154 



SANSKRIT 



plastic material principle as the prime cause of 

 the universe ; and considering that thin form of 

 belief is referred to amongst the heterodox doe- 

 triuea contended against by S'ankarAchArya (? c. 

 700 A.D.), it would seem to be of tolerable an- 

 tii|iiit v, though probably not in the grossly licen- 

 tious I'm in in wluoli it i- inculcated in many of the 

 Tantric writings. The number of original Tantras 

 is usually tixed at sixty-four. The best-known 

 works of this class are the KudrayAmula, KulAr- 

 nam, SyAmAraJuuya, and KAlikAtantni. 



The best native survey of the Indian systems (except 

 MlniAinsa) is Madhava's XarradarfanamniraJia (trans. 

 by K. B. Cowell and A. E. Uough ) ; for other accounts, 

 lee Colebrooke's Euayi, and Goldstuckcr's Literary 

 Jttmains. 



(3) Grammar ( v yAkarana ). Grammatical re- 

 search in India probably goes back to nearly as 

 early times as the redaction of the Vedic hymns. 

 The work traditionally accepted as the VedAnga- 

 treatise in this science viz. the AshtAdhyayi, or 

 'eight chapters' of aphoristic rules, by PAiiini 

 (q.v.) marks the very highest point of its develop- 

 ment, and would seem to presuppose a long period 

 of growth. To the same author is ascribed the 

 original treatise of another Vedanga viz. phonetics 

 ( is'ik.\-/tii ), treating of the nature of the letters and 

 accents, and the proper mode of sounding them. 

 To this latter branch of science have to be referred 

 the Prdtis'dkhyas, elaborate treatises on the pho- 

 netic changes undergone by words in the connected 

 form of the Vedic texts. Such treatises are in 

 existence for all the SamhitAs, except the SAma- 

 veda ; those of the llik and Atharvan being asci -ilx-d 

 to S'aunaka, that of the VAjasanavi-samhita to 

 KAtyAyana, whilst the author of the Taittiriya- 

 prAtis'Akhya in unknown. Whether these works 

 are anterior or posterior to Pam'ni is still doubtful. 

 Here must also l>e mentioned the oldest work on 

 etymology and Vedic interpretation, YAska's 

 2firutta, which is probably older than Panini's 

 grammar. PAnini's rules were partially amended 

 and supplemented in KAtyayana s VArtttkus, which 

 on their part were critically examined by Patan- 

 jali ( ? 2d century B.C. ), in his MahAbhAshya, or ' great 

 commentary.' So minute and complete was the 

 grammatical analysis of the language presented in 

 these works that the efforts of sulxtequent authors 

 of grammars were mainly directed towards the 

 best rearrangement of the linguistic matter for 

 practical educational purposes. The most import- 

 ant of these grammars, forming the text-books of 

 special grammatical schools, are the Chfin(/ru- 

 vydkarana, by Chandra-gomin of Kashmir (2d 

 century, A.D.); the Kdtantra, by Sarvavarman 

 (? 6th century); the text-book of the KAlApa or 

 KauniAra school ; the Sdrasvatt prakriya, by 

 Anuhhuti-avarupAchArya ; the ffiaMia-vyMartMO, 

 by Hemachandra (12th century); the Mvijdlia- 

 bodha, by Vopadeva ( 13th century ) ; aim the 

 XnltlliAnta-kaumudl, by Bhattoji-dfkshita (17th 

 century ). 



(4) Lexicography. Native dictionaries (kothn), 

 generally composed in verse, are either honioiiy- 

 moiiH or synonymous. In tjie former the words 

 explained are usually arranged according to the 

 final consonant and then according to the numl>er 

 of syllables they contain. The most famous dic- 

 tionary ( chiefly synonymous ), and one of the oldest, 

 i the Anuirukoslui, or 'Immortal treasury,' by 

 Amara*iiiiha(c. 550). Of others the most important 

 are Heinochandra's AbfiidAdna-ciiintAmatii, HalA- 

 yiidha'H AliliiilltAna-nttnamAlA (llth century ), and 

 the Mrilini (.. l.'flli century). 



(5) Prosody (chliandas). The privilege of repre- 

 senting this science among the VedAngaa is assigned 

 to the Chhanilulj-HiUrd, ascribed to Pmgala, who is 

 traditionally identified with Patanjali, the gram- 



marian. But, strange to say, the section of this 

 work treating of Vedic metres is very meagre, 

 whilst the chapter on post- Vedic metres is toler- 

 alilv complete, and, with a nmiinentary on it by 

 HalAyiidha ( probably the lexicographer), still forms 

 one of the chief authorities on prosody. Of other 

 important manuals may be mentioned tin' Vrttta- 

 ratndtara, or 'jewel-mine of rhythms,' by Kedara- 

 I ilia na (before the 13th century); and the Chhando- 

 iiiniijiirt, or ' cluster of metres, by GangAdAsa. See 

 i ..I'-lirooke'n excellent essay on Sanskrit and PrAkrit 

 Metres, Misc. Ens. ii. 



(6) Music (s(i>!i<jit(i). The existing treatises on 

 music are of comparatively modern origin. The 

 two most important are the Samgita-ratnAkara , ur 

 'jewel-mine of harmony,' by S'Arngudeva, and the 

 Sarngtta-darpana, or 'mirror of harmony,' by 

 DAniodara. These works treat not only of music 

 proper including the notes, melodies, and measures, 

 ninging, concerted music, ami instruments but 



of dancing, acting, and mimic representa- 

 tion. 



(7) Rhetoric (alanMra-s' Astra ).T\\e theory of 

 jioetic composition and the approved forms of 

 literary style has been a favourite subject with 

 Hindu writers; and the result of their labours 

 is a minute classification of the various forms of 

 (iimj>osition, and an elaborate system of rules 

 regarding the different sentiments and forms of 

 speech applicable to certain characters and con- 

 ditions of life. Dramatic poetry, as the most 

 varied form of literary comi>osition, usually occu- 

 pies a large share of 'the attention of rhetorical 

 writers. The B/iarata-t'dstra, which is only 

 imperfectly known, is considered the nm-t 

 ancient of the existing manuals of this an. 

 Whether the author preceded the brilliant period 

 of artificial poetry from the fifth century of our 

 era onwards is still uncertain. The earliest work 

 the date of which has been fairly ascertained is 

 the KavyAtlars'a, 'mirror of poetry," by Dandin 

 (6th century). Of other works on poetics gener- 

 ally may be mentioned the KAvya-prak&s'a, or 

 ' lustre of poetry,' by M animate (c. 12th century), 

 and especially the Sd/iitya-darpana, or ' mirror 

 of composition ' (trans, in Bibl. /rf. ),!>> Vis'va- 

 nAtha KavirAja ( 15th century ), the standard author 

 ily on literary criticism. Tne favourite manual of 

 dramaturgy is the Dadar&pa, or 'ten forms' (of 

 plays), by Dhananjaya (c. 10th century). 



(8) Medicine (ayitrvei/a, miilifit&'fatra). The 

 oldest systematic treatises on medical subject* are 

 the Saq&UAtcl Charakaand Sus'ruta(?c. 650 A.D.). 

 Moth works are composed in verse mixed with 

 prose sections, and are characterised by great 

 diffuseness. Of later handbook:- of medical science 

 may be mentioned VAgbha^a's Ax/itiiiif/ii/irii/ni^i 

 and lihavamis'ra's Rh&vaprak&s' a ; whilst the 

 Jfdjanighanftt, by the Kn-shmirian Narahari, is 

 the most approved manual of materia medica. 

 Cf. T. A. Wise, I'liiiuiiriiliii-// mi Hindu Medi- 

 cine (1845), and History of Medicine (vol. i. 

 1867). 



(9) Astronomy and Mathematiet. This science 

 appears as one of the VedAngas, or members of 

 i he Veda ; ami the treatise which has been handed 

 down as such in the Rik and Vajus recensions 

 viz. the Jyotisham presents indeed a comparatively 

 primitive appearance, as it knows only a lunar year 

 of 3(>0 days, ami mentions neither the zodiac nor 

 the planets. Much the same phase of knowledge 

 is represented by some other works, such as the 

 GArgi SamhitA ( c. 60 B.C.). A new scientific era, 

 brought about by a knowledge of Greek astronomy, 

 commenced about 250 A.D., and gave rise, in the 

 first place, to live works called SiddhAnta (Siirya- 

 iiddhAnta, &c. ), and later on to the sUindard works 

 on astronomy viz. Aryabha^a's AryaMuitiyam 



