The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s3.192

c8.s3.192

It is narrated in the Kathâsaritsâgara that while Sâtavâhana was, on one occasion, bathing with his wives in a tank in a pleasure-garden, he threw water at one of them. As she was tired, she told the king not to besprinkle her with water, using the words *modakaiḥ paritāḍaya mām*. The king not understanding that the first word was composed of two, *mā* "do not" and *udakaiḥ* "with waters," but taking it to be one word meaning "pieces of sweetmeat," caused sweetmeat to be brought and began to throw pieces at the queen. Thereupon she laughed and told the king that he did not know the phonetic rules of Sanskrit, and that while she meant to tell him not to besprinkle her with water, he had understood her to say that she wanted him to throw pieces of sweetmeat at her. There was no occasion for sweetmeat at the place, and this ought to have led the king to the true sense; but he was not. Thereupon the king was ashamed of his own ignorance while his queen was so learned, and became disconsolate. Guṇâḍhya and Sarvavarman, who were his ministers, were informed of the cause; and the former promised to teach him grammar in six years, though it was a study of twelve. Sarvavarman, however, offered to teach the subject in six months, and his offer was accepted; but as it was not possible to do so, Sarvavarman propitiated the god Kârtikeya or Skanda by his selfmortifications, and the god communicated to him the first Sûtra of a new grammar *Siddho Varṇasamâmnâyaḥ*. Thereupon Sarvavarman repeated the other Sûtras, when Kârtikeya said that if he had not been so hasty and allowed him to repeat the whole, the new grammar would have become superior to Pâṇini's; but since it could not be so now, it would be a small treatise—*Kâtantra*, and would also be called *Kâlâpaka* after the tail of his peacock. This new grammar Sarvavarman taught to the king.¹ The same story is told by Târânâtha in his "History of Buddhism",² but he makes the name of the king to be Udayana, and of Sarvavarman, Saptavarman; while the competitor of Sarvavarman is represented by him to be Vararuchi instead of Guṇâdhya. But Udayana is represented as a king reigning in Southern India and Sâtavâhana in the form of Sântivâhana is also mentioned in connection with the story as a southern king in whose dominions Vararuchi lived. As Udayana frequently figures in Buddhistic stories, the southern prince Sâtavâhana is confounded with him, and this seems to be indicated by the fact that this Udayana is represented to have ruled over a country in the south, though the usual Udayana is a northern prince. It will thus appear that the Kâtantra grammar was composed by Sarvavarman at the request of a prince of the Sâtavâhana family. And this same thing appears to be alluded to even by Hwan Thsang when he says in connection with the shortening of the originally large work on grammar by Pâṇini and others, "lately a Brâhmaṇ of South India, at the request of a king of South India, reduced them further to 2,500 ślokas. This work is widely spread, and used throughout all the frontier provinces, but the well-read scholars of India do not follow it as their guide in practice."³