Page:Systems-of-Sanskrit-Grammar-SK Belvalkar.pdf/77

 69 [ - § 53 Abhinava-Sākaṭāyana : His Date The late Dr. Kielhorn once expressed doubts as to the historical existence of this modern Sakatayana. He inclined to the view that it was some modern Jain writer who has presented his own grammatical labours under the auspicies of a revered name, carefully trying to follow the views attributed to him in ancient works and possibly having for its basis some of the teachings of the earlier Sakatayana. Professor Pathak's paper on the Jaina Šakaṭāyana (Indian Antiquary for October 1914) has now conclusively established not only the historical existence of the author of the Sabdanuśasana but his exact date. The Sakatayana who wrote the Sab- danuśasana also wrote the Amoghavritti, which was written in the time of Amoghavarsha I, the great Rashtrakūta king whose known epigraphic dates range from A. D. 817-877. 33. Character of the Sakatayuna Sabdanuśāsana.-Besides the older gramraarians such as Pāṇini, Katyāyana, Patañ- jali, and Chandragomin, Sakaṭāyana has freely drawn upon the work of Pujyapada the author of the Jainendra- vyakarana. Many sütras of Sakaṭāyana are identical with those of Panini, and in cases where they differ the object has been to say in shorter and fewer words what 1 Carefully but often inaccurately: Thus in sutras iii. 4. 111 and 112, Papini tells us that the Imperf. 3rd pers. pl. of ar is 3: only according to Sakata- yana, but not so in his own opinion. This establishes - rr. Now the modern Saka- tayana also makes the rule op- tional and allows both forms in his sutra atar This is what Panini teaches, and not what Panini represents Sakatayans to have taught. 2 The most conclusive proof for this is the use of the instance fra to illus trate the use of the imperfect (autra iv. 3. 207) to describe a well-known past event which the writer might have per- sonally witnessed but did not. There is inscriptional evidence to prove that the event in question took place shortly before Saka 789 or A, D. 867 (see Ep. Ind. vol. i, p. 54, Ind. Ant. vol. xii, p. 181). 3 E. g. Papini's i. 3. 11, i. 1. 1, viii. 4. 40, &c.