Some Characteristics of the Ancient Vrittis on the Ashtadhyayi

Summary

This article analyses the ancient vṛttis, or explanatory notes, composed on the Aṣṭādhyāyī, the celebrated Sanskrit grammar of Pāṇini. The vṛttis are among the earliest commentaries on Pāṇini’s work and predate the more elaborate commentaries of Kātyāyana and Patañjali. The author begins by outlining the structure of the Aṣṭādhyāyī’s eight chapters and the need for ancillary commentaries to elucidate its concise sūtras. He then surveys the surviving vṛttis attributed to scholars such as Vararuci and Śākalya, describing their style as terse explanations that paraphrase rules, supply missing examples and resolve ambiguities. Unlike later commentaries, which often digress into philosophical discussions, the vṛttis focus on immediate grammatical context and provide direct derivations of word forms. The article highlights specific characteristics of these early glosses: they frequently expand elliptical expressions, clarify technical terms like upadeśa and saṃjñā, and sometimes introduce alternative interpretations of sūtras. The author compares passages from the vṛttis with corresponding sections of Kātyāyana’s vārttikas and Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya to show how the tradition evolved. For example, a vṛtti might simply state the result of applying a rule, whereas Kātyāyana adds critical remarks and Patañjali debates multiple viewpoints. The article notes that although many vṛttis are lost, quotations preserved in later texts reveal their importance for understanding the original intent of the Aṣṭādhyāyī. The author concludes that studying these fragmentary commentaries sheds light on the historical development of Sanskrit grammatical thought and on the pedagogical techniques used in ancient India. The vṛttis demonstrate an early stage in the commentary tradition when explanations were strictly subordinate to the primary text, and they illustrate how linguistic theory was transmitted before the emergence of exhaustive scholastic treatises.