THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CREATING THE PERFECT LANGUAGE: SANSKRIT GRAMMARIANS, POETRY, AND THE EXEGETICAL TRADITION A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS BY VICTOR BARTHOLOMEW D’AVELLA CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MARCH 2018 Copyright © 2018 by Victor Bartholomew D’Avella All Rights Reserved Contents Anowledgments viii Abstract x Preface xiii Abbreviations xv 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Scope and Goals of the Dissertation .......................... 1 1.2 A Grammarian’s Authority ............................... 5 1.2.1 An Early Debate on Poetry .......................... 11 1.3 Of General Interest ................................... 16 1.3.1 On the Study and Translation of Sanskrit Grammar ............. 17 1.3.2 On Searching Texts ............................... 20 1.3.3 Chronology and Context ............................ 21 1.4 Introducing Pāṇini .................................... 21 1.5 Outline of Grammatical Texts ............................. 28 1.5.1 e Triad of Sages ............................... 29 1.5.2 e First Non-Pāṇinian Grammars ...................... 33 1.5.3 e Pāṇinīyas up to Kaiyaṭa .......................... 40 1.5.4 e Rūpāvatāra of Dharmakīrti (10th cent.) .................. 43 iii 1.5.5 e Later Non-Pāṇinians ............................ 44 1.5.6 e Commentaries on the Pāṇinian Dhātupāṭha ............... 47 1.5.7 e Pāṇinīyas of the 2nd Millennium ..................... 48 1.5.8 Rāmacandra’s Prakriyākaumudī (late 14th cent.) ............... 51 1.5.9 Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita’s Siddhāntakaumudī (17th cent.) ............... 52 1.5.10 Nāgeśabhaṭṭa (17th–18th cent.) ......................... 53 1.5.11 Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa (1560–1666) .......................... 54 1.6 Sanskrit Poetry ..................................... 55 1.7 Commentaries on Poetry ................................ 56 2 e Language of Poetry 59 2.1 Introduction ....................................... 59 2.2 e Differentiae ..................................... 60 2.3 Defining Poetry ..................................... 63 2.3.1 Bhāmaha .................................... 64 2.3.2 Daṇḍin’s Mirror ................................. 77 2.3.3 Vāmana’s Sūtras and Vṛi ........................... 96 2.3.4 e Faults of the Kāvyālaṅkārasūtra ..................... 100 2.4 Conclusions ....................................... 107 3 Bhāmaha’s Purification of Language 108 3.1 Introduction ....................................... 108 3.2 Bhāmaha’s Purification ................................. 109 3.2.1 Philosophy of Language ............................ 110 3.2.2 Against the Grammarians and Mīmāṃsakas ................. 111 3.2.3 Bhāmaha’s Own View on Language ..................... 115 3.2.4 Refutation of apoha ............................... 116 3.2.5 Concluding Remarks .............................. 117 iv 3.3 A Grammar for Poetry ................................. 119 3.3.1 Lexical Faux Pas ................................ 124 3.4 Specific Rules ...................................... 132 3.4.1 Introduction ................................... 132 3.4.2 On mārjanti ................................... 133 3.4.3 Bhāmaha and the Nyāsakāra .......................... 151 3.4.4 ree Tricks ................................... 161 4 Can Poetry Be Vedic? e Curious Case of KvasU 169 4.1 An Indulgence ...................................... 169 4.2 e Problem with KvasU ................................ 170 4.2.1 e Grounds for Objection ........................... 175 4.2.2 Selection of Texts ................................ 176 4.2.3 Kvasvantas in Poetry .............................. 178 4.2.4 Kvasvantas in the Epics ............................ 184 4.2.5 e Bhāgavatapurāṇa and KvasU ....................... 186 4.3 e Grammarians on KvasU .............................. 188 4.4 e Cāndravyākaraṇa on KvasU ............................ 195 4.4.1 e Cāndravyākaraṇa’s Influence ...................... 197 4.5 e Non-Pāṇinians ................................... 204 4.5.1 Kātantra .................................... 206 4.5.2 Jainendravyākaraṇa with the Mahāvṛi ................... 208 4.5.3 Jainendravyākaraṇa with the Śabdārṇavacandrikā ............. 212 4.5.4 Śākaṭāyana’s Śabdānuśāsana ......................... 213 4.5.5 Bhoja’s Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa ....................... 215 4.5.6 Hemacandra’s Siddhahemaśabdānuśāsana .................. 216 4.5.7 Conclusions from the Non-Pāṇinians ..................... 218 v 4.6 e Later Pāṇinīyas ................................... 219 4.6.1 Introduction ................................... 219 4.6.2 e Early Recasts of the Aṣṭādhyāyī ..................... 220 4.6.3 Puruṣoama’s Bhāṣāvṛi ............................ 221 4.6.4 Rāmacandra’s Prakriyākaumudī ........................ 223 4.6.5 Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita’s Siddhāntakaumudī ..................... 227 4.6.6 Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa’s Prakriyāsarvasva ...................... 232 4.7 Commentators on KvasU in Poetry ........................... 237 4.7.1 Mallinātha on KvasU .............................. 238 4.7.2 Hemādrī and Vidyāmādhava on KvasU .................... 238 4.7.3 Alaka on KvasU ................................. 240 4.8 Conclusions ....................................... 242 5 e Maintenance of Purity: Vāmana’s Śabdaśuddhi 247 5.1 Introduction ....................................... 247 5.1.1 Vāmana’s Kāvyālaṅkārasūtra ......................... 248 5.2 Vāmana responds to Bhāmaha ............................. 251 5.2.1 Only One Remains ............................... 252 5.2.2 Updating ..................................... 255 5.2.3 Summary .................................... 262 5.3 A Grammar for Poetry ................................. 263 5.3.1 Rejection .................................... 269 5.3.2 Admission .................................... 272 5.3.3 Summary .................................... 290 5.4 Move over, Patañjali ................................... 291 5.5 Conclusions ....................................... 299 vi 6 e Life and Death of a Jñāpaka 302 6.1 Introduction ....................................... 302 6.2 A Problem of Voice ................................... 303 6.3 Poets in Violation .................................... 304 6.4 Vāmana finds a “hint” .................................. 308 6.5 Grammarians on cakṣIṄ ................................ 310 6.5.1 Commentators on the Aṣṭādhyāyī ....................... 310 6.5.2 e Commentators on the Dhātupāṭha .................... 317 6.5.3 Summary of Grammatical Texts ........................ 327 6.6 e Commentators on Poetry ............................. 329 6.6.1 Meghadūta 76 .................................. 330 6.6.2 Miscellaneous Remarks ............................ 335 6.7 Summary of the Commentaries ............................ 340 6.8 A Sudden Death ..................................... 341 6.9 e Rigidity of Grammarians .............................. 343 6.10 Conclusions ....................................... 345 7 Epilogue 347 7.1 A Joke .......................................... 347 7.2 Summary of Findings .................................. 350 Bibliography 356 vii Anowledgments I now have the enjoyable task of expressing my thanks to the many individuals who have helped me to reach this stage. First and foremost I thank my parents, Patricia and Victor J. D’Avella, for their love and tireless support in all my endeavors. My Godparents, Louise and Franco Marcan- toni, were likewise always there to help out with their generous affection. Many teachers have guided me throughout my education, and I feel it only fiing to acknowl- edge here the crucial role that my Latin teacher in high school, Anton Vishio, played in nurturing my fascination with classical languages. at initial spark is irreplaceable. For introducing me to the world of Sanskrit, from poetry to Pāṇini, and providing guidance throughout my graduate studies, I am most indebted to my Doktorvater, Gary Tubb, and can only hope that the present work will reflect a fraction of the learnedness and scholarly acumen he himself has imparted on me. I am similarly indebted to the numerous Sanskrit teachers I have had over the years and from whom I have learned so much: Jim Benson, Yigal Bronner, Whitney Cox, Csaba Dezső, Dominic Goodall, Harunaga Isaacson, Christopher Minkowski, Sheldon Pollock, David Shulman, Elizabeth Tucker, Somadeva Vasudeva, Vincenzo Vergiani, and Albrecht Wezler. Special men- tion, however, must be made of the two paṇḍits with whom I have had the cherished opportunity to study: H. V. Nagaraja Rao and S. L. P. Anjaneya Sharma. e laer, with whom I have been regularly reading for some years now, has offered countless hours of his time to aid me in all my questions about Sanskrit grammar and was always happy to take up any passage from the Mahābhāṣya, declaring that it would be as “terrible” as it was “beautiful.” I have also had the great pleasure of reading Sanskrit and other Indian languages with many brilliant friends and viii colleagues over the years. For these delightful hours I extent my thanks to: Suganya Ananda- kichenin, Jo Brill, Jonas Buchholz, Giovanni Cioi, Hugo David, Florinda De Simini, Eric Gure- vitch, Jamal Jones, Sonam Kachru, Pierre-Julien Harter, Andrey Klebanov, Nabanjan Maitra, Erin McCann, Jess Nauright, Peter Pasedach, Yiming Shen, and Davey omlinson. I am particularly grateful to Andrey, who patiently and energetically read Sanskrit with me in plane, train, and car, from Hamburg to Kyoto. Although not immediately related to this