[INDOLOGY] 'catching the ocean in a cow's hoofprint'

[Madhav Deshpande]

Dear Antonia,

     There is a traditional verse that says that the words used by Vyāsa
were from the Ocean of Grammar composed by Mahendra.  Those jewels of words
cannot be found in Pāṇini's grammar which is like a Cow's Hoofprint.  This
is to say that the so-called ārṣa usages in the Purāṇas are not
ungrammatical, though they may not fit the [limited] grammar of Pāṇini.

यान्युज्जहार माहेन्द्राद् व्यासो व्याकरणार्णवात् । पदरत्नानि किं तानि सन्ति
पाणिनिगोष्पदे ।।

    This verse [according to secondary references] is found in Devabodha's
commentary on the Mahabharata.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 8:12 AM Antonia Ruppel via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> In the BBC radio series 'Incarnations', the episode on Pāṇini is entitled
> 'Catching the Ocean in a Cow's Hoofprint', which it says is a description
> of what Pāṇini's work achieved.
>
> Can anyone tell me what the source of this expression specifically in
> reference to Pāṇini is? Textual/online searches for goṣpada- have not led
> me very far - but maybe I've been looking for the wrong word?
>
> (In case anyone doesn't know 'Incarnations' and wants to listen to any of
> the episodes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05rptbv/episodes/downloads
> )
>
> Many thanks and all the best,
>      Antonia
>
> —
> Dr Antonia Ruppel
> University of Oxford
>
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