Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s2.t4.3

v1.c8.s2.t4.3

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.