The author of the Sanskrit Grammar, पाणिनीय .

General information

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There is nowhere else in this world a grammar so scientific and so complete as पाणिनीय . The book contains about four thousand aphorisms. पाणिनि was an inspired sage and he got his knowledge from शिव . It has not been possible to gather much information about the life of such a celebrated grammarian. पतञ्जलि believes that he was the son of दाक्षि . He addresses पाणिनि as अचार्य , भगवान् and महर्षि . The Chinese traveller Huen Tsang says that the grammar of all the languages in this world has its origin from पाणिनीय . रामभद्रदीक्षित says that पाणिनि was the son of the sage पाणि .

Life period ---

There is difference of opinion regarding the period during which पाणिनि lived. Dr. Goldstucker and Bhandarkar believe that पाणिनि lived before 500 B.C. while Vincent Smith and Belvelkar fix the period in 700 B.C. पतञ्जलि , the author of the celebrated 'Mahābhāṣya' (commentary on पाणिनीय ) lived in 200 B.C. पतञ्जलि has contradicted many of the unjust criticisms made by कात्यायन about पाणिनीय . So पाणिनि must have lived before कात्यायन . पाणिनि has made no reference to Buddha and so he must have lived before Buddha. पाणिनि has shown great grasp over the laws of स्मृति and so he must have lived after मनु . Considering all these facts together it will be proper to fix the period of the end of the sixth century or the beginning of the seventh century B.C.

Evidences are lacking to correctly fix the birth-place of पाणिनि . Many pandits believe that पाणिनि was born in the village of शालातुर in the city of Attock in the state of गान्धार . But पाणिनि has spent the major portion of his life in पाटलीपुत्र . So some pandits are of opinion that only the ancestors of पाणिनि belonged to the village of शालातुर and पाणिनि was born and brought up in पाटलीपुत्र . जैमिनि and भर्तृहरि have stated that पाणिनि was a शिष्ट . शिष्टस् were brahmins well-versed in the शास्त्रस् and devoid of earthly pleasures who inhabited the area surrounded by the हिमालयस् in the north, कालकवन (Bengal) in the east, Vindhya mountains in the south and the आदर्श (Aravalli mountains) in the west.

A legend

There was a preceptor named वर्ष in पाटलीपुत्र and पाणिनि had his education under him. वर्ष gradually acquired a large number of disciples and पाणिनि was the most dull-witted among them. But he was greatly devoted to his Guru and this pleased the wife of the Guru and she took great interest in पाणिनि . One day she called पाणिनि to her side and advised him to go to the हिमालय s and do penance to propitiate शिव to get knowledge from him. पाणिनि obeying instructions went and performed penance. शिव was pleased and he granted him knowledge about a new grammar. By the time पाणिनि came back from the हिमालय s with his grammar another disciple of वर्ष , वररुचि by name, had come down with a grammar from Indra. पाणिनि challenged वररुचि for a polemical contest. It took eight days and on the eighth day वररुचि defeated पाणिनि . At once there was a great humming sound from the sky and the grammar book of वररुचि was destroyed. After that पाणिनि defeated all his co-disciples in polemics and emerged as the greatest grammarian of the world. (Kathāpīṭhalambaka, Kathāsaritsāgara, Taraṅga 4) .

The birth of पाणिनीय

When पाणिनि was doing penance to propitiate शिव the latter appeared before him and started dancing. He sounded his musical instrument ढक्का (a large double drum) fourteen times. Each of it produced a different sound as follows ऐउण् ऋऌक् एओङ् ऐऔच् हयवरट् लण् ञमङणनम् झभञ् घढधष् जबगडदश् खफछठथचटतव् कपय् शषसर् हल् . पाणिनि accepted these fourteen sounds as fourteen सूत्रस् (aphorisms). They are called प्रत्याहारसूत्रस् . (The comprehension of several letters or affixes into one syllable effected by combining the first letter of a सूत्र with its final indicatory letter.). These सूत्रस् are now known as माहेश्वरसूत्रस् .

पाणिनि 's grammar contains eight chapters and each chapter has got four पादस् and each पाद contains many सूत्रस् . He has taken examples from worldly and spiritual texts in literature. He has dealt with the origin of sounds, connection between two words and all such etymological details. पाणिनि 's grammar is not a mere grammar book. It is a science of language in itself.