A History of Sanskrit Literature c29.s2.1

c29.s2.1

The *Aṣṭādhyāyī*³ of Pāṇini consists of about 4,000 short Sūtras divided into eight books, treating of technical terms and rules of interpretation (i), nouns in composition and case relations (ii); the adding of suffixes to roots (iii) and to nouns (iv, v), accent and changes of sound in word formation (vi, vii) and the word in the sentence (viii). But this scheme is constantly interrupted, rules being interpolated illogically because it was convenient to do, or because space could thus be saved, for the whole book is dominated by the aim to be as brief as possible. The, to us, illogical order and impracticability of learning Sanskrit by the use of the grammar are explained, if we remember that the book was to be learned by heart by those who were already accustomed to use Sanskrit in conversation, and had not to learn how to speak it, but to know what forms were correct, what vulgar. Of the incoherence, however, part is doubtless due to the fact that Pāṇini was only working up a mass of traditional matter, as may be seen not merely from certain irregularities in case usage,¹ but also from the employment to denote a Vedic use of three terms, *chandasi*, *nigame*, and *mantre*, of which the first prevails with his followers. The main object of the grammar is to deal with the Bhāṣā, the living speech of the day; an amount of Vedic matter is incorporated. This part is of uneven value, suggesting that it was based on a number of special studies, imperfectly co-ordinated; thus minute details from the *Kāṭhaka* or *Maitrāyaṇīya Saṁhitās* are noted; but at other times a vague reference is made to Vedic irregularities, Vedic words are cited without analysis, and causeless variations of form are permitted as Vedic.