Vasudevavijaya of Vasudeva (Study)
by Sajitha. A | 2018 | 50,171 words
This page relates ‘Karaka in Grammar (Introduction)’ of the study on the Vasudevavijaya of Vasudeva from the 11th century A.D. The Vasudevavijayam is an educational poem belonging to the Shastra-Kavya category of technical Sanskrit literature. The Vasudevavijayam depicts in 657 verses the story of Lord Krishna while also elucidates the grammatical rules of the Ashtadhyayi of Panini (teaching the science of grammar). The subject-content of the poem was taken from the tenth Skandha of the Bhagavatapurana.
Kāraka in Grammar (Introduction)
The relation subsisting between a noun and a verb in a sentence is generally termed as Kāraka. The term is used in the sense that any factor which contributes to the accomplishment of an action.[1] A Kāraka must be construed with a verb.[2] A Kāraka is a thing viewed in relation to an action, in the accomplishment of which it plays a given role.
There are six Kārakas.
kartā karma ca karaṇaṃ sampradānaṃ tathaiva ca |
apādānādhikaraṇe ityahuḥ kārakāṇi ṣaṭ ||kartā (Agent),
karma (Object, Accusative),
karaṇam (Instrument),
sampradānam (Dative, Reciepient),
apādānam (Ablation, Starting point) and
adhikaraṇam (locus) are the six Kārakas.
In addition, there is a sub type of Agents, viz. a causal agent.
Pāṇini defines each Kāraka and provides subsequent Vibhaktis. Pāṇini does not follow the definite order of the Kārakas but he arranges them in a different style. All the six Kārakas were arranged under the head kārake (1/4/23). Then he places the Sūtras dhruvamapāye'pādānam (1/4/24), karmaṇā yamabhipraiti sa sampradānam (1/4/32), sādhakatamam karaṇam (1/4/42), ādhāro'dhikaraṇam (1/4/45), karturīpsitatamaṃ karma (1/4/49), svatantraḥ kartā (1/4/52) respectively. After defining these, Pāṇini employs respective Vibhaktis for each Kārakas under the head anabhihite (2/3/1). karmaṇidvitīyā (2/3/2), caturthī sampradāne (2/3/13) kartṛkaraṇayostṛtīyā (2/3/18), apādāne pañcamī (2/3/28) saptamyadhikaraṇe ca (2/3/36), prātipadikārthaliṅgaparimāṇavacanamātre prathamā (2/3/46) and ṣaṣṭhī śeṣe (2/3/50) are the Sūtras for the employment of Vibhaktis.
Bhartṛhari gives a philosophical explanation for the Kārakas in Vākyapadīya. He arranges the ideas of Pāṇini systematically.
In Sādhanasamuddeśa, Bhartṛhari defines Kāraka which is called Sādhana by him as follows.
svāśraye samavetānāṃ tadvadevāśrayāntare |
kriyāṇāmabhiniṣpattau sāmarthyaṃ sādhanaṃ viduḥ ||[3]
This means that the efficiency of any substance to bring out an action is called Sādhana or Kāraka.
Here, it is an attempt to study each Kārakas from the point of view of Vāsudevakavi. As Vāsudevavijaya is a poem which illustrates the grammatical rules, there should have ample scope for Kārakas. The thorough examination of the poem leads us to the fact that Vāsudeva gave the illustrations for the grammatical rules in the Paninian order itself. He follows Pāṇini’s same order to illustrate Kārakas also. Hence the examples for Kārakas are scattered in the cantos three, five and six of Vāsudevavijaya Now this section goes through some examples given by Vāsudeva for each Kārakas
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
kriyānvayitvaṃ kārakatvam |
[3]:
Vākyapadīya of Bhartṛhari, K.A.Subramania Aiyer, v.1