The Śivasūtras: To What Extent Are They Crucial to Pānini’s Grammatical System?

Abstract

This paper sets out to examine and to determine the source of generativeness within Pāṇini’s grammatical system. Apart from a short study of the role played by the Śivasūtras, it also offers the full account of the so called “shortforms“ (or pratyāhāras). In contrast to many other scientific papers dealing with some similar topics, this paper provides sufficent granularity in that regard, because it includes the full list of the generated shortforms (or pratyāhāras) that are 305 in number. In addition to that, the pratyāhāras are divided into those which are operative (41) and those which are not (264) in this paper. Quite expectedly, the Śivasūtras have a twofold division as well. From a methodological viewpoint, the paper discloses some semiotic aspects. In particular, it highlights the semiotic character of the Sanskrit text known as Nandikeśakāśikā and its relation to the Śivasūtras.