The soul of Pāṇinian grammar (vyākaraṇa) is in the derivational methods
(prakriyās) codified into aphoristic (sūtra-style) rules in Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī.
These rules have been ordered in a particular way, which is in fact the key to its
long-lasting centrality to the tradition of studying Sanskrit grammar.
As Professor Pushpa Dikshit writes in her introduction to the Navya-Siddhānta-
Kaumudī:
पाणिनिः क्रम एवास्ति क्रम एव तपःफलम् ।
क्रमहानेः परा हानिः शाब्दिकस्य न विद्यते ॥
“(The soul of) Pāṇini is (in) the krama (the order of sūtras in the Aṣṭādhyāyī) alone.
The krama is the fruit of (Pāṇini’s) penance. To destroy the krama is the greatest
destruction, but one who studies vyākaraṇa (properly) does not face this
problem.”
There are presently two popular methods of studying Pāṇinian grammar. One
method is to study the sūtras and their meanings directly from Pāṇini’s
Pāṇinīyā Pauṣpī Prakriyā I Page | 2
Aṣṭādhyāyī, in the order they are given. The sutras in the Aṣṭādhyāyī, arranged
according to their anuvṛttis (repetition or recurrence of words from previous
rules), have been placed in a logical order. The adhikāras (governing rules),
anuvṛttis, and the knowledge of the order of the sūtras are the life of the
Aṣṭādhyāyī. Studying and understanding these from the Aṣṭādhyāyī directly will
make the inner workings of the Aṣṭādhyāyī clear, but it is very difficult to gain
access to the technique of prakriyā (the process of the etymological formation of
words) in this way.
The second method of studying Pāṇinian grammar is the prakriyā method.
Prakriyā texts primarily put forth the “application” of the Aṣṭādhyāyī’s sutras
(rather than maintaining the original order of the Aṣṭādhyāyī). For the sake of this
application, all the sutras that are required in a particular process are brought into
play there itself. By doing this, the original order and arrangement of the sūtras in
the Aṣṭādhyāyī is broken. Hence, students of the prakriyā texts are unable to
understand the essence of the governing rules (adhikāra-sūtras). It is for this
reason that even after putting in a tremendous amount of effort, while these
students are able to form words, they do not understand why they are able to form
these words.
Thus a method that explains the system of Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī clearly and gives
not only one application of each sūtra in a particular prakriyā, but also the
application of that sūtra in all contexts at once in a repetitive way is an absolute
necessity. It is this method that Professor Pushpa Dikshit has presented in her
Pāṇinīyā Pauṣpī Prakriyā, using which a student may absorb the entire
Aṣṭādhyāyī in six months.
- Teacher: Vinayak Rajat Bhat