Who Inspired Pāṇini? Reconstructing the Hindu and Buddhist Counter-Claims

Bibliographic Data

ID3968401
AuthorsMadhav M Deshpande (corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume117
Issue3
Pages444
Publication date1997-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/605245
OpenAlexW2312862380
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited2

In the surviving tradition of Paninian grammar, there is a pervasive belief that the founding grammarian Panini was inspired by the divinity Siva to formulate his grammar and that it was Siva who revealed to him the so-called Sivasutras. The tradition is neither aware of the origins of this belief, nor of the existence of any competing claims from other religious traditions. This paper traces the emergence of this belief, its connections to particular religious shrines and local traditions, its transmission, and its role in providing a distinctive theological frame to the Papinian grammar and its interpretation. It also traces the competition of this Saivite claim with claims of the Buddhists, and points out that the competing claims on behalf of Siva and Avalokitesvara can be best understood as originating in specific local traditions in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, where the same local divinity was recognized by the Saivas and the Buddhists as Siva and Avalokitesvara, respectively. Starting from such local origins, these ideas then spread to other parts of the subcontinent where they were brought into connection with other religious motifs. Eventually, the Buddhist claims withered away in India with the disappearance of Buddhism, though they survived in Tibet. It is suggested that the participation of the Buddhists in the transmission and interpretation of the Paninian grammar eventually led the Paninian grammarians gradually to separate the Vedic rules from the rules for colloquial Sanskrit, and that this resulted in an attenuation of interest in the Vedic rules, and greater prominence for colloquial rules

Ancient history · Buddhism · Hinduism · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy · Religious studies