Dighanikaya 3.256_2

3.256_2

Tiṇṇaṃ vedānanti iruvedayajuvedasāmavedānaṃ. Oṭṭhapahatakaraṇavasena pāraṃ gatoti pāragū. Saha nighaṇḍunā ca keṭubhena ca sanighaṇḍukeṭubhānaṃ. Nighaṇḍūti nighaṇḍurukkhādīnaṃ vevacanapakāsakaṃ satthaṃ. Keṭubhanti kiriyākappavikappo kavīnaṃ upakārāvahaṃ satthaṃ. Saha akkharappabhedena sākkharappabhedānaṃ. Akkharappabhedoti sikkhā ca nirutti ca. Itihāsapañcamānanti āthabbaṇavedaṃ catutthaṃ katvā itiha āsa, itiha āsāti īdisavacanapaṭisaṃyutto purāṇakathāsaṅkhāto itihāso pañcamo etesanti itihāsapañcamā, tesaṃ itihāsapañcamānaṃ vedānaṃ.

“Of the three Vedas”: of the Iru Veda, the Yaju Veda, and the Sāma Veda. “A master” (pāragū) means one who has gone to the further shore by way of striking the lips [in fluent recitation]. “Together with the glossaries and ritual treatises” means together with the nighaṇḍu and the keṭubha. The nighaṇḍu is the treatise explaining synonyms such as trees and the like. The keṭubha is the treatise concerning rules of poetic composition and usage, which is of service to poets. “Together with phonology” means together with the division of phonemes. The division of phonemes refers to phonetics (sikkhā) and etymology (nirutti). “With oral tradition as the fifth”: treating the Atharvaveda as the fourth, oral tradition (itihāsa), called ancient lore connected with words such as “thus it was, thus it was,” is the fifth of them; hence “having oral tradition as the fifth”—of those Vedas having oral tradition as the fifth.