Kashmir, Tamilnadu, Panini, Abhinavagupta, etc.

[Elliot Stern]

In a message dated Sun, 3 Jan 1999 13:06:11 EST, Sudalaimuthu Palaniappa
writes :



>A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar, editor of South Indian Inscriptions Volume 14, says
>"ten2n2avan2 tamizavEL, an officer of this king, is eulogized for his
>scholarship in Sanskrit and Tamil in a fragmentary inscription in Tamil verse
>(No. 87). He is described as a minister well-versed in the vEdas, vEdAGgas,
>the different works in Sanskrit, Law, purANa, muttamiz (the three branches of
>Tamil learning, viz., iyal or literature, izai <sic> or music and nATaka) and
>pAtaJjalam (i.e. the original work of pataJjali)." Considering the fact the
>officer was a non-brahmin, his mastery of mahAbhASya indicates that around
>mid-10th century AD, the pANinian tradition was flourishing so much in
>southern Tamilnadu that even non-brahmins were well-versed in it. I do not
>know if such a tradition was prevalent in Andhra. Any information from
>scholars in Telugu and Sanskrit will be appreciated.

The term pAtaJjalam, when it refers to a branch of learning in Sanskrit
literature, generally refers to the pAtaJjalaM yogaSAstram, rather than the
pAtaJjalaM mahAbhASyam. As South Indian Inscriptions Volume 14 is not
available to me at home, it is not clear to me if the interpretation of
pAtaJjalam as the mahAbhASyam is A.S. Ramanatha Ayyar's, or S.
Palaniappan's. What is the justification for the interpretation pAtaJjalam
= pAtaJjalaM mahAbhASyam for this inscription?




Elliot M. Stern
552 South 48th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19143-2029
USA

telephone: 215 747 6204