A Report of a Seminar on Pañcagranthī Vyākaraṇa of Buddhisāgara Sūri

Summary

The report documents a seminar held on 4 March 2006 at the India International Centre in New Delhi to launch the Pañcagranthī Vyākaraṇa of Buddhisāgara Sūri, a Śvetāmbara Jain ācārya who flourished between 981 and 1025 CE. This work is a Sanskrit grammar in metrical form and is considered the only extant Jain treatise on Sanskrit grammar. The text was published by the Bhogilal Leharchand Institute of Indology (BLII) in Delhi, and the event included the felicitation of Shri Pratap Bhogilal, the institute’s founder, for his support of Jain studies. Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, member of the Rajya Sabha and noted scholar of Indian arts, released the book and delivered the keynote address. She emphasised the originality and richness of India’s commentarial tradition and argued that works such as the Pañcagranthī bridge the gap between ancient scholarship and modern intellectual life. Vatsyayan underscored the need to provide a “bridge between the ancient and the modern” so that traditional grammatical works could inform contemporary linguistic and cultural studies. She also congratulated Shri Pratap Bhogilal on his contributions and wished him health and longevity. Dr. J.B. Shah, Director of the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahemdabad, addressed the gathering and praised Pratapbhai’s efforts in promoting Indological studies and reviving interest in Jain scriptures. He recounted how Pratapbhai was instrumental in renaming North Gujarat University of Patan as Hemachandracharya University, honouring the great Jain polymath Hemacandra. Shah’s talk then focused on the Jain grammatical tradition. He argued that Buddhisāgara’s work served as an important source for Siddha‑Haima‑Śabdānuśāsana, a later grammar attributed to Hemacandra that is still studied in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Shah highlighted the importance of Jain contributions to the broader field of Sanskrit grammar and also spoke about the influence of Arabic and Persian grammars written in Sanskrit, encouraging cross‑linguistic research. Prof. N.M. Kansara, editor of the new publication, presented a summary of the Pañcagranthī, outlining its structure, content and challenges. He noted that Buddhisāgara composed the grammar in five sections, each dealing with phonetics, morphology, syntax and metrics. Kansara explained the difficulties faced in reconstructing the text from manuscripts and stressed the scholarly value of producing a critical edition. The seminar concluded with reflections on the need to preserve and study classical Jain texts and to recognise the role of Jain scholars in the history of Sanskrit grammar. The report captures both the celebratory nature of the launch and the scholarly discussions that underscore the cultural significance of Buddhisāgara’s Pañcagranthī.