SHANSCRIT. 



ordinate length ; the whole fentence too, or even whole 

 periods, may, at the pleafure of the author, be combined 

 like the eltmeiits of a firigle word, and good writers gene- 

 rally do fo. In common (peech this could never have been 

 praftifed. None but well-known compouads would be 

 ufed by any fpeaker who wiflud to be underftood, and 

 each word would be dilUnftly articulated, independently of 

 the terms which precede and follow it. Such indeed is the 

 prefent practice of thofe who ftiU fpeak the Shanfcrit lan- 

 guage ; and they deliver themfelvcs with fuch fluency as is 

 fufficient to prove, that Shanfcrit may have been fpoken 

 in former times with as much facility as the contemporary 

 dialefts of the Greek language, or the more modern dia- 

 iefts of t..j Arabic tongue. 



The father of Shanfcrit grammar, who firft compofed thofe 

 grammatical inftitutes in which this language is formed, or 

 by which words are correftly formed or inflcfted, was 

 Panini, who lived in fo remote an age, that he ranks among 

 thofe ancient fages, whofe fabulous hrftory occupies a con- 

 fpicuous place in the " Puranas," or Indian theogonies. 

 According to the Pauranica legends, Panin was the grand- 

 fon of Devala, an infpired legidator ; but whatever may be 

 his hiitory, to him the Sutras, or iuccinft aphorifms of 

 grammar, are attributed by uiiiverfal confent. 



His fyllem is grounded on a profound invelligation of 

 the analogies in both the regular and the anomalous in- 

 flexions of the Shanfcrit language. He has combined thofe 

 analogies in a very artificial manner ; and has thus com- 

 prelfed a moft copious etymology into a very narrow com- 

 pafs. His precepts are indeed numerous, but they have 

 been framed with the utmoll concifenefs ; and this great 

 brevity is the refult of very ingenious methods which have 

 been contrived for this end, and for the purpofe of aflilUng 

 the Undent's memory. In Panini's fyftem the mutual re- 

 lation of all the parts marks tiiat it mult have been com- 

 pleted by its author ; it certainly bears internal evidence 

 of its having been accomplifh^d by a fingle effort, and even 

 the correftions, which are needed, cannot be interwoven 

 with the text. It mult not be hence inferred, that Panini 

 was unaided by the labours of earlier grammarians ; in many 

 of his precepts he cites the authority of his predccelfors, 

 fometimes for a deviation from a general rule, often for a 

 grammatical canon which has univerfal cogency. He has 

 even employed fome technical terms without defining them, 

 becaufe, as his commentators remark, thofe terms were 

 already introduced by earlier grammarians. None of the 

 more ancient works, however, feem to be now extant ; 

 being fuperfedcd by his, they have probably been difufed 

 forages, and are n;)W perhaps totally loll. 



The inaccuracies of the Paniniya grammar were correfted 

 by Catyayana, an infpired faint and lawgiver, whole hillory 

 is involved in the impenetrable darknefs of mythology. 

 The amended rules of grammar have been formed nito me- 

 morial vcrfcs by Bhartrihari, whofe metrical aphorilms, 

 entitled " Carica," have almoft equal authority witli the 

 precepts of Panini, and emendations of Catyayana. Bhar- 

 tri-hari is faid to have lived in the century preceding the 

 Chriftian era. The text of Panini being concife and am- 

 biguous, many commentaries were compofed to elucidate 

 it, of the chief of which Mr. Colebrooke has given an ac- 

 count. The belt and mofl concife commentary now extant, 

 is entitled the " Cafica vritti," or commentary compofed at 

 Varanali. Within a few centuries pall, a grammar, well 

 adapted for aiding the lludent in acquiring a critical know- 

 ledge of the Shanfcrit tongue, has been compiled by Rama- 

 chandra, entitled " Pracriyacaumndi." 



When Shanfcrit was the language of Indian courts, and 

 was cultivated not only by perfons who devoted themfelvcs 



to religion and literature, but alfo by princes, lawyers, 

 foldiers, phyficians, and fcribes ; in fhort, by the firll three 

 tribes, aiid by many clallcs included in the fo\;rth ; an eafy 

 and popular grammar mufl have been needed by perfons 

 who could not vvaile the belt years of their lives in the fludy 

 of words. Such grammars muit always have been iu ufe ; 

 thofe, however, which are now ftudied are not, we believe, 

 of very ancient date. The molt efteemed is the " Saraf- 

 wata," together with its commentary named " Chandrica." 

 It feems to have been formed on one of the Caumudis, by 

 tranflating Panini's rules into language that is intelligible, 

 independently of the glofs, and without the neccflity of ad- 

 verting to a different context. 



Another popular grammar, which is in high repute in 

 Bengal, is entitled " Mugd'habod'ha," and is accompanied 

 by a commentary. It is the work of Vopadeva, and pro- 

 ceeds upon a plan grounded on that of the Caumudis ; but 

 the author has not been content to tranflate the rules of 

 Panini, and to adopt his technical terms. He has, on the 

 contrary, invented new terms, and contrived new abbre- 

 viations. The fame author likewife compofed a metrical 

 catalogue of verbs alphabetically arranged. It is named 

 " Cavicalpadruma," and is intended as a fubftitute for the 

 " D'hatupata." 



The befl and mofl efteemed vocabulary of the Shanfcrit 

 is the " Amera cofha," which, like moll other Shanfcrit 

 diftionaries, is arranged in verfe to aid the memory. Nu- 

 merous commentaries have been written on this vocabulary ; 

 the chief objeft of which is to explain the derivations of the 

 nouns, and to fupply the principal deficiencies of the text. 

 Shanfcrit etymologiits fcarcely acknowledge a fingle pri- 

 mitive amongll the nouns. When unable to trace an ety- 

 mology which may be confillent with the acceptation of the 

 word, they are content to derive it according to grammatical 

 rules from fome root to which the word has no affinity iti 

 fenfe. At other times they adopt fanciful etymologies from 

 Pin-anas or from Tantras. But in general the derivations 

 are accurate aud inllrutlive. 



Amera's dictionary does not contain more than ten thoO- 

 fand different words. Yet the Shanfcrit language is very 

 copious. The infcrtion of derivatives, that do not at all de- 

 viate from their regular and obvious import, has been very 

 properly deemed fu peril uous. Compound epithets, and 

 otiier compound terms, in which the Shanfcrit language it 

 peculiarly rich, are likewil'e omitted ; excepting fuch as are 

 cfpecially appropriated, by a limited acceptation, either as 

 titles of deities, or as names of plants, animals, &c. In fact, 

 compound terms are formed at pleafure, according to the 

 rules of grammar ; and mull generally be interpreted in 

 ftrift conformity with thofe rules. Technical terms too 

 are molUy excluded from general diftionaries, and conligncd 

 to feparate nomenclatures. The " Amcracofh" tiien is lefs 

 defective than might be inferred from the fmall number of 

 words explained in it. Still, however, it needs a fnpplement. 

 The remaining deficiencies of the Aineracolh are fiipplied by 

 conlulling other diftionaries and vocabularies, which are 

 very numerous. 



The Shanfcrit language is very copious and nervous ; but 

 the ftyle of the belt authors wonderfully concife. It far 

 exceeds the Greek and Arabic in the variety of its etymo- 

 logy, and, like them, has a prodigious number of derivatives 

 from each primary root. The grammatical rules are alfo 

 numerous and difficult, though there are not many ano- 

 malies. " The Shanfcrit language," fays fir William Jonei, 

 ( Afiat. Ref. vol. i, p. 422.) " whatever be its antiquity, is of 

 a wonderful flrufture, more perfeft than the Greek, more 

 copious than the Latin, and more exquifitely refined than 

 cither ; yet bearing to both of ihem a llronger afHnity, 



both 



