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pronunciation. These three pursuits viz. (a) the discussion of the features of the Pada text, (b) the derivation of words, and (c) directions regarding the proper pronunciation of the Vedic words, were carried on with vigour with a view to preserving the Vedic texts intact, and the treatises dealing with these three branches were respectively called by the names prātiśākhya, Nirukta and Śikṣā, all of which could rightly be called Vyākaraṇa or Grammar, as they were devoted to determining the correct words as distinguished from the incorrect ones. Although a number of books were written by Vedic scholars in these three branches, not more than five or six Prātiśākhya works, a solitary Nirukta work, and a few Śikṣā works are the only available works at present.
- Development of Sanskrit Grammar
In course of time, on Ihe analogy of the derivation of words, an analysis of the word into its constituent elements such as the base, the affix, the augments and the modifications, was undertaken by grammarians. This separation of the different elements of a word constituted vyākaraṇa or grammar, which was developed as an art by ancient grammarians like Āpiśali, Śākaṭāyana and others before Pānini. It was Pāṇini who carried it to perfection, and his work, the Aṣṭādhyāyī, compact yet exhaustive, and laconic yet clear,is simply a marvellous product of art by a man of amazing intelligence. As a result, the works on grammar by all ancient scholars who flourished before Pāṇini disappeared in course of time leaving only a few quotations behind them. Pāṇini was followed by a number of grammarians who wrote popular treatises on grammar, based, no doubt, on Pāṇini's grammar, some of which, in their turn came to have auxiliary works, glosses and explanatory commentaries. These different treatises, written by Sarvavarman, Candragomin, Devanandin, Pālyakīrti Śākaṭāyana, Hemacandra, Kramadīśvara, Jumaranandin, Supadma and others with their auxiliary works and commentaries, came to be looked upon as different systems of grammar. These treatises present two kinds of treatment : some of them are arranged in Sutras in the same manner as the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini which treats one after another the several grammatical elements such as technical terms, padas of roots, case-relations, compound words, kṛt affixes, taddhita affixes, substitutes, accents and euphonic changes; while others give a topic-wise treatment following in that respect the ancient grammarians before Pāṇini such as Indra, Vedic Śākaṭāyana and others who treated one after another the different topics of grammar such as the euphonic changes, declension, conjugation, compound formation, nouns derived from roots, nouns derived from nouns and the like. The special feature of all these grammars was that they entirely omitted the Vedic peculiarities and accents.
- Sanskrit Grammar as a Science
The subject of Sanskrit grammar was first treated as a science by the two epoch-making grammarians, first by Kātyāyana a few centuries after Pāṇini,
