Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c6.45

c6.45

The next form of the language is presented to us in the Brâhmaṇas of the Vedas, such as the Aitareya of the Rigveda and the Śatapatha of the White Yajush. A great many of those peculiar words which we meet with in the hymns, and which are so unintelligible have disappeared, the declensions have approached the standard of classical Sanskrit, the nominative plural in असस् for instance, and the instrumental plural in एभि: having gone out of use. The roots have arranged themselves definitely under certain conjugations. The subjunctive has mostly become obsolete, though such forms as निष्पद्यातै (Śat. I. 4, 1, 10), and असत् (Ait. II. 11.) are sometimes met with. The roots take those forms of the Aorist that Pāṇini assigns to them, and this tense is scrupulously used in the sense mentioned by that grammarian. Such terminations as मसि and the various modes of forming the infinitive have disappeared, the ordinary one in तुम् being mostly used (Ait. IV. 8, VIII. 23). The language is in most respects the same as that usually called classical Sanskrit. It is rich in verbal forms of all tenses and moods. There are however a few peculiarities and archaisms. There are some antiquated words such as बर्स ‘an extremity’ (Ait. II. 2), अनीक ‘a shaft,’ मन्थावल ‘a bat’ (Ait. III. 26); निष्टाव ‘ultimate referee’, अववदितृ ‘one who pronounces a decree’, भगवन् ‘prosperous’, तत for तात (Ait. V. 14), इरा ‘food’ (Ait. VIII. 7), शुष्मिण् ‘powerful’ (Ait. VIII. 8, 23), मेनि ‘a destructive instrument, flame’ (Ait. VIII. 24), &c. The dative of feminine nouns is often used for the genitive, as पृथिव्यै राजा स्या: (Ait. VIII. 23); सर्वस्यै वाच: . . . . . परिगृह्यै; the त of the third person singular of the Ātmanepada is sometimes dropped as in the old dialect, as सविता वै प्रसवानामीशे (Ait. VII. 16); a few roots form their Aorist in another manner than that mentioned by Pāṇini, as अज्ञत वा अस्य दन्ता: (Ait. VII. 14), where अज्ञत stands for अजनिषत, अदुक्षो वै म आत इदं (Ait. VIII. 23) where अदुक्ष: is for अदुह:; the form of the infinitive governed by the word ईश्वर is that which ends in तोस्; as ईश्वरो ह तु पुरायुष: प्रैतो: (Ait. VIII. 7); and यह appears in the form of यह (Ait. III. 26). In the seventh and eighth Pañchikâs of the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa some Gâthâs or songs are quoted, the language of which is more antiquated than that of the body of the work. Notwithstanding these irregularities, these Brâhmaṇas are the best representatives extant of the verbal portion of that language of which Pāṇini writes the grammar, though he did not mean these when he spoke of the Bhâshâ. But nearly the whole of that literature which Pânini drew from, if he did so at all, has perished, or to speak more correctly there is no portion of the extant Sanskrit literature that accurately represents Pânini’s Sanskrit as regards the verb and the Taddhitas or nominal derivatives. Probably the spoken language of his time formed the basis of his grammar.