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Tracing the Underpinning Arguments of the Dichotomy of the Aṣṭādhyāyī Krama (AK) and the Prakriyā Krama (PK)

World Sanskrit Conference (17th : 2018 : Vancouver, B.C.); University of British Columbia. Department of Asian Studies

In the pedagogy of Pāṇinian grammar, two methods of teaching the Aṣṭādhyāyī are quite popular: i) the Aṣṭādhyāyī Krama (AK) in which the sūtras in the Aṣṭādhyāyī are taught in the very order in which they appear, and ii) the Prakriyā Krama (PK) in which the sūtras are rearranged thematically with the prakriyā (derivation) of wordforms as its focal point. With the advent of the “Prakriyā Age” (12th century, C.E.), many prakriyā texts were composed, among which the Vaiyākaraṇa Siddhānta Kaumudī received unprecedented popularity. The latter half of the 19th century witnessed the voices of revolt against these prakriyā texts, especially against the Vaiyākaraṇa Siddhānta Kaumudī. This revolt assumed the form of a dichotomy between the AK and the PK. It is observed that the proponents of the AK have extensively written on this topic and have in fact staunchly attacked the PK. Among these resources against the PK method, a book called Siddhānta Kaumudī Kī Antyeṣṭī (1937) deserves a significant place and a serious attention. For, it documents the underpinning inroads into the Vaiyākaraṇa Siddhānta Kaumudī in the early years of 20th century, which were later elaborated in the form of cardinal arguments in the conflict between the AK and PK methods. This paper first presents the narrative behind the evolution of the AK and the PK methods and the role of this book in it. It further elaborately enumerates the arguments proposed in this book against the Vaiyākaraṇa Siddhānta Kaumudī and critically analyzes them. Finally, it tries to trace the underpinnings of the dichotomy of the AK and the PK methods and popular trends in the pedagogy of Pāṇinian grammar as underlined in this book.

Conference Paper

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0391833

Non UBC

Reviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/