Thread by @TheSanskritDude

THE STORY OF #PĀṆINI

#SanskritStoryTime

Once upon a time around 500 BCE, in a town called Takshashila, there lived a boy named Pāṇini, and he was an utter fool. Everyone made fun of him for being a fool, and his parents and teachers thought he would amount to nothing.

One day, he somehow got admitted to Takshashila University, where people came from far and wide to study. Perhaps his father knew someone there, or perhaps they took pity on him. He was a #Sanskrit #Grammar major. Grammar was the respectable subject to study at the time.

Perhaps he wanted to study #Yoga or something, but his father, like other South Asian dads, wanted his son to study the best thing for his future. It was something like SA dads wanting their kids to study #medicine or #engineering today.

Anyway, #Pāṇini went to university and started studying #Sanskrit #Grammar. However, he was still a fool. He had a co-student named Kātyāyana who was an absolute genius. His teachers made fun of him, Kātyāyana made fun of him, and one day, he had enough.

So #Pāṇini went to the #forest, as one did in those days whenever they needed an escape. He started praying to Lord #Shiva, saying "you made me a fool, now you grant me intelligence. I'm tired of everyone making fun of me. Help me!" He practiced austerities (#tapas) for years.

After years of austerity, finally #Shiva heard the prayers of #Pāṇini. Pleased with Pāṇini's devotion, he started to dance. He danced to the beat of his #damaru, which he played 14 times. Now, to an ordinary human, the damaru sounds like "takatakataka"...

But to #Pāṇini, whose mind was so focused on grammar, #Shiva's 14 damaru beats sounded like: 1. अइउण् 2. ऋऌक् 3. एओङ् 4. ऐऔच् 5. हयवरट् 6. लण् 7. ञमङणनम् 8. झभञ् 9. घढधष् 10. जबगडदश् 11. खफछठथचटतव् 12. कपय् 13. शषसर् 14. हल्!

These 14 sounds, known as the #MāheśvaraSūtras or #ŚivaSūtras, were simply a rearrangement of the alphabet into a special new order. This became the foundation for #Pāṇini's new grammar system, which he published as a book called the #Aṣṭādhyāyī.

The #Aṣṭādhyāyī became so popular that kings acknowledged it, schools started using it, and even little kids started studying it. There is a saying in #Sanskrit: "आकुमारं यशः पाणिनेः" (#Pāṇini's fame reached every little kid)! Pāṇini had finally perfected Sanskrit #Grammar!

So what is so great about #Pāṇini's #Sanskrit #Grammar? We will discuss that soon in another thread...