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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s2.t4: Vyakarana

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s2.t4

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Vyakarana

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Vyakarana (毗伽罗论) was the generic term of an ancient Indian grammar book and was one of six auxiliary disciplines of the *Veda*. Its Sanskrit name was *Vyakarana* which had the meanings such as 'grammatical method, grammar and treatise on grammar etc'. The first volume of *Hiranyasaptati*, the *Samkhya* classic translated by Indian Tripitaka Paramārtha in the Chen Dynasty says that the second category of the six *Vedangas* was Vyakarana. The 21ˢᵗ volume of Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra translated by Indian Tripitaka Dharmaksema in Northern Liang Dynasty listed the heretical *sutras* that include the Four Vedas, *Vyakarana*, *Vaisesika*, *Samkhya* and some works dealing with medical science, etc. The 25ᵗʰ volume of the *Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom* written by Nagarjuna and translated by Kumarajiva mentioned that Buddha didn't preach heretical *sutras* 'including the 18 great sutras such as *Vyakarana*, *Samkhya* and the *Vedas* etc'. It has been recorded in the 13ᵗʰ volume of the *Other Translation of Samyuktagama Sutra* that a young Brahmin would be found to be proficient in the Four Vedas, *Paragandha Shastra*, *Treatise on Sound*, *Vyakarana*, *Natya Shastra*, *Vaisesika* and was good at explaining grammar and the meanings of various texts. It can be seen that *Vyakarana* was one of the basic classics for Brahmins to learn. The transliteration of Vyakarana's in Chinese was 'bi-jia-lan-na' (弊迦兰那). But the old Chinese transliteration of the term *Vyakarana* is reported to have been 'pi jia luo lun' (毗伽罗论). Master Xuanzang thought the transliteration was not accurate and should have been transliterated as 'pi ye jie la nan' (毗耶羯剌湳)

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[Figure: 'Account of Buddhism Dispatched from the South Seas (Nanhai jigui neifa zhuan)', Dunhuang Remnants P2001]

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according to accurate Indian sounds and further commented that the name in free translation should be *Lucid Treatise on Sounds* as this book has an extensive record of all things that could be explained. Master Ding Bin of Tang dynasty, in his 10^th volume of *Annotations on Dharmagupta-vinaya* explained the six *Vedangas* and said that Vyakarana meant *A Treatise on Grammar* here. At the beginning of the *kalpa* (a period of time), Brahma instructed Vyakarana to heavenly people and because it was preached by Brahma, it was also called Brahmana. It is said that Vyakarana which was preached by Brahma was really long and had over 10,00,000 gathas (*sloka*). It has been further recorded in a chapter entitled *Learning Dharma in the West* in fourth volume of Yi Jing's *An Account of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Sea* that the general term used in India in reference to ancient secular books was Vyakarana-'pi he jie la nu' (毗何羯喇拏). This included five books, ie, *Siddharastu*, *Sutra* (*Panini-sutra*), *Dhatu*, *Khila* and *Vrttisutra* which may be considered to be equivalent to the five ancient Chinese Confucian classics.

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(*Chen Ming*)

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