PANINI - Indian Scriptures

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Gurus ›› Rushi Scientists ›› PANINI

PANINI

Contents

General introduction about Panini and Ashtadhyayi

Date of Panini

About personal life

About AshtadhyayiShiva Sutras

Dhatupatha

Ganapatha

Commentary

Opinions of scholars about excellence of Panini

Ferdinand de Saussure

Prem Singh

Leonard Bloomfield

Comparison with modern formal systems

General introduction about Panini and Ashtadhyayi

Panini was the 4th century BC Sanskrit grammarian believed to have lived in ancient Pakistan.

Panini was one of the foremost grammarians of his times whose Sanskrit grammatical rules are the earliest lessons in the genre of descriptive

linguistics.

Panini is particularly known for his collection of 3,959 rules in his Sanskrit grammar Ashtadhyayi – a text consisting of Sanskrit morphology, syntax

and semantics. Ashtadhyayi literally means ‘eight chapters’ and the text is the basis of the Vedanga’s grammatical chapter.

In the making of Ashtadhyayi, Panini has also referred to the earlier texts such as Unadisutra, Dhatupatha, and Ganapatha. However, Ashtadhyayi

remains to be the trendsetter in the usage of descriptive linguistics. Panini’s Ashtadhyayi - together with the works of his predecessor Nirukta,

Nighantu, and Pratishakyas - form the history of linguistics. Even today, Panini’s morphological analysis is believed to be more advanced than

similar Western theories made till the mid 20th century. Again, modern linguistic theories of compounding have also borrowed their nouncompounds analysis from Panini and have also adopted his terms such as bahuvrihi and dvandva.

Modern linguists have confirmed the comprehensive and scientific grammatical theory of Panini as an introduction to Classical Sanskrit which bade

adieu to the era of Vedic Sanskrit.

Date of Panini

Many historians claim Panini to have lived during the 5th century; many others also trace him to the 6th and 7th centuries, corresponding

to Pushkalavati, Gandhara. However, it is certain that Panini lived at the dawn of Vedic period as his grammar purely defines Classical Sanskrit.

Panini is also believed to have lived at either of the following places in northwestern Iron Age India –

at Pushkalavati, Gandhara i.e. Charsadda of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistanat Shalatula, situated at the banks of River Indus, near Attock in Punjab Province, modern Pakistan


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Panini’s vocabulary also infers a lot about the geographical and cultural landscapes of his own surroundings. His grammatical and lexicographic

references to his fellow grammarians also clearly indicate that he was a northwestern habitant.

A verse in the Panchatantra refers to Panini being killed by a lion.

Si ṃ ho vyākaraṇ asyakarturaharatprāṇ ānmuneḥ pāṇ ineḥ

The Chinese Buddhist scholar to India Xuanzang (or Hsüan-tsang), also described Panini’s statue to have once existed at Shalatula, his estimated

place of birth.

About personal life

Nothing much is recorded about Panini’s family life. As mentioned in the later traditions, Panini’s mother’s name was Dakshiand. While nothing is

known about his father, some scholars propose that his brother’s name was Pingala. He also had a maternal uncle named Vyadi. It may be possible

that Panini’s father was called Pani, however this concept has been rejected by most of the scholars.

About Ashtadhyayi

Ashtadhyayi, also means ‘eight chapters’ or Ashtak, is a grammar defining the syntax and structure of the Sanskrit language. The whole grammar is

compiled into 3959 sutras or aphorisms embracing each and every aspect of the Sanskrit terminology.

The technical meta-language of Panini consists of

syntax,

morphology, and

lexicon

This structure of meta-language is based on a series of meta-rules. These rules are either explicitly mentioned in the text or can be deduced. The

two basic principles upon which the meta-language is based are

non-redundancy, or the principle of economy, and

the necessity of all the rules in the Ashtadhyayi .

The text comprises 3,959 sutras or rules, discussed in eight chapters, each chapter divided into a quarter.

What sets Ashtadhyayi apart from its contemporaries?

Besides defining Sanskrit syntax, Ashtadhyayi differentiates between the language used for classical literature and the language used for speaking

by the people of the time.

Ashtadhyayi is the central and most complex part of Panini’s grammar. It is the earliest grammar of Classical Sanskrit which is so complete and

precise in nature.

Below mentioned points briefly describe some important facts about the text content -

It obtains material from the lexical lists - Dhatupatha and Ganapatha – as raw material and uses it for generating the grammatical words.It is highly scientific and standardized.


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The concepts of the phoneme, the morpheme and the root are also addressed here.

The author has reached perfection by completely describing the Sanskrit morphology without any redundancy.

Significance of Ashtadhyayi in the recent past

Recently, striking similarities have been found between Panini’s grammar and the modern Backus Naur Form (syntax tool of computer

programming languages).

The elementary methods defining syntax for new language creation have been given by many linguistics and computer scientists using

timeless examples from Ashtadhyayi.

A number of research and development centers have also sprung up for bettering the computer and programming languages through thestudy of unambiguous structure of Sanskrit grammar.

It is most possible that the there are only two texts which have been passed on to the generations in their raw forms; one is Rig Veda and the

second one is Ashtadhyayi. The text is the non-sacred expression of Panini’s original linguistic thought and has no similarities with the works of the

Greek and Latin grammarians. The 20th century scholars Louis Renou (French Indologist) and Jean Filliozat (French scholar on Indian languages)

have also made elaborate efforts in maintaining that Panini’s non-sacred linguistic thought was the first of its kind in Indian history.

Panini’s Ashtadhyayi is the gateway to the study of famous Indian theologian and philosophers including Shankar, Ramanuja, and Madhva. In fact,

one can say that Ashtadhyayi forms the basis of their thinking.

The format of Ashtadhyayi

The text is divided into two main sections

o Analysis (1 to 5)

o Synthesis (6 to 8)

Synthesis deals with phonology, morphology, and accent.

Analysis deals with roots and suffixes. Roots have two types i.e. verbal and nominal. Verbal roots are again divided into 2 types i.e. simple and

derivative. Nominal roots are divided into 2 types i.e. compound and non-compound. There are 4 main and 2 sub-types of compounds.

Non-compounds are nothing but indeclinable having 4 types.

In suffixes there are 2 types i.e. inflectional and derivational. They are also of 2 types i.e. nominal and verbal. Derivational suffixes are primary and

secondary.

Ashtadhyayi and Associated Text

Panini’s Ashtadhyayi has three associated texts.

Shiva-sutras - The Shiva-sutras are a brief but highly organized list of phonemes. Also known as Maheshvara Sutras, these are the main fourteen

verses systematizing the Sanskrit phonemes. Another name of these sutras are ak ṣ arasamamnaya, meaning ‘recitation of phonemes’. However,

they are most popularly known as Shiva-sutras as there were revealed to Panini be Lord Shiva or Maheshwara.

The importance of Shiva-sutras is that in its fourteen initial lines, preceding the Ashtadhyayi, it encapsulates phonemic notational system of the

Sanskrit grammar. Various clusters of phonemes, unfolded in this notational system, has very special position in the Sanskrit morphology and these

phonemes have found its mention all throughout Ashtadhyayi.


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Dhatupatha - The Dhatupatha is a lexical list of verbal roots sorted by present class. It is formed by the ten present classes of Sanskrit which are as

follows -

1. bhū-ādayaḥ

2. ad-ādayaḥ

3. ju-ho-ti-ādayaḥ

4. div-ādayaḥ

5. su-ādayaḥ

6. tud-ādayaḥ

7. rudh-ādayaḥ

8. tan-ādayaḥ

9. krī-ādayaḥ

10. cur-ādayaḥ

Ganuapatha - The Ganapatha is a list of groups of primitive nominal stems used by the Ashtadhyayi .

Commentary

After Panini, the Mahabhashya (‘great commentary’) of Patanjali on the Ashtadhyayi , dated to the 2nd century BC, .is one amongst the three most

illustrious works in Sanskrit grammar. It is to be noted that Patanjali played an important role in shaping the Indian linguistic science. It established

a comprehensive system of -

shiksha (phonology, including accent) andVyakarana(morphology).

Mahabhashya doesn’t talk much about syntax, but elaborately discusses nirukta (etymology), resulting in some wonderful semantic explanations.

People understand his work to be a defense of Panini, who’s Sūtras are significantly elaborated.

Opinions of scholars about excellence of Panini

Panini’s work greatly influenced the European linguists in the 19th century.

Franz Bopp, the mid 19th century German linguist, is believed to have introduced Panini’s grammar to the west. Bopp was well acclaimed for his

comparative study on Indo-European languages. Subsequently, a wider body of work influenced other notable Sanskrit scholars including Leonard

Bloomfield, Roman Jacobson, and Ferdinand de Saussure. Here is the list of Indian and foreign scholars who gave their opinion on Panini’s work.

Frits Staal - Frits Staal (1930-2012), the 20th century scholar of Southeast Asian Studies, thoroughly discussed how many eminent European

scholars contemplated upon Indian linguistic ideas. Staal has also argued that the concept of formal rules in language was first conceived by Panini

and later on proposed by Ferdinand de Saussurein and further worked upon by Noam Chomsky in 1957. It was Staal who first mentioned that"Panini is the Indian Eucid."


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Ferdinand de Saussure - The foundational ideas proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), Swiss linguist and expert in historical linguistics,

also have Indian origins. de Saussure’s Sanskrit lectures laid the foundations for synchronic linguistics; however, the lectures delivered by de

Saussure, which ran for over three decades, were greatly based on the works of Panini and Bhartrihari. de Saussure’s has attributed his Indian

influence in his following published works –

Published in 1879 - Memoire sur le systemeprimitif des voyellesdans les langues indo-europennes (Memoir on the Original System of Vowels

in the Indo-European Languages). Here, he mentions how Indian grammar has influenced his idea that "reduplicated aorist represents

imperfects of a verbal class."

Published in 1881 - De l'emploi du genitifabsolu en sanscrit (On the Use of the Genetive absolute in Sanskrit), he explicitly refers to Panini as

an influence on the own work.

Prem Singh - Prem Singh has mentioned the influence of Panini’s work on Indo-European linguistics in his foreword to the 1998 reprint of Panini’s

Grammar (German translation). He simultaneously notes down the subsequent rising of the laryngeal theory. To further quote Prem Singh, "This

type of structural analysis suggests influence from Panini's analytical teaching."

George Cardona - George Cardona, American linguist and Indologist, however, warns against exaggerations of Panini’s influence on modern

linguistics. This American scholar was quoted as saying, "Although Saussure also refers to predecessors who had taken this Paninian rule into

account, it is reasonable to conclude that he had a direct acquaintance with Panini's work. As far as I am able to discern upon rereading

Saussure's Memoire, however, it shows no direct influence of Paninian grammar. Indeed, on occasion, Saussure follows a path that is contrary to

Paninian procedure."

Leonard Bloomfield - Leonard Bloomfield (1887-1949), United States linguist, wrote a 1927 paper titled "On some rules of Panini". Bloomfield iscalled the father of American structuralism who adopted a behavioristic approach to linguistics.

Comparison with modern formal systems

While comparing Panin’s work with modern formal systems following points can be deduced –

Panini’s first formal system in grammar is much ahead of the 19 th century innovations of Gottlob Fregeand which led to the subsequent

development of mathematical logic.

Panini’s ‘auxiliary symbols’ method is the first to delegate new affixes, mark syntactic categories and control grammatical derivations.

Emil Post reworked on the technique which became the most standard designing method for programming computer languages.

Panini’s linguistic apparatus is now the applied Post system which is greatly accepted by majority of the Sanskrit scholars.

Panini’s works naturally unfolds context-sensitive grammars with inherent ability to solve numerous complex problems.

Two literary works accredited to Panini, which are now unfortunately lost are -

JāmbavatiVijaya – It is cited by Rajashekhar in Jahlana's Sukti Muktāvalī , with the mention of one fragment in Ramayukta's commentary on

Namalinganushasana. The title infers that the subject deals with the episode when Krishna wins Jambavati as his wife.

In Jahlana's SuktiMuktāvalī Rajashekhara mentions -

§ नमः पानन त यमादावर भ दः।

§ आदौ याकरण कायमन जाबवतजयम् ॥

Pātāla Vijaya - Ascribed to Panini, Pātāla Vijaya is a lost work referred to by Namisadhu in his famous commentary on Kavyalankara

of Rudrat.


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Institution: Indian scriptures team

Published On: 20-05-2013

Tags: Panini, Panini’s Ashtadhyayi, Panini’s grammar, Panini Sanskrit grammar

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