India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c6.47

c6.47

wide world comprising seven divisions; its rich literature including the four Vedas with their *Aṅgas* and mystic portions, their ramifications into 101 *śākhās* of *Yajurveda*, 1000 of *Sāmaveda*, 21 of *Ṛigveda*, 9 of *Atharvaveda*, the Dialogue portions, *Itihāsa*, *Purāṇa* and *Vaidyaka* treatises constitutes the expansive source of language.' It is true that even before the time of Pāṇini Sanskrit literature had reached a stage of considerable development, as we shall see in examining the literary evidence.