Sanscrit 1145. Pāṇinīyaśikṣā

This manuscript of the Pāṇinīyaśikṣā, a Sanskrit grammatical work, was edited from printed editions by Umraosingh Sher-Gil and given by him to the Bibliothèque nationale. It is written in ink on watermarked, laid Ingres Canson & Montgolfier paper, bound in book form, with a typewritten letter attached inside the front cover.

The manuscript was produced in Paris, where the Sher-Gil family had moved in order to support the artistic career of Umraosingh's daughter, Amrita. The letter, addressed to Edgar Blochet, is dated April 4th, 1930. A handwritten addendum at the end of the manuscript is dated to April 1st, 1930. The colophon of the manuscript, in English, dates its completion to March 17, 1930.

In the letter to Blochet, Sher-Gil states that the Bibliothèque nationale contains a manuscript of the commentary of the Pāṇinīyaśikṣā, which omits the mūla text.

Sher-Gil points out that the text is not likely to have been authored by Pāṇini himself, but is usually attributed to Piṅgalācārya. Accordingly, both his English and Sanskrit title pages attribute the text to Piṅgalācārya.

Sher-Gil notes that the manuscript has been copied from an edition published in Benares in 1887. Although this edition has not yet been located, the text is very close to the Benares edition of 1877, by Becanarāma Tripāṭhin. However, it seems that the edition that Sher-Gil used included Vedic accent marks, which are not present in the 1877 edition. Moreover, it seems that Sher-Gil consulted more than one edition; the marginal notes use two different referencing systems, and, in his letter to Blochet, he mentions using “printed copies published in India at Benares as well at Bombay”.

Contents (Single-text)

Piṅgalācārya, Pāṇinīyaśikṣā

• Rubric

  [page 2]
  [1] śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ ||

• Incipit

  atha śikṣāṃ pravakṣyāmi pāṇinīyaṃ mataṃ yathā |

• Explicit

  [page 10]
  [7] trinayanamukhaniḥsṛtām imāṃ ya iha paṭhet prayataḥ sadā dvi
  [8] jaḥ | sa bhavati dhanadhānya kīrtimān sukham atulaṃ ca samaśnute
  [9] divi iti || 60 ||

• Completion statement

  iti pāṇinīyamatānusāriṇī śrī[_]piṅgalācā-
  [10] rya viracitā śikṣā samāptā ||

• Colophon

  Copy prepared from the Benares edition of 1887 C.E.
  [11] by Umraosingh Sher-Gil. in Paris. 17th March 1930. oṁ śauṃ

Umraosingh Sher-Gil, Typewritten letter to Edgar Blochet

Paratexts

• title, cover: Cover

  
  [1] śrī
  [2] pāṇinīyamatānusāriṇī
  [3] śrīpiṅgalācāryaviracitāśikṣā ||

• title, beginning: English title page

  
  [1] Çikshá
  [2] Treatise on Sanskṛta Phonetics compiled
  [3] by Pingala-áchárya, in accordance with
  [4] the system of Pánini, but which has
  [5] passed under the appellation of Paṇini Çiksha.

• title, beginning: Sanskrit title page.

  [1] śrī
  [2] pāṇinīyamatānusāriṇī
  [3] || śrīpiṅgalācāryaviracitā śikṣā ||

• commenting note, marginal: Page 8, right margin, in pencil: “? ? marks ?”. Sher-Gil seems to have pencilled-in Vedic recitation marks, copied from an edition, which he did not understand. Accordingly, he has not inked the recitation marks.
• gloss/commentary, marginal: Variant readings copied from the edition in the bottom margin, numbered. Variant readings in the left and right margins, perhaps copied from a different edition, marked with symbols.
• commenting note, marginal: Note in the left margin, page 9: “māṃḍūkīya reads svāmnātaṃ”. This is referring to the Māṇḍūkīśikṣā, verse 159, which reads “svāmnātaṃ” in place of “svāmnāyyaṃ” (see the edition of Pāṭhaka 1893, 473).
• postface, intertextual: Page 11:

  [1] This correct and collated copy is :-
  [2] Presented to the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, by
  [3] Sirdar Umraosingh Sher-Gil of Majitha (Amritsar district), Panjab. INDIA.
  [4] Paris. 1st April 1930. Umraosingh. Sher-Gil.
  [5] Note :- This is the text, of which a commentary only
  [6] exists in the Bibliotheque Nationale as \Paniniya/ Çiksha
  [7] No 568. MS. Sanscrit which contains, unfortunately many
  [8] errors.

Transcription conventions
〚〛 indicates deletions. \/ indicates additions. [_] indicates spaces. Spaces in the manuscript are reproduced in the transcription. oṁ represents the oṃkāra symbol.