कारकार्थप्रबोधिनी - Karaka Artha Prabodhini (Sanskrit Translation of A Commentary on Karakaprakarana)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

About the Book Kaumudi (water lily) is the primer to study Sanskrit grammar, yet an ardent reader might find it a maze to untangle from its complexities. There is a need of Kaumudi (moonlight) to blossom it and show the light to reach its core. Kdrakcirtha-prabodhini is such an attempt. Karaka, a factor that determines the relation between verb and the constituent words of a sentence, enables the reader to understand the intent of the sentence and thus critical discourses too. The Sanskrit grammatical texts and discourses have elaborated on the subtleties of Ka raka. Due to its profundity, there was a need for a lucid writing for the scholars and students for easy comprehension, which can be a reference book. Dr Potty made this possible for the Malayalam readers. Dr Shivani presents it for the Sanskrit fraternity too, with an introduction by Dr Varakhedi.

About the Author Shivani V is presently an Associate Professor at the Karnataka Samskrit University (KSU), Bangalore and the Editor of the Karnataka Samskrita Adhyayanam - Vidvat Patrika, a Research Journal of the KSU. She pursued her doctoral research on "A Computational Model for Linguistic Study of Sanskrit" followed by the Masters on the Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Sanskrit Vyakarana. Erstwhile, she served as a Deputy Director in the CIF Shodha Sansthan, Kerala and also as a guest faculty member at the Department of Sanskrit Studies, University of Hyderabad, as well as at the Department of Sabdabodha and Language Technology Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapitha, Tirupati. She also has authored a book titled Key to Karaka and has several journal articles and conference proceedings to her credit. She has been leading several projects funded by the national agencies. She is guiding a couple of PhD scholars and developing innovation technology in Pali language, which is one of its kind.

Foreword Grammar is important to learn any language which is not spoken in the community around the learner and it is essential for a person to effectively communicate in the language. In the case of ancient languages such as Sanskrit, Greek and Latin, grammar is the tool which helps the student to understand the literature in them. Sanskrit which has the earliest recorded literature in the form of the Vedas was well developed even before Panini to suit different branches of learning.

Panini (before 700 BCE) observed the nature of the spoken language of his time, the Classical Sanskrit, studied the grammatical texts already available and composed himself a grammatical text, Astddhydyi, to learn and memorize the grammar rules. Of course, to learn the rules in it, a commentary Vrtti) is required and it is most probable that Panini himself wrote a Vrtti which was lost in course of time and newer ones were supplied by his followers later. As the language developed in course of time, the Varttikas, the Mahabhasya and other interpretations appeared to clarify the rules and to accommodate the changes in vocabulary and syntax. Even at present new interpretations are made by scholars both in Sanskrit and vernaculars.

Bhattojidiksita (16th century CE) wrote the Vaiykarana-siddhantakaumudi by rearranging the sutras of Panini and giving lucid meaning of them to facilitate the explanation of process in word-formations and sentence structures. His was a methodology already established in the Rupdvatara of Dharmakirti, the Rupamala of Vimalasarasvati and the Prukriycikaumudi of Ramacandra. Ever since, it has spread all over India within a short period of its composition, the Siddhdntakaumudi remained the most popular text for Sanskrit grammar among scholars and students.

Recognizing the need of the Sanskrit students and teachers of Kerala, Mahamahopadhydya Prof (Dr) R Vasudevan Potty has recently composed commentaries in Malayalam of most of the sections of the Laghusiddhantakaumudi and a few sections of the Siddhantakaumudi. The nonagenarian Prof Potty has been a successful teacher of many Sanskrit Sastras, especially Vyakarana and Vedanta, for several decades and his commentaries are very popular. Being his student in post-graduate classes and having associated with his academic activities ever since, I can vouchsafe for his wonderful erudition.

The Karakaprakarana of Siddhantakaumudi commented by Prof. Potty was published by Sukrtindra Oriental Research Institute. My grand-disciple Dr Shivani has been wise enough to recognize the merit and beauty of it and she took it as her duty to bring it to the Sanskrit community outside Kerala. I have watched her developing in her studies and career over several years and am full of appreciation for her research acumen and desire for academic innovations in tune with the modern times. She has efficiently translated the commentary in to simple Sanskrit and that work, Karakarthaprabodhini, is now ready for the appreciation of Sanskrit lovers.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages