The volume is the first outcome of an international project aiming to create a complete critical edition of the ‘Kasikavrtti’ (7th c. CE) of Jayaditya and Vamana, the oldest surviving complete commentary on the ‘Astadhyayi of Panini’ (ca. 4th c. BCE). The first phase, culminating in this critical edition of the Kasika’s initial section (devoted to the ‘Pratyaharasutras’, the ‘rules for abbreviations’) was jointly coordinated by the editors together with Professor Saroja Bhate, a Paninian scholar of global renown. This edition is accompanied by a description of the manuscripts collated, an annotated English translation by the editors, and a series of editorial contributions dealing with the history of the Kasikavrtti’s editions and its current textual sources. Summaries of the methodology and results of the project’s first phase are also included. In the second part of the study, various authors discuss an array of theoretical, historical and methodological topics ranging from the historical importance of the Kasika and its relation with the seminal ‘Mahabhasya’ of Patanjali, to a comparison with the corresponding section in the ‘Candravrtti’, the evidence of Bhartrhari’s influence on the Kasika, and the copyists’ invocations and the incipit attested in the ‘Kasikavrtti’ manuscripts.

This volume contains a critical edition, English translation and essays on the initial section of the Kasikavrtti (7th c. CE), the oldest complete commentary on the Astadhyayi of Panini.

This volume contains a critical edition, English translation and essays on the initial section of the Kasikavrtti (7th c. CE), the oldest complete commentary on the Astadhyayi of Panini.

The importance of ancient and medieval contributions in India to the field of vyakarana and thereby to our knowledge of grammar and the history of linguistics is universally accepted. This volume presents sixteen contributions to this field of study which were presented at the fourteenth World Sanskrit Conference held in Kyoto, Japan, September 1st-5th 2009. The papers cover a wide range of subjects, both chronologically and thematically. Most of the studies concern aspects of Paninian grammar, with respect to both Panini's grammar proper and to works of Paniniyas, including Patanjali's Mahabhasya, Bhartrhari's Vakyapadiya and the Kasikavrtti of Jayaditya and Vamana. There are also contributions that range farther afield, covering the Sanskrit grammar of Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo, Paninian features to be seen in the Lilatilakam of fourteenth century Kerala, and a study considering whether formal hand gestures used in Indian dance can possibly come within the range of what is called vyakarana. This collection should be of interest not only to Sanskritists but also more generally to students of Indian culture and linguists.

Study of Kasika of Vamana and Jayaditya, 7th century; work on Sanskrit grammar.

In the historical study of the Indian grammarian tradition, a line of demarcation can often be drawn between the conformity of a system with the well-known grammar of Pāṇini and the explanatory effectiveness of that system. One element of Pāṇini’s grammar that scholars have sometimes struggled to bring across this line of demarcation is the theory of homogeneity, or sāvarṇya, which concerns the final consonants in Pāṇini’s reference catalog, as well as phonetic similarities between sounds. While modern Sanskrit scholars understand how to interpret and apply Pāṇini’s homogeneity, they still find it necessary to unravel the history of varying interpretations of the theory in subsequent grammars. Madhav Deshpande’s The Theory of Homogeneity provides a thorough account of the historical development of the theory. Proceeding first to study this conception in the Pāṇinian tradition, Deshpande then passes on to other grammatical systems. Deshpande gives attention not only to the definitions of homogeneity in these systems but also the implementation of the theory in those respective systems. Even where definitions are identical, the concept may be applied quite differently, in which cases Deshpande examines by considering the historical relationships among the various systems.