Panini to Patanjali: A Grammatical March

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From the Jacket:

The book presents scholarly essays examining the origin and evolution of Sanskrit grammar in ancient India - from the time of Panini to Patanjali. It focuses on the monumental works in Sanskrit grammar, the Astadhyayi of Panini, the Varttikas of Katyayana and the Mahabhasya of Patanjali and the impact of these on the Sanskrit grammatical tradition.

The essays critically analyse the Paninian system of Sanskrit grammar: its style and technicalities and particularly technical terms and devices used in the Astadyaya. Discussing, chronologically, the systems of grammar that emerged after Panini, they study the style and system of the Varttikas and the unique contribution of Katyayana in incorporating the element of philosophy of language - interpreting difficult words in the Astadyayi on the basis of philosophical doctrine. They enumerate the tradition and technique of Patanjali: the style, language, logic, semantics, and scientific interpretation of his sutras and emphasise he importance of the Mahabhasya as he basis of Post-Paninian Sanskrit grammar systems. There are also discussions on the dates of Panini and Patanjali. Throughout, the authors refer and quote from the works of these masters and other ancient Indian texts as well as from commentaries and sub-commentaries, supplements, logical interpretations and arguments on their writings and the system of Sanskrit grammar.

The volume will interest and benefit scholars and researchers on ancient Indian grammar and linguistic in particular.

About the Author:

Bidyut Lata Ray (Ph.D) is a notes Sanskrit scholar who has been researching on Sanskrit and teaching the subject for over three decades. She has contributed a number of research papers and articles on Jagannatha cult, Vedic and Puranic studies to reputed journals, periodicals and felicitation volumes and published monographs on the subject. She has been conferred with an honorary appointment to the Professional Women's Advisory Board and to the Research Board of Advisors of the American Biographical Institute, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

Foreword I am glad to know that you are bringing out a scholarly research work entitled: “Panini to Patanjali: A Grammatical publication clearly shows that this learned work will definitely prove useful to all students of Sanskrit interested in the Paninian Grammar. I send my best wishes to all the learned contributors of this scholarly work. Preface The present treatise 'Panini to Patanjali: A Grammatical March' is composed of eight scholarly contributions, spreading over the origin and development of Sanskrit grammar during the period in question. This volume is unique in nature as it deals with thought-provoking areas of grammatical sense, starting from its very inception to the work of Patanjali. The Astadhyayi of Panini, the Varttikas of Katyayana and the Mahanhasya of Patanjali, being monumental works of Sanskrit grammar, are the main attractions of our depressions here. The literature is, no doubt, replete with copious commentaries and interpretations on Sanskrit grammar, still a benevolent attempt has been made in this book to present a concise analysis of the systems of Sanskrit grammar from Panini to Patanjali. The projected study begins with the general introduction covering a considerable amount of the information about the origin and development of Sanskrit grammar from the period of the Vedas to the period of the Mahabhasya. Evidently, Chapter 1 deals with the preliminaries to the discussions, undertaken in the subsequent chapters. It throws light on the path of the grammatical march led by Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali. The study included in Chapter 1 has been further enlarged by Sri Krutibas Rath in Chapter 2 where the genesis of Sanskrit grammar has been critically analysed with the true sense of its technical terms. Sri Rath has tried to his best to design a relatively full picture of the extensive and insightful thinking about the grammatical literature under discussion. The topic of Panini's contribution to Sanskrit grammar has been taken up for discussion by Dr., Shankar Nene in Chapter 3. Here, the author has comprehensively' treated the Paninian system of Sanskrit grammar, focusing on its style and technicalities. In Chapter 4, Dr. P. Narayan Namboodiri explains the technical devices present in the Astadhyayi of Panini. According to the author, there are about four thousand ,sutras, found in the Astadhyayi, examining the correctness of the words and their derivation, in detail. Development of Sanskrit grammar after Panini has been discussed by Dr. Yoshiyuki Iwasaki in Chapter 5. Here, the author presents, chronologically, the systems of Sanskrit grammar pertaining to various schools, emerged after Panini. Among such schools, those of Katyayana and Patanjali, are noteworthy. Besides the style and system of the Varttikas, the author hints at the philosophical doctrine of Katyayana, i.e., "eternity of the words." The Mahabhasya of Patanjali adheres to the conversational style of expressions with typical arguments. Iwasaki holds that Patanjali merely enumerates various opinions, without giving a decisive conclusion, and merely expresses the necessity of further investigation. A discussion on the philosophy of language forms another component of Iwasaki's investigation on Sanskrit grammar, after Panini. In Chapter 6, Dr. Malhar Kulkarni makes an attempt to study the contributions of Katyayana to the Paninian grammar. He has also tried to take a survey of the works, done by the modern scholars, since the last two centuries, in this regard. The author has made two basic approaches, traditional and Western, (to focus) on the topic. Both these approaches have peculiarities of their own, which present them in different perspectives. The prime contribution of Katyayana to the grammar of Panini is the incorporation of the element of the philosophy of language. According to the author, Katyayana was the first to interpret the difficult words in the Astadhyayi on the basis of the philosophical doctrine. Chapter 7 presents the grammar of Patanjali, the bhasyakara. Here, Prof. Saroja Bhate enumerates the tradition and technique of Patanjali's Vyakarana Mahabhasya. According to her, the Mahabhasya is the foundation of post-Paninian systems of Sanskrit grammar. It appears as the keystone of the whole grammatical structure, based on Panini. Prof. Bhate makes attempts to highlight some of the salient features of Patanjali's works, like its style, language, logic, linguistic debates and discourses, the sutras and their scientific interpretation, the semantics and the realm of metaphysics et seq. In Chapter 8, Dr. Jatindramohan Mishra reviews the date of Patanjali, following the discussions by different scholars over a couple of centuries, on the topic. The author's discourse, here, deals with the opinions of some prominent scholars, like T. Goldstucker, R.G. Bhandarkar, S.D. Joshi, B.N. Puri and Yudhisthira Mimamsaka on the date of Patanjali, Adhering to Prof. Joshi's dating of the Mahabhasya, Dr. Mishra leans to accept that the upper limit of Patanjali is 85 BC. Thus, the post-Paninian systems of Sanskrit grammar have been well-exercised in the works of Katyayana and Patanjali, which actually have shown the path for understanding the Paninian rules in the true sense of its grammatical and linguistic terms. The other works, included in the post-Paninian systems of Sanskrit grammar, are those of Katantra, Candra, Jainendra, Sakatayana, Sarasvatikanthabharana, Sarasvata, Mugdha-bodha, Haima, Samksiptasara and Supadma Vayakarana, et seq. As the present work restricts itself only to the development of Sanskrit grammar from Panini to Patanjali, the other works after Panini have not been included, here. However, these contributions have been comprehensively treated by Dr. RS. Saini in his book, Post-Paninian Systems of Sanskrit Grammar. Here, in this treatise, our authors have tried their level best to gather their ideas and reflections on the grammatical march, led by the trimuni - Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali in every aspect of Sabdanusasana. Such a long cherished project would not have seen the dawn of the day without the imprints and attentions of our learned grammarians.