SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE IN SANSKRIT PART VI

 

Continuation of Part V (Sunday 2, July 2023)

KAATHYAAYANA

Kaathyaayana also known as Vararuchi wrote the Vaarthika to the Suthras of Paanini in which he has corrected, modified and supplemented some of the Suthras (Ukthanukthadhurukthavicharo Vaarthikam).  This was probably due to the changes that occured in the spoken language in the course of more than 200 years after Paanini.  Katyaayana is placed somewhere in 5th century B.C.

When the language treated by Paanini stands closest to that of the Vedic portions like Brahmanas, Upanishads and Kalpasuthras, first Kaathyaayana later Pathanjali, the successors of Paanini, had essentially in view the language of Classical Sanskrit Literature.

Though MahaaBhaashyam is the commentary on Paanini's Ashtaadhyaayee, it will be more accurate if we say that Pathanjali speaks more about Kaathyaayana than about Paanini.  The Vaarthikaas too do not constitute a commentary on Paanini, but they are really critical, explanatory and complimentary notes on certain rules.

Kaathyaana is not, as many people believe, an opponent of Paanini, rather his admirer and follower.  Kaathyaayana examines without sparing pains the rules of the teacher and objections raised against them, and either sets aside these objections or improves upon the rules.  And in only few cases, Kaathyaayana has rejected the suthras of Paanini.

Frequently the Vaarthikaas constitute the supplements, that partly rest upon the actual shortcomings of Paanini's teachings and are partly based on the fact that the linguistic usage had very much changed during the interval that elapsed between Paanini and Kaathyaayana.  Thesse Vaarthikaas are generally short prose sentences written in the style of Suthras, but they are not so brief as the suthras of Paanini.  There are also a metrical Vaarthikaas (Sloka-Vaarthikaas) that are based only in part on Kaathyaayana himself and in parts of other predecessors of Pathajali.