CHAPTER!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF DIFFERENT

SYSTEMS OF GRAMMAR

1. Grammar and grammatical literature.

The exact characterization of the concept of grammar has been

attracting the attention of scholars beginning from Patanjali to Western
theorists of language like Ferdinand de Saussure, Jacques Derrida and many
others.Grammar is viewed as a discipline which instructs about Vedic and
classical words.Since yfrprcimcJ is not desired by Patanjali due to its
requirement of many lives, he tackles the issue by framing and
rules based on cfFfr i.e. usage. This usage may be described as a set of
sentences.Grammar, accounting for sentences is not paradoxical but
strategic. The strategy is intended to make a theoritical assumption and
split up the constituency of a sentence as it is impossible to explain immence
individual meanings of separate sentences by any shortest means.1 This
refers to words which are further analysed in terms of 5TfJcT (bases) and
(affixes). This network responsible for the derivation of the components
of a sentence is the product of grammarians’ own imagination. This is
enough to indicate that, sentence being the basic unit of language, grammar
accounts for it although it analyses words as a tool.

A is supposed to be inambiguous, comprehensive, objective,

brief & precise. The brevity of the ^ must be achieved without sacrificing
clarity. Grammarians usually choose the mechanism which would help in
clear understanding and it is context-sharing (q^PFUcn). Patanjali rightly
1. wz jrfcTcrnw 'd^u^ii'U^cUct c^; cbcq'-roT
Kftw 31^-yciiR^cbrwjr
MRcboqqf^Tf ^HlWRlf: I -WTe^T^T, 4
 2

says that two rules do not become different because of their availability in
different places.1 This also points to the linguistic categories and their
functions fulfilling the underlying conceptual relations.

The grammatical literature consists of^r ‘rule’, flrt ‘gloss’, ciiRfo

‘note’, ‘exposition’, 5itar ‘derivation’, and f^ginT ‘theory’. A^ is an
aphoristic statement which presents a rule in a laconic style. A dwells
upon a and paraphrases it by supplying understandable and missing
elements. A cuRk> is a statement which examines what has not been stated
v

or has been poorly stated by a ^.2 3A is a detailed exposition of a

alongwith corresponding ciiRfcb, structured in the style of and
yr^i^ui. yfki! represents the applied aspects of a ^ in the sense that it
focuses on the derivation of forms. The literature focuses on the
formulation and exposition of basic theoritical issues. Except the the
categories come under commentarial literature.
epspr ¥IR?uiuik yuhmfBdK mtm
cbRlftct 'cbldJIdd: ylchdclIH I

cT^w^cR'd; w^rfcPjfh^TFzrjcFcr
eft^Tc[ MIcMd^iradlsfh yPrgfefisIW 11 3

1.1. Panini.
Panini, the most formidable grammarian of ancient India occupies a
unique and an unparalled place among the linguists of the world for his
astonishing ability to formulate a comprehensive and technically perfect
grammatical system. His magnum opus, the Astadhyayf presents a complete
and authoritative description of the Sanskrit language with the grandeur of
accentuation, formation of Vedic words, classical words and spoken words
1. R ^fcT fx£RTt vjpngiwt I
aifh ^ cnw[ •»Tcffcr i MBh.III.392
2. NSckii^cW^d'cftlRf f^RTT Mtft !
u 3R2T cnM* yigcifMw ll
3. ylsbAjl'H4NM/6
 3
of his time. Scholars have been tempted to describe it as a wonderful
specimen of human creativity. Goldstiicker has eulogized Panini as a scientist
par excellence.1 Panini is the only one among those authors of scientific
works who may be looked upon as real personnel, who is a Rshi in the
proper sense of the word, an author supposed to have had the foundation
of his work revealed to him by a divinity. Other scholars like Monier Wiliams,2
T. Burrow 3 I.S. Pawate4 Paul Theime5 have also sang the significance of
Panini & Astadhyayi.

The nativity, life and parantage ofPanini are unfortunately not precise
in character. Kathasaritsagara of Somadeva, KavyamTmamsa ofRajas'ekhara
and Mahabhasya of Patanjali shed some legendary light on these as external
evidences. Ast. also points to some informations about Panini as internal
evidences. uf&T was the great grandfather of Panini. is found in Ast.6
and is derived as Wf WT: (^gfcT:), wr: 3R?r ^fcT wft in SK. According to
Kaiyata and SK, uif^M was the son of 'qf&Fi and uifbiPi was the grandson of
qfcH7 Purusottamdeva has given five names of Panini in Trikandakosa,
viz., MlfhiPi, ^Tfen^Pr, & 3Tr%cp.8 Panini is also called as
in Mbh.9 This indicates that the name of Panini’s mother was cfr$t.
Kathasaritsagara bears reference to Panini as the disciple of Varsa.10
Rajasekhar says that Panini along with others passed the test at Pataliputra

1. Panini and his place in Sanskrit literature, Chowkhamba, 1965

2. Indian wisdom, p. 172
3. The Sanskrit Language, p.47
4. The Structure of the Astadhy ayT, p. 1
5. Grammatical method in Panini by Betty Sheft. Introduction by Paul Theime
6. 6.4.165
7. UfrrFftSM61int<7i|U[ tn^R: I TJcrfcT ^ Ulf&Tpr:, a^T.1.1.73
8. ''ft. HFT. W. cPT ^fcT.Vol, 1., p. 129
9. Ttf *rta3i#ll | 1.1.20
10. 3T2T cT^TT !
cttcp: M|R>|Ph1h II 1.4.20
 4

and became famous.1 Mbh speaks of a disciple of Panini named Kautsa.2

Panini has another name i.e. yiidi^k. Jinendrabuddhi, the author ofNyasa
has stated that the word sidi^y mentioned by P in his RJRT3 refers to his
native place and the word Viidicpik derived by him from the word '^iidldy
by that ^ was, in fact his own name, based upon the name of his town
which formed his native place. Ganaratna- mahodadhi also attests the
same.4 Cunningham has identified ¥ridlcjy with the present Lahore in the
Yusufzai valley. In the days of Hsuan Tsang the valley was known as
Udyana and Salatura was a prosperous town. Today it is a deserted
village near Attock at Peswar. According to Basudev Sarana Agrawal,
Lahaur is situated on the spot where the river Kabul flowing from West
joins Sindhu.5 From the rule ^4? ^ Flm^l:6 and it is
understood that Panini had close knowledge of villages and rivers etc.
near Vahika, the North Western Punjab of the present day. The story
about his death from a tiger8 is recorded in Pancatantra. The maternal
ancestry of Panini can be reflected in the following table.

1 1

1
TnfSrPt x
I

1. MifalPiPitfdiRk: i
^ M^dl: II -cbloil^Ni^l, 3T.10
2 'vSmAI^ui^ mfaiFiq; l - Mbh.3.2.108
3 ^Idlc^cN^ ^dcJNI<d,c|?y.u[(i^acb:l P 4.3.94
[ Vld'rgv: 3m 'dldlc^': I 'dd'ldy +w. (^T^lldldxik ].
4. ^Ildl^il^lcbcil^d^iM'lFl.......
ddld,^ RTR 1R: I ■Rtsf^raRfS'WI'WlicI dldlcplk'kl^Rarq; MlPlPt: I Vol.l, 1.2
5. nrf&iFT p.8
6. P 4.2.74
7. P 4.2.117
8. i%^r caiciRuiw 5ttotfi; ffcrrq; mfM: i 2.33
 5
There were a good number of grammarians prior to Panini. Panini
has referred to 10 grammarians only in his Ast. to fulfil the demand of the
context or respect. They are 3ijfh»lfcH, c&iwt, ''iptf, tucTcT, 'MisbdTui, tom,

^iichcti^H, ¥n*cii, and vwildiH'.1

1.2. Date of Panini.

The date of this greatest grammarian is not yet settled and the
scholars, both Western and Indian maintain different views on the question.

SI. Namefs) of Scholarfs) Date Ground

l. MaxMiiller Brhatkatha; Kathasaritsagara;

BohtlinkOtto 350 B.C. P 4.1.49; Rajatarangim;
Taranath Tarka-Vacaspati Abhimanyu, the king of Kashmir
Keith
2. Weber 140 A.D. Invasion ofAlexandar; Buddhism
and P 4.2.45
3. Peterson 100 A.D Vallabhadeva’s Subhasitabali
4. Pischel 500 B.C. - do -
5. Goldstiicker Panini’s ignorance of Grhyasutras
Ramakrishna Bhandarkar 700 B.C. andUpanisads.
S.K. Belvalkar
6. Satyabrata Samasrami 2400 B.C. Yaska, Vedas
7. Yudhisthira Mimamsaka 2900 B.C. Gotra
8. Giridharsharma Caturveda 2200 B.C. Puranic evidences
9. Sudesh Arora 3000 B.C. P 4.3.105; Katyayana’s
Varttika thereof; wand its
corruption and seats of learning.

1.3T itpriftSIcT: P 6.1.92 ; 1.2.25; 3Tq 4||4ltolcH*wl:; f ^S5?p1dR?j

6.1.130; fUt 7.2.63; 3.4.111; Vhfa 8.4.51;
5.4.112; arara; wJieiaw 6.1.123
 6

However, some independent evidences can be provided to prove that

Panini lived before Alexander’s invasion.

a. Panini has mentioned the town Sangala (Sankala) in the sutra

(4.2.75) He derives the name of the town from the
proper name of Sankala, a city completed by king Sankala which
was destroyed by Alexander as punishment for its strong
resistance .Panini, therefore, must have lived before the invasion of
Alexander.

b. Another sutra of Panini (5.3.117) mentions

Parsus or the Persians and Asuras or the Assyrians as
'TTET or an organisation of mercinary fighters similar to Greeks of
the 4th Century B.C. The Persians were blotted out as a political
power in B.C. 329 and Assyrians in B.C. 538. Panini’s reference
to these people belong, therefore, probably to a time anterior to
these dates.1

c. Katyayana’s Varttika to 4.1.175 makes form a part of the

/
cF#3nfewt. It proves that Panini did not know that the Sakas or
Skythians had a country of their own. First king of Skythians was
Deioces (tMflTfr) whose date is 700 B.C. So Panini must have
lived before 700 B.C.

d. Panini read Sffirar first in the list of stars in .(4.3.34)

which proves that srilw or «i£rar was the first star by his time.
Jogesh Ch. Ray after a thorough computation tells that in 1372
B.C., and wg were in same place on transition. After
70 years a star becomes farther by one degree and it takes nearly
1000 years to a star to change sequence. The star win occupied
1. Systems of Sanskrit Grammar, p. 14
 7

the place of -srfifer prior to fifth century B.C. Before that -srftw was
first among the stars and its period was from 1372 B.C. to 405
B.C. So Panini must have lived in that period.

e. Goldstiicker speaks of the absence of Upanisad in Panini age but

this is not true as Panini has framed a rule (1.4.79)

in which the word Upanishad is used. So Panini ispost-Upanisadic.

f. It is argued that the word wm is originated at the time of Buddha

and the appearance of -sftw in (2.1.70) indicates
Panini as Post-Buddhist. So also the word Pi4iui in ftraMfSOTt
(8.2.50) misleads some scholars as of Buddhist origin, wr is not
a Buddhist word. It is read in the Satapatha Brahmana viz.,
•5FMts-5FfW:, dN'dlScdW: etc. -stott is used to mean a traveller and
•sfotot is IskmiiUi. Those who consider -spt (Hot) to be the only
existent are called as WTT: in the sense of traveller is P)4idHR«
by the rule ^mRsIIvScmI: (6.1.154) Mbh discusses
that means HotcT, a travelling monk.

The above discussions, though short, tend to put Panini in between

7th. Century B.C. and 6th. Century B.C. Furthermore no sutra of Ast. is
not in consonance with his having lived in a period later than 6th. Cent.B.C.

1.3. Astadhyayi.

The Ast. of Panini is the earliest extant descriptive Sanskrit grammar

which literary means collection of 8 arsTRis.1 An 3T«tri is a section of a
work for teaching or study. The title of Panini’s grammar as Ast. occurs
first in Mbh.2 It is derived as follows :

1.P 2.1.51 -52,4.1.22

2. On P 6.3.109
 8
3T^r 3TSJTOT: *Wlgdl:/3reMIH 3FSTRTHT MI?R:

= 3^ + 3TSTR + ^ (2.1.51 ;4.1.21)

= 3re + 3lWi; + t (8.2.27; 6.4.148)

= 3reT«TR5t

The Ast. is also called 3re‘4>H 1 and is derived as follows : 3T^r artzrrai:
mR+iiuiw = 3pg^[ + w\ = by the rule wiranr: >tfgr w
(5.1.58). The term 3raid4> is used by the writers of Kasika-Vrtti in connection
with the grammar of Panini as it is not characterized by any technical terms
expressive of time such as aracT%, 'qvtsnr etc. occuring in the Jnf^TRsrs and
grammar works2.

Ast. is meant for the identity of fires because they are the authority
with regard to words and usage3. The motive behind the composition of
Ast. must be his concern for the purity of the language which he calls
or standard speech. The text of the Ast. is preceded by a catalogue
of fourteen speech sounds ordered, according to grammatical
requirements commonly designated as or or
The text or the body of rules is followed by two lexicons namely
and WflU of which the former is a collection of verbal stems, ordered
according to conjugation classes and the latter is a collection of groups
of nominal stems each of which undergo specific grammatical operation
under specific rule of qprs. These lists have a name consisting of the
first base listed followed by 3rrfe or 5PffcT (beginning with).

The 8 chapters of Ast. consist of nearly 4000 sutras and the text of
these sutras has come down to us almost intact. The genuineness of
1. l -KV on P 5.1.58
2. 'oyiiRDF[ I -KV onP 2.4.21
■gciff&T cuicwuiipi 1 -Tjgrrafft on KV
3. l -Mbh on P 6.3.109
 9

five’of these sutras is doubtful as they are read as aiffos in Mbh.12 Apart from
these five, is also accepted as crrfcfa by Haradatta and Sridhar
Pathak.3

Panini’s description of Sanskrit as it was studied and spoken during

his time is based on three fundamental units : 1. nominal stems (tnfrptf^) 2.
verbal stems (entj) and 3. suffixes (tr^ra) introduced after the first two to
generate additional stems as well as finished words (^s) with the help of
rules. A set of rules generate the surface forms from their deep structure
and another set of rules to generate sentences as units of communication.
Therefore, it seems that Panini was working alternately upon the two main
aspects of his problem : the nouns and verbs. The present arrangement of
the sutras in Ast. is the result of attempting to join the two into a coherent
whole involving thereby a number of additions, ommisions and
transpositions. Ast. contains such rules and accounts for the formation of
words and their meaningful combination in sentence through the process
of language analysis. So it contains sections on technical terms, grammatical
conventions, case-relations, primary and secondary noun-formation, feminine
words, form of verbal or nominal stems before suffixes, accent, euphony
and compound etc.

/
Sakatayana holds the view that all the nouns are derivable from verbal
bases. Panini and Gargya agree to disagree with Sakatayana but in three
rules4 of Ast. mention is made of collection of suffixes under the name of
to derive non-transparent words from verbal bases. S.D. Joshi
speaks of their interpolative character for their incompatibility with P’s

1. cs). I P 4.3.131; ^). | 4.3.132;

T[). 5.1.136; U). 6.1.32; ^). I 6.1.100
2. Systems of Sanskrit Grammar, p. 16
3. errfrfaifafcr g i - Mbh (Uddyota) p.465

4. P 3.3.1-2; 3.4.75
 10

principles of word formation.1 Though Ast. is meant mainly for classical

Sanskrit , rules of Vedic grammar are also incorporated into it. For
example the rule &w^cilgfcp$ (2.3.61) prescribes in
place of cpd and the sutra that immediately follows prescribes (wtjazfaf
edge! w-c;Rt) for the operation of in in Vedas. It is indeed difficult
to propose a methodical and systematic arrangement of the subject matter
of Ast. Only a rough idea of some sort of arrangement of the contents
of Ast. can be suggested as under.

Subject

1. (351 Sutras) ^tt, (Technical Terms as well as their

explanations & Rules of
interpretation and of the roots,
i.e. middle and active forms).

2. (268 Sutras) (Compounds and cases and case

& ^ (effect) endings as well as elision of some
secondary suffixes).

3. (631 Sutras) srciRT2 (f^, ^, (Affixes, i.e. verbal endings and

flcRur & primary terminations as well as
Inserted Conjugational affix and
Desiderative etc.)

4. (635 Sutras) 5R*ra1 #& (Case, Feminine and Secondary

?rt^cT from 4.1.76 Suffixes),
onwards)

5. (555 Sutras) 5R*m1 (Secondary Suffixes)

1. S.D. Joshi, The Ast. of Panini, Vol. 1., p.8

5Tc^R3T 3T8T ^22^ II SK, p.391

 11

wzm Subject

6. (736 Sutras) fsi 'b fTjxl, (Re-duplication, Modification,

(WTRUT), 3WPT, Augment, Substitute, Accent and
3-lTftW, vFcR & Aluk {non-elision of

3T^^FTRT compound)

7. (438 Sutras) (Declension and Sundry rules)

8. (369 Sutras) HcfiTcrf, (Miscellaneous, Accent,

URcT Cerebralization & Euphonic

Total-3983 Sutras combination).

1.4. Accessory Treatises .

fcji^mcviumid and v^llfci sutras are put together with in Ast.

Panini mentions in the sutras themselves all the ten classes just as they
occur in the EiigMIc}. The arg^ETs of £iigMld> further have the same significance
as those of the Ast. Panini in his sutras gives only the first word of a 'W
present in WHS and it may safely be considered as of the grammarian
himself. The \Sunld sutras exhibit the marks of Paninian system though they
supposed to be the work of Sakatayana. They use TfffTs such as ^T,
BcHrf, etc. in the same sense in which Panini uses them.
Seeing incompatability in some’ places Goldstucker suggested that the
list was drawn up by Panini and later on modified by Katyayana.1 Vimala
Saraswati and Durga Singha both assign the authorship of the ^unfci sutras
to Vararuchi alias Katyayana. The rules introduce certain affixes after
verb-roots to derive nominal bases. They are called so because the first
rule provides for affixing (=u) to a series of roots to derive nominals
such as ‘artisan’ (/jf to make) Wg ‘the wind’ (/4r to blow). The rules
are contained in two versions of treatises, one is called wmfc^-divided into
five sections and other is called ^McTf-divided into ten sections.

1. Panini, His Place...,p.l81

 12

is a small work on accents attributed to Santanavacharya, an

ancient Vedic scholar who lived before Patanjali. In case of uf^^fMs there
are some current in Panini’s time and assigned to the authorship of Vyadi
who comes between Panini and Patanjali. Between Panini and Katyayana
come many authors who attempted to justify Panini’s rules and supplied
metrical ciiRfos found in Mbh, are the predecessors of Katyayana.

The Liriganusasana, ascribed to Panini attempts to state rules based

on the structure and meaning of items to describe their genders. There are
two texts on phonetics which have been called %SFT- one in verse
and other in sutra form. It is the former which is usually referred to as
commentators.

1.5. Technique of Panini’s Work.

The Ast. is an ingenious device designed to reproduce the language

of the UPSS in a step by step rule-governed method.lt works by recombining,
synthesizing and integrating grammatical elements,obtained from analysis,
on different successive levels,from the syntactic level to the phonological
representation of the word in its finished form.

a. To achieve the above end Panini has taken recourse to meta -

language i.e. aphoristic method. Brevity is the special quality of
this style. help a lot in this connection. For example,
when is read in a sutra, all the vowels are understood by it.

b. Another unique feature of this style is the use of 3F|eFEJs. Scholars

opine it as pre-Paninian.1 Since the structure of Ast. is primarily
intended to be a text to be transmitted orally, maximum brevity has

1. 3TSM I ^ fsUl-r, l -Mbh, 7.1.18

 13
been aimed at. The use of play a very important part in
Sanskrit grammar. Whether the substitute should take the place of
the last letter or of the whole of the word, depends on what
indicatory letter is affixed to it. If the substitute is with an indicatory
letter , it takes the place of the whole; if it is with an indicatory
(foTcO it takes the place of the final letter only. Similarly, whether
the augment should be added before or after the particular letter,
whether the stem should be used in or aiicn^ci, whether
the vowel should be accutely accented or gravely, all these and
many other problems are solved by these significant endings.

c. This brevity is also achieved by W in Ast. Panini uses the first

word of and the rest of the words or verbs are understood
accordingly. For example, the sutra wfcftftT (1.1.27) may
be taken in which 30 words of are understood by a student.
Similarly etc. are used and understood.

d. Technical terms and artificial terms are also found used for the
brevity of the style.1 They are TftrFT, Flfcnrf^, ft, etc. Panini
has accepted some technical terms from tradition and some are
coined by himself. For example I: n!1uTi: (1.1,7).Consonants
in immediate succession are called TftfPT or consonant group.
Afterwards Panini uses yftiPT only whenever he refers to consonants
unintervened by vowels.

e. The next device to secure brevity is to omit all such words as may
be conveniently supplied from sense or from preceeding sutras.
The technical name of the method is or recurrence and for
its security he has made some of his sturas as SRfffT

1. cinraf ft l Mbh, on P 1.2.27

 14

allows controlled reading of a former rule or part of a former rule

in the interpretation of application of a subsequent rule within a
domain. For example 3RT: cFfaxfR (3.1.62) is composed of two
res where the first rer: end in wft ‘fifth triplet’ and the second
in ‘seventh triplet’. This ^ cannot make any sense
unless like rew: (3.1.1), (3.1.2), sreRwcfr.. .(3.1.22),
^fe(3.1.43), (3.1.44), fctqctre; (3.1.60),
(3.1.61) contribute their elements towards its proper interpretation.
All the above seven rules contribute their elements via cJi^cffcl for
the proper interpretation of 3.1.62.

f. Sutras which have to be repeated wholly or partly, each time any

of the sutras dominated by it are to be interpreted. Panini indicates
3Tl%rre? in three ways viz., by the word 5fT3? (1.4.56), by
(1.2.48) & by oMksqHdl f^MfcNlrk

g. In the portions of Ast., Panini has arranged the sutras in such a

way that where the sutras appear equally applicable, that which
comes earlier in the order of the Ast. must obtain precedence over
the one which comes later.1

h. The use of pR^Pits 0r grammatical speculations also serve the

same end as another device. Some of them are enunciated by
Panini but a larger number he found already current in his day and
used them tacitly. Later grammarians discovered the facts of Panini
sutras that imply the significane of particular The particular
meanings attached to the cases by Panini in connection with the
interpretation of aphorisms give us the clue to the exact meaning
and save the repetition of the same words. For example, if there is

1. I P 8.2.1
 15

no other meaning, the genitive case in always denotes the

meaning as T£TFT (in the place 1H?), the locative in the words
like 3Tf^T means 3tf% (when 3rq follows without being intervened
by any syllable) and so on.

In short, it can be said that Panini having accepted all the varieties of
sutras1, refined them to be most subtle and enveloping by the help of
csFpper and MW etc. By these techniques Panini has made his ^
perfect, powerful , uncommon and famous. Kasika2 and Patanjali3 have
rightly eulogized the master of grammar and his master-piece brilliantly
along with Bloomfield.4

2. Post-Paninian systems.

Centuries after Panini, creative works in the field of classical Sanskrit

grammar gradually appeared. They brought in some noticeable changes
and variations in the sutras of P and in the style of commentary. All the
post-Paninian systems, despite their peculiarities and specialities are
dependant on Paninian system of grammar except Katantra which is believed
to have been founded on some ancient grammar. Some important non-
Paninian schools of grammar are as follows.

i. The Candra School of Candragomin

ii. The Jainendra School of Devanandi

1. w pa ar i
arftt^fTsfb^R^ ppemp: u
2. cRfct I -cbi[$i<w on P 4.2.74
3. at) jRTupja arraraf jn^gg t ^pf&r suiafcT
w I 'd-siu#i«Ki Tiftf, W "gtoT1 Mbh, 1.1.31
*3) 3tTfaTva?T: trrfdtf: l Mbh, 1.4.89
4..... one of the greatest monument of human intelligence. ‘Language’, p. 11
 16
t i
iii. The Sakatayana School of Sakatayana
iv. The Hemacandra School of Hemacandra
v. The Katantra School of Sarvavarman
vi. The Bopadeva School of Bopadeva
vii. The Sarasvata School of Anubhutisvarupa
viii. The Jaumara School of KramadTsvara
ix. The Saupadma School of Padmanabha Bhatta

Apart from these there were also other insignificant grammatical works
like Harinamamrta, Sarasvatikanthabharana etc., confined to some parts of
Bengal only.As per the topic in question, a brief account of some of the
relevant non-Paninian schools is discussed in the following pages.

2.1.1. Identity of Candra.

Candra,the founder of the Candra school of grammar is also known

as Candracarya and Candragomi in original and commentarial works ranging
from 7th to 14th C.A.D.

(a) The grammarian Candra is mentioned first by Bhartrhari of 650

A.D in his Vakyapadiya as Candracarya.
FdcfTcJFFf o&sn 4Wll£HlRf%: |
’’ft frtcfr t^T: II 2.486

(b) Vardhamana (1140 A.D.) refers to Candragomin in his

Ganaratnamahodadhi (stanza 2nd) as: ..
and in his Katantravistara many times according to K.C.Chatterji.1

(c) The Linganusasana of Vamana (800 A.D.) refers to Candra and

the character of his grammer as This
kind of statement is found in commentary on the
C.A.D) also.
1. Candravyakarana of Candragomin, 2.1.66,77, 81, 89,95.
 17
(d)Bopadeva counts the name of Candra among eight early
grammarians in his a work of 13th C.A.D.
9ira>5rcrcr: i

(e) A stanza of Kalhana’s speaks of two tasks undertaken

by Candra viz., spreading the popularity of Mbh and composing
an original work,designated after his name.
cTWcraWt I
Mfrfft ^ rf WI4R0T || 1.176

Kalhana,the ancient chronicler of India flourished in 12th C.A.D.

• *

(f) The grammar composed by Candra is known as '^F^ziraRW,

and the followers of the school are called as
W^T:. Mallinatha, refers to while commenting on ^RT®T
tt-sTFftcit... of Meghaduta (stanza no.26) as f^-sirtera'
hi^i>kjhnA ff^sfMersftr ft^rnfr w
■ci^jc«L||chyu| fcJcbb^H I1

(g) Scholars of twelfth centuryA.D. like Maittreya Raksita in his cFpT

Purusottama in his ’TTOfixt, SaranHeva in his c^JecjRl refer to
the grammar and the grammarian along with the followers of the
school at many places.2

(h) Narayan Bhatta (1560-1666 A.D.) refers to Candra in his trfffcUT-

'Hcl'W and in the essay 3Nif&r%BrnmcTr as mDi'^<+d turm

1. As a matter of fact Candra allows only one form(6.1.42). Goyicandra on the

xifekiviR according to Chatterj ee says that ^ts^r fflrt 3TT?I As Hemacandra
allows both the forms, it is possible that Mallinatha meant Hemacandra here
according to Belvalker (Systems of Sanskrit Grammer, P.48).
2. P.C.Dash, Paninian and Candra Systems of Grammar, pp.2-3.
 18

(i) Bhattoji Dlksita (17th C.A.D) reads 34cHlcwg>niPjitfcT tfig: in

fagi^r ■cf^Tg^t (2940) on P.3.2.26.

2.1.2. Date of the grammarian.

Fifth century A.D. may be accepted as the date of Candra.This

observation is based on some internal and external evidences furnished below.

(a) The authors of the cbif$i4>i have borrowed a number of sutras from
Candravyakarana.Therefore, the lower limit for Candra is 650 A.D.

(b) The flfr on Cvy 1.2.81 gives the sentence aturog Wcif ^prrg which
is helpful to settle the upper limit for Candra.The word in the
line above is interpreted and read differently by different
scholars.Belvalkar takes it for and means Skandagupta by it.1
This fixes approximately 470 A.D. for Candra.

(c) Kalhana’s Rajatarangim speaks of Candra as the contemporary of

the king Abhimanyu who ruled sometime between 400-500 A.D.
according to some Western scholars.

(d) Vasurata and Bhartrhari acknowledge Candra and, therefore, the

(e) Obeisance to and in the opening verse of Cvy and the

absence of the treatment of accent and Vedic words in Cvy,
somehow lead to accept candra as a Buddhist.

t. Belvalkar, Systems...,p.48
 19

2.1.3. Nativity of the grammarian.

Scholars like Mimamsaka and Mishra have discussed the point

deeply. According to Mishra C was a native of Kashmir.1 His arguments are
based on (a) the existence of race in Kashmir, (b) memory of activities
in the lines like SFRfa tz&ft ^ cic^m ^ *rtWFr|ri 1.2.80,c)
the regal order of Abhimanyu to popularise Mbh in Kashmir and d)use of
3K5mc[ in imperfect indicating the incident experienced by the narrator.

Mimamsaka’s argument of Candra’s belonging to Bengal is based on

the assessment of\Jun^^s. Candra has arranged the words in his
in the ending order of etc. Accordingly he is expected to deal with b-
ending words in 2.90 onwards till the arrival of bh-endings.But C has treated
/ t
v-ending words first and then in 2.92 in Sivadi-gana he mixes up both the
types viz. t3c*r, f^Rr, to, ?rt, rrt, f^T, #crr etc.2

The scholar deduces that,C belonged to Bengal due to the reading

ofv-ending words among b-endings belonging to wt as it is a pronunciational
error of the particular region.

It is not out of place to show some difficulties in accepting either

Kashmir or Bengal as the native place of Candra.

(a) <ilfH is understood as a symbol of respect in C’s grammar as

distinct from a particular race.3

(b) C has also referred to other parts of India e.g. 3Tff,

UTdoFp etc. apart from Kashmir.

1. H.Mishra, p.4
2. Mimamsaka, I.,570
3. Cvy4.2.144.
 20

(c) Candra might have spent a considerable period of time in Kashmir

to keep the invitation of the then king of the place but it does not
account for his nativity.

(d) In view of the absence of standard pronunciation all over India,the

learned ones of different parts of ancient India are seen making no
difference in the pronunciation of 'U-vfr, ?t-?, ?-?. In paronomasia,
the difference between? and? is not counted.The people of Bengal/
fte1, Bihar and Orissa mispronunce the said letters and it is not a
feature of Bengal only. So in conclusion it can be said that C was a
native of Eastern India till the detection of his exact place of birth.

2.1.4. Nature of Cvy.

Cvy, published by Dr.Bruno Leibich in 1902 brought the whole system

into lime-light. The work is divided into six chapters having four TTf?s
each.There are about 3100 sutras as against 4000 of Panini. This grammar is
an improvement on oiii^ui^ from various points of view. Candra himself
has announced the character of his grammar as
in the opening stanza of?R|ixl. It claims brevity, clarity and completeness in
comparison to and TORT grammar. C has accepted the words justified
by ?#3>s and ^fes of Mbh and, therefore, calls his grammar as >hyouf.

Cvy is also known as 3TW?> or termless.2 The wrs and the word
‘W ’ are not used in the text of C’s grammar.

According to scholars like Belvalkar(op.cit.,p.49) and H.P.Sastri

(op.cit.,P. 166) etc. C has expunged the treatment of Vedic accent and Vedic
grammar in order to achieve greater brevity and precision.
1. sTe5F( ItSTTWIR? RTf^c|>NR‘Ji£|vHi!l I
eTT ?TSrr 3F?T ?TSRJ vN^'al' 11 -?|c^#R'RTr
2. Cvy 2.2.86
 21

Mishra and Mimamsaka etc. are of opinion that it is erroneous to

presume so due to the colophon of chapter VI which reads ^rtrt zfe
ui^cijiwrf Some evidences are found in Cvy and CV in favour of
the treatment of Vedic accent and language.

(a) CV reads the linC^c^R: 'HfclRH'^^lERTaf: on Cvy 1.1.23.1 The

prohibition of ^fcrflFS accent by the indicatory letter ^ is possible
when there is the rules for accent in the concerned grammar.

(b) CV records the lines like 3P5$ WIFT: (on 1.1.145), 'WRftelN
3 (on 4.3.83), cTozjsrtm vwRdd wift: (on 1.1.105).

(c) aiMici'dl w (1.1.143) entertains two alternative forms namely 3iwrf

and amrai'Wi by the application of^ and respectively .arrow
gets af^ycii-dcci due to ^ which is not intended.So CV enjoins apfr
cRT: and prohobits an^TcRsr accent. This shows the presence of
the rule quoted by cjRHn in Cvy.

(d) CV indicates the chapter VIII as the chapter on accentuation which

suggests that the chapter on Vedic grammar is the chapter VII.

(e) The rule referred to in CV under 7th ^ is related

to Vedic language.

(f) Since accentuation is required most for Vedic language, there is

possibility of the treatment of Vedic Sanskrit prior to it.2

(g) Indicatory \ vb are used to denote particular

accents in Ast. C uses these indicatory letters but does not
1. cqiiqiq cblujT( 1
2. Dash, Op.cit, P. 282
 22

explain their accentual significances. So it may be presumed

that C has either accepted the purpose as given by P or explained
their significances in a separate chapter.

2.1.5. Accessory treatises of Cvy.

(a) It is a list of ^uiiR in three chapters in which the suffixes
are arranged according to their final letter.

(b) It is a treatise of ten sections and is referred to by

(c) fel^-cbiRcbl or feP^FpnrRT'T . It is referred to by Vamanacarya,

Ujj valadatta and Rayamukuta.

(d) ffrT . It explains the meaning and use of twenty \3M^ 4s.

(e) cfuufap-. It is a small treatise corresponding to Panimya f^WT and

deals with the place and effort of ^rofs in 40 sutras.

2.1.6. Concluding observations.

To draw a conclusion on the above observations, it can be said that -

(a) Candra did not compose sections on Vedic grammar and

accentuation though he had a that kind of scheme in mind.

(b) The had completed those sections and therefore declares

the grammar as in the beginning.

(c) The rules dealing with similar phonetic or grammatical operations

are put together in Cvy as a method ofrearrangement of grammatical
 23

material. As a result, the chapters in question might have been

placed last which are dropped by the followers of Candra school
due to their Buddhistic bent of mind. Subsequently they
dissapeared.

(d) Buddhists consider grammar not only as one of the limbs of Vedas
only but that of all the languages. Therefore, the object of grammar
is made wider by Rightly Narayana Bhatta also giving
authority & independence to later grammarians of non-Paninian
systems in his essay amRiidki iHiuidi hails them in the stanza below.

tflffrRpfxT mm,
touted fay, ^ f^^cHcilcKiq |

T^cftcfrf Mrfhr^iui-jci^Rl, 'cfK^ 11 2 11

2.2.1. Identity of Devanandi.

Among the available grammar works in Jaina grammatical tradition,

dPh5T ozj|cf*ur of Devanandi is regarded as the ancient one. Depending on
the BhagavadvadinT designed in 1853, the commentary on by
Samayasundara and^rpWeiMMw of Laxmivallabha, Dr. Kielhom believes
that the aphorisms owe their origin to Mahavira Jaina. The grammar got its
name from the combination of two names; fuR-the preceptor and - the
questioner according to tradition. But the fact is different and the work is
ascribed to Devanandi. Pujyapada and Jinendrabuddhi are two other names
of Devanandi. Points to be noticed in this regard are as follows.

(a) The introductory stanza of the Jvy reads -

cT$4PkdPd<fl' PftWcRRTt I
 24

The name of the author is intentionally used’here with the help of

TjsieKbK. Dhanjayakos'a, Jaina-Harivamsa, Bopadeva and
Hemaeandra refer to Devanandi as the author of this grammar. *

(b) According to a crrirfaj (on Jvy 4.1.139) 'ftP-tiD Pi Rid ^

dcwoii^, ancient authors recall Devanandi from Deva or Nandi and
. Jinendrabuddhi from Jinendra.

(c) It is written in Sravanavelgol inscription no. 40 that the author’s

first name Devanandi was changed into Jinendrabuddhi for his lofty
intelligence and Pujyapada for the honour he deserved from Gods.1.
Jindendrabuddhi was and different from Devanandi
alias Jinenrabuddhi. Jainendra 'oiim^ui is

A biography of Pujyapada written by Candrayya in Kannada tells that

Pujyapada was a native of Karnataka and was a Brahmin. He had completed
the incomplete grammar work of his uncle named Panini. He was an
astrologer, a physician and a poet. After returning from Videha he died at
his own village namely ‘Kole’. According to Nathuramji Premi, the narration
is purely imaginary.2

2.2.2. Date of the Grammarian.

Nathuram Premi, Belvalkar, Pathak.3 and Mimamsaka4 supply evidences

to assign the Jvy to the later part of 5th century A.D. some of their cogent
arguments are as follows.

1. tfr ^ft55T«Rlf^raFir <|SqT II 2 II

# ^cTcnfafojJoicf ac-Urq n 3 11
2. Jvy, S.N. Tripathy (ed), P. 34
3. Indian Antiquary, Oct. 1914
4. cT2TT RsIdMIO , p .53
 25
(a) Katyayana has framed a rule in case of a special application i.e.
rrM w oilicl u41 <tdc^ldflt(£r (Mbh.3.2.11). An incident occured
during the life-time of the narrator takes 5WT in ^d<WcH. Jvy
reads the line 3R^Rt (2.2.92) in which 'ntr^r is mistaken
to be Minander by foreign schloars. He is the historical
Kumaragupata who ruled from413-455 A.D.and whose full name
was cpjN. By the rule he is read as or
cjpTR . The sutra (3.2.5) also holds good as the
cycle of Jupiter rising system was in vogue then.

(b) I.S. Pawte cites a letter from Narasimhacarya, author of

chRdRd, in which the latter amends his mistake and assigns 450
A.D. to the grammarian.1

(c) ainRIcicMcij: (cpif^Rsr on P 3.3.40) is developed on Jainendra

sutra ^dldlA ^Nk)A) (2.3.38) 1

(d) J (3.3.134) alludes to Isvarakrsna of the Sankhyakarika (450 A.D.)

as cTpfanzr.

1
(e) Vardhamana, Vamana, Sakatayana etc. of later age refer to Jvy in
their works.

2.2.3. Nature of Jvy.

Versions of Jainendra grammar are two. Northern version consists of
3000 sutras and Abhayanandi prepares his gloss wifi on it. Southern
version of Jvy has 3700 sutras which is commented by Somadeva in 1205
A.D. There are five 3TajUTs and twenty UT^s in it. UWKTRft and are
similar to 3FSTSirat and cwRhcblcjRl in character. It is a condensed form of
Paninian system. The merit of this grammar can be briefed below.

1. Structure of the Ast., Intro, p. 13.

 26

(a) Changes in wording to secure economy viz. ftr^rmT •-♦err,

^ etc.
(b) Change of P’s word order as for example in 3Tcft f^FfT fyfi;
-* f*rcfrscr ^.

(c) Omission of Siva-sutras and section on Vedic grammar.

(d) Invention of shorter technical terms.

(e) Names of Jaina ^sf^s, great men and tfsis are cited rarely in Jvy
and abundantly in '-t'l^lrl inorder to create a sectarian atmosphere.

(f) Use of all the Paninian 5TFJT?ns .

(g) J does not use Paninian ar^ers meant for accent. When those
arj^srs show features other than signifying accent, J accepts them.
^ is changed in to m in ctfet terminations as there is absence
of any sutra meaning f^fcT w (7.2.118) or the like of Ast.

(h) Jvy is also known as ai’Wlq 6uiw>t. Devanandi considers the

instruction of rules for the topic already prevalent in common
behaviour is for nothing but to increase the volume of the sirer.

(i) teT^Tj^TRFT and ftTCTT are not found in Jvy but hints of
and 'lumid written by the grammarian himself are available from
^err^fr (1.2.1.) and etc.

2.2.4. Accessory treatises.

A grammar text is called with the accessories like Qi^MicS,

J|umid,'dunf^ and tU^T^TRTF. In order to make precise and short,
 27

attaches related topics to it which are called t^ers or mRRi^s.

(a) Abhayanandi’s Wflrt quotes a lot of from
tiinyio but unfortunately it is now lost to us. Gunanandi of course,
supplies a errgmd in his an enlarged version of
Jvy.

(b) 'Jiumici. It is found in relevant places of Wffrt only.

(c) vsuiif^ ^r. There are some sutras used by Abhayanandi in which
Jainendra^terms are used. So it is believed that there was the
existence of'viuiifc of Jainendra. For example - (on
1.1.75), gasr (on 2.3.1.).

(d) The existence of Jainendra Linganusasan is proved

from the lines of Varmana 1 and Hemacandra.2

2.2.5. Observation.
The intention of J, it is observed, is to protect P’s grammar but not to
contradict it. Another motive is to propagate the ideology of his religion.
Religion, community and epoch of Devanandi played a vital role in non­
treatment of accent and Vedic language in Jvy.

2.3.1. Sakatayana and his yiedi^imn.

/
Two grammarians in one name called as Sakatayana are famous in
Sanskrit grammtical literature. One is ancient and the other is modem. The
t
grammar and the grammarian Sakatayana referred to in Ast. (3.4.Ill,8.3.18

1. oiiffeptorar RRd i
-IcHfiljyil'cHH, St. 30
2. mf 3 ^ ^ - ?fcr I

St. 25
 28

and 8.4.50), Mbh (on P 3.2.115,3.3.1), cjmhhAaj mfcT^TRsU (3.9.12,87 etc),

Rktantra Pratisakhya (1.16,13.39) Nirukta (1.12) are ancient and belong to
pre-Papinian age. The text is not available and the grammarian Sakatayana
lives in name only in said references.

The viaii^fRR available and written by Jaina Sakatayana, published

by Bharatiya Jnanapith, Kashi with the intraduction of Robert Birwe tells
about the convictions of foreign scholars on the issue. Dr Buhler ', A.C.
Burnell,12 F. Kielhorn’,3 G. Oppert etc. have expressed some doubts as to
the historicity of 3TfiH4 yii4>dAH which are duly refuted by K. B. Pathak.4
But the view of the foreign scholars as regards the indebtedness of
/
Sakatayana to Nyasa and Jvy is supported by Pathak5. 6

The real name of Sakatayana is PalyakTrti. Baradarajasuri in his

Parsvanathaearita writes -

W 9Tl1^«bK 11 6

Subhacandra in his comnentary of Parsvanathaearita explains it

as cfRT wi M

It is observed form this comment that PalyakTrti was the real or other
name of Sakatayana.Abhayacandra in ylsUll alludes to S in the name
of PalyakTrti also.7

1. Orient and Occident, Vol. 2(1864) P.691 ff.

2. On the Aindra School of Sanskrit Grammarians, Mangalore 1875, p.97 ff.
3. IA, Vol. 16(1887), p. 24 ff.
4. IA,vol.43 (1914), p.205 ff.
5. IA, vol.45, p.26
6. Quoted by Mimamsaka, op. cit. p.596
7. Mimamsaka, op. cit. p. 598
 29

Buhler accepts S as Jaina and refers to the office he

held as found in introductory verse-3 of Rt-umRigfci of Yasovarman1. 2
According to Pathak S was a Jaina.lt is revealed from Malayagiri’s
commentary on Nandisutra that S belonged to the class of middle sect
called which was in between Idiw and communities from
ideology point of view. This is further supported by his sutras/works devoted
to the doctrines of and sects namely
'dil^fcRy^ui and %cffcr^Rcf 5RRW etc.

2.3.2. Date of ^cikatayana.

Sakatayana is the author of both and its gloss called anfrufR

which he fathered on athlucif I, a Rastrakuta king of nineth century. On the
rule 'isuidscr?^' (4.3.208),one of the examples given by aTHty^fri is
3TC£cr%TcptfsvT#T This exact description is found in an inscription of 910
A.D. which reads TpdK ^uecbi^ t'etaT , using in place of
. The use of cT^ in aiHluglr! indicates that PalyakTrti was contemporary
of Amoghavarsa I who ascended the throne in Sambat 871 i.e. 814 A.D.
One of his grant document dating 867 A.D is also available.So it can be
accepted that S’s grammar and his apftqfR might have been written in
between 814 A.D. and 867 A.D.

2.3.3. Nativity of Sakatayana.

To determine or speculate the native place of Sakatayana, internal

evidences help to some extent. In this connection, the words relating to
names of the places used on sutras orgfts by way of illustrations or otherwise
are to be taken into account. It is seen, as a -9RW, a wandering siWRzf, he
has travelled a number of places.

1. Annals of Bhandarkar Institute,vol. 1., p. 12

2. amnliRiKiiiHNoil: i p.15
 30

(a) S’ has used the name of twenty one times in his 3mlu|Rt. It
is the ancient name of modem Orissa.1 Most of the sutras read
sentences like-cbfcH-^iHL vuim, cRWH": and the like.

(b) The word gr^'ddH in the Sutra 3.3.56 is similar to the town aryrteF
of central Orissa.

(c) The use of 3*^ and with in 2.4.100 and 192 with other
examples are associated with the verbs like- pete terror,
3teTH#r, ifTWret, tteT:, rJFTFT, 3RTrfcIWI, 3W1IH:, 3|c|oWIH

and ar^Fift I

(d) Sutras and ffrrs of S also read fhta HiRHchi (3.3.106), tfsptptt per

mm (1.3.60) w (3.3.161) (4.1.174) in the sense of

flat, river-name, hunderd and crook respectively which are purely

in consonance with typical oriya words.

(e) References to rivers, people and places like c|il|«f> urn (1.1.19),
mm m3 (1.1.21), ^ (1.1.61), ^nuuf (1.2.90), tete
(1.2.98), ^er (1.3.93), fte (1.3.100), (1.3.100), 4teT

(1.3.100), qTef^H4,-^ (1.3.156), FtFT (1.3.158), t¥lxf (1.3.159) , 19#?

(1.4.79), 4N|U|^ (2.1.13), W (2.1.13), (2.1.13),

(2.1.13), mm (2.1.18), W# (2.1.104), "'jilHdd (2.1.104),

(2.1.104), mmmm (2.1.156), mrnmz (2.1.156), fmtcF (2.4.10),

cbl^lcH (2.4.84), (2.4.98), (2.4.98), FFSTR (2.4.99),

(2.4.101), W5 (2.4.104), TTcFT (2.4.104), (2.4.104),

tet (2.4.104), ter (2.4.104), 3teft (2.4.105), tfrn^ (2.4.107),

tte?rr (2.4.192), FoW (2.4.192), W (2.4.192), vivKJilMi (2.4.192),

(2.4.194), te?85t(2.4.195), (2.4.197), tel (3.1.36),

1. On Svy 1.3.94, 2 4.100, 2.4.107, 2.4.192, 3.1.196,4.3.209, 4.3.210,4.3.211

 31
^5 (3.1.46), ftd'MI (3.1.166), idldldy (3.1.201), t^R (3.2.74),

(3.4.72), hlc4<4 (3.4.144) occur in sutras and ffrrs of

Sakatayana grammar.1

It is observed from the above citations that (a) S was a native of

Orissa or he has spent a considerable period of his life in Orissa for the
attraction of many Jaina monuments of Orissa.(b)He has used the names of
other places of India due to his working knowledge of history and other
grammatical works.

2.3.4.Nature of Svy .
/
Sakatayana has freely used the property of his predecessors beginning
from Panini to Jainendra.Svy consists of four sr^Ms of four each, the
total number of sutras being about 3,236. He has utilised the materials
already existing and simultaneously tried to correct the errors of Jainendra.2
He has also economised the words to make them simple.He has not treated
the Vedic grammar. In his technical terminology S has preferred to take up
C’s terms whenever they are found shorter. Seeing this assimilating feature
of Svy, Yaksavarma in his Cintamanivrtti, an abridged version of
claims to educate the learners in one year as all the grammatical items are
incorporated in Svy.3 Nathuramji Premi in his -dlf^oT 3tR (pp.
161-165) has meticulously proved S’s authorship of 3-t+ilM^lrl.Yaksavarma
also says so in introduction (stanza 7) ddiifdd^di ffh Wcdfr eT#u#.... I

1. The references in the brackets in some cases are many.

2. B.Upadhyaya, virafar gfcngra, p.591
3. d cRcW cTcFcM ^TT^STcf? I
WT yKIjVINH II6II
?ITs^fgcfcT I
d£*lRd >FFRxT d <44 Rid. II 10 II
 32

2.3.5. A brief comparison of Svy with other systems .

Some examples under different heads are given to show similarities

and dissimilarities.
Ast. Svy Cvy'
a) Number
of sutras 39971 3236 3099

b) Identical 1.4.103 -* 4.1.46

sutras 2.2.8 -» 1.3.189
2.3.38 -* 1.3.183

c) Wording anfcN'-viH'd&di -* SlctAdd.

(1.1.71) (1.1.1)

d) Improvement ss^4: *r:

(5.1.126) (3.3.16) (4.1.142)

e) HcUIgN 14 13
sutras cj -> arahrargs

f) Substitution i) tfrmt,
ii) ^■•^iMdiM'ield-• • • -» fil'd. «- rfraj^HHilgdict

(5.2.128) (3.3.164) ( 4.2.125)

111; Mmd-ScMH-<HlcH4Mct Wfq-VTqlfq-cl -fi;

etc. etc. etc.

1. a. According to tradition there are 3996 sutras laid down by Panini.

USIT HdlfkiiPl W I
WmfcT^ ^(Flt mf&lPt: fcTcTF^ WF( II
b. According to shRi^i-s there are 3995 sutras laid down by PSnini.

IM5 ii
 33

2.4.1. Sarvavarman and the Katantra Vyakarana .

Katantra Vyakarapa occupies an^ important place in Sanskrit

grammatical literature. It is also known as and cftw . Its derivation
system of words is different from other systems. This is specially meant
for the derivation of classical words only . Weber in his History of Indian
Literature (p.277) writes that this grammar was for those who wanted to
learn Sanskrit through Prakrit. In ^ j it is said that-

'^TRWRR^cTI^r t \

II

crfhic^ wnf^fhHcftfT eil^dl^iR^Rsicrr: i

M %r MTenaf n 1

As the work was intrinsically valuable and satisfying the real need of
the people, a good number of commertaries have come up as the symbols
of its popularity.

(a) The meaning of Katantra is orgcF^r. According to the rule Wcftesf

(Kvy 2.5.25) jf is substituted by err in the sense of smallness. It is
also Known as chidiM* or ^cifTO. Modem grammarians attach in
the sense of waf but it is used to denote shortness. It is the short
form of ka^akrsna’s ai^cbdlM according to Miman^saka.12 But
Haradatta explains its name as linked to its divine origin. fc#RT
cbidim^fcimiMi-y: miw^3. It is also known as

. Here means both Kartikeya and the small boy as per

its traditional origin and popularity among the small boys of Marwar
respectively. It is famous in the name of WFT in Bengal.

1. Quoted by Velvalkar, op.cit.p68

2. op. cit. p 549
3. ^ilc’lqYsLitcf, 4.2.65
 34

(b) Katantra consists of three chapters namely -;flf^TF‘r-3»ksyid divided

into 19 sections. Total number of sutras is 855. Kaviraja
mentions regarding the arrangement of topics as-

dtes 31% 33f3 ii

Considering the ^ sutras of Vararuci closely connected with

Katantra, Durgasimha, the flrlw? commbines all in one text. In the
Nama chapter of the Kashmiri version of Katantra, the attached
is the creation of Vararuci/Katyayana. Thus the total
number of sutras amounts to 1400 only.

(c) There are some special features of Katantra which can be hinted
below.

i. It does not explain the technical terms like awm and

vSM'ddf etc. due to their familiarity and authority already
established.

ii. Katantra reads 52 letters in excluding protracted

ones.

iii. Beginning from w to fda, 75 technical terms are used in

Kvy, out of which tyar ^it is meaningless due to the use of
denoting simlar meaning . 32 terms like wtf etc. are not
explained in it.

iv. m^ui. Paninian school is refuted logically in Katantra.

A number of un-Paninian words used in the Ws are proved
appropriate by the commentators.
 35

v. In Katantra there are nine ws. 1768 roots are read in

style in it. The roots repeated in same 'wr to show different
meanings are 75 in number. Saravarman has used 17 auxiliary
tots and Vararuci, 3 tots in these roots amounting to a total of
twenty auxiliary tots . 20 are attached to roots for
different purposes.

vi. The subject matter of the grammar is distributed topic-wise

similar to the later Thefts.

2.4.2. Observations.
(a) Paninian rules on 3 trfsfOTT and the rules of difficult character
are omitted by Sarvavarman because (a) it was designed for the
beginners and others belonging to different walks of life and (b)the
grammar is the only means to achieve knowledge ofclassical words.
According to Durgasimha, fhe instruction or the collection of
classical word* is not capable of imparting knowledge of word as
precisely as the prescription of rules. Keeping in mind that the
Vedic words do not suffer from any corruption due to the vigilant
continuity of Vedic schools, the author did not frame any rule for
Vedic language. There is another intention also. The words which
are not derivable by the help of Katantra, are to be understood by
the help of traditional instruction.

tfepr ofitefg fr mi)cwi^0cr 11

RdiTdlOTfag ftfOT li ffrf 1.1.23)

(b) Katantra retains the natural arrangement of letters as is found in the

y ifci ^n ^q s1 and abandons the artificial arrangement of the alphabet
introduced by Panini.
1. The first sutra of Katantra is ftRJf : I
 36

(c) Paninian 5R£IT£RS are replaced with R3R, ^T3RT, rrr etc. resulting
in brevity and avoidance of unintelligibility.

(d) The 4th Chapter called as is a later interpolation in ^Mid.

It is the work of Vararuci as Raghunandanasiromani puts it.

3T£T vi4cj4un apqifcdi: I ci^Rhi err c&sr ^qiferr: i ^fer

5rfcrqwraT? I i

Belvalkar (P.71) points out that PlmdMid of 1st Chapter, Sfcddmd

of 2nd Chapter and dunfeurd of 4th Chapter are works of other
scholars.

2.4.3. Date .

The date of Katantra is very controversial. Some note-worthy points

are discussed below.

(a) The place of operation in the rules of Katantra are instructed in

first case ending which is called an ancient practice.

Panini is also not free from this kind of practice which is called as
3#*lfcfTTcfi by the Paninians.

(b) Kathasaritsagara narrates that king Satavahana learnt Katantra

grammar from Sarvavarman. The king was the adopted son of
Deepakarni. In fact, RTcRlFd was the epithet of Andhra kings.
They were endowed with this epithet after their victories. WR
is the corrupt form of 'Hf^ciieH in which RTf^T is the synonym of
horse. Deepakarni ofKathasaritsagara is none other than Satakami
II, who was the 6th ^rrarauRr. Hala was the 7th king in the dynasty
of Satavahana and in his court, Sarvavarman and Gunadhya were
two eminent scholars. So Sarvavarman happens to be the
 37
contemporary of Hala. Date of Hala is 20-24.A.D. So the
grammarian is junior to Patanjali by at least two centuries.

(c) Patanjali supplies as the counter-example on cftWRi;

(P 4.2.65). It is again supported by cFt jilcWH (P 4.3.101) followed
by hfT unt mm tffrzrfr (Mbh).

This argument cannot assign a pre-Paninian age to Katantra. It

presupposes that wra should be understood as a
but not Katantra. The propagation of Vedic is meant here.
The second point is that m&N means wrapper. In Tibet, <RcHNq> is
known in this way.

(d) From Durghatavrtti it is known that Vararuci is the author of

This Vararuci is different from the =iiRk^K . His another
name was SGtradhara and he was the author of Prakrtaprakasa. He
belongs to 3rd century A.D.

From the above discussions it can be imagined that Sarvavarman

flourished during the first century A.D. Mimansaka and Dr. Janaki Prasad
Dvivedi think that the grammar work currently available to us is not that old
but the original form of Kvy is pre-Patanjali.

2.5.1. Bopadeva & his School.

Bopadeva belongs to the later generation of grammarians.
Mugdhabodha is the principal contribution of the school. Bopadeva has
benifited himself from the works of previous grammarians in preparing his
Mugdhabodha. There is no divine grace directly interfering and promoting
the composition of the text.
 38

Another monumental work of Bopadeva is his a grand

accumulation of Sanskrit roots. It is unique from the point of view of
arrangement of roots. Bopadeva was the first grammarian to arrange the
entire according to the alphabetical order of the final letter of the
roots . Author’s own commentary on the '^fcfad-ts^ is named as
Apart from these three Bopadeva has also authored ^fMldi, q.chdi'-M,
-cj-schcii and These texts are on Bhagavata & medicine.

Bopadeva was the disciple of Dhanesa and son of Kesava, both of

whom were the physicians of Vedapada, a small town in cR'didd, i.e modem
Berar,1 Hemadri, a minister to the Yadava kings Mahadeva and Ramadevarao
of Devagiri (1260-1271 A.D) was his friend and patron.

Durgadasa, the commentator of^+^p explains the name of Bopadeva/

Vopadeva as - ^3: f%M:, ^ vj# qf I Vitim ^dt^cDc^dlfd
MdildcdidPi = I

Scholars like K.A.Padhye, T.R. Kale and Rajendralal Mitra assign

1260 A.D to Bopadeva’s date of birth but Palsule with evidence takes
Bopadeva’s date of birth not to be later than 1240 A.D.2

The wide circulation of the Mugdhabodha can be judged from the

statement of Bhattoji Diksita in the tidddlw.

cirndfenfUf: I
fMfrRf: 11

1. G.B, Palsule, Kavikalpadmma of Bopadeva, p.XXIX

2. ibid., p.xxxiii
 39

2.5.2. Nature of Bvy .

When the attempts to make P’s grammar simple and reachable made
it polemic and complicated and on the other side the shcools developed
independent of panini became sectarian, the rise of Mugdhabodha solved
the problem by combining simplicity with brevity.Natural mode of
presentation of items made it simple like Katantra. For brevity, he accepted
the y<rili£N system of Panini with some minor changes to fit his system.
Vedic accents and peculiarities are dismissed by him in his last sutra i.e.
letrf&T corresponding to Panini’s ifet uxRi.

In the examples selected, Bopadeva has used religious names like

F? and orther gods. His technical terms deviate from that of Panini’s.

Panini Bopadeva.

I
cfhd ->
?TH

-> etc.

Bopadeva avoids s?cts of Paninian system and the (SoMIeik) of

Bopadeva are sometimes confusing. He has not used the terms like 5rpi,
frnsr etc. to secure simplicity. In Bopadeva used the terms
like.antfect, frnsr, ^r, etc. of other systems.

Mugdhabodha with 1184 sutras only is a small work on grammar. The

influence of P’s grammar is seen on Mugdhabodha and some sutras are
identical in both the works.
 40
The Kavikalpadruma is a metrical siRjqTcJ which gives in 361
stanzas, verbal roots of Sanskrit language arranged in a particular order and
their meanings. It gives information on many points e.g. roots which take
the connective vowel in particular formations; roots taking nasal increment
in certain formations; roots restricted to the Vedic literature; roots taking F
of cf as the suffix for forming past passive participles and so on by means
of a variety of 3FpR*s. The piculiarities of Kkd. lies in assigning new
meanings to roots, avoidance of twisting of vocabulary under the
pressure of the metre and exhaustiveness.

/
Bopadeva, is also idebted to Sarvavarman, Sakatayana, Hemacandra
and KsTrasvamin. Some examples can be cited as reference.

1. ^ (Kvy), spnf (others), (Bvy)

2. TTcfr (Svy), w&l (others), Fdt w (Bvy)
3. (Hemacandra), ffcteFT (others), ITcM (Bvy)
4. 1 (Ksirasvamin), (Bvy)