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Systems of Sanskrit Grammar §9-]

which belongs to the early centuries of the Christian

12 Systems of Sanskrit Grammar

era. Any further details regarding the grammatical efforts

earlier than Panini it is not possible to give. All that we can do is, following Yaska and on the basis of references occurring in Panini, Katyayana, Patafijali, and the earlier Pratisakhyas and Brahmanas, to frame a tabular statement of the schools and teachers with the tenets peculiar to each. A beginnirig towards one is made in Dr. Burnell’s essay quoted before, where only the names of the teachers —some of them later than Panini—are given.’

The School of Panini

10. Tie School of Panint-—- The work which brought to a focus these tentative efforts of the early grammarians? and by its accuracy and thoroughness eclipsed : all its pre- decessors, dominating the thoughts of generations of thin- kers even to present times, is the Ashtadhyayi of Panini. it stands—and it will always stand as long as Sanskrit continues to be studied—as a monument at once of ency- clopedic research and technical perfection. The work is also interesting in that it is probably the oldest surviv-

in one way or another Panini’s work was an improvement upon those of his predecessors. Some of them may have con- fined their witention merely to the Vedic and some to the

1 A few instances are also collect- ed in Indische Studien, iv. p76. Compare also History of Ancient Sanskrit Litera- ture, p. 160.

2 In hia sttras Panini refers to

the Norther and the Eastern schools of grammarians and to the following ten indivi- dual authors: srfte@, sia, aed, amet, erpadoy, aregre, ataetee, area, tag, and eitarta. It would not be far from the trath to assume that

post- Vedic Literature, or, treat- ing of both, mast have given lesa attention to current epeech and mote to the scriptures. The Vediige spoken of by Taska mnst be such @ treatise and not the Ashtadhyayr. �