Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c10.s3.9

c10.s3.9

This theory is an important one in considering references to foreign words in Sanskrit grammatical works, and has been, as yet, quite misunderstood. The meaning of the term vikṛiti, as thus used, is as follows: The grammarians (as is required in Hindu cosmogony⁵) considered all languages to be eventually derived from the Sanskrit, much as in Europe, in the Middle Ages, Hebrew was supposed to be the source of all languages then known; they also considered merely the *external* forms of words and not the *meaning*[^1). It was thus easy to find a plausible explanation of any foreign words by means of Sanskrit. The Mīmāmsists contended against this doctrine, as they attached more importance to the *meaning* than to the *form*[^2). In considering foreign words mentioned by Sanskrit grammarians it is necessary to keep the nature of this theory in view.