India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c10.s3.t1.1

c10.s3.t1.1

VEDIC TEXTS—The extent of Pāṇini's acquaintance with Vedic texts is known by (1) works mentioned by name, and (2) texts that provided him material for his Grammar. Thieme, tracing Pāṇini's references to their original sources, has shown that Pāṇini derived his grammatical material from the texts of the *Ṛigveda*, *Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā*, *Kāṭhaka Saṁhitā*, *Taittirīya Saṁhitā* and *Atharvaveda*, probably also from the *Sāmaveda*. To these may also be added the Śākalya Pada-pāṭha of the *Ṛigveda* which has supplied him with material for *sūtras* I.1.16-18 (P. Thieme, *Pāṇini And The Veda*, p. 63). Thieme further points out that some of the Vedic forms used by Pāṇini cannot be traced to any extant Vedic works. Possibly they were derived from some text or *Śākhā* of the Black Yajurveda which was known in his time but now lost to us (*ib.*, p. 64). The Atharvaveda used by Pāṇini is believed to be in its Paippalāda recension (*ib.*, p. 66).