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Vasudevavijaya of Vasudeva (Study)

by Sajitha. A | 2018 | 50,171 words

This page relates ‘Suruparaghava of Ilattur Ramasvamishastri� of the study on the Vasudevavijaya of Vasudeva from the 11th century A.D. The Vasudevavijayam is an educational poem belonging to the Shastra-Kavya category of technical Sanskrit literature. The Vasudevavijayam depicts in 657 verses the story of Lord Krishna while also elucidates the grammatical rules of the Ashtadhyayi of Panini (teaching the science of grammar). The subject-content of the poem was taken from the tenth Skandha of the Bhagavatapurana.

Go directly to: Footnotes.

ܰū貹岵󲹱 of Ilattūr Rāmasvāmiśāstri

[Full title: Kerala Contribition to Śāstra屹ⲹ Tradition (7): ܰū貹岵󲹱 of Ilattūr Rāmasvāmiśāstri]

ܰū貹岵󲹱 is a ղ첹ṇaśٰ屹ⲹ, written by Ilattūr Rāmasvāmiśāstri. �Ҵdzī� Ilattūr Rāmasvāmiśāstri (1823-1887) was an outstanding scholar-poet of Kerala. He gained deep knowledge not only in Sanskrit and Malayalam, but also in subjects like Tarka, ղ첹ṇa, 󾱳ٲⲹīṃs and ղٳٱñԲ. Sastri’s devotions were of a high order and he considered himself as �Ҵdzī’�A servant devotee of goddess ī. Rāmasvāmiśāstri has contributed much to the literary world of Sanskrit. His works can be classified into several sections as 屹ⲹ, Campū屹ⲹ, Prabhandhas, Śٰ, Stotras, Āṭṭ첹ٳ etc.

ܰū貹岵󲹱 is the master creation of Rāmasvāmiśāstri. It is a Ѳ屹ⲹ written on the pattern of ṭṭ屹ⲹ describing the story of 峾ⲹṇa and illustrating the rules of Paṇini along with common figures of speech.

Vadakkumkur Rajarajavarma in his īⲹṃsṛt󾱳ٲⲹ caritra [caritram], stated that the 屹ⲹ contains over eighteen cantos. But only up to 33rd śǰ첹 of the eighth canto has been obtained.

The poem starts with an invocatory verse, in which Lord Ś is offered prayers. The verse is thus�

īśԲ�dz� somārdhaśekharam |
īś� śśٲ� vande saccidānandavigraham ||
[1]

From the second verse onwards the story of 峾ⲹṇa is being described and it starts like this-

śrīmatyaryamāṇe vaṃśe bhavati sma 첹Ծ� |
岹śٳ ܻ屹 Ի� ||
[2]

In the first eleven verses the poet uses the ten forms of the root ū.

  1. bhavati,
  2. baūva,
  3. 󲹱,
  4. 󲹱ṣyپ,
  5. bhavantu,
  6. abhavat,
  7. bhavet,
  8. ūyāt,
  9. aūt and
  10. 󲹱ṣy.

[These] are the forms used by the author in verses from second to eleven.

The first 34 verses are devoted to illustrate some of the important ṅk. Some of the ṅk used in the verses are�ܱ貹, anyonya, ܳٱṣ�, 屹ⲹliṅga, 貹ṛtپ, artntharanyāsa, ǻ, ū貹첹, ananvaya, 屹ⲹliṅga etc.

In addition to the illustration of ṅk, certain grammatical implications are also illustrated in this poem. Since the poem is a Śāstra屹ⲹ which demands interpretation, each verse has been briefly discussed by the author himself.

From the 35th verse of the first canto, the usage of ᲹԳٲܱṅg and its application in the ś岹 are illustrated. After this the usage of ajanta ٰīṅg and its application are explained. In the second canto, the examples for the usage and application of ᲹԳٲԲṃs첹ṅg are given. The application of halantapulliṅga, halantaٰīṅg and 󲹱ԳٲԲṃs첹ṅg are also explained with examples here in the second canto.

The ٰīٲⲹⲹ are described in the third canto, and in the fourth the 첹󲹰پ are illustrated. Certain Anuprayogas are illustrated in the fifth canto.

The ᲹԳٲܱṅg첹ṇa starts with the verse�

satyasakto vṛṣastho'sau jitakāmo'calāśraya� |
ūtiyukto na kairvandya� sarvajño Ჹś󲹰� ||
[3]

In this, satyasakta�, vṛṣastha�, ᾱٲ峾ḥeٳ are examples for ᲹԳٲܱṅg.

This 첹ṇa is devoted to aṃjantapulliṅgaś岹.

Ajantaٰīṅg첹ṇa starts with the verse�

sarvasyāmapi rathyāya� viśvasyā� dvāri veśmanām |
śobhitāmubhayoraṇyorubhayyā toraṇasr ||
[4]

In this versesarvasyām, rathyāyām, viśvasyām etc. are examples for ajantaٰīṅgs.

There are many verses which illustrate the Ajanta ٰīṅgs.

adhyūṣuṣastā� nagarīmindrasyevāmarāvatīm |
rājyāṅgāni samṛddni sarvāṇyapi cakāśire ||
[5]

In the above verse, rājyāṅgāni, samṛddni etc. are examples for Ajanta Բṃs첹ṅg. Like these, Halantapulliṅga, ٰīṅg and napumsaka ś岹 are also illustrated.

The Paniniyan rules of ٰīٲⲹⲹ are beautifully illustrated by the author. Some examples are as follows.

atha samyagavan sa su jāyāsu pativratāsu |
峾ٳ� ṇa� ī ⲹṇa� maṅgaladevatāyā� ||
[6]

The feminine terms used in this verse such as , etc. got the particle ṭāp based on the rule, ⲹٲṣṭ (4.1.4).

This ūٰ means that the pratyaya ṭāp will addedto the words like etc.

śṇi ܻṇi 󲹱Ծ mātarmṛḍāni sarvāṇi mayārpitāni |
ṛhṇa ṣҲṇi śaṅkarīti nivedayāmāsa nivedanīya� ||
[7]

In this verse, the words ś, rudra etc. got Գܰ by the rule indravaruṇabhavaśrudramṛḍahimāraṇyayavayavanamātulācāryāṇāmԳܰ (4.1.49) and then got the ٰīٲⲹⲹṅīṣ by the ūٰ�ṃyDz峾. In the word ṣҲṇ�, the pratyaya ṅīṣ is by the ūٰ ṣi岵ܰ徱ⲹś (4.1.41).

There are many more examples of ٰīٲⲹⲹ are given in the third canto.

Most of the Paniniyan rules of are illustrated in the fourth canto of the poem. Some examples are-

ūpa� kumārodayamabhravīdyastasmai dadau ratnaghaṭa� ԲԻ� |
ko vā na ki� vātama峦adiṣṭa� kasmai na ki� veṣṭamadatta so'yam ||
[8]

Here, by the association of the roots and ūñ, the terms ūpa and ta got the 첹ṃjñ and hence they are used in 屹ī vibhakti.

This is explained by the پ첹-

duh峦pacdaṇḍarudhipracchicibhrūśāsujimathamuṣām |
karmayuksyādakathita� tat syānnīhṛkṛṣvam ||

Another verse explaining 屹ī vibhakti

Բī󾱳ٴ ṇa� parito vipaṇi� rathiko janatā� |
milito sahasobhayato ś� svamanyahani sma sa darśayati ||
[9]

This verse is an example for the پ첹—abhitaḥ貹ٲḥԾ첹ṣāpratiyoge'pi. The association of the Avyayas 󾱳ٲ�, 貹ٲ�, , Ծ첹ṣ�, and prati leads to the employment of 屹īvibhakti.

To illustrate 첹ṇa첹 the author gives many verses. For example;

kṣaṇena patrāṇi likhet bahūni krośena corān dravato'pyabhīyān |
vinītibjā saha lakṣmaṇena kāryāṇi kurvan sa nināya bālyam ||
[10]

In this verse, the rules apavarge ṛtī (2.3.6) and sahayukte'pradne (2.3.19) are explained.

An example for the Բ첹

prayātalokasya śubya 峾� svāgnaye syāt bhavatāt pitṛbhya� |
svadlamastveṣa niśācarebhya� svastyastu rāmāya nama� śivāya ||
[11]

In this verse the rule namaḥsvastisvāsvadlaṃvaṣaḍyogācca (2.3.16) is well explained the Բ첹.

gacchan sa 峾� sa� lakṣmaṇena jigṃsum patantīm |
madhye 貹ٳ� 峾辱 ǰܱ貹� niśācarīmaikṣata sāttasam ||
[12]

This verse us an example for Բ첹. Here, the terms and have got Բٱ on the basis of the rule ܱ'Բ (1.4.24). Hence they are used in 貹ñī vibhakti based on the rule apādāne 貹ñī (2.3.28).

Along with the , īⲹ are also discussed.

anudarśanamarthamarthi峾karodanvadhika� sa vāñchitān |
upa ta� suraūruhorpaṇe hyupa ta� tejasi 𱹲� ||
[13]

Here, on the basis of the rule Գܰṣaṇe (1.4.84), got the 첹īⲹṃjñ and employ 屹īvibhakti based on the rule karmapravacanīyayukte 屹ī (2.3.8).

Besides these, some Anuprayogas are also given in the fifth canto. The following chapters hold grammatical implications, but there is no specific order.

From the above examples, we can conclude that ܰū貹岵󲹱 is a simple text for learning grammar. This text is useful for both beginners and scholars. The text has originality in composition as well as technical implications. Though the 屹ⲹ deals with the 峾ⲹṇa theme, the portion available is only partial. If the whole 屹ⲹ is obtained, there is no doubt it would have been an asset for Sanskrit learning and literature of Kerala. A student of grammar as well as poetics get benefitted by the close study of the text ܰū貹岵󲹱.

Footnotes and references:

[back to top]

[1]:

ܰū貹岵󲹱�, Ilattūr Rāmasvāmiśāstri, v.I.1.

[2]:

Ibid, v.I.2.

[3]:

ibid, v.I.35

[4]:

ibid, v.I.67

[5]:

ibid,v. II.1.

[6]:

ibid, v.III.1.

[7]:

ibid,v.III.28

[8]:

ibid, v.IV.5

[9]:

ibid, v.IV.20

[10]:

ibid,v.IV.33.

[11]:

ibid,v.IV.47.

[12]:

ibid,v.IV.49.

[13]:

ibid,v.IV.26

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