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Seeds of Parinama in the Earliest Literature
concept of vipariņāma or pariṇāma was well-known to and clearly grasped by the thinkers of the time in one form or the other (whether as a metaphysical or a grammatical concept), it could not have become a subject-matter for definition in a treatise like the Nirukta. We can, therefore, without hesitation say that this idea of vipariņama or pariņāma must have been favoured by what we may call proto-Samkhya and proto-Jain thinkers. We have also seen how the earlier Upanisads provide ground for the rise of such a concept.
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PĀŅINI
Panini in his Aṣṭādhyāyi mentions the word vikara in the sūtras, तस्य विकारः । ( 4 / 3 / 134 ) and तदर्थ विकृतेः प्रकृतौ । ( 5/1/12). Patanjali, the author of the Mahabhāṣya, does not say much on these sutras by way of explanation, especially of the word vikära. However, Kaśikā, a late commentary on the sutras of Panini, written by Vamanajayaditya, a Buddhist, (about the 9th cent. A. D.) explains these respectively, as follows: 'vikāra is the change of state of the original.' 'Prakṛti is the original cause while Vikṛti is its subsequent change of state'.34
It may be noted that the Jain grammarian Hemacandra (12 th cent. A. D.), too, explains 'vikara' in a similar manner, thus 'Vikāra is the change of state of the substance. '95
However, as Pāṇini himself has not explained the term, we cannot exactly say what he meant by 'vikara'. Nevertheless, considering the fact that Vamanajayāditya takes 'vikara' to mean pariņāma and that Hemacandra also follows the same traditional interpretation, we can reasonably presume that Panini also must have implied pariņāma by the word "vikara' which, otherwise, is a wider term. What is more, there has generally been 34 'प्रकृतेरवस्थान्तरं विकार: ।' and 'प्रकृतिरुपादानकारणं, तस्यैव उत्तरमवस्थान्तरं विकृतिः । '
35 द्रव्यस्यावस्थान्तर विकासः । 6-2-30
