Pre-Paninian Grammar is an analysis of the linguistic material gleaned from the Pre-Paninian works - the vast grammatical data spread over centuries from the Vedic period down to the time of Panini covering more than a millennium of ancient Indian thought. Grammatical facts reflected in the Padapathas, the Pratisakhyas and the Nirukta, the three milestones in Indian linguistics are discussed in minute detail.
The book is testimony to the years of painstaking research and the author’s indefatigable commitment to the search for truth.
The Author Born in Wadnergangai, Amaravati District (Maharashtra), Ganesh Tryambak Deshpande (1910-J989) studied law after his graduation with Sanskrit as one of the subjects for B. A. He did practise as a lawyer for a few days, but the sudden demise of his father compelled him to take to teaching. A decade after his graduation he completed his post-graduation in Sanskrit and topped Nagpur University. He taught Sanskrit and Law in Shivaji College, Amaravati until 1958 when he joined Post-Graduate Teaching Department (PGTD) at Nagpur. He was a born teacher and a good orator. During his tenure as Head of the Department of Sanskrit at PGTD, he introduced the disciplines of Grammar and Vedas for Post- Graduate studies.
Dr. Deshpande’s book Indian Poetics was also published by Popular Prakashan.
The traditional Indian science of language forms an important chapter in the history of the development of Indian thought. It is, in fact, one of the major contributions to the world tradition of knowledge and learning. It has a long history of over three thousand years which begins with the beginning of civilization in this country. Some of the eminent scholars of the West have recognised the Indian science of language as the foremost science to have evolved in India.
Not only is this book an analysis of the linguistic material gleaned from the Pre-Päl3inian works, it epitomizes the vast grammatical data spread over centuries from the Vedic period down to the time of Panini covering more than a millennium of ancient Indian thought. Grammatical facts reflected in the Padapahas, the Pratiakhyas and the Nirukta, the three milestones in Indian linguistics, are discussed threadbare.
Born in Wadnergangai, Amaravati District (Maharashtra), Ganesh Tryambak Deshpande (1910-1989) studied law after his graduation with Sanskrit as one of the subjects for B. A. He did practise as a lawyer for a few days, but the sudden demise of his father compelled him to take to teaching. A decade after his graduation he completed his post-graduation in Sanskrit and topped Nagpur University. He taught Sanskrit and Law in Shivaji College, Amaravati until 1958 when he joined Post Graduate Teaching Department (PGTD) at Nagpur. He was a born teacher and a good orator. During his tenure as Head of the Department of Sanskrit at PGTD, he introduced the disciplines of Grammar and Vedas for Post- Graduate studies.
The traditional Indian science of language forms an important chapter in the history of the development of Indian thought. It is, in fact, one of the major contributions to the world tradition of knowledge and learning. It has a long history of over three thousand years which begins with the beginning of civilization in this country. Some of the eminent scholars of the West have recognised the Indian science of language as the foremost— science to have evolved in India. The book entitled Pre-Paninian Grammar by late Dr. G. T. Deshpande needs, therefore, no justification for the students of Indology.
Not only is this book an analysis of the linguistic material gleaned from the Pre- Paninian works, it epitomizes the vast grammatical data spread over centuries from the Vedic period down to the time of Panini covering more than a millennium of ancient Indian thought. Grammatical facts reflected in the Padapathas, the Pratisakhyas and the Nirukta, the three milestones in Indian linguistics, are discussed threadbare. The systematic arrangement of the data with an awareness of the significance of every single detail is very impressive. Exhaustive lists of the Pre- Paninian grammarians as well as the statistical data concerning the contents of the Nirukta and many other minute details speak for the painstaking and thorough study of the whole literature by the author. The first impression a reader gets about the book is, therefore, that of exhaustive treatment of the material.
This is, however, not a mere compilation of the Pre- Paninian grammatical material. Nor is it just a survey. Both the beginning and the concluding chapters appear to point at the thesis the learned author of this book wants to put forth: the thesis that the whole linguistic tradition in India regards Sanskrit as a single, indivisible language. On a number of occasions the reader comes across discussions about the artificial division of Sanskrit into Vaidika and Laukika And every discussion ends with the conclusion that the tradition looks at this division as unreal. The author is not merely satisfied with this thesis of the indivisibility of Sanskrit as a major presupposition of the Indian linguistic tradition- The whole exercise of the elaborate arguments through all the chapters boils down to Panini’s affiliation with the Pre-Paninian, rather, the Vedic linguistic tradition. Despite its title the book is aimed at offering new directions to the Paninian studies in the light of the Pre-Paninian material. A corollary to the thesis of the indivisibility of Sanskrit is the thesis, the confirmation of the traditional view, that Paninian grammar is primarily a Vedanga.
This claim put forth by the author in this book may be challenged, since recent studies have convincingly proved that Paninian grammar is not a Vedanga; it is primarily a grammar of Sanskrit spoken in his time and only secondarily is it a Vedic grammar. However, the observation made here, namely, that we cannot demarcate between Vaidika and Laukika Sanskrit in Panini’s grammar, except when there is a specific mention, is absolutely correct. The excellent exposition in the last chapter of the four rules in the Astadhyayi which are shorn of their Vedic context and included in the Laukika section in the Siddhantakaumudi establishes the point beyond doubt. Here is an implicit warning to the students of Panini not to look at the Astadhyayi through the window of the Siddhantakaumudi alone. It is shown with illustrations how a Paninian student is misguided by Bhattoji Diksita. It is here that we see the critical thinking and deep insight of the author. Though we are fortunate to be benefited by his profound scholarship reflected in this book, we are indeed unfortunate that his dream of writing another book, a fresh study of Panini in the light of the observations in this book remains unrealised.
Even the incidental observations made by the author testify to his all-round scholarship. The discussion on the usage of the word path,, on the mantra part yavananam pataye namah, on the change of meaning of the word yajatrah are a few examples.
A serious student of the Indian Intellectual tradition will find this book useful both as a lesson in theorization and as a summary of some noteworthy theoretical points. The progressive march of the Pratisakhyas is, for instance, summed up simply as proceeding from padasandhi to varnasandhi Similarly, the evolution of Indian grammatical thought is described as proceeding from nomenclatory to prescriptive. The question kasmat in the Nirukta is described as a question with reference to the pravrttinimitta. The contrast between the earlier and the later linguistic traditions is made clear by pointing out that the earlier tradition aimed at splitting samhita into padas and padyas while the later tradition aimed at building the padas. A modern student may not agree with the description of the Nirukta as samanyasastra and of Vyakarana as visesasastra or with the meaning of the word vrtti in this book. But every reader will, I am sure, be impressed by the upright personality of the veteran Indologist committed to the search for truth and leaving no stone unturned in his endeavour to achieve the goal. It is reflected on every page of this book which contains the cream of his lifelong pursuit of knowledge.
Sometime before 1980, Prof. G. T. Deshpande handed over to us the manuscript of Pre-Paninian Grammar This was the first part of a series which, to the extent we remember, was meant to be in six parts. Two decades earlier Prof. Deshpande had written a comprehensive work on Indian Poetics, Bharatiya Sahityasastra. In the first part of that work, he had traced the evolution of Aesthetic theory as developed by Sanskrit Aesthetists. In the second part he had tried to reinterpret the positions taken by various philosophers in the light of this evolutionary approach. In a similar manner, this project on Grammar would have tried to interpret how the Grammarians evolved the seemingly rigid Sanskrit Grammar and tried to interpret Vyakarana from a similar evolutionary viewpoint.
On the one hand, with advancing age, he was unable to complete this project; on the other hand, the limitations of letter- press composing made the setting of this manuscript a hazardous job. As publishers, we plead guilty to not finding the right technical solutions while the author was in a position to see the book through the press. It was only after the computer-setting was sufficiently advanced to take care of all the intricacies required for a subject of this nature, that we were able to undertake the production of this manuscript.
Fortunately, the author’s daughter-in-law Dr. Manjushree Deshpande had in the meantime pursued the study of Sanskrit with great zeal. She had not only completed her Doctorate in Alamkarasastra but was also working as a Research Fellow in the Centre for Advanced Studies in Sanskrit, Pune University. She is presently working as visiting faculty in the Department of Sanskrit, University of Pune. We could therefore depend upon her to go through the book on behalf of her late father-in-law. For proofs she also received help from her brother-in-law Shri Vinaykumar Deshpande who is a keen student of languages. Thanks are also due to Dr. Siddharth Wakankar for his erudite suggestions and for meticulously going through the proofs. We are also grateful to Mrudula Joshi and Jyotsna Borde for their assistance.
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