A History of Sanskrit Literature c29.s1.4

c29.s1.4

This important period of studies was largely concerned with the preservation and interpretation of the Vedic texts; its work is seen in the preparation of the Padapāṭha of the *Ṛgveda* by Çākalya, who is known to Pāṇini, the similar work done on other Vedic texts, the Prātiçākhyas, which in their original form were probably older than Pāṇini, at any rate as far as concerns those on the *Ṛgveda*, *Taittirīya* and *Vājasaneyi Saṁhitās*,¹ and the Çikṣās, which as we have them are probably later than Pāṇini, but doubtless existed in his time, proving the care taken to secure due correctness of pronunciation of the scriptures. But the grammarians were clearly concerned also with the Bhāṣā, the spoken speech of the day, and it was in connexion with it, especially as it grew more distinct from the sacred texts on the one hand and the speeches of the lower classes on the other, that secular grammar grew up. Pāṇini knew and cites by name many predecessors, including Çākaṭāyana, Āpiçāli, and Çaunaka, as well as minor names, and his allusion to easterners and northerners, if it applies to forms of speech used in these parts, is also testimony to the existence of grammarians to note them, unless we are to assume² that he himself of the north lived in the east and noted the differences for himself, which is implausible in the extreme. What is clear from Pāṇini's own work is that he summarizes the efforts of many previous writers, from whom we may be sure he borrowed his form as well as many facts.