Mahabhashya, Mahābhāṣya, Maha-bhashya: 9 definitions

Introduction:

Mahabhashya means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

The Sanskrit term Mahābhāṣya can be transliterated into English as Mahabhasya or Mahabhashya, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar)

[«previous next»] — Mahabhashya in Vyakarana glossary
Source: Wikisource: A dictionary of Sanskrit grammar

Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य).—lit. the great commentary. The word is uniformly used by commentators and classical Sanskrit writers for the reputed commentary on Pāṇini's Sūtras and the Vārttikas thereon by Patañjali in the 2nd century B. C. The commentary is very scholarly yet very simple in style, and exhaustive although omitting a number of Pāṇini's rules. It is the first and oldest existing commentary on the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini, and, in spite of some other commentaries and glosses and other compendia, written later on to explain the Sutras of Panini, it has remained supremely authoritative and furnishes the last and final word in all places of doubt; cf. the remarks इति भाष्ये स्थितम्, इत्युक्तं भाष्ये, इत्युक्तमाकरे (iti bhāṣye sthitam, ityuktaṃ bhāṣye, ityuktamākare) etc. scattered here and there in several Vyaakarana treatises forming, in fact, the patent words used by commentators when they finish any chain of arguments. Besides commenting on the Sutras of Paanini, Patanjali, the author, has raised many other grammatical issues and after discussing them fully and thoroughly, given his conclusions which have become the final dicta in those matters. The work, in short, has become an encyclopedic one and hence aptly called खनि (khani) or आकर (ākara). The work is spread over such a wide field of grammatical studies that not a single grammatical issue appears to have been left out. The author appears to have made a close study of the method and explanations of the Sutras of Paanini given at various academies all over the country and incorporated the gist of those studies given in the form of Varttikas at the various places, in his great work. He has thoroughly scrutinized and commented upon the Vaarttikas many of which he has approved, some of which he has rejected, and a few of which he has supplemented. Besides the Vaarttikas which are referred to above, he has quoted stanzas which verily sum up the arguments in explanation of the difficult sutras, composed by his predecessors. There is a good reason to believe that there were small glosses or commentaries on the Sutras of Paanini, written by learned teachers at the various academies, and the Vaarttikas formed in a way, a short pithy summary of those glosses or Vrttis. . The explanation of the word वृत्तौ साधु वार्तिकम् (vṛttau sādhu vārtikam) given by Kaiyata may be quoted in support of this point. Kaiyata has at one place even stated that the argument of the Bhaasyakaara is in consonance with that of Kuni, his predecessor. The work is divided into eightyfive sections which are given the name of lesson or आह्लिक (āhlika) by the author, probably because they form the subject matter of one day's study each, if the student has already made a thorough study of the subject and is very sharp in intelligence. cf. अह्ला निर्वृत्तम् आह्लिकम् (ahlā nirvṛttam āhlikam), (the explanation given by the commentatiors).Many commentary works were written on this magnum opus of Patanjali during the long period of twenty centuries upto this time under the names टीका, टिप्पणी, दीपिका, प्रकाशिका, व्याख्या, रत्नावली, स्फूर्ति, वृत्ति, प्रदीप, व्याख्यानं (ṭīkā, ṭippaṇī, dīpikā, prakāśikā, vyākhyā, ratnāvalī, sphūrti, vṛtti, pradīpa, vyākhyānaṃ) and the like, but only one of them the 'Pradipa' of कैयटी-पाध्याय (kaiyaṭī-pādhyāya), is found complete. The learned commentary by Bhartrhari, written a few centuries before the Pradipa, is available only in a fragment and that too, in a manuscript form copied down from the original one from time to time by the scribes very carelessly. Two other commentaries which are comparatively modern, written by Naarayanasesa and Nilakantha are available but they are also incomplete and in a manuscript form. Possibly Kaiyatabhatta's Pradipa threw into the background the commentaries of his predecessors and no grammarian after Kaiyata dared write a commentary superior to Kaiyata's Pradipa or, if he began, he had to abandon his work in the middle. The commentary of Kaiyata is such a scholarly one and so written to the point, that later commentators have almost identified the original Bhasya with the commentary Pradipa and many a time expressed the two words Bhasya and Kaiyata in the same breath as भाष्यकैयटयोः (bhāṣyakaiyaṭayoḥ) (एतदुक्तम् (etaduktam) or स्पष्टमेतत् (spaṣṭametat)).

Vyakarana book cover
context information

Vyakarana (व्याकरण, vyākaraṇa) refers to Sanskrit grammar and represents one of the six additional sciences (vedanga) to be studied along with the Vedas. Vyakarana concerns itself with the rules of Sanskrit grammar and linguistic analysis in order to establish the correct context of words and sentences.

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General definition (in Hinduism)

[«previous next»] — Mahabhashya in Hinduism glossary
Source: WikiPedia: Hinduism

The Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य, "great commentary"), attributed to Patañjali, is a commentary on selected rules of Sanskrit grammar from Pāṇini's treatise, the Ashtadhyayi, as well as Kātyāyana's Varttika, an elaboration of Pāṇini's grammar. It is dated to the 2nd century B.C.

Patañjali is one of the three most famous Sanskrit grammarians of ancient India, other two being Pāṇini and Kātyayana who preceded Patañjali (dated to ca. 150 BC). Kātyayana's work (nearly 1500 vārtikas on Pāṇini) is available only through references in Patañjali's work.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Mahabhashya in Sanskrit glossary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य).—

1) a great commentary.

2) particularly, the great commentary of Patañjali on the Sūtras of Pāṇini.

Derivable forms: mahābhāṣyam (महाभाष्यम्).

Mahābhāṣya is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms mahā and bhāṣya (भाष्य).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य).—n.

(-ṣyaṃ) 1. The commentary of Patanjali on the Sutras of Panini. 2. Any great commentary.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य).—[neuter] the great comment (of PataJjali on the grammatical Sūtras of Pāṇini).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Aufrecht Catalogus Catalogorum

1) Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—explanatory and critical notes on Pāṇini’s sūtra and the vārttika of Kātyāyana, by Patañjali. Many mss. include the vārttika, and several the Pradīpa of Kaiyaṭa. Io. 171. 326. 330. 3053. W. p. 209. Oxf. 158. L. 53. Khn. 48. K. 88. B. 3, 16. Report. Xx. Ben. 19. Lgr. 94 ([fragmentary]). Haug. 39. 40. Kāṭm. 8. Pheh. 12 (and—[commentary]). Rādh. 9. NW. 66. Oudh. Iii, 12. Np. I, 96. Burnell. 37^a. Gu. 4. P. 21. 22. Bhk. 27. 28. Bhr. 185. Poona. 331. 332. 620. Taylor. 1, 94. Oppert. 716. 1531-35. 1976-79. 2529. 3191. 3337. 3539. 3736. 4029. 4154. 4238. 4340. 4500. 4787. 5127. 5393. 5727. 6632. 7334. 7771. Ii, 836. 1131. 1356. 1592. 2084. 2269. 2403. 2778. 4339. 4391. 4426. 4836. 5406. 5543. 5637. 5766. 6843. 6998. 7153. 7698. 7905. 8140. 8308. 8570. 8674. 8916. 9075. 9265. 9359. 9496. 9638. 10090. 10168. 10344. 10408. Rice. 16. 20. W. 1624. 1625. Bp. 5. Bühler 543.
—[commentary] Rice. 20.
—[commentary] Śabdabṛhatī. Mysore. 4.
—[commentary] Mahābhāṣyapradīpa (q. v.) by Kaiyaṭa.
—[commentary] Prakāśa (?) by Nārāyaṇaśeṣa. Np. Ii, 96.
—[commentary] Sūktiratnākara by Śeṣanārāyana, son of Kṛṣṇa. Io. 3082. W. p. 210. Ben. 22. NW. 60. Lahore. 6.
—[commentary] Sūktiratnākara by Nṛsiṃha, son of Jīvadeva. Peters. 2, 104.
—[commentary] by Rāmakṛṣṇānanda. NW. 46. Np. I, 100.
—[commentary] Mahābhāṣyādarśa by Lakṣmaṇa, son of Murāri. Paris. (D 234).
—[commentary] Mahābhāṣyasiddhāntaratnaprakāśa by Śivarāmendra Sarasvatī. Ben. 21 (2).
—[commentary] Mahābhāṣyagūḍhārthadīpinī by Sadāśiva Bp. 57. 264.

2) Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य):—by Patañjali. Gb. 71-73 ([fragmentary]). Goldstu7cker 6. Gov. Or. Libr. Madras 67. Hz. 182 (part of third and the fourth adhyāya). 225 (1. 2. 3, 1). 245 (adhy. 6). 252 (three āhnika). 288. 485 (1-3). Peters. 4, 19. Stein 44.
—[commentary] Sūktiratnākara by Śeṣanārāyaṇa. Stein 45.

3) Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य):—by Patañjali. Ulwar 1115. 1116.
—[commentary] Mahābhāṣyapradīpa by Kaiyaṭa. Ulwar 1116.
—[sub-commentary] Mahābhāṣyapradīpoddyota by Nāgeśa. Ulwar 1117.
—[commentary] Sūktiratnākara by Śeṣa Nārāyaṇa. Ulwar 1118.
—[commentary] Sūktiratnākara by Nṛsiṃha, son of Jīvadeva. Ulwar 1119.

4) Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य):—by Patañjali. Ak 653 (with the Mahābhāṣyapradīpa and the Mahābhāṣyapradīpoddyota). Bc 251-253. Hz. 806 (Adhy. 2. 4. 7). 1129 (till 1, 1. 8). Peters. 5, 227. C. Mahābhāṣyapradīpa by Kaiyaṭa. Bc 254. 255. Hz. 807 (Adhy. 1. 6). 1256 (pāda 1). Peters. 5, 227. Cc. Mahābhāṣyapradīpoddyota by Nāgojī. Bd. 563 (inc.). Hz. 808 (Adhy. 1. 7). 1247 (pāda 1 and 3). L.. 733 (Āhnika, 1, 4, 1 till 1, 4, 4). C. Mahābhāṣyaratnāvalī by Cokkanātha, son of Nārāyaṇa. Hz. 1063 p. 101 (till 1, 1, 9).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mahābhāṣya (महाभाष्य):—[=mahā-bhāṣya] [from mahā > mah] n. ‘Great Commentary’, Name of Patañjali’s com° on the Sūtras of Pāṇini and the Vārttikas of Kātyāyana, [Prabodha-candrodaya; Rājataraṅgiṇī] etc. ([Indian Wisdom, by Sir M. Monier-Williams 167])

[Sanskrit to German]

Mahabhashya in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

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