Talk:Vyakarana:Grammar and Siva
By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami
Many Śiva temples have a maṇḍapa (hall) known as the Vyākaraṇa-dāna-maṇḍapa. In Tamil, it has come to be called the Vākkaṇikkum Maṇḍapam. Such halls are found in several temples of the Chola region of Tamil Nadu, one well-known example being at Tiruvotriyur near Chennai.
Why should a hall dedicated to grammar exist within a Śiva temple? What connection does Śiva have with language? Is not Śiva, in the form of Dakṣiṇāmūrti, the embodiment of perfect silence?
Nṛttāvasāne Naṭarāja-rājo nanāda ḍhakkaṃ navapañcavāram Uddhartukāmaḥ Sanakādi-siddhān etad vimarśe Śiva-sūtra-jālam.
I shall briefly explain this verse.
As Dakṣiṇāmūrti, Śiva teaches through silence. Yet the same Śiva, in another form, dances eternally. It is from this cosmic dance that the science of language is said to have arisen.
Naṭarāja is the dancing form of Parameśvara. A naṭa is a dancer belonging to a dramatic troupe, accompanied by the vīta and the gāyaka (singer). Naṭarāja is the supreme among dancers, unequalled in the art of dance, and is therefore also called Mahānaṭa ("the Great Dancer"). The Amarakośa even includes the expression:
Mahākālo Mahānaṭaḥ.
In Tamil, Naṭarāja is affectionately called Ambalak-kūttāḍuvān ("He who dances in the Hall"). Royal inscriptions reveal that even Brahmins once bore such names, such as Ambalak-kūttāḍuvān Bhaṭṭan.
I once came across an interesting historical record that illustrates the esteem in which grammar was held.
There was formerly a publishing house in Bombay known as the Nirṇaya Sāgara Press. Among its publications was the Kāvyamālā series, which included a volume entitled Prācīna Lekhamālā, containing ancient inscriptions. One of these was a copper-plate inscription from the Vengi kingdom, situated between the Godāvarī and Kṛṣṇa rivers.
The Chola rulers of Vengi were related through marriage to the imperial Cholas of Tañjāvūr. Rājarāja Chola Narendra ruled Vengi, while Kulottuṅga Chola, who later ascended the Chola throne at Tañjāvūr, belonged to this lineage. During one of his visits to the Chola country, he brought approximately five hundred Brahmins back to Vengi to promote Vedic learning. The present-day Drāviḍa Brahmins of Andhra Pradesh trace their ancestry to these scholars.
The copper-plate inscription records the names of these Brahmins, their gotra-s, the disciplines in which they specialized, the duties assigned to them, and the lands granted for their maintenance. These grants enabled them to teach the Vedas and the Śāstra-s.
Among the entries appears the phrase:
Rūpāvatāra-vaktuke eko bhāgaḥ.
This means, "One share of land is granted to the Brahmin proficient in the Rūpāvatāra."
The Rūpāvatāra was a celebrated grammatical treatise.
An inscription from Ennayiram, near Tindivanam, records that a Vedic college there had 340 students, forty of whom studied the Rūpāvatāra. Other inscriptions show that the same work was taught in Vedic schools at Tribhuvanam (near present-day Puducherry) under Rājādhirāja Chola, and later at Tiruvallam near Kāñcīpuram during the reign of Vīrarājendra Deva.
Today, the Siddhānta Kaumudī is the most widely studied work on Sanskrit grammar. It is the celebrated commentary on Pāṇini's Sūtra-s composed by Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita, a disciple of the great scholar Appayya Dīkṣita.
Appayya Dīkṣita, born at Adayapālam, authored over one hundred works, many devoted to Śaiva philosophy. His Kuvalayānanda, a treatise on poetics, also enjoys great renown.
There is a traditional saying:
Ardha-mātrā-lāghavena putrotsavaṃ manyante vaiyākaraṇāḥ.
Grammarians rejoice over saving even half a mātrā (syllabic unit) with the same delight that a childless man feels at the birth of a son.
This saying illustrates the extraordinary precision valued in grammatical composition.
Pāṇini's Sūtra-s are concise and exact. Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita's Siddhānta Kaumudī is equally admired for its brevity and clarity, avoiding all unnecessary elaboration. Although composed about four hundred years ago, it continues to serve as the standard introductory text for students of grammar.
(Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita also authored the Tattvakaustubha, dedicated to his guru Appayya Dīkṣita, in which he establishes that Brahman alone is the ultimate Reality in accordance with the Upaniṣad-s. At his guru's request, he also composed Madhvamata-vidhvaṃsanam, a critique of Madhvācārya's dualistic philosophy. While that work belongs to philosophical debate, his grammatical writings are respected by scholars of all traditions.)
Before the Siddhānta Kaumudī, however, the Rūpāvatāra was the principal grammatical text studied by students. Here rūpa signifies the complete form of sound, while avatāra refers to its systematic exposition.
The Rūpāvatāra was later published by Professor Raṅgācāri of Presidency College, Madras.
The grants recorded in the Vengi inscription demonstrate the importance attached to Sanskrit grammar in those times.
The inscription, dating back approximately eight hundred and fifty years, lists many Brahmins bearing the title Ṣaḍaṅgavid, indicating mastery of the six Vedāṅga-s. Several also possessed Tamil names such as Ambalak-kūttāḍuvān Bhaṭṭan and Tiruvaraṅgamudaiyān Bhaṭṭan.
The former name is associated with the Śaiva temple at Cidambaram, while the latter recalls the Vaiṣṇava temple at Śrīraṅgam. Nevertheless, both individuals were Smārta Brahmins. Even one bearing a Vaiṣṇava name should not automatically be assumed to have belonged exclusively to the Vaiṣṇava tradition.
Throughout history, devotion to Śiva and Viṣṇu has flourished side by side. In North India and Kerala, Smārta Brahmins continue to perform worship in temples dedicated to various Devatā-s.
The Tamil name of Naṭarāja is Tiruvambalak-kūttāḍuvān.
Let us therefore return to the verse beginning Nṛttāvasāne.
Naṭarāja performs an awe-inspiring cosmic dance, one that gathers within itself the rhythm of all existence.
Observe the image of Naṭarāja carefully. His matted locks spread outward on both sides. They resemble what we today call a snapshot photograph—a fleeting instant captured in motion.
Although Naṭarāja dances with tremendous energy, the sculptor has frozen one moment of that eternal dance. His flying locks preserve the impression of motion itself. It is as though the sculptor captured a single instant of the cosmic dance and transformed it into stone.
In one of His hands Naṭarāja holds the ḍamaru, also called the ḍhakka. The rhythm of this drum perfectly corresponds to the movements of His dancing feet.
The verse therefore says:
Nanāda ḍhakkaṃ...
"There resounded the beat of the drum."
Musical instruments are generally classified into three groups:
instruments covered with skin, such as the ḍamaru, tavil, kanjirā, and mṛdaṅga, stringed instruments such as the vīṇā and violin, wind instruments such as the nāgasvaram and flute.
At the conclusion of a musical performance comes the final emphatic beat, known as the cāppu. Likewise, at the conclusion of Naṭarāja's dance (nṛttāvasāne), the ḍamaru produced its final resonant beats.
Present at this divine dance were Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, Sanatkumāra, Patañjali, Vyāghrapāda, and many other great sages.
Only those endowed with the inner vision born of jñāna can behold Naṭarāja's dance.
Just as Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa bestowed the divya-cakṣus (divine eye) upon Arjuna to behold the Viśvarūpa, and Vyāsa granted the same vision to Sañjaya, so too these sages were blessed with divine sight through their austerities.
The Bhagavad Gītā itself refers to this as divya-cakṣus.
The sages witnessed the dance directly. Viṣṇu played the maddala drum, while Brahmā kept the rhythm.
At the conclusion of the dance, Naṭarāja struck fourteen final beats upon the ḍamaru. These are referred to in the verse as navapañcavāram—nine plus five, making fourteen.
These fourteen sounds correspond to the fourteen branches of traditional Vedic learning (caturdaśa-vidyā). If the foundation of Hindu dharm rests upon these fourteen sciences, then the fourteen sounds produced by Naṭarāja's drum became the means for the spiritual upliftment of Sanaka and the other sages.
In images of Dakṣiṇāmūrti found in temples, four aged sages are usually shown seated nearby. These are the Sanaka sages. Their instruction by Śiva is celebrated not only in Śaiva works such as the Tēvāram and Tiruvācakam, but also in the hymns of the Āḻvār-s.
The fourteen sounds produced by Naṭarāja's ḍamaru are regarded as the source through which the reality of Śiva may ultimately be realized within oneself.
Nandikeśvara composed a commentary upon these fourteen sounds in his Śivabhakti Sūtra.
Among those who witnessed Naṭarāja's dance was Pāṇini himself.
The traditional account of Pāṇini appears in the Bṛhatkathā of Guṇāḍhya, originally composed in the Paiśācī language. Kṣemendra later prepared a Sanskrit summary, and Somadeva Bhaṭṭa subsequently incorporated the narrative into the Kathāsaritsāgara. This great collection also became the source of many stories found in the Pañcatantra, the Arabian Nights, and even Aesop's Fables. In Tamil, it survives in the work known as the Perunkathai.
Pāṇini and the Mahāśvara Sūtra-s
The story of Pāṇini is narrated in the Kathāsaritsāgara. In ancient Pāṭaliputra (modern Patna), in the kingdom of Magadha, there lived two scholars named Varṣopādhyāya and Upavarṣopādhyāya, the latter being the younger brother.
Upakośalā was the daughter of Upavarṣopādhyāya. Pāṇini and Vararuci were disciples of Varṣopādhyāya. Among the two students, Pāṇini made little progress in his studies. Seeing this, his teacher instructed him to go to the Himalayas and perform austerities (tapas).
Pāṇini obeyed his teacher. Through the grace of Īśvara, he was blessed with the vision of Naṭarāja's cosmic tāṇḍava. As he witnessed the divine dance, he also heard the fourteen sounds produced by the ḍamaru at its conclusion.
For Pāṇini, these fourteen sounds became the fourteen foundational sūtra-s of grammar, upon which he composed the Aṣṭādhyāyī. As its name indicates, this monumental work, the foundation of Sanskrit grammar, consists of eight chapters.
The fourteen sounds are still recited during the annual Upākarman ceremony. Since they issued forth from the drum of Maheśvara (Naṭarāja), they are known as the Māheśvara Sūtra-s.
Ordinary human beings produce only inarticulate sounds when they strike musical instruments. But the hand of Parameśvara is itself the embodiment of Nāda-Brahman and Śabda-Brahman. Therefore, when He struck the ḍamaru at the conclusion of His tāṇḍava, its beats manifested as a garland of articulate sounds:
a i u ṇ ṛ ḷ k e o ṅ ai au c ha ya va ra ṭ la ṇ ña ma ṅa ṇa na m jha bha ñ gha ḍha dha ṣ ja ba ga ḍa da ś kha pha cha ṭha tha ca ṭa ta v ka pa y śa ṣa sa r ha l
These are the Māheśvara Sūtra-s.
During the Upākarman ceremony, these sūtra-s are recited by the priest and repeated by the participants. Many do so without knowing their significance. Yet these syllables are traditionally understood to be the very concluding beats struck by Śiva upon His ḍamaru as He brought His cosmic dance to its close.
When we describe sounds, we often imitate them with words. We say that anklets sound "jal-jal", that the ḍamaru sounds "ṭimu-ṭimu", or that the tavil sounds "dhum-dhum". These expressions are not the actual sounds themselves, but they evoke their character. We would never describe the sound of a drum as "pī-pī", nor that of a wind instrument as "dhum-dhum".
Likewise, the sound of a plucked vīṇā string is often represented as "toying-toying". Although musical instruments do not literally produce articulate speech, they naturally suggest particular phonetic patterns. If ordinary instruments can evoke the sounds of human speech, why should not the ḍamaru of Naṭarāja, sounded during His Pañcakṛtya dance, produce articulate syllables?
Pāṇini employed these fourteen sūtra-s to construct an ingenious indexing system for Sanskrit phonetics. By combining the first sound of one sūtra with the final marker of another, he could designate all the sounds lying between them.
For example, the initial syllable ha from ha ya va ra ṭ and the final marker l from the last sūtra together form hal, denoting all consonants.
Similarly, the initial a of the first sūtra combined with the marker c from the fourth sūtra forms ac, denoting all vowels.
Again, combining a from the first sūtra with l from the last yields al, signifying the entire Sanskrit alphabet.
One of the Aṣṭādhyāyī sūtra-s begins with halantyasya. The expression al itself eventually came to signify writing or letters.
The first letter of nearly every alphabet is derived from this same primordial sound. In Urdu it appears as alif, while in Greek it is alpha. Even the English word "alphabet" may be traced to this ancient linguistic tradition. Such similarities have often been cited by traditional scholars as suggesting that Vedic culture once exercised a far wider influence.
Thus, the primary source of Sanskrit grammar is traditionally understood to be the Māheśvara Sūtra-s that emerged from the drum of Naṭarāja. Since Parameśvara is regarded as the source of all Śabda-śāstra-s—the sciences of sound and language—it is fitting that halls for teaching grammar came to be established in Śiva temples rather than in Viṣṇu temples.
Beside Naṭarāja stand Patañjali and Vyāghrapāda.
I once visited a temple near Sirkazhi where images of both sages flanked Naṭarāja. Beneath the image of Patañjali was an inscription identifying him as "Padamcolli". Clearly, the sculptor or engraver had written the name incorrectly out of ignorance.
Yet I was delighted by this mistake, for it accidentally conveyed an appropriate meaning.
Padam refers to grammar, as in the traditional expression pada-vākya-pramāṇa. Thus "Padamcolli" may be interpreted as "one who expounds grammar."
When I saw this inscription, I was reminded of the traditional maxim known as guṇākṣara-nyāya.
Here guṇa refers to an insect such as a white ant that burrows into wood or palm leaves. Occasionally, the random tunnels it creates accidentally resemble meaningful letters. Whenever something appropriate results unintentionally or by accident, it is said to illustrate the guṇākṣara-nyāya.
The accidental inscription "Padamcolli" instead of "Patañjali" was precisely such an example.
Some years ago, I happened to read the Sāhitya Ratnākara, composed about four hundred years ago by Yajñanārāyaṇa Dīkṣita during the reign of Raghunātha Nāyaka of Tañjāvūr. Dīkṣita was a great devotee of Śiva, and one of his hymns beautifully celebrates the origin of grammar:
Ādau pāṇi-ninādataḥ akṣara-samāmnāyopadeśena yaḥ Śabdānām anuśāsanaṃ nyakalayat śāstreṇa sūtrātmanā Bhāṣyaṃ tasya ca pāda-haṃsa-karavaiḥ prauḍhāśayaṃ taṃ guruṃ Śabdārtha-pratipatti-hetum aniśaṃ candrāvataṃsaṃ bhaje.
Here akṣara-samāmnāya refers to grammar itself—the systematic arrangement of letters.
The Vedas are described as issuing from the very breath of Īśvara. Likewise, the movement of His hand striking the ḍamaru gave rise to the Akṣara-Veda, namely the Māheśvara Sūtra-s. This body of knowledge is also known as Śabdānuśāsana.
The expression pāṇi-ninādataḥ admits a beautiful double meaning. It may signify "the sounds produced by the movement of His hand," or "the sounds that came to Pāṇini." Thus the poet simultaneously refers both to Śiva's drumbeats and to Pāṇini's reception of them.
The hymn continues by stating that Śiva created the grammatical sūtra-s through the movement of His hand, and their commentary through the movement of His feet.
Patañjali, the author of the Mahābhāṣya, is traditionally regarded as an incarnation of Ādiśeṣa. Ādiśeṣa also adorns Parameśvara as an anklet. Accordingly, the poet beautifully imagines that Śiva's dancing feet themselves gave rise to the Mahābhāṣya.
The hymn concludes by declaring that both sound and meaning ultimately arise from Śiva.
Thus, Śiva is revered as the primordial source of grammar. It is for this reason that many Śiva temples contain special halls dedicated to the teaching of Vyākaraṇa.