Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, vol. 5, The Philosophy of the Grammarians.

• Author: Cardona, George

This collaborative work--the fifth volume in the Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies under the general editorship of Karl H. Potter--contains contributions by Ashok Aklujkar, John G. Arapura, S. R. Bannerjee, S. D. Joshi, Shoryu Katsura, G. B. Palsule, Karl H. Potter, V. K. S. N. Raghavan, and K. A. Subramania Iyer as well as by the two editors. The book is divided into three major parts. The first--"Introduction to the Philosophy of the Grammarians," by Harold G. Coward and K. Kunjunni Raja--is itself divided into five sections: historical resume, metaphysics, epistemology, word meaning, sentence meaning. Part two ("Survey of the Literature of Grammarian Philosophy," pp. 101-432) begins with sections on philosophical elements in Vedic literature (John G. Arapura and K. Kunjunni Raja), Yaska's Nirukta, Panini's Astadhyayi, and Patanjali's Mahabhasya (K. Kunjunni Raja) and continues with eighty sections devoted to various authors and their works. There follows a bibliography on grammar, compiled by Karl H. Potter, which is divided into three parts: authors whose dates are (more or less) known,(1) authors and works whose dates are unknown, secondary literature on vyakarana. A section of notes and a cumulative index complete the work.

In a preface, the editors explain that their introductory essay on the philosophy of grammarians "is intended to set their school in its context and to summarize the main Grammarian teachings." As for the summaries of works, these "are intended primarily for philosophers and only secondarily for indologists," so that some sections of works--deemed repetitious or of minor interest to philosophers--are omitted.

The introductory section meets the criteria set forth by its authors: the reader is introduced to the general principles and procedures of grammarians as well as views on language and grammar held by Mimamsakas, Naiyayikas, Buddhist logicians, and Alankarikas.

The sections in the main survey vary considerably, which is only to be expected. As noted above, the first four sections survey philosophical elements in various works. In addition, this section contains summaries of the contents of grammatical texts, and these too necessarily differ in length and detail. For example, Aklujkar's summary of Bhartrhari's Vakyapadiya, S. D. Joshi's summaries of Kaundabhatta's Vaiyakaranabhusana and Vaiyakaranabhusanasara, K. Kunjunni Raja's summary of Nagesabhatta's Paramalaghumanjusa,(2) and G.B. Palusule's summaries of...