Jain Journal 1992 01

SR No.: 520105
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1992
Total Pages: 48
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

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grammarians do not maintain such views. In their opinion the vowels should remain as they are after the elision of intervocalic consonants. They have not practically advocated for y'a-s'ruti, but from the statement of Kramadiśvara and Markaṇḍeya we can infer that y'a-s'ruti could be used after all sorts of vowels. As it is a matter of pronunciation, it is better not to show it in writing. Secondly, y'a-s'ruti is predominantly found in the Jaina Mss, be it canonical or non-canonical. But even there no uniformity is maintained. In some Mss it is used uniformly, in others haphazardly. The editors are therefore at a loss to decide which course to adopt. Thirdly, some scholars think that y'a-s'ruti is a chief feature of Jaina Prakrit and therefore, it must be shown in the text, and in that case Hemacandra's dictum should be followed. Lastly in the Sanskrit dramas and other non-Jaina Prakrit works y'a- s'ruti is not used at all, nor does it pose a problem. In those texts the vowels remain as they are (without any y'a-s'ruti) after the elision of some intervocalic single consonants The rule of Hemacandra is not followed at all.
JAIN JOURNAL
It should be noted in this connection that linguistically y'a-s'ruti is a natural and logical phenomenon. Something like this is also noticed by Panini in one of his sutras. The sutra says that "y and y are pronounced with a lighter articulation before an as' letter, according to the opinion of Sakaṭāyana"26 (cf vyor laghu prayatnataraḥ Sākaṭāyanasya VIII. 3.18). Under the sutra Bhaṭṭoji Dikşita explains laghu-prayatnatara as follows:
yasyoccarane jihvāgropāgra-madhya-mūlānām saithilyam jāyate so laghüccaraṇaḥ, i. e.,
"The lighter articulation results from the relaxation of the muscles and the organs employed in speech, The places of pronunciation are palate, etc, the organs are the root, the middle and the tip of the tongue. When the contact of the tongue with the various places is very light the articulation is laghu prayatnatara"27, for example, bho + atra=bhoyatra, asau+adityaḥasav' adityaḥ. Panini generally admits it after o and au.
From Panini's aphorism it is also clear that laghu prayatnatara is a matter of pronunciation. "Effort or articulation is a quality of the
26 S. C. Basu, Siddhanta Kaumudi, reprinted by Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi, p. 85. 27 Ibid., p. 85.