He concludes his article thus :

Patañjali then concludes that this method of individual enumeration, pratipada-pāṭha, is equal to no method at all; instead, a set of rules formulated with the general (sāmānya) and particular (viśeṣa) in mind would allow us to understand the enormity of language with little effort.112
And this is what Pāṇini did: with a small set of rules, he captured – as the saying goes – the ocean in a cow’s hoofprint.

He just says, " as the saying goes " 

Antonia-ji is asking for the source of this saying and its Sanskrit version. 

On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 11:32 PM Nagaraj Paturi <nagarajpaturi@gmail.com> wrote:
I thought it ws a reference to the brevity of AA and its vast coverage. 

On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 11:04 PM Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:
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@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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--
Nagaraj Paturi
 
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.


Director,  Inter-Gurukula-University Centre , Indic Academy
BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala
BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.
Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru
Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies, 
FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education, 
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
 
 
 


--
Nagaraj Paturi
 
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.


Director,  Inter-Gurukula-University Centre , Indic Academy
BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala
BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.
Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru
Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies, 
FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education, 
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.