Valmiki, the hunter

[Deshpande, Madhav]

Some additional info on Valmiki and grammar.  There is a VAlmIkisUtra, a grammatical text of uncertain date, with a commentary prAkRtarUpAvatAra by simharAja, son of samudrabandhayajvan, edited by E. Hultzsch, Prize Publication Fund, Vol. I, Royal Asiatic Society, 1909.  While the original sUtra text is called VAlmIkisUtra by the editor, neither the sUtras nor the commentary of simharAja make any reference to the name vAlmIki.  I have not seen Julia Leslie's work on Valmiki and hence don't know if she refers to this work.  In any case, one need not make an assumption that one and the same vAlmIki composed the Ramayana as well as these works on Sanskrit and Prakrit grammar.


Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Department of Asian Languages & Cultures
Suite 6111, Thayer Building
202 South Thayer Street
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-1508, USA



-----Original Message-----
From: Indology on behalf of Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan
Sent: Sat 12/2/2006 11:58 AM
To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Valmiki, the hunter
 
 
In 'Authority and meaning in Indian religions : Hinduism and the case of  
Valmiki', based on Taittiriya Praatisaakhya 5.34, 5.35, 5.36, 9.4, and  18.6,  
Julia Leslie discusses the possibility that Valmiki, a  grammarian, might have 
belonged to a community whose mother-tongue was not  Sanskrit. 
 
Can a grammarian not propound a rule based on his observation of language  
use by others? Is there any justification to assume Valmiki's rule is based on  
his own usage? I would appreciate any comments on this from the Sanskrit  
grammarians on this list.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Regards,
S. Palaniappan
 
 
In a message dated 11/21/2006 6:47:10 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
ucgadkw at UCL.AC.UK writes:

This is  the subject of Julia Leslie's book _Authority and meaning in 
Indian  religions : Hinduism and the case of Valmiki_.  Curzon,  2003.

Best,
D