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    Some of pāṇini's rules applied

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté


    Pāṇini-ji was the prathamavaiyākaraṇa (distinguished/1st rate) vyākaraṇaḥ¹ or grammarian. Historians put him around 700 B.C. His most notable work is called aṣṭādhyāyī grantha¹ containing 4,000 s
    ūtra-s. Within the 4,000 are 3,959 rules¹ (sūtrāṇi) of grammar. Some count the work as containing 32,000 syllables ( that’s just how grammarians think no doubt), yet this 3+2+0+0+0 = 5 and is a ‘code’ for śivaḥ. How so? Akṣarasamāmnāya or akṣara + samāmnāya : samāmnāya = enumeration or mentioned together + akṣara = syllable, indestructible.
    The recitation of akṣara or phonemes are the 14 phonemes ( sound forms/syllables) that are offered in pāṇini-ji’s work; note 14 is 1+4 = 5. This akṣara + samāmnāya is most-often called śiva-sūtrāṇi or the the rules in sūtra form offered by śivaḥ, hence the '5' connection as His 5 acts ( creation, dissolution, grace, etc)

    I thought to offer some of these rules that I find interesting and useful … I myself am no more than the student (śiṣyaḥ). I also would like to offer them inspirationally i.e. as I find one a rule of interest at the moment. My intent ? Sharing vs. trying to teach anyone a specific mode of grammar and its rules.

    Let me start with saṁskṛtam
    Why do we sometimes see it written saṅskrit or sanscrit ? These two alternate ways of writing the term saṁskṛtam may be for easier reading. Yet the nasal ‘n’ shown as ‘ṅ’ has some merit in scripting, but let’s start at the beginning.

    saṁskṛtam is made of the compound sam + kṛta

    • sam = union, thoroughness, completeness , placed together
    • kṛta = done , made , accomplished , performed


    So , sam + kṛta = thoroughly done, highly complete, well formed & placed together.
    Saṁskṛtam as a definition of a language is come to be known as a well formed, complete, and highly polished language. The notion of ‘well formed’ = according to accurate rules and regular derivation.

    Now the rules of combining sam + kṛta .

    We are informed that anytime this ‘m’ comes at the end of a word it is transformed into ‘ṁ’ if the next sound is a consonant ( like a ka, ca, ga, ja, da, pa, na, etc).
    This ‘ṁ’ is called anusvāra which is defined as ‘the after-sound , the nasal sound’ which is marked by a dot.

    Here is an example: śivam namaḥ becomes śiva namaḥ. We followed the rule precisely. Yet there are exceptions ( as there always are).The rule is different for the term sam and and pum. It says when this is encountered the ‘m’ becomes ‘ṁs’ when followed by any root form of ‘kṛ’. The ‘kṛ’ root indicates to do , make , perform , accomplish , cause , effect , prepare , undertake.
    Note that we have this condition: sam + kṛta. This term when combined becomes saṁskṛta.

    This rule of ‘m’ also has another flavor. It says if you are combining words and this ‘m’ is found at the joining/union point of the 2 words and the 2nd word begins with a consonant ( as mentioned before) you then change it to the corresponding nasal sound associated with that consonant.
    Example: tattvam + karoṣi becomes tattvakaroṣi , yet could be written as tattvaṁ karoṣi.
    Another: kṛtam + ca becomes kṛtañca, yet could also have been written kṛtaṁ ca.

    There are two questions ( at least).
    a. Why combine words? Simple answer, for the efficient use of space; the esoteric answer is one of communicating wholeness.
    b. Which nasal sounds are substituted for which consonants? And why these sounds ?
    Why - is based upon easy pronunciation and the existing position if the tongue at for the existing phonemes/ akṣara that are in use at that moment)

    Now the which ...
    I will let you look this up but let me give you a few indicators

    • when ka sounds ( called kaṇṭhya or guttural, throat) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal ṅ is used.
    • when ca sounds ( called tālvya or palatal) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal ñ is used.
    • when ṭa sounds ( called mūrdhanya or cerebral, roof) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal ṇ is used.
    • when ta sounds (called danta or dental , teeth) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal n is used.
    • when pa sounds (called oṣṭhya or labial, lips) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal m is used


    nasal ṅ is used – as in sing
    nasal ñ is used – as in enjoyable
    nasal ṇ is used – as in Monday or gentle
    nasal n is used as in nut
    m is used – as in mother
    But what of ūṣman sounds ( called sibilants) i.e. ṣ, ś, s and ha ? different rules apply.

    Back to square one
    Why do we sometimes see it written saṅskrit or sanscrit ? These writings have it almost right… but they are still incorrect.

    Next post
    How does śivaḥ + aham ( I am śivaḥ) become śivo’ham ?

    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ


    words

    • some call out 3,995 rules
    • pāṇini comes from pāṇin-a meaning son of pāṇina. One must ask then what is pāṇin ? The core of the name ? It means ‘the hand’ suggesting writing and IMHO the perfect connection for one dealing with grammar or vyākaraṇa grammatical correctness , polished or accurate language. He the author of several other works i.e. the dhātupāṭha , gaṇapātha , liṅgānuśāsana and other śikṣā-s works as we are told.
    • grantha – binding, stringing together and suggests pages or leafs bound together to compose a book. It too means treatise , literary production , book in prose or verse , text. Yet grantha also means wealth. This suggests the ‘wealth’ of knowledge that is bound within this book aṣṭādhyāyī. Since the book contains ‘rules’ the offer of aṣṭādhyāyī is rule-bound.
    • For those wondering this aṣṭādhyāyī contains 8 chapters, that he divided into 4 pādāḥ . Note that 3+ 9+5+9 = 26.
      • 2+6 = 8.
      • The name aṣṭādhyāyī can be looked at this way:


    • aṣṭādhyāyī = a collection of 8 books or chapters as adhyāya = a chapter, lesson or lecture
    • aṣṭa ( or aṣṭan or aṣṭā́ ) = 8 ; note too that aṣṭa also means marked/branded
    • ādhyāyī - ādhyai = to meditate on, consider. So we can consider aṣṭādhyāyī as a collection of 8 chapters one may wish to meditate on
    Last edited by yajvan; 04 January 2017 at 07:26 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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