Kaumāra-Vyākaraṇa

Vyākaraṇa means grammar, the science of how words are correctly formed and joined. The Kaumāra-vyākaraṇa is the system of Sanskrit grammar said to come from Skanda, who is also called Kumāra or Kārttikeya, the son of Śiva. It is preserved in the Agni Purāṇa, in Chapters 349 to 359.

It sets out a complete framework of Sanskrit grammar: technical terms, the endings of nouns in their cases, compound words, words formed with added suffixes, verb forms, and the rules of sandhi (how sounds change when words meet). Skanda teaches it to Kātyāyana for the benefit of children and students. It is a short summary of the siddha-śabda tradition, the science of correctly formed speech.

Introduction and Tradition

In the Agni Purāṇa, Skanda teaches the Kaumāra-vyākaraṇa directly to Kātyāyana “for the knowledge of the young” (bālakānāṃ jñānāya). The Kaumāra tradition of grammar is presented as its own śākhā (branch) of grammatical learning. It is set out differently from the Pāṇinīya system (the grammar of Pāṇini), though it covers the same basic ground.

Its aim is siddha-śabda-svarūpa, the correct and settled form of Sanskrit words. Each chapter gives practical rules backed by examples taken from sacred and literary usage. The text moves step by step: from the basic technical terms (saṃjñā), through sandhi, case patterns, gender forms, kāraka (the roles of nouns in an action), compounds and secondary derivatives, to verb conjugations and the forms of participles and gerundives.

Saṃjñā-Prakaraṇa: Technical Terms (Chapter 349)

The grammar opens with its basic technical terms. Skanda explains that the case endings (vibhakti) come in two classes: sup (endings for nouns) and tiṅ (endings for verbs). Prātipadikas (noun stems) are of two kinds: ajanta (ending in a vowel) and halanta (ending in a consonant). There are three liṅgas (grammatical genders): puṃliṅga (masculine), strīliṅga (feminine) and napuṃsakaliṅga (neuter). The difference between a dhātu (verb root) and a prātipadika (noun stem) is central to the whole system.

This chapter also introduces the pratyāhāra system: short codes that stand for groups of sounds, following the pattern from “aṇ” to “hal”. The marker letter (itsaṃjñā) at the end of each pratyāhāra is not itself counted. It only shows the range of sounds that the code covers.

Sandhi-Siddharūpa: Joining Sounds (Chapter 350)

Skanda gives the rules of sandhi, the joining of sounds where words meet. The chapter covers:

• Svara-sandhi (joining of vowels): examples run from “daṇḍāgra” to “jaleja”, showing the usual ways vowels merge. The chapter also shows prakṛti-bhāva, where a vowel keeps its original form and does not merge, with forms such as “aho ehi” and “deva imaṃ”.
• Vyañjana-sandhi (joining of consonants): examples run from “vāgmataḥ” to “taṃkariṣyasi”, showing the rules by which consonants change or become like each other when they meet.
• Visarga-sandhi: examples run from “kaścid dyāt” to “jyotirūpam”, showing how the visarga (the final “ḥ” sound) changes before different consonants and vowels.
• Tugāgama: adding the extra sound “tuk” where it is needed, shown by “tava chatram”, “mleccha dhīḥ” and similar forms.

Sub-Vibhakti: Case Endings (Chapter 351)

Skanda lists the seven vibhaktis (cases) of the noun system (the sup class) and their endings. The seven are:

The vocative (saṃbodhana), used to address someone, is treated as a form of the nominative.

The three numbers, ekavacana (singular), dvivacana (dual) and bahuvacana (plural), apply to every case. Complete patterns (siddha-rūpa) are given for sample noun stems of each gender and class: vṛkṣa, sarva, pūrva and others for masculine stems ending in vowels; feminine forms and stems ending in consonants; and the pronoun families of yad, tad and kim.

Strīliṅga-Śabda: Feminine Words (Chapter 352)

Skanda gives the patterns of feminine words. The feminine stem “Ramā” and related forms are declined through the seven cases, showing the standard pattern for stems ending in “ā”. For the main classes of feminine nouns, the chapter gives selected forms in some cases, and points back to the masculine patterns where the endings are the same.

Napuṃsaka-Śabda: Neuter Words (Chapter 353)

Skanda gives the patterns of neuter words. He declines “kim” and related neuter pronouns, together with the standard neuter noun patterns. These show the special features of neuter endings: the nominative and accusative forms are the same, and the plural of both ends in “-āni”. The chapter also includes the forms of the pronouns yuṣmad (you) and asmad (I, we).

Kāraka: The Roles of Nouns in an Action (Chapter 354)

The kāraka chapter looks at how each noun is related to the action of the verb. This relationship decides which case the noun takes. Skanda gives Sanskrit examples for each kāraka:

• Kartṛ (the doer): the one who acts on his own in the action. Five kinds are given, among them the independent kartā, the hetu-kartā (the doer who causes another to act) and the karma-kartā (the object treated as the doer in passive sentences). When the kartā is directly expressed (abhihita), the nominative is used. When it is not directly expressed (anabhihita), the instrumental or genitive is used instead. The example given is “dharmam vyākhyāyate”.
• Karma (the object): what the doer seeks to achieve. Seven kinds are listed, including the desired object (īpsita-karma), the undesired object (anīpsita-karma) and the unstated object (akathita-karma). Examples include “yatiḥ hariṃ śraddadhāti”, “ahiṃ laṃghayate” and “gopālakī gāṃ payodogdhi”.
• Karaṇa (the instrument): the means by which the action is done. It is divided into external (bāhya) and internal (āntara). Examples: “camuṣā rūpaṃ gṛhṇāti” (external) and “dhātreṇa lunāti” (internal).
• Sampradāna (the receiver): three kinds, shown by “brāhmaṇāya gāṃ dadāti”, “naraḥ nṛpataye dāsaṃ dadāti” and “bhartre puṣpāṇi dadāti”.
• Apādāna (the starting point): two kinds. One is moving: “dhāvataḥ aśvāt patitaḥ” (fallen from a running horse). The other is still: “saḥ vaiṣṇavaḥ grāmādāgacchati” (he comes from the village).
• Adhikaraṇa (the place): four kinds. A place that is filled throughout (“dadhni ghṛtam”), a place of contact (“kapiḥ gṛhe tiṣṭhati”), a place tied to the object (“jale matsyaḥ”), and a place nearby (“gaṅgāyāṃ moṣa vasati”).

Samāsa: Compound Words (Chapter 355)

Skanda lists six main types of samāsa (compound word), which he further divides into twenty-eight varieties. Two major distinctions run across all types: nitya (compounds that must be formed) versus anitya (optional ones), and luk (where the case endings are dropped) versus aluk (where they are kept).

The types of compound are:

• Tatpuruṣa: the meaning of the second member is the main one. It is divided into eight kinds, according to which case the first member stands in, from prathamā-tatpuruṣa (“pūrvakāyaḥ”) to saptamī-tatpuruṣa (“akṣaśauṇḍaḥ”), together with the nañ-tatpuruṣa, formed with a negative (“apāta”).
• Karmadhāraya: a kind of tatpuruṣa in which both members refer to the same thing, one describing the other. It has seven sub-types, including viśeṣaṇa-pūrvapada, where the first member is a describing word (“nīlotpalam”); upamāna-pūrvapada, where the first member is a comparison (“śaṅkhapāṇḍuraḥ”); and avadhāraṇa-pūrvapada (“suhṛdeva subandhukaḥ”).
• Dvigu: a tatpuruṣa whose first member is a number. It has two types: ekavadbhāvī, treated as singular (“dviśṛṅgam”), and anekavadbhāvī, not treated as singular.
• Bahuvrīhi: a compound in which neither member by itself is the thing meant; together they describe a third thing by its qualities. Seven varieties are listed.
• Dvandva: a compound that joins two or more members side by side. It has two kinds: itaretara-dvandva, a joined pair (“rudraviṣṇū”), and samāhāra-dvandva, a collective whole (“bherīpaṭaham”).
• Avyayībhāva: a compound whose first member is an indeclinable word (one that never changes form), so that the whole compound also works as an indeclinable. It has two types: nāma-pūrvapada, with a noun first (“śākasya mātrā”, giving “prātiśāk”), and avyaya-pūrvapada, with an indeclinable first (“upakumbham”, “uparathyam”).

Which member carries the main meaning:

Taddhita: Words Formed from Nouns (Chapter 356)

Skanda presents the taddhita system: suffixes added to noun stems to make new words meaning possession, relation, descent, quality, comparison and other related senses. Three broad groups are covered:

• Sāmānya-taddhita (general suffixes): examples include the suffix “lac”, which forms “haṃsalaḥ” and “vatsalaḥ”; “inc”, forming “phenilam”; “ilaC”, forming “piccilam”; “āj”, forming nouns from names; “viN”, forming “payasvī”; and many others. Words showing descent (apatya) use suffixes like “aṇ” to form “vāsiṣṭhaḥ” and “kauravyaḥ”, and “yak” for family names like “gārgyaḥ” and “vātsyaḥ”, along with a range of other suffixes for family names and gotras (family lines).
• Avyaya-taddhita (suffixes forming indeclinables): suffixes that form unchanging words of time and direction. For example, “tasiL” forms “yataḥ” (from which direction), “trL” forms “yataḥ” (from that place), “dā” forms “sarvadā” (always), “thāL” forms “yathā” (in which way), and there are direction words like “dakṣiṇā” and “uttareṇa”.
• Bhāva-vācaka (suffixes forming abstract nouns): suffixes that make abstract nouns from noun stems. For example, “tva” and “tal” form “paṭutvaṃ” and “paṭutā” from “paṭu”; “imaniC” forms “prathimā”; “ṣyañ” forms “saukhyam” from “sukha”; and other common suffixes form nouns of quality.

Uṇādi-Siddharūpa: Irregular Formations (Chapter 357)

This chapter covers the Uṇādi suffixes. These are primary suffixes added directly to verb roots to form many Sanskrit words that do not follow the regular Pāṇinīya patterns. They are called “uṇādi” because the list begins with the suffix “uṇ”.

Skanda’s examples:

• “uṇ” forms “kāruḥ” (artisan), “māyuḥ” (pitta, bile) and “āyuḥ” (life)
• “kraNC” forms “gṛdhraḥ” (vulture)
• “kirac” forms “mandiram” and “timiram” (darkness)
• “ilaC” forms “salilam” (water)
• “kvaN” forms “vidvān” (learned one)

Many common Sanskrit words are explained as uṇādi formations, such as “karṇaḥ” (ear), “putraḥ” (son), “pitā” (father), “vahniḥ” (fire), “hariṇaḥ” (deer, or Manmatha), “jīvātuḥ” (life-giving medicine) and “kṛśānuḥ” (Agni or Sūrya). These forms are said to arise “bāhulyena”, that is, mostly by convention and accepted usage.

Tiṅ-Vibhakti: Verb Forms (Chapter 358)

Skanda presents the system of verb conjugation. The tiṅ endings come in two padas (voices): parasmaipada and ātmanepada, the latter also called tanāc, ranac and kānac in their extended forms. The system is arranged around the ten lakāras (tenses and moods):

The nine endings for person and number in the present tense (laṭ) are:

The chapter then gives patterns for key dhātus (roots). The root “bhū” (to be) is fully conjugated:

sa bhavati, tau bhavataḥ, te bhavanti; tvaṃ bhavasi, yuvāṃ bhavathaḥ, yūyaṃ bhavatha; ahaṃ bhavāmi, āvāṃ bhavāvaḥ, vayaṃ bhavāmaḥ

Forms built from roots are also briefly covered: the causative (ṇic), the desiderative (san), the frequentative (yaṅ), and verbs made from nouns (such as putrayati and pāṭayati).

Kṛt-Siddharūpa: Words Formed from Verbs (Chapter 359)

The last grammar chapter covers the kṛt suffixes, which form words directly from verb roots. Kṛt suffixes can express bhāva (the action itself), karma (what is acted on) or kartṛ (the doer).

The main kṛtya suffixes, which express duty or fitness, are:

• “tavya”, forming “kartavyam”
• “anīya”, forming “karaṇīyakam”
• “yat”, forming “deyam” and “dhyeyam”
• “ṇyat”, forming “kāryam”

The past passive participle suffix “kta” is given special attention, with examples: “grāmaḥ gataḥ” (the village gone to), “grāmaṃ gataḥ” (gone to the village) and “tvayā guruḥ āliṣṭam” (the guru embraced by you). Other forms:

• The present active participle uses “śatṛ” (forming “bhavan”) and “śānac” (forming “edhamāna” and “bhavan”); the feminine of “bhavat” is “bhavatī”
• The doer suffix “tṛc” forms “bhāvanaḥ” and “bhavitā”
• The suffix “kvip” forms “svayaṃbhūḥ”
• The perfect active participle uses “kvasu” and “kānac”, forming “babhūvivān”, “pecivān” and “śraddadhānaḥ”
• The noun “kuṃbhakāraḥ” (potter) is formed with “aṇ”

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 349–359