第5页

0.2 The five services of a commentary
In identifying the useful services offered by Sanskrit commentaries, we have been guided by the list of the five characteristics of commentaries given in a verse from the Parāśarapurāṇa that is quoted in the Nyāyakośa:

pada-cchedaḥ padārthoktir vigraho vākya-yojanā
ākṣepeṣu samādhānaṃ vyākhyānaṃ pañca-lakṣaṇam

There five services correspond, in this same order, to the problems most often faced by students attempting to decipher a Sanskrit text:

0.2.1 Padaccheda
Word-division, separation of the words of the text: the rules of sandhi and the peculiarities of the Devanāgarī script make this the first problem that confronts a student attempting to translate a text. Before one can begin to look up the words one must know where one word ends and the next begins. Any commentary that is not too long-winded can immediately solve this problem for even a beginning student, yet many students do not know enough about the basic nature of a commentary to take advantage of this simple service.

0.2.2 Padārthokti
Stating the meaning of the words, paraphrasing: once is has been determined what the words of the text are, the next problem is to find the appropriate meaning in the dictionary. Because most Sanskrit words have so many different meanings, the most frustrating part of the study of Sanskrit for many students in their early years is the necessity of laboriously writing down or holding in mind several definitions for each word until it can be determined which possible meaning is most appropriate for each word in the present context. While it is true that the glosses offered by commentators may often be as unfamiliar to a student as the word being glossed, even a beginning student who is confronted, for example, with the word bhāskaraḥ in a Sanskrit text may find a simple gloss such as bhāskaraḥ sūryaḥ accessible enough to save some of the time spent flipping through the dictionaries. On a higher level, of course, these glosses often provide information that is difficult or impossible to find in the standard reference works, or that at least is more precise in its appropriateness to the text being commented on.

0.2.3 Vigraha
Analysis of grammatical complexes (i.e., of nominal compounds and of derived stems): here the dictionaries are often of no use, especially where nominal compounds are involved. Time spent on learning to understand the basic formulas of analysis used by commentators is useful not only because it makes it possible to take advantages of this service if commentaries, but also because it is a good way to acquire a grasp of the different types of complex formations used in Sanskrit.

0.2.4 Vākyayojanā
Construing the sentences, indicating the construction of the text: once again, s student can avoid the tedious procedure of trying to figure out the text in several stages, if only the basic principles by which commentators repeat the words of the text being commented on are understood. These principles are really fairly simple, but until they have been explained to a student most commentaries appear to be masses of unconnected explanations.

0.2.5 Ākṣepasamādhāna
The answering of objections: this part of a commentary is concerned with the ideas contained in the original text rather than with its words. Accordingly, it differs from the four preceding services in two ways. First, at this level a commentary goes beyond straightforward exegesis and becomes an argumentative treatise in its own right. Second, this portion of a commentary is based on the style of oral debate rather than on the style of oral instruction, so that it uses a different arsenal of vocabulary, syntax, and organization. An understanding of this style can be applied to the reading of any text written in expository Sanskrit, whether that text is a commentary or not.

The first four of these services form the subject of Part One of this handbook in their achievement through methods of glossing using non-technical language. Their achievement through the use of the technical elements of Pāṇinian grammar is touched on here in Section 1.18 – 1.20, but a full treatment of the topic lies outside the scope of this handbook in its present form. The fifth service forms the subject of Part Two.