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Book Review
Panini’s tradition
PANINIYA VYAKARANODAHARANA KOSA VOL., II — Samasaprakaranam: F. Grimal, V. Venkataraja Sarma, S. Lashminarasimham; Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati and the French Institute of Pondicherry, 11, St. Louis Street, Pondicherry-605 001. Rs. 600.
Godavarisha Mishra
The heritage of Sanskrit grammar is as old as the Vedas since it is accepted and preserved as one of the six limbs (Sadangas) of the Vedas. Besides Panini, the writer of the Sutras, the great authorities who contributed their lot to make the schools linguistically and philosophically formidable, and kept the tradition alive are Katyayana, the author of the Vartika, Patanjali, the author of the Mahabhasya, Kaiyata, Jayaditya Vamana, Nagesa up to Bhattoji-diksita, and many others.
In the formulation of the Sutras (aphorisms), in delineating their applicability and relevance, large numbers of examples are given by the followers of Panini in order to substantiate the aphoristic value of the Sutras. Apart from portraying the linguistic relevance, these examples also shed ample light on the socio-political and cultural milieu of the then society. The author-compilers of this dictionary have collected and put together the examples in order to provide easy access to the understanding of the sutras and their application as envisaged by Panini and his followers. This volume is a result of the research project carried out at the French Institute of Pondicherry to collect all the important examples used in the above texts and bring it out in eight volumes in keeping with the eight chapters of the Ashtadhyayi of Panini.
Examples
The first volume contains a repertory of approximately 40,000 examples given by the four commentators on the Ashtadhyayi of Panini. In this volume, which is the second in the series, the examples are taken up mainly from the Samasa-prakarana of the Siddhantakaumudi of Bhattoji Diksita. A few more examples have been added from the other texts which are felt to be important in understanding the tradition with its deep and divergent implications. To make it accessible to large number of readers around the globe, the meaning and process of derivation of each of the examples are given in French and in English.
The authors have done a stupendous, painstaking and scholarly job in preparing this important tool of research for the benefit of those who are interested in knowing the Paninian tradition. The volume is structured as a dictionary and hence the examples are given in an alphabetical order followed by the reference to the sutras, and this is followed by the commentarial references. It comes with four indices which are very impressively organised.
The volume contains a foreword by the Vice-Chancellor of Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Tirupati, H.K. Satapathy and he deserves all praise for taking the burden of publication of this dictionary. I recommend this volume to one and all who are interested in Sanskrit language.
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