Amrita Collected Papers by A M Ghatage

SR No.: 006968
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Kasturbhai Lalbhai Smarak Nidhi Ahmedabad
Total Pages: 530
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 10 MB

Page 287

Uktārthānām Aprayogaḥ
The system of grammar as formulated by Panini and developed by Kātyāyana and Patañjali approaches an axiomatic system to a considerable extent. As such its understanding requires a good grasp of the presuppositions, assumptions or postulates which underlie the system. A mnemonic stanza enumerates the essential elements of this system as consisting of dhātu 'root', sūtra ‘aphorism', gana 'class', unādi 'underived words', vākya 'sentence', linga 'gender', agama 'augment', pratyaya 'suffix', and adeśa 'substitute'. Patañjali himself defines upadeśa (glossed as adyoccārana i. e. elements stated at the very beginning of the system and hence its postulates) as consisting of dhātu, prātipadika, base form of nouns', nipāta 'arbitrarily formed elements or particles', pratyāhāra 'abbreviations', sutra, pratyaya, adeśa and agama. Basically the two lists amount to the same thing and the guiding principle appears to be the amount of motivation which can be detected in the linguistic expressions of Sanskrit, all unmotivated elements being included in the upadeśa.
The list also contains the elements of grammatical description as well. If we now add to them the various types of sūtras like samjñā, adhikara, paribhāsā, vidhi, niyama and a few others, we can divide the whole list into two distinct groups, one dealing with the basic elements of language and the other belonging to the analysis and description of the language, elements of the mechanism of grammar or features of the metalanguage used. Here we are concerned with the second type of elements used by Patañjali, in his Mahābhāsya.
These elements of grammatical description in the system of Pānini differ from each other in two respects, precision and scope. A pratyāhāra has the greatest precision while the paribhāsās (including the laukikanyāyas similarly used by Patañjali) have the least precision. This scale varies inversely with the scale of extent or scope. Naturally these rules or maxims based on