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Grammatical Riddles from Jain works
(III)
8. In the preceding category, the words to be guessed belong to the language used in performance. But several grammatical riddles are also meant to test the proficiency in the field of metalanguage, when the question and/or the answer involves a pratyāhāra (§ 8.1) a kṛt or taddhita affix (§ 8.2) or a grammatical technical term (§ 9). As will be seen, in all instances but one (§ 8.2) the standard is Pānini's metalanguage: 8.1. * agre gamyeta kena? (halāsamstarasamsarayetaḥ; JP 36) What is it that should go in front ?-The consonant (hala, instr. sg.) Hal is the well-known pratyāhāra for referring to the consonants. As for the respective importance of consonants and vowels in the linguistic system, the commentary (mss A1, A2) states: svarāt pradhanam vyañjanaṁ bhavati, a belief already handed down in the older tradition: cf. vyañjanaṁ svarāngam (Taittirīya Prātiśākhya I, 6 quoted by Abhyankar 1961 under vyañjana).
* pratyāhāra-viśeśā vadanti: "Nandi nigadyate kīdṛk ?" (ajagaṇaḥ; JP 76)
Certain pratyāhāras say: "How can Nandin be called?
-O ac, ak and an, (he can be called) an attendant of the Unborn (=
Śiva).
287
Here the sequence ajagaṇaḥ is understood in two different ways: first as aj-ag-aṇaḥ, which forms the vocative of a dvandva compound made of the three Paninian pratyāhāras referring respectively to the vowels (ac), to the vowels as such (a/a, i/ī, u/u, rf and !: ak), to vowels and semi-vowels taken together (an), then as Aja-gaṇaḥ (nom. masc. sg.).
8.2.* syad utaḥ kena vṛddhiḥ ? (virājñāvinudatipāpam; JP 6) By what is the vṛddhi of u caused ?-By tip (tipā).
Tip is Panini's marker for the personal ending of the Parasmaipada 3rd person singular. The commentary of JP explains: tip-pratyayena 'uto vṛddhir' ity ādinā nautīty ādau yathā vṛddhir bhavati, and thus quotes the beginning of Pan 7.3.89 uto vṛddhir luki hali, “A root ending in u which has no Present characteristic gets vṛddhi before a pit sārvadhātuka affix beginning with a consonant"22
guna-vṛddhi vāj-jhalau kasya? (syuh; JP 148)
*
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