Etymology
Vyākaraṇa () means "separation, distinction, discrimination, analysis, explanation" of something.Damien Keown (2004), A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press,History
Vyākaraṇa emerged as a distinct auxiliary field of Vedic study in ancient times. Its aim was to prevent sloppy usage and transmission of the Vedic knowledge, states Howard Coward – a professor emeritus at the University of Victoria and the founding editor of the ''Journal for Hindu-Christian Studies''. Vyākaraṇa helped ensure that the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism and its message of "Sabda Brahman" (explanation of metaphysical truths through words) that Vedic Rishis had realized by their efforts, remains available to all in a pristine form. In Indian traditions, Vyākaraṇa has been one of the most important sciences, one extensively studied over its history, and that led to major treatises in the philosophy of language. Pāṇini and Yāska, two celebrated ancient scholars of Vyākaraṇa, are both dated to several centuries prior to the start of the common era, likely the 5th-century BCE. However, both of them cite prior scholars and texts, which though lost to history, imply that the field of Vyākaraṇa was an established and developed science of language before them. Between the two, Yaksa may be the older one and more known for ''Nirukta'' (etymology) – the fourth auxiliary field of Vedic studies, but the evidence for him preceding Pāṇini is scanty and uncertain. In terms of dedicated treatise on Vyākaraṇa, Pāṇini is the most recognized ancient Hindu scholar, and his ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' ("Eight Chapters") is the most studied extant ancient manuscript on Sanskrit grammar. Pāṇini's fame spread outside India, and the reverence for ancient Pāṇini in northwest India is mentioned in Chinese texts ofPre-Pāṇinian schools
There were many schools of Sanskrit grammar in ancient India, all established before the mid 1st-millennium BCE. Pāṇini's ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' , which eclipsed all other ancient schools of grammar, mentions the names of ten grammarians. quote: "Pāṇini himself mentions several grammarians as having preceded him, such as Apisali, Kasyapa, Gargya, Galava, Cakravarmana, Bharadvaja, Sakatayana, Sakalya, Senaka, and Sphoṭayāna. The Unadi-sutras are thought by some to be anterior to Pāṇini." Also discusses the differences in opinions on interpreting Vedic texts, as given by Aurnabhava, Aupamanyava, Agrayana, Katthakya, Kautsa and Shakapuni – all mentioned as "anterior to Yāska" on p. 169). Some of these pre-Pāṇinian scholars mentioned by Pāṇini include Apisali, Kasyapa, Gargya, Galava, Cakravarmana, Bharadvaja, Sakatayana, Sakalya, Senaka and Sphoṭayāna. The works of most these authors are lost but we find reference of their ideas in the commentaries and rebuttals by later authors.Post-Pāṇinian schools
Pāṇini's ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' is the most ancient extant manuscript on Vyākaraṇa. It is a complete and descriptive treatise on Sanskrit grammar in aphoristic sutras format. This text attracted a famous and one of the most ancient commentary (bhāṣya) called the ''Mahābhāṣya''. The author of the ''Mahābhāṣya'' is named Patañjali, who may or may not be the same person as the one who authored '' Yogasutras''. The ''Mahābhāṣya'', or "Great Commentary", is more than a commentary on the Aṣṭādhyāyī, it is the earliest known philosophical text of the Hindu grammarians. Non-Hindu texts and traditions on grammar emerged after Patañjali, some of which include the Sanskrit grammar by the Jain author Jainendra and the Cāndra grammar by the Buddhist Candragomin. Later Indian scholars simplified Pāṇini rules, and trimmed his compilation of sutras to essential 1,400 from comprehensive 4,000, eliminating those they felt were too difficult and complicated or those narrowly concerned with Vedic language. Non-Hindu traditions, such as Jainism and Buddhism, developed their own Vyākaraṇa literature, but all of them are dated to the 1st-millennium CE, all of them condensed Pāṇini, accepted and flowered largely from his theories of Vyākaraṇa. The 5th-century Hindu scholarLocation
In terms of the place of Vyākaraṇa scholarship over South Asian history, from ancient to 16th-century, Kashmir, Kerala, Nepal, Andhra Pradesh, Varanasi and Bengal have been influential, but the location of many Vyākaraṇa scholars is unknown.Texts
Pāṇini's text ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' is in sutras format, has eight chapters, and cumulative total of 4,000 sutras. These rules are preceded by a list of fourteen groups of sounds, in three sections called the Shiva-sutra, Pratyahara-sutra and Maheshvara-sutra. The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' groups the rules of language, for clear expression and understanding, into two, the verbal (''Dhatupatha'') and the nominal bases (''Ganapatha''). The text consists of an analytical part covered in the first five chapters, and a synthetic part found in the last three chapters. The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' manuscript has survived with sets of ancillary texts (appendices) whose dates of composition and authors are contested. The main text is notable for its details and systematic nature, syntactic functions and arranging the sutras in an algorithmic fashion where the grammar rules typically apply in the order of sutras. The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' sutras were widely studied and a subject of the ''bhāṣya'' (review and commentary) tradition of Hinduism. The oldest emendation and commentary on the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' is attributed toDiscussion
Pāṇini writes that the ''Anjna'' (popular usage of a word) is the superseding authority, and the theoretically derived meaning of a word must be discarded and instead superseded by that which is the popular usage. The ''artha'' (meaning) of a ''shabda'' (word) is established by popular usage at the time the text was composed, not by etymological theory nor historical usage nor later usage. A sentence is a collection of words, a word is a collection of phonemes, states Pāṇini. The meaning of Vedic passages has to be understood through context, the purpose stated, keeping in mind the subject matter being discussed, what is stated, how, where and when. The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' tradition of Sanskrit language, with some reservations, accepts the premise that all words have verbal roots, and that words are created by affixing fragments to these roots. However, Pāṇini asserts that it is impossible to derive all nouns from verbal roots. The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' is primarily focussed on the study of words, how words are formed, and their correct architecture. However, it does not exclude syntax. Pāṇini includes the discussion of sentence structure. The text, state Howard and Raja, describes compound word formation based on syntactic and semantic considerations, such as in sutra 2.1.1.What is a correct sentence?
Pāṇini asserts that a proper sentence has a single purpose, and is formed from a group of words such that, on analysis, the separate words are found to be mutually expecting each other. A sentence, states Pāṇini, must have syntactic unity, which includes mutual expectancy (''Akansha'') of the words and phonetic contiguity (''Sannidhi'') of construction. Pāṇini adds semantic fitness (''Yogayata''), but not tacitly. He accepts that a sentence can be grammatically correct even if it is semantically inappropriate or a deviant.What does a word mean?
The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' describes numerous usage of words, and how the meaning of a word is driven by overall context of the sentences and composition it is found in. The popular usage and meaning of a word at the time the text was composed supersedes the historical or etymologically derived meanings of that word. A word has the conventional meaning at the time the text was composed, but it is not so when it is quoted (cited or referred to) from another prior art text. In the latter case, the Sanskrit word is suffixed with ''iti'' (literally, thus), whereupon it means what the prior text meant it to be. Yāska asserted that both the meaning and the etymology of words is always context dependent.Syntax, verbs and words
Vyākaraṇa in the Hindu traditions has been a study of both the syntax structure of sentences, as well as the architecture of a word. For instance, Pāṇini asserts that grammar is about the means of semantically connecting a word with other words to express and understand meaning, and words are to be analyzed in the context they are used. Kātyāyana is quoted in Patañjali's ''Mahābhāṣya'' on Vyākaraṇa as asserting the nature of a sentence as follows: Similarly, Sayana asserts the scope of Vyākaraṇa to be as follows: A word that is a verb is concerned with ''bhava'' (to become), while a noun is concerned with ''sattva'' (to be, reality as it is). Sattva and bhava are two aspects of the same existence seen from the static and dynamic points of view. Verbs according to Vyākaraṇa indicate action in a temporal sequence while nouns are static elements, states K Kunjunni Raja.Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya
Patañjali's 2nd-century BCE ''Mahābhāṣya'' is another important ancient text in Vyākaraṇa scholarship. It is not a full commentary on everything Pāṇini wrote in ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'', but it is more a commentary on Kātyāyana's text on grammar called ''Varttikas'', as well as the ideas of Vyadi. While Kātyāyana's additions have survived, Vyadi have not. The Kātyāyana's text reflects an admiration for Pāṇini, an analysis of his rules, their simplification and refinement. The differences between the grammar rules of Pāṇini and of Kātyāyana may be because of historical changes to Sanskrit language over the centuries, state Howard Coward and K Kunjunni Raja.Bhartṛhari's ''Vākyapadīya''
The ''Vākyapadīya'' of Bhartṛhari is a treatise on the philosophy of language, building on the insights of prior Vyākaraṇa scholarship. According to Bhartṛhari, states Scharfstein, all thought and all knowledge are "words", every word has an outward expression and inward meaning. A word may have a definition in isolation but it has meaning only in the context of a sentence. Grammar is a basic science in the Hindu traditions, explains Scharfstein, where it is externally expressed as relations between words, but ultimately internally understood as reflecting relations between the different levels of reality. Word is considered a form of energy in this Hindu text, one with the potential to transform a latent mind and realize the soul. Language evolves to express the transient material world first, and thereon to express feelings, the human desire for meaning in life and the spiritual inner world.Roots of words
In Yāska's time, ''nirukta'' "etymology" was in fact a school which gave information of formation of words, the etymological derivation of words. According to the ''nairuktas'' or "etymologists", all nouns are derived from a verbal root. Yāska defends this view and attributes it to Śākaṭāyana. While others believed that there are some words which are "Rudhi Words". 'Rudhi" means custom. Meaning they are a part of language due to custom, and a correspondence between the word and the thing if it be a noun or correspondence between an act and the word if it be a verb root. Such word can not be derived from verbal roots. Yāska also reports the view of Gārgya, who opposed Śākaṭāyana who held that certain nominal stems were 'atomic' and not to be derived from verbal rootsInfluence
The Vyākaraṇa texts have been highly influential on Hindu philosophies. The concept of a sentence (''vakya'') defined by Pāṇini, for instance, influenced and was similar to Jaimini, the later era founder of Mīmāṃsā school ofNotes
References
Bibliography
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vyakarana * Indian linguistic philosophy Prophecy in Buddhism