India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c13.32

c13.32

*PERSONAL NAMES*—The evidence of personal names current in Pāṇini's time also points to the above chronological position. The *Gotra*-names were current in the *Brāhmaṇas* and the *Upanishads*, whereas in the Maurya period two other features appeared, *viz.* contraction of personal names and star-names, i.e. personal names derived from the names of stars. The *Ashṭādhyāyī* represents a stage between the two when the *Gotra*-names and the *Nakshatra*-names were in use side by side. The *Gotra-nāma* was an old Vedic custom, whereas the *Nakshatra-nāma* was a new feature approved by the *Gṛihya-sūtras*. There is no scope for contraction in a *Gotra*-name, and so the rules of contraction detailed by Pāṇini applied to names other than *Gotra* names. In this respect the early Buddhist literature shows an equal preference for *Gotra*- and *Nakshatra*-names and is thus closer in time to Pāṇini.