Comprehensiveness in illustration of Paninian rules

[Full title: Importance of Vāsudevavijaya among Keralite Vyākaraṇaśāstrakāvyas (2): Comprehensiveness in illustration of Paninian rules]

Another point to be noted here is the comprehensiveness in the illustration of rules. It is already noticed that Vāsudeva has illustrated almost all the rules in the Aṣṭādhyāyī. While considering the Śāstrakāvyas from Kerala, Subhadrāharaṇa, Rāmavarmamahārājacaritra and Vāsudevavijaya are the only works which comprehensively illustrate the Paninian rules. All the other works are intended to incorporate and illustrate only some rules or some sections.

The important work Dhātukāvya of Melputtūrnārāyaṇabhaṭṭa, is composed to illustrate the Dhātupāṭha only. The author says that he composed this work in order to complete the story of Kṛṣṇa which was left unfinished by Vāsudeva in his Vāsudevavijaya^[1] It does not illustrate the Paninian rules but the Dhātus according to the Mādhavīyadhātuvṛtti. So it cannot be claim comprehensiveness in the illustration.

Likewise, Surūparāghava of Ilattūr Rāmasvāmi Śāstri is another important work in this regard. Though the scholars opined that 18 cantos in this poem, till the 33^rd verse of the fifth canto is only available now. In the available portion, the Ajanta and Halantaśabdas, Kārakas and Strīpratyayas are illustrated. Hence this work too lacks comprehensiveness.

Another important work is Sugalārthamālā of Peruntānam Nārāyaṇan Nampūtiri. The poem is composed to illustrate the rules regarding lakāras in the Aṣṭādhyāyī. Thus this poem too contains only a part of Paninian rules.

Pāṇinīyasūtrodāharaṇakāvya with its commentary is another poem of this type. It illustrates Paniniaṃsūtras in its order as seen in Arjunarāvaṇīya. But the text is not available in printed form. A paper manuscript is kept in the Madras manuscript library but lacks its beginning and end. The available portion contains only the verses from the second canto.

Another poem is Śrīcihnakāya of Līlāśuka. This is a Prakrit poem and illustrates the Prakrit rules. It does not relate with Sanskrit grammar.

The rest three works illustrate Paninian rules completely. Among them Rāmavarmamahārājacaritra is a Mahākāvya which illustrates the main rules of Aṣṭādhyāyī in eight cantos in its order. But the work has no commentary. The absence of commentary for aŚāstrakāvya leads to difficulty in learning and understanding the work. Sri. V. Venkitaramasarma, the editor of the work, notes down the Paniniyan rules which are referred to in the verses and occasionally gives short introductory statements as to each of the sections. But It is not sufficient to reduce the complexity in learning.

Thus Subhadrāharaṇa is a complete and comprehensive work with a well-established auto-commentary Vivaraṇa which stands equally with Vāsudevavijaya The work is divided into 20 cantos. When compared with it, Vāsudevavijaya has differed from this in two ways. Primarily it is the mode of illustration of rules and the other one is the length of the poem.

Subhadrāharaṇa illustrates Paninian rules in the order of Prakaraṇas as in Bhaṭṭikāvya. But Vāsudevavijaya illustrates the rules in their exact order as seen in Aṣṭādhyāyī. Though Vāsudevavijaya follows the Paninian order, it uses a different style to incorporate them. Vāsudeva divides the whole Aṣṭādhyāyī into four sections and gives illustrations for each section in a single verse. This peculiar mode of illustration leads to brevity and comprehensiveness. Vāsudevavijaya includes almost all the Paninian rules in seven cantos. But Subhadrāharaṇa takes 20 cantos to fulfil its aim. The students can easily and promptly access the rules and their illustrations by using the limited number of cantos. Thus it can be said that Vāsudevavijaya has comprehensiveness and brevity in illustrating the grammatical rules than any other work from Kerala.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

udāhṛtaṃ pāṇinisūtramaṇḍalaṃ prāgvāsudevenatadūrdhvato'paraḥ |
udāharatyadya vṛkodaroditāndhātūṃkrameṇaiva hi mādhavāśrayāt ||
  Dhātukāya of Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa, (Ed.) S.VenkataSubramoniaAiyer, v. I.1.