Grammatical Riddles from Jain Works

Author(s): Nalini Balbir
Publisher: Z_Nirgranth_Aetihasik_Lekh_Samucchay_Part_1_002105.pdf and Nirgranth_Aetihasik_Lekh_Samucchay_Part_2

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Nalini Balbir
Jambu-jyoti
What would be the word (i.e., verbal affix) for the roots to shine' and others, even if there is an agent ? ātmanepadam
There are good reasons to think that this verse is an interpolation favoured by concatenation with the preceding one, the existence of an identical pattern in the first part of both verses, and the feeling that parasmaipadam could not go without ātmanepadam 28. But, whatever the textual history, it seems clear that the author of the AC had before him a manuscript of the VMM containing the two stanzas and that this situation produced confusion and overlapping. This is evidenced by the manuscript tradition of the AC itself : pada c has a variant reading which is nkārādyanubandhānam (instead of akarādy-anubandhānam) and the commentary too :ātmanepadam. ātmane na ślāghate munih sva-ślāghāṁ na karotity arthah. In short, the only way to make Ajitasena's verse agree both with common sense and grammar is to suppose that the answer is to be read as åtmanepadam :
Who is it that the ascetic does not praise ?-Himself atmane
... Tell what is the name to be given to the roots having the anubandha ? ātmanepadam
(IV)
10. Like the sabdiya-jāti (§ 9), the sautra-jāti is illustrated but not defined. It is probably not a result of mere chance that all examples of this variety (whether in the VMM or elsewhere) exclusively refer to the field of grammar: sūtra-style and grammatical teaching are traditionally considered to go together. The structural pattern of such riddles can be described on the basis of the two instances available in the VMM: as usual in praśnottaras, the global answer is progressively formed by piling up several units corresponding to the same number of questions (here three), whereas the last question concerns the sūtra itself and gives a hint as to the treatise where it is to be found :
yamah, agam, dhane / Panini-sūtram ca kidrksam ?→yamo gandhane, Pẫn. 1.2.15(VMM 2.59)
višesanam, ekā, arthena / sūtram Candrasya kidrksam ?—visesanam ekārthena, Cāndra-vyak. 2.2.18 (VMM 2.60).