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Some Important Shiksha Vedangas (study)

by Mala Laha | 2021 | 31,647 words

This page relates ‘Introduction to the Paniniya Shiksha� of the study dealing with Shiksha Vedangas—a crucial component of Vedic literature focusing on phonetics and pronunciation in ancient texts. The researched texts include the Paniniya, Yajnavalkya and Naradi Shiksas, among others. The study also investigates historical phonological transformations between Sanskrit and Pali, exploring the evolution of sounds and pronunciation.

Go directly to: Footnotes.

Introduction to the ṇiīⲹ Śṣ�

The root of the Indian Culture and religion are Vedas. The knowledge of the Veda is accepted with the help of the six ձṅg. Among the six ձṅg, Śṣ� is one the most important ձṅg which helps us for the correct pronunciation of Vadic mantra. ṇiīⲹ Śṣ� is one of the important Śṣ� which deals with Sanskrit phonetics in general and it has enjoyed a leading position among the extant Śṣ� owing to its complete character as a Śṣ� proper. This Śṣ� is more or less, a complete manual on the pronunciation of the Vedic speech sounds.

ṇiīⲹ Śṣ� is available in five recensions. This five recensions are�

i. The Agni ʳܰṇa Recension.
ii. The ʲñᾱ Recension.
iii. The ʰś Recension.
iv. The Yajus Recension.
v. The Ṛk Recension.

The numbers of couplets are different in these five recension. From a very close study of five recensions, only eighteen of the couplets appear to constitute the original ṇiīⲹ Śṣ�. Only fourteen among them, however, occur in all the recensions, while the remaining couplets do not so occur. But on internal evidence they appear to be organically connected with the fourteen couplets common to all recensions. According to Wilson, ṇiīⲹ Śṣ� is more concise form occurs in the Agni ʳܰṇa and was composed a little before the Muslim invasion of India. It has twenty one and a half verses where ԾԾ' name was not even mentioned. But the Śṣ� has sixty verses, where all throughout ԾԾ' name had been referred[1] to. The number of Hemistichs, of five recension is summarized in the following table:

Recensions Total Number Hemistichs
Agni ʳܰṇa 43
ʲñᾱ 50
ʰś 68
Yajus Śṣ� 70
Ṛk Śṣ� 120


Table: 2 -The growth of ṇiīⲹ Śṣ�

For this growth the ṇiīⲹ Śṣ� is called a' “General Śṣā�[2].

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Śṣāsaṃgraha, pp.379 -383

[2]:

i.“pāṇinyā� sarvavedeṣu sarvaśāsreṣu gīyate|� (Pārāśarīya Śṣ�,78)
ii.ʲṣāpś�, vīramitrodaya�,ṇaī saṃskaram, p.20

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