Panini Katyayana and Patanjali

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Preface

The Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, which has the advancement of Indological Research as one of its objects, is happy to present to scholars of Sanskrit literature and lovers of ancient Indian wisdom this book “Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali” by K Madhava Krishna Sarma, Director of Sanskrit Education, Rajasthan. Shri Sarma is a member of the Central Sanskrit Board and also the Sabha of the Vidyapeeth.

The importance of Panini in Sanskrit literature can hardly be over-emphasized. In the words of present author “Panini and Sanskrit are inseparable companions, the one without the other can hardly be thought of” although some work has been done on Panini as a source of cultural history, little seems to have been done on the textual side in recent years; the difficult nature of the subject making such an attempt not easily feasible. The present work deals with some important textual and subject problems relating to the Ashtadhyayi. Vartika of Katyayana and the Mahabhashya of Patanjali and will therefore be welcomed by scholars, particularly by those interested in this very significant branch of Sanskrit learning, as fulfilling a long-felt need.

As the work shows, Shri Sarma combines depth of traditional learning with width of modern critical scholarship, a combination which is not nearly as evident as one would wish in the field of contemporary letters. I hope this publication will revive critical interest in Panini Vyakarana, which has suffered comparative neglect of late.

General Editor’s Note

Kashmir Itihas-a cultural history including the history of literary writers of Kashmir, Pancamrta-a compilation of the learned writings of five notable scholars, being a comparative study of ancient Indian and modern thought, Gitakadambari-a latest and attractive collection of select Sanskrit poems, have already been included among this year’s publications in the Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth Prakashanmala. I am most happy now to include in the Series, in continuation of the above and as No. 4, Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali, well known as the Munitraya of Sanskrit Grammar. The present publication has a very great importance in the field of Panini Vyakarana.

The author Shri K. Madhava Krishna Sarma is one of the top most Sanskrit scholars of our day, and we are justly proud of him. As Director of Sanskrit Education, Government of Rajasthan, he has put new life and vigour into Sanskrit in the State. He will thus be remembered always as one of the most successful Educationists in the field of Sanskrit Education and one who contributed greatly towards the renaissance of Sanskrit learning in our days. It is in the fitness of things, therefore, that the Government of India have appointed him a member of the Central Sanskrit Board and, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Indology, the Government of Rajasthan have awarded him a merit pay. This is only one aspect of his long and distinguished career as a Sanskritist. He started as a Research scholar. The late Maharaja Ganga Singhji of Bikaner, known for his discerning eye for merit, invited him to Bikaner, at the suggestion of the late Dr. C. Kunhan Raja (then Head of the Department of Sanskrit, University of Madras), to be in charge of the Anup Sanskrit Library, and he was held in high esteem as a scholar by no less a person than the late Sardar K.M. Panikkar. The work done by him in the field of Oriental Research as Curator of the Anup Sanskrit Library and Director of Oriental Publications, Bikaner has earned the praise of Indologists all over the world.

An unusual depth of traditional learning, equaled only by his width of modern critical scholarship and a facility of English -a combination of these qualities distinguishes this eminent Vaiyakarana from the rest of the contemporary Sanskrit world of letters, as is fully evidenced by the present work. Needless it is to add that a work of such a Scholar, a result of his researches extending over many years, will be welcomed by all those interested in this very important branch of Indology.

It has been my fortunate privilege to be associated with Shri Sarma for nearly two decades now in my various activities in the field of Sanskrit and to receive inspiration and affectionate guidance from him; and, if I have been able to serve the cause of Sanskrit in any way, I owe it in no small measure to this association with him. I have always looked up to him as my Guru-my Ideal-in the development of my educational career.

The publications of the Vidyapeeth are so far related only to darsana, Sahitya, Kavya and Itihasa. The publication of this work on Panini Vyakarana-on the great Trio of Sanskrit Grammar-adds a new dimension to our Series; and we feel proud to offer this to the world of Orientalists.

Maharajadhiraj Dr. Karan Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, in whom Rajalaksmi, Mahalaksmi and Sarasvati are all combined, has been the greatest source of inspiration and encouragement to all of us in the Vidyapeeth in our various activities. Under his kind guidance, the Vidyapeeth has made steady progress. We are grateful to him for the privilege of a Preface to this work by him.

The Vidyapeeth is also highly indebted to Rashtra Kavi Dr. Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ for his able guidance which has helped the institution progress in many directions. As Chairman of the Shodha and Prakashan Samiti, he accepted the publication of this on the advice of M.M. Parameshwaran and Shastri, Shri Rajendra Dwivedi and Dr. Rasik Bihari Joshi. I record my sincere thanks to all of them. With these words, the work is offered to scholars.

Introduction

Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali, presented in the following pages, was originally submitted by me to the University of Madras, as a thesis for the Degree of Master of Oriental Learning. I have made a few minor changes in it here.

Nearly two decades have passed since this was written. In the meanwhile, I have been continuously pressed by friends and scholars to publish the work for the benefit of scholars and research workers. But, pre-occupied as I was with administrative work, I could not do so till now. If the work now sees the light of day, I owe it to Dr. Mandan Mishra, Director of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, who has taken it up for publication by the Vidyapeeth. My thanks are due to him and the other authorities of the Vidyapeeth. I am also thankful to Shri Raghuvir Chaturvedi, my colleague in the Directorate of Sanskrit Education, Rajasthan, for his repeated persuasion to me for the publication of this and for many helpful suggestions. Although a long time has elapsed since this was written, so far as I know, no further work of any importance has been done on the textual or subject side of Panini in recent years. In fact, it is disconcerting to see Vyakarana and other Sastras-Nyaya, Mimamsa and Vedanta, slowly losing their popularity, obviously because of the difficulties in studying and understanding the advanced works in these subjects. The subject which is generally selected for study in the Universities and Sanskrit Colleges and Pathashalas now is what is called Sahitya (Classical Sanskrit Literature, and the study of Sanskrit of a modern scholar generally ends with a few poetical works, dramas, some prose and a few Alankara works. Even the Siddhantakaumudi is dreaded for a complete study, and what is surprising is that there are already attempts to have even the) Laghusiddhantakaumudi simplified. It is being realized less and less that none can be a good scholar even in the Alankara Sastra unless he has a good grounding in Vyakarana and Nyaya-

And if this trend continues, I am afraid, Sanskrit will lose the depth of its traditional learning before long.

The work is mainly a textual study. The problems dealt with here include among others, the text of the Astadhyayi, the technical terms, the Anubandhas, the authorship of the Aksarasamamnaya of the Dhatupatha, Ganapatha, Unadi Sutra etc., the scheme of the Astadhyayi, Katyayana’s relation to Panini as well as Patanjali’s relation to Panini and Katyayana, Katyayana’s and Patanjali’s respective approaches to Panini, the correlation of the Vartikas and the Mahabhasya to linguistic changes, the Paninian school and the Pratisakhyas and the Patanjalian technique of interpretation.

I have made here an attempt to prove with the correlation of linguistic changes to the Vartikas and the Mahabhasya, that Katyayana does not comment upon Panini with a view to finding fault with the latter, although his method is less organic than Patanjali’s. Both Katyayana and Patanjali have the same object in view, namely, bridging the gulf between their respective languages and the grammar of Panini; but their methods are different from each other. I, therefore, do not agree with Goldstucker who says that “a Vartika of Katyayana is therefore not a commentary which explains, but an animadversion which completes. In proposing to himself to write Vartikas on Panini, Katyayana did not mean to justify and defend the rules of Panini, but to find fault with them and whoever has gone through his work must avow that he has done so to him heart’s content.”

The study of linguistic changes from one work of the Paninian school to another is of absorbing interest, and, although I had originally intended to continue this to Post-Patanjalian works, I could not do so yet, for want of leisure. Similarly my intention to translate some portions of the Vakyapadiya and of the Laghusiddhantamanjusa - Nagesa’s magnum opus - which are of great importance to students of Indian Philosophy, remains unfulfilled. I have, however, already published some papers on Bhartrhari. I have pointed out (The Annals of Sri Venkateswara Oriental Institute, Vol. I, Part 3 and Poona Orientalist, Vol. V, No. 1) that he wrote a work called Sabdadhatusamiksa, which is now lost to us.

The importance of Bhartrhari, a great pre-Sankara Idealist, has not yet been sufficiently appreciated by our historians of Indian Philosophy. His Sabdavivartavada has a consistent development, starting with the Vedic literature. I have given some bare outlines of this development in my paper ‘Vak’ before Bhartrhai,’ read at the XVI Indian Philosophical Congress and published in the Poona Orientalist, Vol. VIII, Nos. 1 & 2 Mandana and Gaudapada have drawn their inspiration from him also. Kasmir Savaism owes much to him. A great champion on Intuitionism, he revived the Vedic authority and the Vedantic Idealism, when these were challenged by the Buddhists. In the words of Ramakrishna Kavi, “The evolution of Indian Philosophy shall lose an important link if study and appreciation of Vakyapadiya is ignored.”

When the work was going through the Press, I fell seriously ill, and could not devote as much attention to the correction of proofs as I should have; and, if, consequently, some misprints have crept in, I crave the indulgence of readers. I received much help in correcting the proofs and seeing the work expeditiously through the Press from my colleague Shri Suraj Narain Sharma, who also typed the press copy. I record here my sincere thanks to him.

I shall be failing in my duty if I don’t gratefully remember here Dr. P.S. Subrahmanya Sastri, who introduced me to Indo-European Philology and researches in Panini, and the late Dr. C. Kunhan Raja, under whom I worked for many years. I am also thankful to the Ajanta Printers, Jaipur, for their co-operation in the expeditious printing of the Book.

I am highly thankful to Dr. Karan Singh, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of India, and the Sabhapati of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, for kindly contributing a Preface to this work.

I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Shri Mohanlal Sukhadia. Chief Minister of Rajasthan, for his sustained interest in, and love for, Sanskrit, which have been a source of encouragement to me and which have enabled me to contribute my mite to the progress of Sanskrit Education in Rajasthan.

It is hoped that Panini will receive move and more attention with the development of Linguistics. No finality is claimed for the views expressed here. Research is a continuous process. I present the work with the words of the great Varahamihira: