prayojana of treatises

[Greg Jay]

Note that also ritualistic acts are preceded by the sankalpa statement
giving the purpose of the ceremony. Even when chanting a mantra one should
give the viniyogah of purpose for which the mantra is to be used. It seems
only natural that an author would give the prayojana or purpose of a
treatise in the beginning of his work. Afterall this practice is also
followed by many authors today. It may be that this systematic aproach to
the writing of books on particular subjects came about during the sutra
period. As we see that the sutras themselves were a systemization of their
subject matter. The first sutras of several texts contain in a nutshell the
purpose for which they were composed. Initial statement of purpose may
therefore have become an essential writing form along with other forms of
brevity used in the construction of the sutras themselves. matra laghava
matram putrotsavah.

Greg Jay