Report

The name of the Manuscript: Kātantrapariśiṣṭam

Author: Sripatidatta

Script: Bengali

Language: Sanskrit

Period: 1234 A.D.

Folio Nos. : 1-109

Condition: Fully preserved (in Bhurjapatra)

Bhartṛhari says that “sarvam śabden bhāsate” which means ‘word’ is the main cause of our

behaviour. Human behavior is impossible without word. Word is nothing but śruti. Śruti is called

Veda in Indian intellectual tradition. Veda is the treasure house of knowledge. But without the
knowledge of grammar even Vedic sentences cannot be interpreted. For the understanding of
Vedic sentences the knowledge of six Vedāgas are necessary. The six Vedāgas are śikṣā,

nirukta, chandas, vyākaraṇa, jyotiṣ, and kalpa. Among the six Vedāgas, vyākaraṇa is the

principal Vedāga (mukhaṃ vyākaraṇaṃ smṛtam). In grammatical tradition, first Vedic

grammar has been composed. But Vedic grammar seemed difficult to understand and therefore
later on 18 grammatical schools were developed. These are aindra, chandra, sārasvata, vyāḍi,

bārhaspatya, haima, kātantra, Pāṇini etc. In due course of time, among these grammatical

traditions, Pāṇinian grammar and haima grammar are available. In this grammatical tradition,

the kātantravyākaraṇa has been admired by the scholars.

For the purification of language grammar is a necessary tool. According to Patañjali, proper

pronunciation of a word leads to ultimate happiness i.e. svarga. And this can be attained through
the knowledge of sandhi, kāraka, samāsa, taddhita, kṛt etc. is necessary. For the better

understanding of kātantravyākaraṇa Āchāryasripatidatta composed kātantrapariśiṣṭa in 1334

A.D., this is found in a form of hand written manuscript. In this manuscript, the sandhiprakaraṇa

contains in folio nos.1-23, nāmaprakaraṇa is found in folio nos. 23-38, Kārakaprakaraṇa is in

folio nos. 38-61, the rules for ṣatva and ṇatva are discussed in folio nos. 61-70, the section on

strīpratyaya is contained in folio nos. 70-80, aluksamāsa contains in folio nos. 80-86 and

karmadhārayādisamāsa discussed in folio nos. 86-109. This manuscript is written in Sanskrit

language and Bengali script. The research and publication of this manuscript will open a new
academic endeavor for researchers. The kātantrapariśiṣṭa of Śripatidatta is thoroughly reviewed

and it is noticed that although in folio no 38 the term kātantravṛtti is used, but in the beginning

and at the end the term kātantrapariśiṣṭa is used. In this way, a serious research is required to

study this manuscript.