Chapter 24.3 - The Astadhyayi: Commentaries and Arrangements

[Full title: Vyakarana-Shastra (grammar) (3): The Astadhyayi: Commentaries and Arrangements]

The first extant vrtti on Panini's Astadhyayi is the Kasika -vrtti, the Banaras commentary, written jointly by Vamana and Jayaditya, who are usually regarded as having lived in the whoshat New Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

seventh century. The kasika-vrtti is presumed to be a Buddhist work. Contrary to the wont, it has no mangala , and handles the text with a measure of liberty, showing as many as fifty-eight variations from the original . The writers are also credited with the authorship of an independent treatise , the Vrtti-Sutra. Among other prominent commentaries on the Astadhyayi is Bhaga-vrtti by Bhartrhari or Vimalamati, although this work is now no longer available. There is also the Bhasa-vrtti by Purusottamadeva (sixteenth century A.D.) who drew inspiration from both the Kasika and the Bhaga-vrtti. Durghata-vrtti, a work on some selected sutras from the Astadhyayi, was written by the Buddhist scholar Saranadeva in Saka era 21 1095 (=1172 A.D.). The name of this work is derived from the fact that it seeks to offer justification for durghatas, i.e. points which are normally difficult to justify by grammar. The last of the important commentaries on the Astadhyayi is Sutra-prakasa by the well-known sixteenth century South Indian writer Appayadiksita. The Kasika-vrtti has two important commentaries. In the seventh century was written Nyasa or Kasika-vivarana-panjika by Jinendrabuddhi,22 and in the eleventh century was written Haradatta's Pada-manjari.23 In about the eleventh century, the Astadhyayi was given a new form by the Buddhist scholar, Dharmakirti. He rearranged some of the useful sutras topic-wise. In about the fourteenth century 24 another Buddhist scholar, Vimalasarasvati, did precisely the same thing in a work called Rupamala. About a century later, the Andhra scholar Ramacandra, in his Prakriya-kaumudi, followed the same pattern but extended the scope of his work by including some of the sutras left out by his predecessors. Two commentaries were written on this work: the Prakriya-prakasa by Sesakrsna (sixteenth century A.D.), the teacher of the famous Bhattojidiksita; and Prasada by Vitthala (sixteenth century A.D.). Next came Siddhanta-kaumudi by Bhattojidiksita (A.D. 1600-1650) , which, in arrangement, closely followed PrakriyaCC-0.

kaumudi and the earlier works, but differed from them in that it incorporated all of Panini's sutras. Siddhanta-kaumudi is the most popular extant manual on Sanskrit grammar. Bhattojidiksita himself wrote a commentary on this work, which he called Praudha-manorama and his grandson Haridiksita wrote a commentary on it called Sabdaratna. His principal aim in writing Sabdaratna was to refute what he regarded as unfair criticism of Praudha-manorama, which occurred in Praudhamanoramakuca-mardini by Panditaraja Jagannatha, a contemporary of his father Bhanujidiksita. Another commentary on Siddhanta-kaumudi was written by Nagojibhatta (eighteenth century A.D.), a pupil of Haridiksita. He wrote his commentary in two versions, the longer being called (Brhat) Sabdendusekhara, and the shorter one Laghu-sabdendusekhara. Nagojibhatta wrote another work in three versions, the Vaiyakarana-siddhanta-manjusa, short version Laghu-Manjusa and the still shorter version Parama-laghumanjusa. This work was an independent treatise on grammatical philosophy and semantics in the Navya-nyaya style (neo-logical style of argumentation). The author based his discussion mainly on Patanjali's Mahabhasya and on Bhartrhari's Vakyapadiya, but not unoften he differed from them, showing remarkable originality. Nagojibhatta also wrote Paribhasendu-sekhara, a gloss on the paribhasas (grammatical dicta). This was in line with such treatises as the Paribhasa-vrtti by Siradeva. A work by Bhattojidiksita which deserves special mention is Sabdakaustubha, although now it is available only in two fragments; one fragment comprises the first portion of the work, from the beginning to the end of the second pada of the third adhyaya; the other fragment contains the fourth adhyaya. Sabdakaustubha is an independent commentary on Panini's Astadhyayi and is based primarily on Patanjali's Mahabhasya, as the author himself expressly states 25 and as Haradatta Misra also states in his Pada-manjari. The Sabda-kaustubha was written earlier Im.

than the Siddhanta-kaumudi, which refers to it in unmistakable terms. It is in this work that the true greatness of Bhattojidiksita as an original thinker is revealed. He summarized the main conclusions of his work in seventyfour karikas. Kaundabhatta, Bhattojidiksita's nephew, embodied and expounded these seventyfour karikas in his Vaiyakarana-bhusana ; the shorter, Vaiyakatrana-bhusanasara ; and the still shorter, Laghuvaiyakarana-bhusana-sara. Like the later work, Nagojibhatta's Manjusa, Kaundabhatta's work deals with grammatical philosophy and semantics. Kaundabhatta lived in the middle of the seventeenth century. In the first quarter of the eighteenth century, Varadaraja, Bhattojidiksita's pupil, evolved from Siddhanta-kaumudi two school manuals, Madhya-kaumudi and Laghu-kaumudi. These two manuals, especially the shorter one, Laghu-kaumudi, are very popular in tols (traditional Sanskrit schools) and pathasalas (primary schools) even to this day. Among the works which are ancillary to Panini's sutras is the Unadi-Sutra which is presupposed by Panini. It is ascribed to Sakatayana. A later work, Dhatu-patha, which is in substance that of Panini, was the source of inspiration for three works: Dhatu-pradipa by Maitreyaraksita (A.D. 1165); Daiva by Deva on which Krsnalilasuka Muni wrote a commentary, Purusakara; and Madhaviyadhatuvrtti by Sayana (thirteenth century A.D.). Ganaratnamahodadhi by Vardhamana (1140) does not seem to be based on the Ganapatha of Panini, for Panini's work itself has not been handed down in its authentic form. It has additions and alterations made in the light of the Ganapathas of other grammatical treatises. A post-Patanjali writer, Santanava, composed the Phit-sutras, which dealt with the rules of Vedic and classical accent