhva etc.

(W) SPHOTAYANA:

The actual name of Sphotayana (about 1765 B.C.) was

Audafribarayana. He was born earlier than Panini as his views are

quoted in the famous AstadhfrvavT For example we get the following

sutra :

(i) ‘avan sphotayanasya’ (Ast. 6/1/123)

(X) V Y A D I:

Vyadi (about 1550 B.C.) was the son of Vyada and his

mother's name is unknown. He has been discussed in the various books

of Sanskrit literature and grammar. It is clear from the old books that

Vyadi had written a book of Sanskrit grammar. But we donot find his

name in Panini's Astadhvavr Sanskrit scholars have ascribed Vyadi as

the author of the book Samqraha. According to Patanjali and Bhartrhari,

the book Samqraha was a grammar in philosophical nature.

(Y) S E N A K A :

Senaka (about 1550 B.C.) was born earlier than Panini.

W e d o n o t fin d his nam e m e n tio n e d in any e a rlie r books.

(3 0 )
Only Panini has quoted the opinion of Senaka on one occasion in his

AstadhvavP as follows
•♦

(i) ‘giresca senakasya’. (Ast. 5/4/111)

(Z) S A U N A K I:

/ /
Saunaki (about 1425 B.C.) was the son of Saunaka, who
_ /
was a great devotee of Brahma. According to Sanskrit scholars Saunaki

was also a great grammarian. His views on several occasions have

been found in Vaiasaneva Pratisakhva.

W e also get evidence of a grammarian named Raudhi.

Though he is supposed to be earlier than Panini, yet we donot find his

existance in the AstadhyavP

Thus, from the above discussion we get that a huge number

of grammarians as well as systems of Sanskrit grammar flourished in

ancient India, which are supposed to be contemporary or earlier than

Panini. But unfortunatly, at present we donot get even a single one of

these systems of Sanskrit grammar in its complete volume.

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3. PAN INI AN SYSTEM OF SANSKRIT GRAMMAR :

Sanskrit language was fully developed during the age of


Papini. Sanskrit grammar written before Panini by the sages are not
completely available now a days. It is Panini whose grammar is available
completely. All branches of his grammar are with us in their complete
volumes. Panini's grammar is an authentic grammar. He accomplished
the grammar very carefully and wrote it in a scientific and systematic
way. Bloomfield has rightly commented

‘‘Indo-European Comparative Grammar had and has at its


service only one complete description of a language, the grammar of
Panini, for all other Indo-European languages it had only the traditional
grammars of Greek and Latin, woefully incomplete and unsystematic
— . For no language of the past has a record comparable to Panini's
record of his mother tongue, nor is it likely that any language spoken
today will be so perfectly recorded.”

Purusottamadeva has mentioned the following synonyms


of Panini's name in his book ‘Trikandasesa’.
• “ •

(a) Panina (b) Panini

(d) Salanki

(e) Salaturiya (f) Ahika.


(32 )
Considering different views of different authors it becomes

clear that Panini was born between 2900 BC and 300 BC.

The Paninian system of Sanskrit grammar is mainly

comprised of

(A) PANINI'S A S TA d HYAYT :


• « •

The oldest and most important text book of Sanskrit

grammar, that has come down to us is Panini's Astadhvavr


• •

m i$ k :

Each Adhyaya of Panini's Astadhyayfis again sub-divided

into four Padas or sections. Panini has written about four thousand

sGtras in the AstadhvavT. The definition of Sutra is as

(B ) KATYAYANA'S V A R T T IK A S :

Katyayana's Varttikas (in about 400 B.C.) are to fill up the

emissions or gaps or lapses of the Sutras of Astadhvavr

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(C) FA T A N JA LFS M A H A B H A S Y A : (11 to 200 BC)

Pantanjali wrote his Mahabhsva to explain Panini Sutras

and secure his position against the unjustified attacks of Virttikakara

and others perhaps. Prof. K. V. Abhyankar, in his book ‘A Dictionary of

Sanskrit G ram m ar’ has commented about the contribution m ade by

Pa ta n ja li: “The work, in short has becom e an encyclopaedic one and

hence aptly called 'Kk&nT or ‘Akara’. The work is spread over such a

wide field of grammatical studies that not a single grammatical issue

appears to have been le^>ut. The author appears to have made a

close study of the method and explanations of the Sutras of Panini,

given at various academ ies all over the country and incorporated the

gist of those studies given in the form ofW rttikas at the various places,

in his great work. He has thoroughly scrutinised and commented upon

the Varttikas, many of which he has approved, som e of which he has

rejected and a few of which he has supplemented. Besides the Varttikas,

he has qouted stanzas which verily sum up the arguments in explanation

of the difficult sOtras, com posed by his predecessors.”

P in in ia n system of Sanskrit gram mar is complete with the

contributions of these two scholars. S o this system of Sanskrit grammar

is called- ‘trimuni vyakaranam.’


(3 4 )
It is believed that Panini was first inefficient in grammar, but

he won over Mahe^wara by his penances. Siva (Mahe^wara) pleased

with Panini, appeared before him and sounded his drum for 14 times

comprising of the 14 MShelwar sutras. Thus through Mahelwar's boon

and inspiration Panini compHedhis great historical elaborate grammar.

We find four names of PSnini's grammar in the old books

(a) Astaka (b) Astadhvavf

/ _ /
(c) Sabdanusasana (e) Vrtti sutra.

Following are the books elucided by Panini

(a) Dhatuoatha (b) Ganapatha.

(c) Upadi Sutra (e) Linaanusasana.

These four books are the parts of his grammar namely

‘sabdanusasana’.

There are many similarities between Apisali's grammar and

Paninian grammar and also Apisali's grammar contains eight chapters.

Therefore it can be said that Apisali's grammar is the main source of

Panini's grammar.

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Actually, AstadhftvavF is not ‘Krta’ work of Panini. It is his

‘prokta’ work.

Th e grammarians have classified the entire Sanskrit

literature into five parts which are as follows

(a) Drsta (b) Prokta

(c) Upajnata (d) Vyakhyana

(e) Krta.

Those books which are written by the author without any

prior references are called ‘krta-grantha’.

Again, those books, which are written by the author with

the help of other works existing in the society for a long time, are called

‘Prokta grantha’. The author is said to be the initiator of the book.

jfij He doe^fiot become the author of all the matters written and mentioned
therein. He simply purifies the old themes and places them in a

systematic way with rectifications.

Therefore, Panini has differentiated the work ‘krta’ and

‘Prokta’ by way of writing two different sutras which are given below

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(a) ‘tenaproktam’ (Ast. 4/3/101)

(b) ‘krte granthe’ (Ast. 4/3/116)

Thus, we find that the Paninian system of Sanskrit grammar

is comprehensive one because Panini himself has referred to the names

often grammarians, whose views he cited in his grammar.

A fte r Panini, there is a huge contribution to S anskrit

grammar, made by various scholars, relating to and depending upon

Panini's AstadhvavT. Some of the notable are the following

(A) CHANDRAGQMT a ND HIS W ORK :

ChandragomTwas a close student of Papini, Katyayana and

Patanjai. He was a Bauddha, and one of his objects in writting a new

grammar must have been to supply, for the benefit of members of his

faith. His grammar is free from the traditional Brahmanical element.

(B) THE KASIKA OF JAYADITYA AND VAMANA :

The Kasika is a joint work of Jayaditya and Vamana. Itsing,

the Chinese pilgrim, tells us that Jayaditya died about 660 A.D.;

and from this we may guess about the date of the Kasika.

(37 )
The Kasika is a running commentary on Panini's AstadhvavT

and its merit consists in the lucid manner in which it has explained the

stitras of Panini, clearly indicating all the Anuvrttis and giving numerous

illustrations for each rule. Sometimes the Kasika gives us information

which we could not possibly have obtained from any other sources.

An excellent commentary on the Kasika called Kasika-

Vivarana Paniika or Kasika-nvasa is the work of Jinendrabuddhi. There

is another valuable commentary on the Kasika called the PadamaniarT

by Haradatta.

(C) KAIYATA'S PRADTPA:

Kaiyata was probably, as his name indicates, a native of

Kasmir, who perhaps belongs to the eleveth century. Kaiyata's Pradipa

is marking the end of the second period in the history of the Ptninian

school. His work has been commented upon by Nagojibhatta, the author

of the Pradibo-dvota; by Narayana, who has written a Vivarana upon it,

and by l^varananda, the pupil of Saty5nanda, who has composed

another similarly named cemmentary.

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(D) THE R U PAM ALA:

The earliest and the simplest of the recasts of the AstadhvavF

that has come down to us is the Rupamala of Vim alasarasvatr a writer

who must be placed not later than 1350 A.D.

(E) RAMACHANDRA’S PRAKRIYA KAUMUD?;

Ramachandra, the writer of Prakriva K aum udf probably

belongs to the first half of the fifteenth century. The Prakrivakaumudt is

supposed to have been the model for Bhattoji's Siddhanta-Kaumudf.

T h e re are s e v e ra l c o m m e n ta rie s e x ta n t on R a m a c h a n d ra 's

Prakrivakaumudr

(R BHATTOJI'S SIDDHANTA-KAUMUPF:

The Siddhanta-KaumudPof Bhattoji Diksita is at present

practically the only popular introduction to Panini's grammar. Bhattoji

was the son of Laksmidhara and the brother of Rangoji Diksita. Bhattoji

was the pupil of Sesha-Krsna and his date must be about 1630 A.D.

Bhattoji himself wrote a commentary on his Siddhanta-Kaum udr called

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Praudha-Manoram§.
.......... '9 .................... .... ..... . Besides shorter works such as commentaries on

the Panini's D hatupatha. Linqanusasana. etc. Bhattoji w rote the


t
Sabda-Kaustubha which is a voluminous com m entary on Panini's

AstadhvaVT sim ilar in plan to the Kasika. The most famous commentary

on S id dh an ta kau m ud fis the Tattvabodhinf bvJnanendra-SarasvatiT

which is very useful for those who want to have mastery on Sanskrit

grammar.

/
(G) There are about a dozen works on Vyakarapa-Sastra

by Nagesa or Nagojibhafta. He was a very Prolific writer.

(H) Annambhatta, the author of the Tarkasaiiqraha, has

written an independent commentary on the Astadhvavr called Mitaksara.

(\) BHARTR)HARI'S VAKYAPAD1YA:

T he e a rlie s t w ork re p re se n tin g the c a te g o ry o f the

philosophy of grammar is the Vakvapadiva of Bhartrhari, whose date of

death according to Chinese pilgrim, is 650 A.D. Itsing's account

unmistakably refers to Bhartrhari, the author of the Vakvapadiva and

consequently also to the author of a commentary on the Mahabhasva.

The Vakvapadiva. which is a metrical discourse on the philosophy of

grammar, is distributed into three chapters; the Brahma or Agama

Kanda, the Vakya-Kanda and the Pada or Prakirnakanda.

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(4} POST-PAN1N1AN SYSTEM OF SANSKRIT G RAM M AR :

Since 2000 years, the post-paninian systems of Sanskrit

grammar have been playing a significant and vital role in teaching the

rules of correct and workable Sanskrit language in the shortest possible

time and in easy manner. Brief introduction of the main Post-Paninian

systems of Sanskrit grammar is as follows :

(A) KATANTRA-VYAKARANA:

Sarvavarma was the first grammarian who undertook a

daring task of challenging the traditional and the most authentic system

of P§nini by writing a new system of grammar, entitled the Katantra or

the Kalapa-Vvakarana. This system was also known by the name

Kaumara, as according to the traditional beliefs, the sutras of this system

were first uttered by Kumara Karttikeya. Later on, Sarvavarma complied

those sutras and presented them in the form of a system.

The Katantra-Vvakarana was written under the patronage

of king Satavahana but because of the method, in which the rules of

Sanskrit grammar were taught, this system had a rapid circulation in

distant places like Bengal, Kasmir and Cylone.

41
( )
The Katantra-V vakarana upto the Akhyiata section is

considered to have been written by Saravarma and it consists of 855

(Eight hundred fifty five) sutras only. The total number of the sutras of

this grammar are 1686 (One thousand six hundred eighty six). How the

Katantra-Vvakarana with such a small structure developed into an

independent and exhaustive system o f Sanskrit gram m ar so as to

complete with the Paninian system, is a matter o f special interest.

For the sake of facility, the whole text has classified into

four major se ctio n s:

(a) Sandhi prakarana.

(b) Nama prakarana.

(c) Akhyata prakarana.

(d) Krt-prakarana.

Though there were many short comings in the Katantra-

Vvakarana, its author deserves honour for showing new lines of studing

the most intricate grammar of the World.

(B) CANDRA-VYAKARANA:

The Candra system of Sanskrit grammar is known after the

name of its founder CandragomT Vopadeva (1243 A.D.) has mentioned

(42 )
CandragomTas one of the eight important grammarians whose systems

were considered authoritative in the thirteenth century A.D. The

Chandra-Vvakarana is mainly based on the AstadhfivavT of Panini and

the Mahabhasva of Patanjali.

But the order of treating the rules of grammar is different

from that of Paninian system. There are six chapters in the Candra-

Vvakarana and each chapter further consists of four padas. These

chapters donot deal with the rules of Vedic grammar and accentuation.

CandragomT, primarily being a baudha, wrote his grammar for the

Buddhist. It was only after the Candra-Vvikarana that the Baudha

preachers adopted correct form on Buddist philosophy came to be

written in correct Sanskrit.

Thus, Candragomfwrote his system after getting inspiration

from his predecessors Panini, KStyayana, Patanjali and Sarvavarma.

With the composition of this new Vyakarana he not only benefited his

co-religionists but also helped a lot in preserving the Paninian sutras.

(C) JAINENDRA-VYAKARANA:

The Jainendra-Wakarana is a sectarian system of Sanskrit

grammar, written by Devanandf (sixth century), for the benefit of the

(43 )
Jainas. Panini, Katyayana, CandragomTand Sarvavarma are the writers
from whose work, Devanandf drew material without acknowledging
anywhere in the Jainendra-Vvakarana. The Jainendra-Vvakarana
* %

consists of five chapters and each chapter consists of four padas.

There are 3700 Sutras in this grammar. The rules of Vedic


grammar and accents are absent in this grammar.

The position of the Jainendra-Vvakarana is in no way less


significant than any other system of Sanskrit grammar, but at present
this grammar hardly finds a place in the curriculum of Sanskrit studies
in any institution of India.

(D) SAKATAYANA-VYAKARANA:

In the history of Sanskrit grammar there have been two


/
grammarians, known as Sakatayana who have contributed by writing
their own independent systems known after their common name, i.e.
^ z j _ ,
‘Sakatavana-sabdanusasanam’. But the grammarian Palyakirti
/
Sakatayana is the author of the present available system of grammar
entitled ‘Sakatavana-sabdanusasanam’. This grammar consists of

3236 (Three thousand two hundred thirty six) Sutras divided into four

(44)
Adhyayas. Each Adhyaya is further sub-divided into four padas.
/
Sakatayana based his vyakarana upon the AstadhvavT and improved it

in the light of the other systems of grammar to cover the changes which

came into the language after the composition of AstadhvavT: But, this
* •

grammar could not flourish among the scholars of Sanskrit grammar

because of its archaic character.

(E) SARASVATl-KANTHABHARANA:

King Bhoja, the ruler of Dhara city in about Eleventh Century

A.D. wrote a new system of Sanskrit grammar, entitled, the Sarasvath

Kanthabharana.(1)lt is one of the several recasts of the AstadhvavTof

Panini. Amongst the six commentaries on the SarasvatPKanthabharana

only one, the Hrdavaharini is available at present. There are eight

chapters in this grammar, of which the last chapter exclusively deals

with the grammar of Vedic language and the accents. After Panini,

Bhoja was perhaps the first grammarian who paid his attention towards

these portions and included them in his system. But at present, this

grammar is not studied in any institution in India.

FN.1. The Neckless of the Goddess of Learning.


(45)
(R HAIMASABDANUSASANA:

The Srisiddha-Haimasabdanusasana was written by Acarya


Hemacandra in the twelve century A.D. Hemacandra based his
Vyakarana on the basic material of the works of his predecessors, viz.,
- - /
Panini, CandragomF, Sarvavarma, DevanandFand Jaina Sakatayana.
As AstadhvavT he divided his system into eight Adhyayas and each
• •

Adhyaya was agin sub-divided into four padas. The whole system
contained 5502 (Five thousand five hundred two) Sutras. The
Haima-Vvakarana in spite of its comprehensiveness and the most
coveted by the Jainas could not stand in the competition of the Paninian
system and consequently became unpopular among the Sanskrit
scholars.

(G) MUGHABODHA-VYAKARANA:

The Muadhabodha-Vvakarana, written by Vopadeva, who


was in the court of King Mahadeva, in the later half of the thirteen century
A.D., is one of those Post-Paninian systems of Sanskrit grammar which
were written in order to simplify the method of learning the grammar of
Sanskrit language. This system of Sanskrit grammar became so much

popular among the scholars that more than fifteen authoritative

(46)
commentaries were written on it from the time of its composition up to

the nineteenth century A .D . Now-a-days, because of its certain

drawbacks and the surpassing popularity of the PSninian system, the

sphere of its circulation has been limited only to Bengal and Assam.

(H) SARASVATA-VYAKARANA :

The SSrasvata system of grammar was founded by a

sannyasi named Anubhutisvarupacarya. He was an ascentic and held

a respectable position in the court of a king of KasT. It is said that the

goddess Sarasvatfrelvealed seven hundred sOtras to him, which came

to be known as Sarasvata-Vvakarana or ‘Sutra-Saptasatf.


*

The number of commentaries written on this system is next

to the AstadhSvavFof
w* J J
Panini.
* We see that in the Sarasvata-Vvakarana.

the only system patronised even by the Muslim rulers,

Anubhutisvarupacarya made an effective and positive effort to teach

the basic principles of Sanskrit grammar in brief. This system became

very popular and is still studied in some parts of India, especially the

area of Benaras, Mithila etc.

(47)
m ----------:-----------------------------------*----
SAMKS1PTASARA-VYAKARANA:

The Samksiptasara-Vvakarana.written by Kramadisvara

belongs to the Jaumara school of Sanskrit grammar. It appears that

originally the Samksiptasara-Vvakarana was written by Kramadisvara

but was completed and improved upon later on by JumaranandiT

In the treatment of grammatical subjects, Kramadisvara has

followed Bhartrhari. In many sutras of the Samksiptasara-Vvakarana

he has quoted his earlier predecessors and the grammatical systems

like the Katantra and the Candra. Inspite of the existence and popularity

of the Paninian system, he preferred to write a new system, though

wholly based on the Astadhavavfof Pagini, specially to cater the needs


• *

/ /
of the Saivas of central part of India. Kramadisvara was a resident of

P u rv a g ra m a and he w a s th e e ld e s t son o f C a k ra p a n i. T he

Samksiptasara-Vvakarana had dealt with the rules of Sanskrit grammar

in 7 Padas, the 8th exclusively being devoted to rules concerning the

Prakrit language only. The total number of Sutras dealing with Sanskrit

grammar is 3859 (Three thousand eight hundred fifty nine) and the 8th

Chapter has 510 (Five hundred ten) Sutras.

(48)
(J) SUPADMA-VYAKARANA :

The Supadma-Vvakarana by Padmanabhadatta, is one of

the foremost systems of Sanskrit grammar which were written in Bengal

in B e n g a li s c rip t fo r th e b e n e fit o f th e n a tiv e s o f B e ng al.

Padmanabhadatta who was a Mithila Brahman, was born in the 14th


• >

C entury A .D . A huge num ber o f c o n trib u tio n s w e re m ade by

P a d m a n a b h a d u tta to S a n s k rit g ra m m a tic a l lite ra tu re . His

Supadma-Vvakarana
0
is divided into 5 Chapters and each chapter is

again sub-divided into 4 padas, where there are total 2800 (Two

thousand eight hundred) sutras.

(K) PRAYOGARATNAMALA-VYAKARANA:

Pravoqaratnamala-Vvakarana. written by

M aham ohop3dhy£ya P u ru sottam a VidyavagTsa is a p ro m in en t

Post-Paninian system of Sanskrit grammar.

[ Detailed information about this system is given in the

Chapter-V ‘An Exhaustive Note on Pravoqaratnamala-Vvakarana. ]

(49)
(L) LATER SECTARIAN SYSTEMS OF SANSKRIT GRAMMAR :

The prominent systems of Sanskrit gram m ar in making

gram m ar the vehicle of religion, are the Vaisnava systems called

Harinamamrta. There are two works going by this name. The one by

Rupagosvam T, th e c o m p a n io n and d e s c ip le o f C h a ita n ya

(1484-1527 A.D.) and the ohter by JivagosvamT, which varies only slightly

from the above. A third Vaispava grammar called Chaitanvamrta is like

wise mentioned by Colebroke.

/
There are existence of similar sectarian works of the Saiva

or SSkta Systems, of which the Probodha-prakasa is one. The author

of this grammar is BalSramapanchanana.

Most of these systems of Sanskrit grammar were intended

to appeal to a very small community.

(M) OTHER W ORKS ON SANSKRIT GRAMMAR :

There are som e other w orks on S anskrit gram m ar of

Post-Paninian age, which have become outdated by now. Some of them

are listed below


(50)
Grammar Author

(i) Prabodha-Candrika Vijjai Chauhan (Patna)

(ii) Bhava Simha Prakriva Bhatta Vinayaka.

(iii) Druta-bodha Bharata Maliika.

(iv) Asu-bodha Rama Kihkara SarasvaC

(v) Sudhaiilu-bodha Ramesvara


/ /
(vi) Siahra-bodha Siva-Prasada.

(vii) Jnamrta
*
Kasisvara
f
(viii) Pada-Candrika Sesa-Krsna
m ** m

(ix) Prakrivarnava Madana Pancanana.

(x) Pariiata-Vvakarana RaTnahari

(xi) Drpa-VyaKarana SannyasT Cidrupasrama

(xii) Guvana-Padamaniarf Varadaraja Bhatta

(xiii) Pradiba-Vvakarana

Kasinltha.

(xiv) KarikavalF Ramanarayana.

(XV) BalSvabodha Narahari,

etc.

♦♦♦

( 51)

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