Vyākaraṇa (Sanskrit: व्याकरण, lit. 'explanation, analysis', IPA: [ˈʋjaːkɐrɐɳɐ]) refers to one of the six ancient Vedangas, ancillary sciences connected with the Vedas, which are scriptures in Hinduism. Vyākaraṇa is the study of grammar and linguistic analysis in the Sanskrit language. Pāṇini and Yāska are the two celebrated ancient scholars of Vyākaraṇa; both are dated to several centuries prior to the start of the common era, with Pāṇini likely from the fifth century BCE. Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī is the most important surviving text of the Vyākaraṇa traditions. This text, as its very title suggests, consists of eight chapters, each divided into four padas, cumulatively containing 4000 sutras. The text is preceded by abbreviation rules grouping the phonemes of Sanskrit. Pāṇini quotes ten ancient authorities whose texts have not survived, but they are believed to have been Vyākaraṇa scholars. Vyākaraṇa is related to the fourth Vedānga called Nirukta. Vyākaraṇa scholarship has dealt with linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words to properly express ideas, and Nirukta scholarship has focused on linguistic analysis to help establish the proper meaning of the words in context.
Etymology Vyākaraṇa (IPA: [ʋjaːkɐrɐɳɐ]) means "separation, distinction, discrimination, analysis, explanation" of something. It also refers to one of the six Vedāngas, or the Vedic field of language analysis, specifically grammatical analysis, grammar, linguistic conventions which creates, polishes, helps a writer express and helps a reader discriminate accurate language. The word Vyākaraṇa is also found in Mahayana sutras and first-millennium Mahayana Buddhist texts, but with a different meaning. Vyākaraṇa, in these Buddhist texts, means a prediction or prophecy by a Buddha to a Bodhisattva who has just embarked on the path, that he will achieve enlightenment and be a buddha, in other words, an enlightened one.
History
Vyākaraṇa emerged as a distinct auxiliary field of Vedic study in ancient times. Its aim was to prevent sloppy usage and transmission of the Vedic knowledge, states Howard Coward – a professor emeritus at the University of Victoria and the founding editor of the Journal for Hindu-Christian Studies. Vyākaraṇa helped ensure that the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism and its message of "Sabda Brahman" (explanation of metaphysical truths through words) that Vedic Rishis had realized by their efforts, remains available to all in a pristine form. In Indian traditions, Vyākaraṇa has been one of the most important sciences, one extensively studied over its history, and that led to major treatises in the philosophy of language. Pāṇini and Yāska, two celebrated ancient scholars of Vyākaraṇa, are both dated to several centuries prior to the start of the common era, likely the 5th-century BCE. However, both of them cite prior scholars and texts, which though lost to history, imply that the field of Vyākaraṇa was an established and developed science of language before them. Between the two, Yaksa may be the older one and more known for Nirukta (etymology) – the fourth auxiliary field of Vedic studies, but the evidence for him preceding Pāṇini is scanty and uncertain. In terms of dedicated treatise on Vyākaraṇa, Pāṇini is the most recognized ancient Hindu scholar, and his Aṣṭādhyāyī ("Eight Chapters") is the most studied extant ancient manuscript on Sanskrit grammar. Pāṇini's fame spread outside India, and the reverence for ancient Pāṇini in northwest India is mentioned in Chinese texts of Xuanzang – the 7th-century traveller and scholar. The study of grammar and the structure of language is traceable to the Rigveda, or 2nd millennium BCE, in hymns attributed to sage Sakalya. Sakalya is acknowledged by Pāṇini's works. The literary evidence that the science of Vyākaraṇa existed in Vedic times abound in the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads, states Moriz Winternitz. The extant manuscripts of Pāṇini and Yaksa suggest that the Vedic age had competing schools of grammar. One school, for example, held that all nouns have verbal roots, while another held that not all nouns have verbal roots. However, it is unclear how, who or when these ancient Vedic theories of grammar originated, because those texts have not survived into the modern era.
Pre-Pāṇinian schools There were many schools of Sanskrit grammar in ancient India, all established before the mid 1st-millennium BCE. Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī, which eclipsed all other ancient schools of grammar, mentions the names of ten grammarians.). Some of these pre-Pāṇinian scholars mentioned by Pāṇini include Apisali, Kasyapa, Gargya, Galava, Cakravarmana, Bharadvaja, Sakatayana, Sakalya, Senaka and Sphoṭayāna. The works of most these authors are lost but we find reference of their ideas in the commentaries and rebuttals by later authors. Yāska's Nirukta is one of the earlier surviving texts, and he mentions Śākaṭāyana, Krauṣṭuki, Gārgya among others.
Post-Pāṇinian schools Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī is the most ancient extant manuscript on Vyākaraṇa. It is a complete and descriptive treatise on Sanskrit grammar in aphoristic sutras format. This text attracted a famous and one of the most ancient commentary (bhāṣya) called the Mahābhāṣya. The author of the Mahābhāṣya is named Patañjali, who may or may not be the same person as the one who authored Yogasutras. The Mahābhāṣya, or "Great Commentary", is more than a commentary on the Aṣṭādhyāyī, it is the earliest known philosophical text of the Hindu grammarians. Non-Hindu texts and traditions on grammar emerged after Patañjali, some of which include the Sanskrit grammar by the Jain author Jainendra and the Cāndra grammar by the Buddhist Candragomin.
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