Vasudevavijaya of Vasudeva (Study)
by Sajitha. A | 2018 | 50,171 words
This page relates ‘Sanskrit Grammarians (1): Patanjali’ 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.
Sanskrit Grammarians (1): Patañjali
[Full title: Sanskrit Grammarians and Vāsudevavijaya (1): Patañjali]
It is already stated that Vāsudeva has composed his poem to illustrate the Paninian rules. In the case of illustrating Pāṇinīya, Vāsudeva has included comprehensively almost all sūtras. Though he has made use of the Vārtikas, Uṇādisūtras, Gaṇasūtras etc., it lacks its comprehensiveness. Author did not incorporate them intentionally in his work. At the same time, there are too many references can be found in Vāsudevavijaya from the grammatical treatises other than Pāṇini. Here an attempt is made to point out the references from other grammatical works included in Vāsudevavijaya
The references in Vāsudevavijaya from grammatical works are mentioned by quoting the writers names. The Grammarians quoted in Vāsudevavijaya are (1) Patañjali (2) Jayāditya (3) Kṣīrasvāmin (4) Vidyāsāgara and (5) Bhoja.
Patañjali is not referred to in Vāsudevavijaya by name but the several verses from Bhāṣya can be found here.
To explain the word pihitā[1] Vāsudeva mentions a statement from Mahābhāṣya as—
vaṣṭibhāgurirallopamavāpyorupasargayoḥ |[2]
The letter a of the prefixes ava and api will be elided according to the great grammarian Bhāguri. Here the word apihita, will be changed as pihita |
The māṇavyaṃ[3] is employed in Vāsudevavijaya and the meaning māṇavānāṃ samūhaḥ | The race of māṇavas.
Again Vāsudeva expands the word māṇava as manostasyāpatyamityaṇ and states,
apatyekutsite mūḍhe manorautsargikaḥ smṛtaḥ |
nakārasya ca mūrddhanyastena siddhayanti māṇavaḥ ||[4]
The verse can be seen in Mahābhāṣya for deriving the word māṇava.
To derivate the word saptagodāvaram[5] which is an Avyayībhāva compound, Vāsudeva employs a verse:—
kṛṣṇodakapāṇḍūpūrvāyā bhūmerac pratyayaḥ smṛtaḥ |
godāvaryāśca nadyāśca saṃkhyāyā uttare yadi ||
The verse is the combination of two Vārtikas viz. kṛṣṇodakapāṇḍūsaṃkhyāpūrvāyā bhūmerajiṣyate (Vārtika under the rule 5/4/75) and saṃkhyāyā nadīgodāvarībhyāṃ ca | Here the Samāsānta affix ac is employed by this rule for the formation of the word saptagodāvaram | (saptānāṃ godāvarīnāṃ samāhāraḥ) The verse is referred to in Mahābhāṣya.
These kinds of references for Mahābhāṣya are included in Vāsudevavijaya Though Pāṇinīya, Vārtika and Bhāṣya together forms the Sanskrit Grammar, Vāsudeva extends to illustrate only Paṇinīya in its respective manner. Bhāṣya is referred here and there in the poem.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
itthaṃ dhanañjayasakhā sa vicintya dhātrā ye ye sahopakāriṇāḥ pihitāḥ sakhāyaḥ |
govatsakāśca sahasājapitaiṣa tattadrūpo babhūva ha vihitrimadṛśyajātaḥ || ibid,v.5.65
[2]:
Mahābhāṣya, Commentary on the rule 7/3/45.
[3]:
[4]:
Mahābhāṣya-māṇavaśabdasiddhyarthaṃ bhāṣyavārtikam | manorjātāvaññyatau ṣuk ca(1407)
[5]:
agniṣṭomādikarmapraṇihitamanasāṃ kṣetriyavyādhirantarviṣṭabhnan saptagodāvaramukhasalilasnāyino duṣṣamātmā | Prof.Vijayapal Sastri.op.cit.v.7.55