अष्टाध्यायीप्रवेशः (1)
अष्टाध्यायीप्रवेशः (1)
Essential Basics Before Embarking on अष्टाध्यायी
A Note By अष्टाध्यायी-Student S. L. Abhyankar
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First of all, why would one want to study अष्टाध्यायी ? When learning a new language, one is naturally conscious that there should not be any grammatical mistakes. This is very, very true particularly for संस्कृतम्, because संस्कृतम् has zero tolerance for grammatical errors. Rather, erroneous संस्कृतम् is not संस्कृतम् at all.
It is well-known that अष्टाध्यायी is the standard reference text on संस्कृतव्याकरणम्. So someone may get an idea to embark on studying संस्कृतम् by studying अष्टाध्यायी itself.
For promoting संस्कृतम् there has been another initiative of learning संस्कृतम्, by promoting संभाषणसंस्कृतम्. Their logic or argument seems to be that children learn their mother tongue without learning its grammar. So, why can संस्कृतम् be not learnt that way ? There are big fallacies in this logic or argument -
When children learn their mother tongue without learning its grammar, they are in the environment of the mother tongue 24x7. Is it possible to provide that for learning संस्कृतम् ? Maybe, if parents would learn संस्कृतम् and speak only संस्कृतम् their children would grow in that environment may pick up संस्कृतम् as their mother tongue.
Even with that, there is a big problem that what संस्कृतम् the parents would have learnt has to be perfect. Because as stated above, संस्कृतम् has zero tolerance for errors.
Also there is big permissiveness in spoken languages. You do not correct the speaker every now and then, when the speaker would commit an error. That permissiveness has caused many dialects to flourish alongside the main language. There have already been many, many languages which have sprung from संस्कृतम्. Those languages are not called संस्कृतम्. They are NOT संस्कृतम्, they are possibly dialects sprung from संस्कृतम्. They are प्राकृताः भाषाः. Almost all Indian languages spoken across India are प्राकृताः भाषाः. So, people enthusiastic about promoting संस्कृतम् by संभाषणसंस्कृतम् need to ask and check for themselves, whether they end up promoting संस्कृतम् or more dialects प्राकृताः भाषाः. My experience has been that too much erroneous संस्कृतम् is being spoken in the enthusiasm of promoting संभाषणसंस्कृतम् I came across a message posted in one such group promoting संभाषणसंस्कृतम् “नेटवर्क प्रोब्लेम् अस्ति अतः मीटिंग attend न करू शक्नोमि”. Is this not totally abhorable?
All those who learn संस्कृतम् by संभाषणसंस्कृतम्-route need to check how much grammatically correct व्याकरणशुद्धम् is their संस्कृतम्. That can be verified only by checking with अष्टाध्यायी. Whether you like it not, for learning संस्कृतम् one must learn संस्कृतव्याकरणम्. There is a सुभाषितम् which urges upon this only.
यद्यपि बहु नाधीषे तथापि पठ पुत्र व्याकरणम् |
स्वजनः श्वजनो मा भूत् सकलं शकलं सकृत् शकृत् ||
Hey son, even if you may not study much else, grammar you must learn. Or else स्वजनः own people may become श्वजनो dogs, सकलं wholeness may become शकलं pieces सकृत् beneficent may become शकृत् shit.
If convinced of studying संस्कृतव्याकरणम् one may think of studying अष्टाध्यायी. But one must become aware of some basic essentials before embarking on a study of अष्टाध्यायी. That is the purpose of this write-up.
अष्टाध्यायी is a सूत्रवाङ्मयम् There is a श्लोकः which defines what a सूत्रम् is ⇒
स्वल्पाक्षरमसंदिग्धं सारवद्विश्वतो मुखम् |
अस्तोभमनवद्यं च सूत्रं सूत्रविदो विदुः ||
सूत्रविद: those who know what a सूत्रं is, know विदुः that a सूत्रम् is
स्वल्पाक्षरम् composed of very few letters,
is असंदिग्धम् unambiguous,
is सारवत् brings forth the essence,
is विश्वतो मुखम् has universal appeal,
अस्तोभम् has no frills,
अनवद्यं is not unreadable i.e. it can be pronounced and memorized.
When thinking of embarking on studying अष्टाध्यायी, there is a mute question about “where does one begin ?” One may wonder, why this question ? Would not one begin serially starting from the first सूत्रम् ?
My answer is ‘No’. Why not ?
Okay before answering ‘why not ?’ Let me go with you and start with the first सूत्रम्.
सूत्रम् (1-1-1) वृद्धिरादैच् (वृद्धिः आत्-ऐच्)
Well, I have given the break-up of वृद्धिरादैच् as (वृद्धिः आत्-ऐच्).
How did I do that ?
Only based on previous knowledge that वृद्धिरादैच् should break up as (वृद्धिः आत्-ऐच्).
Does अष्टाध्यायी presuppose some previous knowledge ?
Yes, अष्टाध्यायी does presuppose quite some previous knowledge. That is the reason why one cannot start from the first सूत्रम्.
Let us take it, that break-up of वृद्धिरादैच् as (वृद्धिः आत्-ऐच्) is correct.
Of the three words वृद्धिः आत्-ऐच्, the first word वृद्धिः sounds to be one, of which, the meaning ‘growth’ is known. But the words आत् and ऐच् are not there even in the dictionary.
There are words in अष्टाध्यायी, which cannot be found in dictionary. That is another reason why one cannot start from the first सूत्रम्.
So, how do we proceed ?
Actually the custom is to start the study of a sacred text as अष्टाध्यायी with a salutation. Are we stuck up because we disrespected the custom ? Anyway the श्लोकः of salutation is ⇒
येनाक्षरसमाम्नायमधिगम्य महेश्वरात् |
कृत्स्नं व्याकरणं प्रोक्तं तस्मै पाणिनये नमः ||
पदपाठः - येन अक्षरसमाम्नायम् अधिगम्य महेश्वरात् कृत्स्नम् व्याकरणम् प्रोक्तम् तस्मै पाणिनये नमः |
अन्वयार्थाः - येन (He, by whom) महेश्वरात् (directly from महेश्वर:) अक्षरसमाम्नायम् (the meditation-worthy ensemble of letters) अधिगम्य (was obtained and assimilated and by that) कृत्स्नम् (the entire) व्याकरणम् (grammar) प्रोक्तम् (was delineated) तस्मै (unto him) पाणिनये (unto पाणिनिमुनिः) नमः (obeisances)
What is that अक्षरसमाम्नायम् (the meditation-worthy ensemble of letters) ?
That अक्षरसमाम्नायम् was understood directly from महेश्वर: is endorsed in another श्लोकः ⇒
नृत्तावसाने नटराजराजो ननाद ढक्कां नवपञ्चवारम् |
उद्धर्तुकामः सनकादिसिद्धान् एतद्विमर्षे शिवसूत्रजालम् ||
पदपाठः - नृत्त-अवसाने नटराजराजः ननाद ढक्कां नव-पञ्चवारम् | उद्धर्तुकामः सनक-आदिसिद्धान् एतद् विमर्षे शिवसूत्रजालम्
अन्वयार्थाः - सनकादिसिद्धान् उद्धर्तुकामः नटराजराजः (The Lord, also the lord among dancers, wishing to uplift सनक and other सिद्धा:) नृत्तावसाने (towards the end of his celestial dance) ढक्कां नवपञ्चवारम् ननाद (sounded his Damaru nine-and-five i.e. fourteen times) | एतद् शिवसूत्रजालम् विमर्षे (I contend that those sounds was the network of शिवसूत्राणि).
Putting the essence of the द्वौ श्लोकौ above, the शिवसूत्राणि are the अक्षरसमाम्नायम् (the meditation-worthy ensemble of letters).
All in all, study of अष्टाध्यायी should begin with the 14 शिवसूत्राणि, right ?
Okay, what are those शिवसूत्राणि the अक्षरसमाम्नायम् (the meditation-worthy ensemble of letters) ?
The 14 शिवसूत्राणि are (1) अ-इ-उ-ण् (2) ऋ-लृ-क् (3) ए-ओ-ङ् (4) ऐ-औ-च् (5) ह-य-व-र-ट् (6) ल-ण् (7) ञ-म-ङ-ण-न-म् (8) झ-भ-ञ् (9) घ-ढ-ध-ष् (10) ज-ब-ग-ड-द-श् (11) ख-फ-छ-ठ-थ-च-ट-त-व् (12) क-प-य् (13) श-ष-स-र् (14) ह-ल्.
शिवसूत्राणि as अक्षरसमाम्नायम् an ensemble of letters are meditation-worthy because by meditating one can decipher many significances.
Do you see ऐच् of वृद्धिरादैच् in शिवसूत्रम् (4) ऐ-औ-च् ?
Yes, but there is also औ in between ?
Good observation ! ऐच् in वृद्धिरादैच् actually stands for both ऐ and औ.
This is so, because ऐच् can be taken to mean ‘starting from ऐ, up to च्’ hence both ऐ and औ.
What about च् ? It is only an end-marker called as अनुबन्धः the limit-indicator.
If we start with अ in (1) अ-इ-उ-ण् and proceed up to च्, neglecting the अनुबन्धाः, अच् becomes a two-letter code containing all the vowels अ, इ, उ, ऋ, लृ, ए, ओ, ऐ, औ.
Even when saying ‘all vowels’, the list misses दीर्घस्वराः आ, ई, ऊ, ॠ. But by convention it is taken that अ, इ, उ, ऋ in the first two शिवसूत्रे are to be taken to be inclusive of their दीर्घस्वराः आ, ई, ऊ, ॠ. Actually this is so, not just by convention, there is सूत्रम् १.१.६९ अणुदित् सवर्णस्य चाप्रत्ययः which endorses this.
If the सूत्रम् १.१.६९ अणुदित् सवर्णस्य चाप्रत्ययः comes that much later, how does one apply it when studying शिवसूत्राणि ?
अष्टाध्यायी does presuppose quite some previous knowledge. The aim of this write-up is to outline the presuppositions.
Actually even to understand how सूत्रम् १.१.६९ अणुदित् सवर्णस्य चाप्रत्ययः provides that अ, इ, उ, ऋ in the first two शिवसूत्रे are to be taken to be inclusive of their दीर्घस्वराः आ, ई, ऊ, ॠ, one needs to study that सूत्रम्. We however just started only with the first सूत्रम् and got stuck up ?!
For the present let us take it as convention that अ, इ, उ, ऋ in the first two शिवसूत्रे are to be taken to be inclusive of their दीर्घस्वराः आ, ई, ऊ, ॠ.
By the way, the consonant-elements व्यञ्जनानि in शिवसूत्राणि (5) to (14) are written अ-ending. This is only for ease of pronouncing. As व्यञ्जनानि they are to be taken to be without अ.
All अनुबन्धाः of all सूत्राणि are consonants व्यञ्जनानि. But there is no problem in pronouncing them. That is why the अनुबन्धाः are not अ-ending.
Similar to the two two-letter words ऐच् and अच् one can get quite many such words from शिवसूत्राणि. All such words are called as प्रत्याहाराः extracts, extracted from शिवसूत्राणि.
from the three वर्णा: अ, इ, उ in the first शिवसूत्रम् and 14 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 42 प्रत्याहाराः
With 2 वर्णौ in the second शिवसूत्रम् and 13 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 26 प्रत्याहाराः,
With 2 वर्णौ in the third शिवसूत्रम् and 12 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 24 प्रत्याहाराः
With 2 वर्णौ in the fourth शिवसूत्रम् and 11 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 22 प्रत्याहाराः
With 4 वर्णा: in the fifth शिवसूत्रम् and 10 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 40 प्रत्याहाराः.
With the 1 वर्ण: in the sixth शिवसूत्रम् and 9 अनुबन्धाः after it we can get 9 प्रत्याहाराः.
With 5 वर्णा: in the seventh शिवसूत्रम् and 8 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 40 प्रत्याहाराः
With 2 वर्णौ in the eighth शिवसूत्रम् and 7 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 14 प्रत्याहारा:
With 3 वर्णा: in the ninth शिवसूत्रम् and 6 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 18 प्रत्याहाराः.
With 5 वर्णा: in the tenth शिवसूत्रम् and 5 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 25 प्रत्याहाराः.
With 8 वर्णा: in the eleventh शिवसूत्रम् and 4 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 32 प्रत्याहाराः.
With 2 वर्णौ in the twelfth शिवसूत्रम् and 3 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 6 प्रत्याहारा:.
With 3 वर्णा: in the thirteenth शिवसूत्रम् and 2 अनुबन्धाः after them we can get 6 प्रत्याहाराः.
With the 1 वर्ण: ह in the fourteenth शिवसूत्रम् and its अनुबन्ध: ल् we get प्रत्याहार: हल्. But this प्रत्याहार: हल् is already obtained with the first वर्ण: ह in the fifth शिवसूत्रम् and अनुबन्ध: ल् of this fourteenth शिवसूत्रम्. So we do not count this प्रत्याहार: हल् obtained from this fourteenth शिवसूत्रम्.
Actually प्रत्याहार: अण् also happens twice, both times with the first वर्ण: अ in the first शिवसूत्रम्. Once with अनुबन्ध: ण् of the first शिवसूत्रम् and next with अनुबन्ध: ण् of the sixth शिवसूत्रम्.
All in all there can be 303 प्रत्याहाराः. In अष्टाध्यायी 43 प्रत्याहाराः out of these 303 are very much used.
Since all प्रत्याहाराः contain more-than-one वर्णा: every प्रत्याहार: is actually a code-name संज्ञा for the set of वर्णा: contained in it. Note, every प्रत्याहारसंज्ञा is both, the name of the set and also a generic name for every element of it. For example अच् means any स्वर: when used in singular, अच: means three or more स्वरा:, because अच: is the plural of अच्.
Some important and interesting प्रत्याहाराः are
अच् which connotes the set of all vowels. Note, what we call as स्वरान्त (स्वर+अन्त) vowel-ending, since every element of अच् is a स्वर: (अच्+अन्त = अजन्त = स्वरान्त.
हल् which connotes the set of all consonants. Note, what we call as व्यञ्जनान्त (व्यञ्जन+अन्त) consonant-ending, since every element of हल् is a व्यञ्जनम् (हल्+अन्त = हलन्त = व्यञ्जनान्त.
अल् which connotes the set of all वर्णा: of the complete वर्णमाला
ञम् which connotes the set of all nasal consonants ञ-म-ङ-ण-न
जश् which connotes the set of all अल्पप्राणमृदु consonants ज-ब-ग-ड-द
झष् which connotes the set of all महाप्राणमृदु consonants झ-भ-घ-ढ-ध
ञय् which connotes the set of all 25 वर्गीयव्यञ्जनानि. Note ञय् is actually ञम्+झष्+जय्
शर् which connotes the set of the three उष्म-व्यञ्जनानि consonants श् ष् स्
Note in the two प्रत्याहारौ एङ् and ऐच्, rather in प्रत्याहारः एच् (Note एङ्+ऐच् = एच्) the sequential order of the स्वराः ए ओ ऐ औ is different from their order in dictionary. Why so ?
The logic is that as per सूत्रम् (1-1-1) वृद्धिरादैच्, ऐ and औ have वृद्धि: inherent.
Also ए and ओ have गुणः inherent as per सूत्रम् (1-1-2) अदेङ्गुणः (अत्-एङ्-गुणः).
Likewise in प्रत्याहारः यण् starting from य in शिवसूत्रम् (5) up to ण् the अनुबन्धः of शिवसूत्रम् (6) the sequential order of the व्यञ्जनानि य-व-र-ल is different from their order in dictionary. Why so ?
The logic is that the सूत्रम् (6-1-77) इको यणचि (इकः यण् अचि) commends that the vowels इ-उ-ऋ-लृ in प्रत्याहारः इक् change to य-व-र-ल respectively when followed by an अच् i.e. by another vowel. So the order of य-व-र-ल in यण् corresponds to the order of the vowels इ-उ-ऋ-लृ in प्रत्याहारः इक्. This way the सूत्रम् (6-1-77) इको यणचि specifies the rule for as many as 96 types of सन्धयः such as अति+उत्साहेन = अत्युत्साहेन, खलु+इदम् = खल्विदम्, पितृ+आज्ञा = पित्राज्ञा.
This is a specimen of the extreme intelligence inherent in शिवसूत्राणि and the प्रत्याहाराः obtainable from them.
ऐच् in वृद्धिरादैच् is a प्रत्याहार:. What about आत् ? आत् means आ only, because ‘त्’ means ‘only’. Is that so ? Yes, it is so defined in सूत्रम् (1-1-70) तपरस्तत्कालस्य
All in all, the meaning of सूत्रम् (1-1-1) वृद्धिरादैच् is “वृद्धिः is what is inherent in आत् i.e. in आ and in ऐच् i.e. in ऐ and औ.”
In the discussion above there are mentions of
सूत्रम् (1-1-1) वृद्धिरादैच्
शिवसूत्राणि
सूत्रम् १.१.६९ अणुदित् सवर्णस्य चाप्रत्ययः
सूत्रम् (1-1-2) अदेङ्गुणः
सूत्रम् (6-1-77) इको यणचि
सूत्रम् (1-1-70) तपरस्तत्कालस्य
Oh ! There have been mentions of 14 शिवसूत्राणि and five other अष्टाध्यायीसूत्राणि. May it be noted that this is only Part 1 of अष्टाध्यायीप्रवेशः.
It would be good to reread this Part 1, until you are sure that the essential basics discussed here are well set in your mind. By the way, it would be good to memorize the शिवसूत्राणि.
I have quoted the following श्लोकाः also. It is always good to build up a repertoire of श्लोकाः and सुभाषितानि
यद्यपि बहु नाधीषे तथापि पठ पुत्र व्याकरणम् |
स्वजनः श्वजनो मा भूत् सकलं शकलं सकृत् शकृत् ||
स्वल्पाक्षरमसंदिग्धं सारवद्विश्वतो मुखम् |
अस्तोभमनवद्यं च सूत्रं सूत्रविदो विदुः ||
येनाक्षरसमाम्नायमधिगम्य महेश्वरात् |
कृत्स्नं व्याकरणं प्रोक्तं तस्मै पाणिनये नमः ||
नृत्तावसाने नटराजराजो ननाद ढक्कां नवपञ्चवारम् |
उद्धर्तुकामः सनकादिसिद्धान् एतद्विमर्षे शिवसूत्रजालम् ||
Let us take a pause before proceeding to Part 2.
शुभमस्तु !
-o-O-o-
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