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 2 Systems of Sanskrit Grammar §2-]

bards, still passages, such as Rigveda x. 125 or Taitti- riya Samhit® vi, 4.7. 3, already evince the conscious- ness that the study of the forms of speech is of sufficient importance to be pursued by itself independently of the dealings between men and men which are rendered possible by them. It is not, however, necessary for our purpose to put together all the Vedic passages that have or, can be made to have u grammatical significance. Suffice it to say that the available data do not warrant the supposition that the ‘Seers of the Mantras’ had made any considerable advance in the science of grammar. Indeed, it was not their business to do that. To observe the silent or violent workings of Nature and to record in fitting verse the feelings and thoughts awakened by their contemplation was enough to employ all their leisure hours. Philosophy arises only when the harmony of life is disturbed from within (or from without) so that the old child-like faith in the world and its laws becomes no longer possible ; and grammar is a species of philosophy. , The study of grammar receives a sudden impetus ’ when one form of speech comes into close contact with’ ‘ another and a different form. Thus, for example, the discovery of Sanskrit by modern Europe has created a revolution in the science of philology, just as, in an- cient times, the Roman conquest of Greece and, later, the discovery of Greek after the fall of Constantinople led to equally momentous consequences in the development of _thought— The same result is also produced when in course of time there arise inevitable dialectical peculiari- ties within a language. These are either a consequence of the impact of the different races one of which con- quers and dominates over the rest,* or they may be due

I Compare TantravOrtike, Bena~ their language to the Romane, res edition, pe 216. Greek grammar mado little pro- 2 Until the Greeks began to teuch gress» �