Mimamsasutra 3.2.29-3

3.2.29-3

brūmaḥ- ’ sādhūneva prayuñjati, na tvapabhraṃśān ’ ityasti niyamaḥ | ubhayatra krameṇa doṣaguṇavādinorvedavākyayoḥ śravaṇāt | "ekaḥ śabdaḥ samyagjñātaḥ suprayuktaḥ svarge loke kāmadhugbhavati " iti guṇavākyam | "tasmādbrāhmaṇena na mlecchitavai ’ nāpabhāṣitavai , mleccho ha vā eṣa yadapaśabdaḥ " iti doṣavākyam | yathā prayoge niyamastathā sādhutve'pi niyamo draṣṭavya ḥ - ’gavādyā eva sādhavaḥ, na tu gāvyādayaḥ ’ iti | asminnarthe vyākaraṇasya niyāmakatvāt | na ca nirmūlatvam , pūrvapūrvavyākaraṇasya tanmūlatvāt | etadevābhipretyoktam - ’ tatra yūpādhikaraṇavadvyākaraṇaparamparānāditvādanupālambhaḥ ’ iti vyākaraṇa prāmāṇyaṃ vedenaiva sākṣādupanyastam | tathā''cārthavaṇikā āmananti - "dve vidye veditavye iti ha sma yadbrahmavido vadanti parā caivāparā ca | tatrāparā - ṛgvedo yajurvedaḥ sāmavedo'tharvavedaḥ śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṃ niruktaṃ chando jyotiṣama " iti | taittirīyakabrāhmaṇe'pi vyākaraṇasyopādeyatā śrūyate - ’vāgvai parācyavyākṛtā'vadat | te devā indramabruvan - ’imāṃ no vācaṃ vyākuru, iti tāmindro madhyato'pakramya vyākarot | tasmādiyaṃ vyākṛtā vāgudyate ’ iti | vyākartāraśca pāṇinikātyāyanapatañjalayo manvādisamānāḥ | tasmātsādhūnāmeva prayoge gavādīnāmeva sādhutve vyākaraṇasmṛtiḥ pramāṇam || 28 ||

We reply: there is indeed a restrictive rule that "one should employ only correct words, and not corruptions." For Vedic passages declaring respectively fault and merit are heard in both regards: "One single word, properly understood and well employed, becomes a wish-granting cow in the heavenly world" is the statement of merit; "Therefore a Brahmin must not speak like a barbarian nor utter corrupt words; for that which is an incorrect word is indeed barbarous" is the statement of fault. Just as there is a restriction regarding usage, so a restriction must also be acknowledged regarding correctness: "Only 'gauḥ' and the like are correct words, not 'gāvī' and the like," because grammar is the regulator in this matter. Nor is it baseless, since preceding grammars serve as its basis. Intending this very point, it is said: "There, as in the topical section on the sacrificial post, no fault can be found, because the succession of grammatical works is beginningless." The authority of grammar has been directly presented by the Veda itself. Thus the followers of the Atharvaveda recite: "'Two sciences are to be known'—so indeed say the knowers of Brahman—'the higher and the lower.' There, the lower is the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, the Atharvaveda, phonetics, ritual procedure, grammar, etymology, metrics, and astronomy." In the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa also, the acceptability of grammar is heard: "Speech indeed spoke formerly unanalyzed. The gods said to Indra: 'Analyze this speech for us.' Having entered into its midst, Indra analyzed it. Therefore this analyzed speech is spoken." And the grammarians—Pāṇini, Kātyāyana, and Patañjali—are on a par with Manu and others. Therefore, the traditional text of grammar is an authoritative means of valid cognition regarding the employment of correct words alone, and regarding the correctness of 'gauḥ' and the like alone. || 28