Sanskrit Grammar Research Articles

Inheriting the glory of PāṆinian grammar into computer science

the integration of Pāṇinian grammar principles into computer science represents a significant advancement in computational linguistics and natural language processing. Pāṇini, an ancient Indian grammarian, formulated an elaborate system of grammar known as Aṣṭādhyāyī around the 4th century BCE, which has been revered for its systematic and concise rules governing Sanskrit language structure. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in adapting Pāṇinian principles to enhance computational frameworks for understanding human languages. This paper explores the theoretical foundations of Pāṇinian grammar and its applicability in the context of modern computational linguistics. The integration of Paninian grammar into computer science enhances the accuracy and efficiency of natural language processing system and contributes to preservation and dissemination of ancient linguistic knowledge. Through this the researchers aim to bridge gap between traditional linguistic scholarship and modern computational methodologies. By embracing the systematic and rigorous framework laid out by Pāṇini millennia ago, researchers are poised to achieve new breakthroughs in understanding and processing human language through innovative computational techniques. The journey from ancient Sanskrit grammar to innovative computer science exemplifies a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation in the quest for linguistic knowledge and technological advancement. Keywords - Pāṇini, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Computational linguistics, Machine translation, semantic analysis, syntactic rules.

Nature of Vedic Ethics and its Critique as Soteriology

The present paper deals with the idea of understanding Vedic ethics as a code of righteous living, in the light of Mīmāṁsā philosophy. The paper also intends to reflect upon the possibility of such methods as a means of attaining liberation. In other words, the Vedas provide us with prescriptive codes of right and wrong actions. It commands us about duties and non-duties, through the performance of rituals, in order to lead a good life. We know that human endeavours are primarily based on attaining the desired, and to prevent the unwanted ends. Hence, the entire effort of human actions lies in the fact that we want to attain the cessation of sufferings. This paves the way for studies in Soteriology, and the question arises that, could the Vedas be considered as a literature on Soteriology. The paper consists of a number of sections. The initial ones involve the linguistic analysis of the Vedic statements based on Sanskrit grammar and semantics. These are aimed at depicting the manner in which Vedic sentences act as prescriptive ethical codes. The latter ones deal with the questions raised by the opposing schools, namely Sāṁkhya-Yoga, against the idea of considering Vedas as a supreme sanction of means, leading beings to their salvation from empirical sufferings, and their plausible responses. Keywords: duties, ends, sacrifices, knowledge, liberation

সংস্কৃত ব্যাকরণে পাণিনীয় সংস্করণ

The structure of every language on grammar. For this, grammer is called the constitution of language. While the constitution contains the laws and regulations of a country, the grammar contains the laws and regulations of the language. Grammer identifies the rules of varios elements of language (sandhi, prefixes, suffixes, case, samās etc). The Paninian version of Sanskrit grammar has the same function. Here Panini has simultaneously highlighted the constitution and the grammar both of the Vedic and Sanskrit languages. Our topic is the Paninian version of Sanskrit grammar. However, from this edition, not only the grammar of the Sanskrit language but also the grammar of Bengla, Hindi, Prakrit and so on. are known. The Bengala language is one of them. For these reasons the Paninian version is given the status of proper “Vedāṅga” grammar in Sanskrit grammare. Even today, many scholars consider the Paninian grammar (Aṣṭādhyāẏī) to be a “wonder of the human brain”. So, the main objective of the present stady is to show how we can easily know Sanskrit grammar through the Paninian version of Sanskrit grammar.

Pāṇinian Grammar: An Effective Approach to Samāsa (Compounds) Study with reference to Dharmakīrti’s Rūpāvatāra

Pāṇinian grammar is a prescriptive and generative grammar that governs every aspect of Sanskrit language. Pāṇini composed the Aṣṭādhyāyī in sūtra-style with eight chapters that are considered the cornerstone of Sanskrit grammar. It is accompanied by excellent commentaries of Patanjali’s Mahābhāṣya and Kātyāyana’s Vārtikā, which were crucial in transforming the Pāṇinian grammar into a coherent structural path. The composition of the Kāśikāvṛtti of Jayāditya and Vāmana, together with the Nyāsa by Jinendrabuddhi and the Padamañjari by Haradatta broadened the second stage of Pāṇinian grammar by incorporating definitions and commentaries thereon. The Rūpāvatāra of Dharmakīrti is the initiative work of the prakriyā-style of Pāṇinian grammar that formulated grammatical aspects into a subject-wise methodology and is also considered the beginning of the third stage of Pāṇinian grammar. However, the Rūpāvatāra garnered limited attention from the researchers. The Samāsāvatāra of the Rūpāvatāra, which provides the complete forms of compounds, serves as the basis of this research. Regarding the outcomes, Dharmakīrti has employed a pragmatic approach to teach the compound forms in a way that is compatible with beginners of the subject. The research findings will be carried out by paying close attention to explanation techniques, contents, and other peculiarities of each sub-section in samāsāvatāra.

Грамматика и ритуалистика в индийской теоретической культуре и западный идеал «чистой теории»: межкультурный подход

The article reveals the intercultural significance of the impact of the Paninean grammar of Sanskrit (ca. IV century B.C.) on the formation of Western linguis­tics – the general theory of language, comparative historical linguistics, other comparative disciplines, as well as generative grammar, structuralism and for­malism. We are dealing here with a specific contribution of Indian theoretical knowledge to a number of important areas of Western science and philosophy. In ancient India itself, the genesis of grammatical and linguistic discourse was closely connected with the Brahmanical theory of Vedic sacrifice, which had the character of ritual- and sound-centrism. Ritual was regarded as a model of activity and behavior under the condition of an unstable confrontation between the forces of chaos and order. Sound-centrism constituted a priority of the oral transmission of knowledge in ancient India. The author associates ritual- and sound-centric doctrines with the conceptual expression of the dy­namic nature of reality by means of the “perfect language” – Sanskrit. The fact that in ancient India the grammar was a part of the “software” for ritualistic dis­cursive practices introduces some new perspectives within the study of the gene­sis of theoretical knowledge. In contrast to the hypothesis of “pure theory” sug­gested in Ancient Greece and acknowledged as a trigger for the development of philosophy and science in the West, an opportunity opens up to study the gen­esis of theoretical culture within the framework of justifying religious praxis (F. Staal’s hypothesis). This may actualize the reflection of “Indo-European lan­guage family relations” between Western civilization and Indian culture and en­rich their self-understanding by the introduction of an intercultural perspective.

On the main metarule of the Sanskrit grammar of Pāṇini

The subject of this study is the most famous and most frequently used metarule of the Sanskrit grammar "Aṣṭādhyāyī" compiled by the ancient Indian linguist Pāṇini. This metarule is called "bahiraṅgaparibhāṣā" and serves to determine the correct sequence of grammatical operations prescribed in the "Aṣṭādhyāyī". The material of the study are various interpretation of the bahiraṅgaparibhāṣā in Sanskrit commentaries on the "Aṣṭādhyāyī", as well as in the collections of metarules compiled by Sanskrit grammarians. The purpose of the work is to acquaint the Russian-speaking reader with the most important interpretative tool of the grammar of Panini — bahiraṅgaparibhāṣā, as well as with the history of the interpretation of this metarule in Sanskrit grammatical literature. The research method is a comparative analysis of Sanskrit primary sources containing interpretations of the bahiraṅgaparibhāṣā. For the first time in the Russian-language literature, a detailed analysis of the bahiraṅgaparibhāṣā has been made. The history of the origin of this metarule and its interpretation by Sanskrit grammarians has been studied. The signs of acquaintance of Panini with bahiraṅgaparibhāṣā are investigated. It is shown that, despite the widespread use of this metarule, the mechanism of its application was not explicitly described until the XVIII century AD, when this problem was completely solved by the grammarian Nāgojībhaṭṭa in his work "Paribhāṣenduśekhara". It is established that one of the main achievements of Nāgojībhaṭṭa was the strict definition of the concepts of antaraṅga and bahiraṅga — the most important elements of the statement of bahiraṅgaparibhāṣā.

The Divine Word and its Expression in Sanskrit: Continuity and Change in Vedic and Classical India

The Vedas are said to be not a human creation (apauruṣeya), but Revelation imparted to the Vedic sages who have put it down in inspired verses. Vedas’ words are therefore divine and eternal, and thus extensively praised. Vāc, the Vedic word, is eulogised in several hymns, among which Vāk Sūkta (X.125) is by far the most illustrative of all. In some teachings of the Upanishads, Vāc is equated to Brahman alongside other interpretations. When analysing the nature of the word, centuries later, philosophers and grammarians refer to it as śabda, and no longer as Vāc, the latter remains somehow confined to a rather poetical and mystical reality. Yet, the idea of the eternal and divine character of the scriptures is superimposed on the Sanskrit language also, despite certain historical change remarks on the grammarians' side. In the 5th century CE, Bhartṛhari displays a genuine linguistic and philosophical thought of the folding and unfolding of Reality and its understanding as Word-Principle (brahman śabda-tattva). From an auxiliary science of preserving the correct forms of the Vedas, Sanskrit grammar acquires a hermeneutical role and empowers itself as a way to salvation, an idea supported by previous evidence of grammar's role in producing celestial happiness (abhyudaya), merit and righteousness (dharma). I seek in this paper to analyse and point out the strongholds that underpin Sanskrit as a divine language and how continuity and change coexist to support over millennia this undaunted approach.

PENYERAPAN FONOLOGI BAHASA SANSKERTA DALAM TEKS ADIPARWA

Acculturation of Indian culture with the archipelago has occurred in the past. Old Javanese language is a very important language in the development of literary works in the archipelago. Kawi language is very much absorbed from Sanskrit, but Kawi language does not imitate Sanskrit grammar. One of them is the absorption of sound or Sanskrit phonology which can be found in the Adiparwa text. The type of research carried out is qualitative research based on data in the Adiparwa text using research methods and techniques. Data collection techniques based on literature study on Adiparwa text, note-taking techniques, through qualitative data analysis. Such data from the literature is then analyzed and presented descriptively. The data is taken from the abbreviated Adiparwa Zoetmulder (2005) text (APZ) and the abbreviated Sankerta Dictionary (KBS). Language contact between Sanskrit and Old Javanese/Kawi which resulted in the sound absorption process. Sound absorption includes 1) Sanskrit absorption experiencing an increase in sound, 2) Sanskrit absorption experiencing a reduction in sound 3) Sanskrit absorption experiencing a change in sound symbolization. In the absorption of Sanskrit on sound changes, it is known that several changes were found, such as: 1) Changes in the sound symbol /v/ to /w/ and changes in the symbol /ṛ/ to /rè/. 2) Change the sound /u/ to /o/ or vice versa. 3) Change the sound /j/ to sound /k/. 4) Change the sound /i/ to /ī/. 5) Change the sound /ī/ to /i/ and 6) Change the sound /a/ to /ā/.

A Study of aindra School of Sanskrit Grammar in the Light of Paninian Framework in Natural Language Processing

A Study of aindra School of Sanskrit Grammar in the Light of Paninian Framework in Natural Language Processing

복합어 분석을 통한 불교의 문법학 수용 양상 검토(Ⅱ) - 『구사론』과 『칭우소』를 중심으로

복합어 분석을 통한 불교의 문법학 수용 양상 검토(Ⅱ) - 『구사론』과 『칭우소』를 중심으로

On (the) sandhi between the Sanskrit and the Modern Western Grammatical Traditions: From Colebrooke to Bloomfield via Müller

This article traces the history of how modern Western linguistics adopted the term sandhi from the Sanskrit grammatical tradition and adapted it to its theoretical needs. In particular, we will acknowledge the fundamental role played by Muller, 1 who combining both Indic (Prakriyā grammars and Prātiśākhyas) and Western approaches (those of Colebrooke and Bopp) to the representation of Sanskrit grammar, coined in 1866 the labels of internal sandhi and external sandhi. Such labels gained momentum thanks to the works of Whitney in the 19th century and Bloomfield in the 20th century and eventually became common parlance in Western linguistics.

The Language of Legitimacy and Decline: Grammar and the Recovery of Vedānta in Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita’s Tattvakaustubha

The scope and audacity of Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita’s (16th c.) contributions to Sanskrit grammar has made him one of early-modern India’s most influential, if not controversial, intellectuals. Yet for as consequential as Bhaṭṭoji’s has been for histories of early-modern scholasticism, his extensive corpus of non-grammatical writings has attracted relatively little scholarly attention. This paper examines Bhaṭṭoji’s work on Vedānta, the Tattvakaustubha, in order to gage how issues of language became an increasingly important site of inter-religious critique among early-modern Vedāntins. In the Tattvakaustubha, Bhaṭṭoji reproaches Madhvācārya (14th c.), the founder of the eponymous Mādhva or Dvaita Vedānta system, for his use of ungrammatical words (apaśabdas). In extending his accusations of grammatical negligence to include Madhva’s early commentator Jayatīrtha (15th c.), Bhaṭṭoji sought to undermine Mādhva claims to authoritative scriptural exegesis. Bhaṭṭoji’s provocation impelled later Mādhva scholars like Rāghavendratīrtha (17th c.) to bring a sharper set of grammatical tools to core commentarial works. Where others have pointed to Vyāsatīrtha (16th c.) as a turning point for Mādhva scholastic discourse in the areas of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Navya Nyāya, this paper suggests that it was the post-Bhaṭṭoji scholar Rāghavendratīrtha who brought a hitherto unrivaled grammatical expertise to Mādhva writings. That both Mādhva and Advaita Vedāntins wielded grammatical legitimacy as a cudgel against the other raises important socio-historical questions about the relationship between text-criticism, conceptions of scholastic legitimacy, and inter-religious contestation in early-modern South Asia.

Mack the Knife and Knife-Black Dorothy Appositional Metaphoric Compounds: A Comparison and Contrast of the Varying Approaches in Sanskrit Treatises on Grammar and Poetics

Abstract The present article focuses on appositional metaphoric compounds karmadhāraya-rūpaka in Sanskrit. A first section addresses some problems of compound typology in Western works, where appositional compounds have often been identified as copulative dvandva. Following this general analysis there is a section on appositional compounds from the perspective of the classical Sanskrit grammar, in particular the Pāṇinian tradition where the metaphorical aspect has not been explored specifically. The final section deals with the contribution of Sanskrit treatises on poetics to the identification of metaphoric compounds and their differentiation from compound similes. The approach suggested in later texts on poetics seems to be based on syntactical criteria, the ambiguity of the double-head topic, i. e. candra-mukha, a moon-face being specified in the comment. According to this, an appositional compound should be analysed as a simile, if the comment refers to the actual part of the compound, i.e. the subject of the simile, or as a metaphor, if the comment refers to the standard of comparison, thus shifting the focus of the sentence from the actual to the imagined entity.

Neural Network Model for Semantic Analysis of Sanskrit Text

Semantic analysis is the process of extracting meaning of the sentence, from a given language. From the perspective of computer processing, challenge lies in making computer understand the meaning of the given sentence. Understandability depends upon the grammar, syntactic and semantic representation of the language and methods employed for extracting these parameters. Semantics interpretation methods of natural language varies from language to language, as grammatical structure and morphological representation of one language may be different from another. One ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, has its own unique way of embedding syntactic information within words of relevance in a sentence. Sanskrit grammar is defined in 4000 rules by PaninI reveals the mechanism of adding suffixes to words according to its use in sentence. Through this article, a method of extracting meaningful information through suffixes and classifying the word into a defined semantic category is presented. The application of NN-based classification has improved the processing of text.

Significance of Shringagrahika Nyaya (maxim) in understanding Charaka Samhita in context to commentary of Chakrapani.

Background:Ancient Ayurveda seers presented the knowledge in coded language, in the form of Sutras (verses). These verses are characterized by Padairalpam, Matimbuddhwa, i.e. having few words with concealed meaning with larger applications which can be explored with the help of Sanskrit grammar. Sometimes, just translation of the original verses might not convey the authentic and primary aim of the author as it depends on various factors such as the context, time and place. For this purpose, various commentators have adopted the methodology of integrating Nyayas (maxims) in their respective commentaries. Shringagrahika Nyaya (SGN) also belongs to the same category as it has been mentioned in several contexts in Chakrapani’s Ayurveda Dipika (AD) commentary on Charaka Samhita. It is the maxim of seizing the ox by its horns. The present work is an attempt to explore the different contexts of SGN in AD commentary.Aim and Objective:To explore the significance of SGN in understanding Charaka Samhita in context to AD commentary of Chakrapani.Materials and Methods:Original text of Charaka Samhita along with Chakrapani’s commentary, other available translations and published articles in peer-reviewed journals, published books and subject-related material available online have been thoroughly screened, compiled, organized and described in a systematic manner.Observations:Thorough screening of AD commentary of Charaka Samhita revealed that SGN has been mentioned in 12 different contexts out of which some are in positive and some are in negative sense. In a group of similar objects to indicate a particular one, this maxim has been used.Conclusion:To get authentic apprehension of Ayurvedic treatises, the knowledge of SGN is essential for the physicians, especially for better understanding of Charaka Samhita as well as successful implementation of fundamental concepts for the management of various disease conditions.

Sanskrit grammar and linguistics in modern sense

Language is a potent medium of expression and communication of thoughts. If language is correct/purified, the expression will also be correct, for this knowledge of rules of that language is an essential requirement. Present article deals with the comparative study of Sanskrit grammar and linguistics as well novel attainments of Sanskrit have been referred and discussed.

Improvement of Electronic Governance and Mobile Governance in Multilingual Countries with Digital Etymology using Sanskrit Grammar

With huge improvement of digital connectivity (Wifi,3G,4G) and digital devices access to internet has reached in the remotest corners now a days. Rural people can easily access web or apps from PDAs, laptops, smartphones etc. This is an opportunity of the Government to reach to the citizen in large number, get their feedback, associate them in policy decision with e governance without deploying huge man, material or resourses.But the Government of multilingual countries face a lot of problem in successful implementation of Government to Citizen (G2C) and Citizen to Government (C2G) governance as the rural people tend and prefer to interact in their native languages. Presenting equal experience over web or app to different language group of speakers is a real challenge. In this research we have sorted out the problems faced by Indo Aryan speaking netizens which is in general also applicable to any language family groups or subgroups.Then we have tried to give probable solutions using Etymology.Etymology is used to correlate the words using their ROOT forms.In 5th century BC Panini wrote Astadhyayi where he depicted sutras or rules- how a word is changed according to person,tense,gender,number etc.Later this book was followed in Western countries also to derive their grammar of comparatively new languages.We have trained our system for automatic root extraction from the surface level or morphed form of words using Panian Gramatical rules.We have tested our system over 10000 bengali Verbs and extracted the root form with 98% accuracy.We are now working to extend the program to successfully lemmatize any words of any language and correlate them by applying those rule sets in Artificial Neural Network.

Why Did the Buddhists Adopt Sanskrit?

AbstractWestern scholarship has long wondered about the reasons that led the Buddhists, or, to be more precise, specific sectarian components of the Indian Buddhist communities (most conspicuously the [Mūla]sarvāstivādins), to abandon the Middle Indic vernaculars as their scriptural, scholarly and probably vehicular language, to turn to Sanskrit, the celebrated and elitist language of Brahmanical scriptures (first and foremost the Veda), ritual, and culture. The fact is all the more intriguing that insistent Buddhist traditions traced to the Buddha himself, apparently a champion of regional languages, a prohibition to use Sanskrit or, at least, to emulate Brahmanical linguistic behavior. The present paper presents a partly new hypothesis concerning one aspect of this important sociolinguistic phenomenon by looking into the legitimations provided by these Buddhists for studying (Sanskrit) grammar

Sounding out Sounding out différance: Derrida, Saussure, & Bhartṛhari

Sounding out différance Derrida, Saussure, & Bhartṛhari Charles Li Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge cchli@cantab.net And Reality itself remains unaffected by these differences of textual explanations. Vākyapadīya 2.233, as rendered by K. R. Pillai1 “There is no purely and rigorously phonetic writing,”2 proclaims Jacques Derrida as he coins the term différance. The a in différance is not audible; the difference is purely graphic, and when expressed orally the hearer understands différence whether it is written with an e or an a. But Derrida is working in French, and while it is clear that French is not purely and rigorously phonetic in its writing, this does not necessarily hold for other languages or linguistic scripts, nor does the silence of différance necessarily survive translation. Moreover, especially if one considers Derrida's more generalized definition of “writing” – not only as marks on a surface, but as a sign system – then a natural counter-example of a rigorously phonetic “writing” springs to mind: over two millennia before Derrida's proclamation, Indian grammarians such as Pāṇini were refining and documenting the pronunciation of Sanskrit, rigorously matching spoken phonemes with linguistic signs. Derrida notes accurately that in French, non-phonetic signs such as spaces between words are inevitably used to separate units of meaning. But for a Sanskrit grammarian, 1 words are not arbitrarily spaced apart; if they are elided in speech, the linguistic sign precisely notates the resultant sound. This phenomenon, sandhi, is similar to the French system of élision and liason, although much more rigorous in its application.3 Even quotation marks – silent, graphic signs in French – take the form of a spoken word, iti, in Sanskrit. Derrida notes that “the silence of the graphic difference between the e and the a in différance can function only within the system of phonetic writing”,4 but the system is assumed to be flawed enough to allow for Derridian play in the interstice between speech and writing. Sanskrit grammarians are so rigorously phonocentric that they make it impossible to write différance; it is not even conceivable. Phonocentrism – the emphasis on the orality of language, over its written form – is a topic which receives heavy criticism from Derrida, who sees it as an overarching theme in the work of the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure; in Of Grammatology, Derrida writes, “For Saussure, [writing] is even a garment of perversion and debauchery, a dress of corruption and disguise, a festival mask that must be exorcised, that is to say, warded off, by the good word: ‘Writing veils the appearance of language; it is not a guise but a disguise’”.5 Saussure's distrust of writing echoes a sentiment found in many Sanskrit texts that prohibit the writing of the Vedas; in the Mahābhārata, for example, one who writes the Vedas is said to go to hell.6 Given this and other coincidences, it is no wonder that Saussure's theories are frequently compared with the Sanskrit grammatical tradition. There are tantalizing historical links as well: Saussure was a professor of Sanskrit, and his doctoral dissertation focused on a specific aspect of Sanskrit grammar – the genitive absolute.7 But in the final analysis, there does not seem to be any evidence that Saussure consciously borrowed from the Sanskrit grammatical tradition when he developed his own linguistics . Although his bookshelf contained editions of Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī as well as Yāska's 2 Nirukta, as Giuseppe D'Ottavi points out, his attitude towards his Sanskrit sources was one of condescension, as was common in his time; he considered the Sanskrit grammarians merely for their historiographical value, rather than as authorities on the language.8 Yet, it is clear that Saussure was very well-versed in the work of the grammarians – in his thesis, he quotes liberally from both the Aṣṭādhyāyī and its commentary, the Mahābhāṣya, as well as from later literary figures such as Mallinātha, who, although not a grammarian, was nevertheless thoroughly knowledgeable in grammar. With this in mind, it is difficult to consider the many striking similarities between Saussure's...

KārakaTheory in theVīracōḻiyamand its Sanskrit Antecedents

In the present study I will examine the relationship between the Vīracōḻiyam , an 11th century grammar of Tamil by the Buddhist Puttamittiraṉ, and the Sanskrit grammatical treatises that served as its likely models. Based on the sections that describe the kāraka s “factors of an action”, I have been able to establish that two texts in particular, the Kātantra and the Prayogamukha , heavily influenced Puttamittiraṉ's presentation of the Tamil language. Furthermore, it has become evident by comparing the number and names of the sub-kāraka s in these works with those in the Saddanīti , a Pali grammar of the 12th century, that the Prayogamukha travelled in Buddhist circles as one of the basic texts for extending Sanskrit grammar to foreign languages, a thesis that is further substantiated by the presence of the Prayogamukha in Tibetan during the first wave of translation.