आचार्य पूज्यपाद का संस्कृत-व्याकरणशास्त्र को अवदान
By आचार्य पृज्यपाद, डं. हरीन््रभूषण जेन
Summary
Acharya Pujyapada Devanandi, a prominent Jain scholar, made significant contributions to the Sanskrit grammatical tradition. Jain tradition preserves grammatical knowledge within the twelve Angas and fourteen Purvas. The Shabda Prabhrita, a section of the Purvas, is considered the origin of grammatical science. The Satyapravada Purva contains all major grammatical rules, including discussions on speech modification causes (place and effort), eight places of articulation (heart, throat, head, tongue root, teeth, palate, nose, lips), and five types of effort (sparsha, ishat-sprishta, vivrita, ishad-vivrita, samvrita). Pre-Paninean Jain acharyas likely composed Prakrit grammar texts, now lost. Acharya Pujyapada is one of the three great Jain grammarians (Munitraya), alongside Shakatayana and Hemachandra. His original name was Devanandi; Pujyapada is an honorific. Born a Brahmin in Karnataka, he adopted Jainism and took diksha after witnessing a frog's suffering. He lived in the 6th century CE. Seven of his works survive, including the seminal "Jainendra Vyakarana." This grammar, with two recensions (Northern with 3063 sutras and a commentary, Mahavritti, by Abhayanandi; Southern with 3695 sutras and commentaries by Somadeva and Gunanandi), is structured in five chapters, each with four sections, modeled on Panini's Ashtadhyayi. Its first sutra, "Siddhiranekantat," asserts that word validity is established through anekanta (the doctrine of manifold aspects). The Jainendra Vyakarana is noted for its brevity in terminology (often single-letter) and sutra composition compared to Panini. It features unique sandhi rules, including laghava, anubandha arrangement, and abundant examples incorporating contemporary language. It also has distinct treatments of feminine suffixes
Conclusion
This analysis confirms that Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s *Jainendra Vyākaraṇa* was not merely a derivative of Pāṇini but a deliberate, streamlined system that prioritized brevity and clarity, as seen in its single-character technical terms and simplified *sandhi* rules. The existence of multiple recensions and a rich commentarial tradition spanning nearly a millennium demonstrates its sustained pedagogical utility and regional adaptability. Crucially, the text preserves the grammatical opinions of six earlier Jain masters whose works are now lost, making it an irreplaceable source for reconstructing a forgotten lineage of Jain grammatical thought. The outcome is a dual legacy: the *Jainendra* both challenged the dominance of Pāṇinian models in medieval India and established a distinct Jain identity in *śāstra*, proving that doctrinal commitments—such as *anekānta*—could directly shape grammatical theory. For modern scholarship, this document underscores that Jain contributions to