dictionary of sanskrit grammar

Object of this Dictionary
INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION
No apology is needed for undertaking the compilation o f the present
‘ Dictionary o f Sanskrit Grammar’, which, although concise, is expected to meet
the needs of Sanskrit scholars and research students o f Vyakarana and other
Sastras by serving as a useful reference book in their study of, and research
work in, any branch o f Sanskrit learning. The many independent treatises in
the several Sastras and the learned commentaries upon them, as also the
commentaries on classical poems and dramas, are, in fact, full o f grammatical
explanations of words and constructions, involving a liberal use o f grammatical
expressions and technical terms at several places. The elementary knowledge
of grammar which a scholar o f Sanskrit possesses, is not found sufficient
for his understanding fully the grammatical references in these books, especially
so at present, when the practice o f sending young boys to the Sanskrit
Pathasalas to study the standard classical works with commentaries along with
some standard elementary treatises on grammar, has already stopped. The
number of Sanskrit Panditas and Sastrins, who had to obtain a sound footing in
grammar before they undertook the study o f the higher texts o f the several Sastras,
and who, therefore, could be consulted by young scholars and research workers
in the several Sastras, has also diminished considerably. The usual Sanskrit
Dictionaries such as those o f Monier Williams, V. S. Apte and others are found
of no avail in supplying explanations o f the grammatical technique which confronts
modem scholars at every step in their critical reading o f the several Sanskrit texts.
Under these circumstances, it is only the technical dictionaries o f the type of the
present ‘ Dictionary o f Sanskrit Grammar ’ that can render a valuable assistance to
scholars and research workers in their reading o f the higher Sanskrit texts in the
Several Sastras,
Beginnings of Sanskrit Grammar
Every science has necessarily its own terminology and a special vocabulary.
The remark is true with respect to Sanskrit Grammar or Vyakaranasastra which
has developed as a science during the last two thousand years and has got several
technical terms and numerous words with a special grammatical significance.
The origin of grammar can well-nigh be traced to the Period o f the Brahmanas
i.e. about 1000 B.C., when Vedic scholars began to discuss the meaning of the
inspired Vedic hymns by carefully showing disconnected, the words o f the Vedic
hymns and noting down the differences in accents as also the changes caused by
their coalescence in the continuous recital or the Samhitapa|ha. They also
tried to explain the sense o f the Vedic words by tracing them back to the roots
of suitable senses and laid down rules for their proper and correct pronunciation.
These three pursuits viz. (a) the discussion o f the features o f the Pada text,