Akhyatacandrika of Bhattamalla

[Sivasenani Nori]

नमो परिषदे पार्षदेभ्यश्च। 

I was going through the work Akhyata Chandrika of Bhattamalla, a recent edition of which was brought out by Prof. K. S. Kannan (IIT, Madras) and wanted to share a few details of this unique work with the hope that some scholars might find it useful. 

The book is a great pleasure to read on multiple counts. 

Firstly, Bhattamalla's work is such a delight.  Verbs, though very important, are receiving lesser and lesser attention. For instance, I recollect it being said that most "pandita"s know at most about 600 roots, if that. For someone trying to compose in Sanskrit, especially poetry, this is a gold mine. The facility to see all roots with similar meaning, say to make sound (शब्दे - 53 roots) or connected to motion (गतौ - 87 roots) at one place is invaluable. 

I quote the first two verses to give an idea of how the work is composed:

सत्तायाम् अस्ति भवति विद्यते चाथ जन्मनि। 

उत्पद्यते जायते च प्ररोहत्युद्भवत्यपि॥१॥

निवर्तते सम्भवति सिद्धौ सिध्यति राध्यति। 

निष्पद्यते च राध्नोति साध्नोति फलतीती च ॥२॥

While it is immediately apparent that this is the Amarakosa of verbs, the arrangement of roots into different vargas by Bhattamalla is a tour de force. It is a commentary on how the users of Indian languages saw the world in the 13th and 14th centuries (and mostly see the world even today); it is a rare and extraordinary  snapshot. 

The work is divided into three kANDas and fourteen vargas as detailed below

Frst kANDa: भावविकारवर्गः, बुद्धिवर्गः, अन्तःकरणवृत्तिवर्गः, वाक्क्रियावर्गः, ध्वनिक्रियावर्गः

Second kANDa: मनुष्यचेष्टवर्गः, ब्रह्मचेष्टवर्गः, क्षत्रियचेष्टवर्गः, वैश्यचेष्टवर्गः, शूद्रचेष्टवर्गः

Third kANDA:  प्रकीर्णकः (यत्र पूर्वमनुक्ताः संगृहीताः), सनाद्यन्तवर्गः, नानार्थवर्गः, आत्मनेपदपरस्मैपदवर्गः

The underlining (in the two verses quoted above) is from the book, showing the sense of the verbs. At every stage the editor has taken steps to make the whis wonderful work more accessible. This is, but, one example. The visandhi between सत्तायाम् and अस्ति is another such, though traditionalists would wince to see visandhi within a verse. To be fair to the editor, the verse form of this work is almost incidental, as today no one would memorise this work and access it as it was originally intended to be. In other words, since the verse is not be remembered as a verse, the visandhi only makes it more accessible. 

Secondly, the tables, appendices and the index (all additions by the editor) make this important work accessible to those who cannot hold the entire text in memory. These are so exhaustive that whatever the reader can ever desire is available. This is reminiscent of the older values / work ethic of India, that if something be taken up, it be dealt with exhaustively. Let me elaborate. 

(a) The tables deconstruct the verses and add valuable additional material, as can be seen from how the first two verses are explained with the form of the root, with and without anubandhas, the gaNa of the root and meaning as given in dhAtupATha (observe अस भुवि). 

---------------------------------------------------------

1                 [1] सत्तायाम् (3)

----------------------------------------------------------

2 अस्ति      अस् 2P      अस  भुवि

3 भवति         भू 1P        भू   सत्तायाम्

4 विद्यते       विद् 2P      विद  सत्तायाम्

-----------------------------------------------------------

5                 [2] जन्मनि (4)

-----------------------------------------------------------

6 उत्पद्यते     उत्-पद् 4A  पद   गतौ

7 जायते       जन् 4A      जनी  प्रादुर्भावे

8 प्ररोहति      प्र-रुह् 1P    रुह  बीजजन्मनि प्रादुर्भावे च

9 उद्भवति     उत्-भू 1P      भू  सत्तायाम्

-------------------------------------------------------------

(b) There are 8 appendices which give summary statistics of the work. For instance, if we want to know how many roots are covered in this work, we need to look at anubandha 8, which gives the number. Actually, it does a lot more than give the number. The numbers are given by gaNa: out of the total 1502 roots included in the work, 811 belong to the bhvAdi class and so on. Further, the 811 are broken down as 476 parasmaipadinaH (P), 279 A and 56 U. And, for good measure, the total number of roots in the dhAtupATha are given (1967), divided in the same manner (1035 in the first class -  भ्वादिगणः, broken down as 636 P, 341 A and 58 U). 

(c) The index gives the roots in alphabetical order and some additional information. Let me illustrate with the entry for भू

भू (1P)   3, 9, 12, 80, .... , 4302, 4303

— अनु+  293

...

— उत्+  9

Numbers in the first line indicate the roots listed in the work (numbers refer to the numbers given in the tables) that bhU occurs in, all of which except 3 are with an upasarga. The immediate curiosity is to know what these upasargas are. The editor anticipates this aakaanksha and lists the upasargas below, in alphabetical order. We see that entry number 9 in the tables (given above under (a)) is bhU with an upasarga and the same is indicated in the index. The "+" symbol at the end of the upasarga indicates that the root is to be added to the upasarga, another act of thoughtfulness. 

Thirdly, the lack of printing errors is so refreshing. 

None of this is a surprise, knowing Prof. Kannan. Nonetheless, these qualities of exhaustiveness and perfection, which are very rare, need to be celebrated everyday and acknowledged and remembered as often as the appropriate occasions arise.

To sum up, this आख्यातचन्दिका is a wonderful work, practically useful to students, teachers, poets and writers, and of great interest to scholars of history, linguistics and philosophy. This edition makes this work very accessible and sets the standards for editing Sanskrit works dealing with Sastra.

I salute Prof. K. S. Kannan for one more great  contribution to the Sanskrit world.

Budhajanavidheya

Senani

[Nagaraj Paturi]

Thanks, Dr Nori for the excellent review of a very important contribution from Prof. Kannan 

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Nagaraj Paturi

 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

Senior Director, IndicA

BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra

BoS Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Maharashtra

BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.

Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru

BoS Rashtram School of Public Leadership

Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Studies in Public Leadership

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies, 

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education, 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

 

 

 

[Sivasenani Nori]

Need to correct three errors. Correct forms are:

नमः परिषदे in the greeting line. 

... फलतीति च ॥२॥ in the second verse. 

... आख्यातचन्द्रिका ... name of the book mentioned in the end. 

Sorry. 

Senani. 

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[Narayan Prasad]

Thanks for this excellent review.

>

>The facility to see all roots with similar meaning, say to make sound (शब्दे - 53 roots) or connected to motion (गतौ - 87 roots) at one place is invaluable. >>

>

It is advisable to put "3. प्रत्यर्थं नाना-धातवः (306-313)" in the alphabetical order as well, as found in G.B. Palsule's "A Concordance of Sanskrit Dhatupathas (sample attached).

Another list containing different meanings may be sorted out with number of meanings in decreasing order. For example, where is "गतौ - 87 roots"? In order to know it you have to search through the pages indicated above. The maximum number of roots appears to be for the meaning हिंसायाम् (97 roots), see p.311, co.2, in the book.

Regards

Narayan Prasad

[Prof. PTGY SAMPATH KUMAR ACHARYULU]

Congratulations for Prof. Kannan ji, for bringing out the very interesting and useful grammatical work Akhyatacandrika, which is much needed for all Sanskrit scholars as well as students, for sake language perfection. 

Sampathkumaracharyulu 

9502215682.

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[K S Kannan]

I am extremely thankful to Dr. Sivasenani Nori for his excellent review.

It brings out many items/aspects that help its user.

The previous editor Dr. Manoj also has done excent work,

but it is more useful for the scholars. Mine is for a lay audience,

but more importantly for quicker/easier search/reference.

The generosity of Dr. Senani is worthy of emulation.

Regards

KSKannan

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Dr. K.S.Kannan  D.Litt.

​Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj Chair Professor, IIT-Madras.

Member, Advisory Board, "Prof. A K Singh AURO Chair of Indic Studies", AURO University, Surat.
Member, Expert Committee for Review of Criticism of Indian Knowledge Traditions, Central Sanskrit University (under MoE, GoI), Ganganath Jha Campus, Prayagraj.
Adjunct Faculty, Dept of Heritage Science and Technology, IIT Hyderabad.

Nominated Member, Academic Committee, Kavi Kula Guru Kalidasa University, Ramtek.
Member, Academic Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthana.
Academic Director, Swadeshi Indology.
Nominated Member, IIAS, Shimla.

Former Professor, CAHC, Jain University, Bangalore.

Former Director, Karnataka Samskrit University, Bangalore.

Former Head, Dept. of Sanskrit, The National Colleges, Bangalore.

https://sites.google.com/view/kskannan

[K S Kannan]

I thank Sri Narayan Prasad Ji for his kind review of the book.

1. His comment viz.

   It is advisable to put "3. प्रत्यर्थं नाना-धातवः (306-313)" in the alphabetical order as well...

is very welcome.

Actually however, though I thought of adding another Index to attend to this,

I thought it would be ideal to have a single look up (= a single Index) for everything.

Hence I put the said item also in the same Index.

Thus all the meanings are also there in the Index.

To illustrate: इच्छा (for इच्छायाम् ) in the Index leads you to No. 436, इच्छायाम्  which shows 20 synonyms

which include इच्छति, स्पृहयति, वाञ्छति, ईप्सति  etc.

(For just a change I used the प्रातिपदिक  form of the senses in the Index.)

2. His second comment that a descending order of meanings is desirable is also apt.

Actually, I did prepare such an Index, but felt that it may serve no more than some curiosity;

it is interesting that some roots have numerous synonyms,

but a majority have not many. So I dropped it in the last moment.

(I was already getting a bit worried regarding the bulk of the book :

a 500+ pages book for a 50-page original ! : I should not tax the publisher too much!)

The Index, nearing 200pp. is substantial, I thought, covering all things

(hence named सर्वसूची).

Nowadays, there are many who wish or aspire to write in Sanskrit,

and they perhaps need a guide like this book equipped with quick search facility.

Indeed, the lack of search-friendly books have dampened the enthusiasm of many a learner of Sanskrit.

Hence this attempt. And those who go through the 2 portions viz.

"How to Use this Book", and "The Structure of this Book"

will derive many more benefits from the book.

Rather than leading the user of the Index to just a page number, and search for an item there,

I thought I will lead him to the exact line or point - like the GPS - so that his time is saved:

hence I invented the Unique Numbering system, as also designation of specific fonts.

Sorry for a long response.

Regards

KSKannan

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[K S Kannan]

Thanks Prof. Sampat Kumar Acharyulu Ji

for your kind remark.

[Narayan Prasad]

>

>Another list containing different meanings may be sorted out with number of meanings in decreasing order. 

>

Here is the list with 20 or more meanings (see the attached file).

Under page number, the digit after zero represents column number.

In the Serial part:

      Under kaanDa, the first digit indicates the kaanDa no., the second one the varga no. and the third one indicates the meaning number in the serial order under that varga.

In the Sorted part: I think readers can easily understand.

Regards

Narayan Prasad

    

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[K S Kannan]

Dear Sri Narayan Prasad,

Thank you for the kind trouble you have taken.

I did prepare a table (with a descending order of meanings)

with items having upto just one synonym, but then,

I thought I may be overdoing it. Your selection - of upto 20,

(and presented so elegantly), is indeed a good and reasonable one.

In my next edition, I will present one like this as it will be

really significant and useful.

Thank you for your keen interest in the book,

and the ever-present keener academic concern,

worthy of emulation for all scholars.

Regards

KSKannan

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[Narayan Prasad]

Thank you sir for your reply.

>

>I thought I may be overdoing it. Your selection - of upto 20,

>

I have selected all. But posting was done only for up to 20.

The complete file is attached.

Regards

Narayan Prasad

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[K S Kannan]

Many thanks.

KSKannan

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[Narayan Prasad]

Namaste.

(A) I would suggest that all the abbreviations (e.g. X, X', K, N, C, S, etc) used should be mentioned in the introduction part. Although I can guess them, but nothing should be left for guessing.

I think, X has been used in place of the 10th gaNa to avoid the possible unnecessary shifting of the text from one column to another, or unnecessary requirement of two lines in certain cases.

(B) Consider the information supplied on pp.329-330. The information on p.330 should be on p.329 and vice versa. On subsequent pages also care is to be taken. Alternatively, the list may be started from the left page instead of the right page..

Regards

Narayan Prasad

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[K S Kannan]

Namaste.

p.60 explains the logic behind these abbreviations.

But yes, they should have been given first.

Regards

KSKannan

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