India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c6.48

c6.48

(3) AINDRA SYSTEM—The tradition of an Aindra grammar prior to Pāṇini is strong in Sanskrit literature. It is found in the *Taittirīya Saṁhitā* where it is said that the gods approached Indra to elucidate speech (*vāchaṁ vyākuru*). Patañjali speaks of Bṛihaspati expounding to Indra the words by means of individual forms or examples (*pratipadokta śabda*, I.5; almost literally rendered by Yuan Chwang). The tradition in the *Ṛiktantra*, a *Prātiśākhya* work of the *Sāmaveda*, is more to the point: Brahmā taught Bṛihaspati; Bṛihaspati taught Indra; Indra taught Bhāradvāja; and from him the system devolved on the Ṛishis.' (*Ṛiktantra*, Dr. Suryakant's edition, Lahore, p. 3). Here also Brahmā as Prajāpati is the ultimate source of knowledge. Indra represents the divine agency. The school of Bṛihaspati was continued through his descendant *Bhāradvāja* who initiated other teachers in the system. There certainly existed a Bhāradvāja school of grammar, Pāṇini himself citing the opinion of Bhāradvāja (VII.2.63). Patañjali frequently quotes the *vārttikas* of the Bhāradvājīyas (*i.e.* followers of the Bhāradvāja system, as Pāṇinīyas were of Pāṇini) as giving a version variant from that of Kātyāyana (III.1.38; II.46; III.1.89; II.70, etc.). The *Ṛik Prātiśākhya*, which is generally regarded as prior to Pāṇini, also refers to the opinion of Bhāradvāja who seems to have been an adherent of the earlier Aindra system. The legendary accounts of the *Kathāsaritsāgara* and the *Bṛihatkathāmañjarī* also mention that it was the Aindra school which was supplanted by Pāṇini's work.