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NOVEMBER, 1912.)
ON THE SESHAS
248
ON THE SESHAS OF BENARES. BY & P. V. KANGANATHASVAMI ARYAVARAGURU OF VIZAGAPATAM.
I. Whoever wishes to master the Sanskrit language, must completely understand the grammar of it, for in a language like Sanskrit, in which a great many words in common use have peculiarities of their own, ready-made grammatical forms can carry the student but a little way. Moreover, a scientific study of the grammar of a dead language, which is not learned for use in Tractical life, is certainly to be preferred to a mere empiric study. Accordingly, the grammarians never resorted to a mere unscientific teaching of the forms as such and mixing them up unconsectedly into a list, for it is said in the Mahabhashya :
एवं हि श्रूयते बृहस्पतिरिन्द्राय दिव्यं वर्षसहस्रं प्रतिपशेकानां शबानां शमपारायणं प्रोवाचनान्तं जगाम | वृहम्पतिश्च पवना, इन्द्रवाध्येता, दिव्यं वर्षसहस्रमभ्ययनकालो न चान्तं जगाम। किं पुनरपत्वे यः सर्वथा चिरंजीवति स वर्षशजीवति। . . . . तस्माइनभ्युरायः शम्शनां प्रतिपत्तो प्रतिवः कथं तहान शम्माः प्रतिपक्षम्याः। किंचिसामान्यविशेष क्षणं प्रवर्वे येनाल्पेन बल्लेन महतो महतशब्यौपान् प्रतिपचरन् ।
[For it is thus heard -- Bțihaspati to Indra expounded, for a thousand years of the gods, the vocabulary of words, uttered word by word, and he did not reach thu end. Aud Bțihaspati was the expounder, and Indra, the learner, anl the time of study, a thousand years of the go:ls,-and Le did not reach the end !-how much less in these days. He who is very long-lived lives but a hundred years ... therefora in the setting forth of words the recitation of them word by word is inexpedient. Eow, then, are these words to be set forth? Some criterion, erabracing homogeneonsnesses and peculiarities, must be employed whereby with little effort, they (the learners) may learn quantities of words.-J. R. Ballantyne.]
And so they adopted to the method of Rule an! Exception. Among the earliest attempts to formulate such rules may be cited the work of Panini, who is also the greatest of grammarians, as his work includes all the forms, both of the classical and Vedio literatures. Vararuchi, while crit cising, enriched it with his vdrtikas. Pata jali agaia wrote a critical commentary on bim, And Bhartrihari wrote a comincntary on the Mahdbhdshya of Pata ijali. Kaiyata, in his Bhdohyapadipa, refers to this commentary:
भाष्याब्धिः कातिगंभीरः काहं मन्दमतिस्ततः। छावाणामुपहास्यत्वं यास्यामि पिशुनात्मनाम् ।। तथापि हरिबद्धन सारण पन्थसेनुना।
T: Ta: ar az qraf 1 But Bhartsihari seems to have commented on the first three yddas only; for, in his Ganaralna. maho ladni, Vardham ina, referring to Bhartpibari as a grammarian, says:
भर्तृहरिमहाभाष्यत्रिपाया व्याख्याता वाक्यपदीयप्रकीर्णकयोश्च कर्ता। It is owing to this commentary on the Mahabháshya that Bharti hari is called Pikakars. But Ra'nabhadradikshita (17th century) of Tanjore, says : FIT TEST FOR T', giving, as his reason, Bhartpibari's self-conceit.
1 W. learn from Vakya padlya, that VyAdi wrote e voluminous commentary on Papini, oalled Baugraha, extending over two lekha of lines, of whiob Mahdohdshya is an abridgment. Cr. Vakya padiye, A 288 1. (Benares Banskrit series).
• Patafjall-sharita, oanto viil, stanası 14 and 15. A fragment of Bhartriharl's commentary on Kald dharya is found in the Royal Library at Berlia (vida Weber's Oatalogue 720 ; Cambor's 553)
