{{short description|Ancient Sanskrit grammarian}}
{{About|the ancient Sanskrit Hindu scholar||Panini (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name             = Pāṇini
|birth_place      = Ancient India {{refn|group=note|According to George Cardona, Sanskrit literary tradition believes that Pāṇini came from [[Salatura]] in the northwest part of the Indian subcontinent.{{sfn|Cardona|1997|p=268}} This is likely to be ancient [[Gandhara]].{{sfn|Staal|1965}}}}
| image            =Panini 1.jpg 
| caption          =Modern [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]] of Panini 
| native_name      = 
| era              = {{floruit|mid 1st-millennium BCE}}{{refn|group=note|name="dating"}}; variously dated between 6th–5th century BCE{{sfn|Staal|1996|p=39}}{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}} and 4th century BCE{{sfn|Vergiani|2017|p=243, n.4}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|p=171}}{{sfn|Houben|2009|p=6}}{{sfn|Cardona|1997|p=268}}
| region           = [[Indian philosophy]] 
| main_interests   = [[Grammar]], [[linguistics]]
| notable_works    = ''{{IAST|[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]}}'' ([[Sanskrit#Classical Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit]])
|notable_ideas=[[Descriptive linguistics]]}}
{{Hinduism}}{{Quote box
| quote = '''The greatest linguist of antiquity'''<br/>
Pāṇini.. was the greatest linguist of antiquity, and deserves to be treated as such.
| source = — JF Staal, A reader on the Sanskrit Grammarians{{sfn|Staal|1972|p=xi}}
| width = 28%
| bgcolor = #FFE0BB
| align = right
}}
'''Panini''' ({{langx|sa|पाणिनि}}; IAST: {{IAST|Pāṇini}}) was an ancient Indian Sanskrit grammarian and linguist whose masterwork, the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī,'' is the foundational text of ''Vyākaraṇa'' (linguistics)—one of the six ''Vedāṅgas'' (auxillary scholarly disciplines) of [[ancient India|ancient Indian]] scholarship.{{sfn|Staal|1965}}{{sfn|Lidova|1994|pp=108–112}}{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002|pp=64–65, 140, 402}} He lived during the mid-1st millennium BCE,{{refn|group=note|name="dating"}} dated variously by most scholars between the 6th–5th{{sfn|Staal|1996|p=39}}{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}} and 4th centuries BCE.{{sfn|Cardona|1997|p=268}}{{sfn|Vergiani|2017|p=243, n.4}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|p=171}}{{sfn|Houben|2009|p=6}}

The historical facts of his life are unknown, except only what can be inferred from his works, and legends recorded long after. His most notable work, the ''Ashtadhyayi'' ''([[Aṣṭādhyāyī]])'' (Devanagari: अष्टाध्यायी)'','' is conventionally taken to mark the start of [[Classical Sanskrit]]. His work formally codified Classical Sanskrit as a refined and standardized language, making use of a technical [[metalanguage]] consisting of a syntax, morphology, and lexicon, organised according to a series of meta-rules.{{refn|group=note|"The elegance and comprehensiveness of [the Aṣṭādhyāyī's] architecture have yet to be surpassed [...], and its ingenious methods of stratifying out [[use and mention]], language and [[metalanguage]], and [[theorem]] and [[metatheorem]] predate key discoveries in western philosophy by millennia."<ref>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Evans (linguist) |title=Dying Words: Endangered languages and what they have to tell us |year=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-631-23305-3 |pages=27– |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjXnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27}}</ref>}}

Since the exposure of European scholars to his ''Ashtadhyayi'' in the nineteenth century, Pāṇini has been considered the "first [[Descriptive linguistics|descriptive linguist]]",<ref name="FPencyclo">[[#FPencyclo|François & Ponsonnet (2013: 184)]].</ref> and even labelled as "the father of [[linguistics]]".{{sfn|Bod|2013|pp=14–19}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pāṇini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bokIi9acXqsC |title=Pāṇini's Grammatik |trans-title=Pāṇini's Grammar|last2=Böhtlingk |first2=Otto von |author-link2=Otto von Böhtlingk |date=1998 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1025-9 |edition=Reprint |language=de}}</ref> His approach to [[grammar]] influenced such foundational linguists as [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] and [[Leonard Bloomfield]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robins |first=Robert Henry |author-link=R. H. Robins |title=A short history of linguistics |date=1997 |publisher=[[Longman]] |isbn=0-582-24994-5 |edition=4th |location=London |oclc=35178602}}</ref>

==Biography==
{{Quote box
| quote = '''Father of linguistics'''<br/>
The history of linguistics begins not with Plato or Aristotle, but with the Indian grammarian Panini.
| source = — [[Rens Bod]], University of Amsterdam{{sfn|Bod|2013|pp=14–18}}
| width = 28%
| bgcolor = #FFE0BB
| align = right
}}

The name Pāṇini is a [[patronymic]] meaning descendant of Paṇina.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Pāṇini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iSDakY97XckC&pg=PR20 |title=Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini |author2=Sumitra Mangesh Katre |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-208-0521-7 |page=xx}}</ref> His full name was Dakṣiputra Pāṇini according to verses 1.75.13 and 3.251.12 of [[Patanjali]]'s ''[[Mahābhāṣya]]'', with the first part suggesting his mother's name was Dakṣi.{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}} 

Some writers refer to Pāṇini as a [[Brahmin]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vasudev Sharan |first1=Agrawal |title=India as known to Panini |date=1953 |publisher=University of Lucknow |page=11 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4695/page/n35/mode/2up |quote=His great friend was a Brahmin, Panini by name}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mani |first1=Vettam |title=Puranic encyclopaedia: a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature |date=1975 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0597-2 |page=566 |url=https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/566/mode/2up |quote=Jaimini and Bhartrhari have stated that Panini was a Sista. Sistas were brahmins well-versed in the Sastras}}</ref> but this remains uncertain as very little is known about him with any certainty: it is even unclear where and when he lived.

=== Dating ===
Pāṇini has been dated between the 7th{{sfn|Bod|2013|p=14}} or 6th{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}} and 4th century BCE.{{sfn|Cardona|1997|p=268}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2019}}{{refn|group=note|name="dating"}}

In his survey of Pāṇini scholarship, [[George Cardona]] (1997) notes that available evidence strongly supports a date no earlier than 400 BCE, whereas earlier dates rely on interpretations that are not probative.{{sfn|Cardona|1997|pp=261–268}}

Based on [[Numismatics|numismatic]] findings, [[Oskar von Hinüber|Oskar von Hinüber]] (1989) and [[Harry Falk (Indologist)|Harry Falk]] (1993) place Pāṇini in the mid-4th century BCE.{{sfn|Vergiani|2017|p=243, n.4}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|p=171}}{{sfn|Houben|2009|p=6}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2019}} In several ''sūtras'' (''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' ''5.2.119, 5.2.120, 5.4.43, 4.3.153''), Pāṇini references coins such as ''rūpya'' and ''niṣka'' (a specific gold coin), which numismatists date in India to the 4th century BCE.{{sfn|Houben|2009|p=6}} Jan Houben (2009) states that the date of "{{c.|350 BCE}} for Pāṇini is thus based on unrefuted concrete evidence."{{sfn|Houben|2009|p=6}} Similarly, Johannes Bronkhorst (2016) accepts Von Hinüber's and Falk's argument, establishing a ''[[terminus post quem]]''{{refn|group=note|The earliest time or historical period during which an event may have happened}} for Pāṇini around 350 BCE or the decades thereafter.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2019}} According to Bronkhorst, 
{{blockquote|...thanks to the work carried out by Hinüber (1990:34-35) and Falk (1993: 303-304), we now know that Pāṇini lived, in all probability, far closer in time to the period of [[Asoka|Aśoka]] than had hitherto been thought. According to Falk's reasoning, Panini must have lived during the decade following 350 BCE, that is, just before (or contemporaneously with?) the invasion by Alexander of Macedonia.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|p=171}}}}

Although scholars debate whether Pāṇini composed his work in writing, it is generally agreed that he knew of script based on references to words such as ''[[Lipi (script)|lipi]]'' ("script") and ''lipikara'' ("scribe") in section 3.2 of the'' Aṣṭādhyāyī''.<ref name="solomon11">{{cite book |author=Richard Salomon |author-link=Richard G. Salomon (professor of Asian studies) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC |title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-535666-3 |page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Rita Sherma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4eXRvwyvtMC&pg=PA235 |title=Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Toward a Fusion of Horizons |author2=Arvind Sharma |author-link2=Arvind Sharma |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4020-8192-7 |page=235}}</ref> Consequently, the [[Early Indian epigraphy|introduction of writing in ancient India]] provides a key marker for this chronology.{{refn|group=note|name="script"|Pāṇini's use of the term ''lipi'' has been a source of scholarly disagreements. Harry Falk in his 1993 overview states that ancient Indians neither knew nor used writing scripts, and Pāṇini's mention is likely a reference to Semitic and Greek scripts.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Falk|first1=Harry |author-link=Harry Falk (Indologist)|title=Schrift im alten Indien: ein Forschungsbericht mit Anmerkungen |trans-title= Writing in ancient India: a research report with notes |date=1993|publisher=Gunter Narr Verlag|language=de|pages=109–167|isbn=978-3-8233-4271-7}}</ref> In his 1995 review, Salomon questions Falk's arguments and writes it is "speculative at best and hardly constitutes firm grounds for a late date for [[Kharoṣṭhī]]. The stronger argument for this position is that we have no specimen of the script before the time of Aśoka, nor any direct evidence of intermediate stages in its development; but of course this does not mean that such earlier forms did not exist, only that, if they did exist, they have not survived, presumably because they were not employed for monumental purposes before Aśoka".<ref>{{cite journal | last=Salomon | first=Richard |author-link= Richard G. Salomon (professor of Asian studies) | title=Review: On the Origin of the Early Indian Scripts | journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] | volume=115 | issue=2 | year=1995 | pages=271–278 | doi=10.2307/604670 | jstor=604670 }}</ref> According to Hartmut Scharfe, the ''Lipi'' of Pāṇini may have been borrowed from the [[Old Persian]] ''Dipi'', in turn derived from the [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] ''Dup''. Scharfe adds that the best evidence, at the time of his review, is that no script was used in India, aside from the Northwest Indian subcontinent, before around 300 BCE because Indian tradition "at every occasion stresses the orality of the cultural and literary heritage."<ref>{{citation|last= Scharfe|first= Hartmut|series= Handbook of Oriental Studies|title= Education in Ancient India|pages= 10–12|year=2018|publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, Netherlands |isbn=978-90-474-0147-6}}</ref> [[K. R. Norman|Kenneth Norman]] states that writing scripts in ancient India evolved over long periods of time like other cultures, that it is unlikely that ancient Indians developed a single complete writing system at one and the same time in the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan]] era. It is even less likely, states Norman, that a writing script was invented during Ashoka's rule, starting from nothing, for the specific purpose of writing his inscriptions and then it was understood all over South Asia where the [[Pillars of Ashoka|Aśoka pillars]] are found.<ref>{{cite book|author=Oskar von Hinüber|author-link=Oskar von Hinüber|title=Der Beginn der Schrift und frühe Schriftlichkeit in Indien|trans-title=The beginning of writing and early writing in India|year=1989|publisher=[[Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur]]|oclc= 22195130|pages=241–245|isbn=978-3-515-05627-4|language=de}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] states that ancient India likely had a "very old culture of writing" along with its oral tradition of composing and transmitting knowledge, because the corpus of Vedic literature is too vast, consistent and complex to have been entirely created, memorized, accurately preserved and spread without a written system.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jack Goody|author-link=Jack Goody|title=The Interface Between the Written and the Oral|url=https://archive.org/details/interfacebetween00good|url-access=registration|year=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-33794-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/interfacebetween00good/page/110 110]–124}}</ref> Falk disagrees with Goody, and suggests that it is a Western presumption and inability to imagine that remarkably early scientific achievements such as Pāṇini's grammar (5th to 4th century BCE), and the creation, preservation and wide distribution of the large corpus of the Brahmanic Vedic literature and the [[Tipitaka|Buddhist canonical literature]] were possible without any writing scripts. Johannes Bronkhorst disagrees with Falk, and states, "Falk goes too far. It is fair to expect that we believe that Vedic memorisation — though without parallel in any other human society — has been able to preserve very long texts for many centuries without losing a syllable. (...) However, the oral composition of a work as complex as Pāṇini's grammar is not only without parallel in other human cultures, it is without parallel in India itself. (...) It just will not do to state that our difficulty in conceiving any such thing is our problem".<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bronkhorst | first=Johannes | author-link=Johannes Bronkhorst | title=Literacy and Rationality in Ancient India | journal= Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques (Asian Studies) | volume=56 | issue=4 | year=2002 | pages=797–831 | url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/77159988.pdf}}</ref>}} Vincenzo Vergiani argues that the nature, structure, and complexity of the grammar, including its binary classification of syllable lengths, offer evidence for its composition and transmission through written means.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sage Journals: Discover world-class research |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/action/cookieAbsent |access-date=2026-05-16 |website=Sage Journals |language=en |doi=10.1177/09719458241226574}}</ref>

Pāṇini cites at least ten earlier grammarians and linguists: Āpiśali, [[Kashyapa|Kāśyapa]], Gārgya, Gālava, Cākravarmaṇa, [[Bharadvaja|Bhāradvāja]], [[Śākaṭāyana]], [[Shakalya|Śākalya]], Senaka, Sphoṭāyana, and [[Yaska]].{{sfn|Cardona|1997|p=§1.3}} Kamal K. Misra notes that Pāṇini references Yaska's ''[[Nirukta]]'',<ref>{{Citation |last=Dwivedi |first=Amitabh Vikram |chapter=Nirukta |date=2018 |title=Hinduism and Tribal Religions |pages=1–5 |editor-last=Jain |editor-first=Pankaj |series=Encyclopedia of Indian Religions |place=Dordrecht |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_376-1 |isbn=978-94-024-1036-5 |editor2-last=Sherma |editor2-first=Rita |editor3-last=Khanna |editor3-first=Madhu |editor1-link=Pankaj Jain |editor3-link=Madhu Khanna}}</ref> "whose writings date back to the mid-4th century BCE".{{sfn|Misra|2000|p=49}}

The Sanskrit epic ''[[Brihatkatha]]'' and the Buddhist scripture ''[[Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa]]'' both describe Pāṇini as a contemporary of king [[Dhana Nanda]] (r. 329–321 BCE), the last monarch of the [[Nanda Empire]] before [[Chandragupta Maurya]] came to power.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |author-link=Upinder Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=[[Longman|Pearson Longman]] |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |page=258 |language=en}}</ref>

Cardona offers an earlier date for Pāṇini,{{sfn|Cardona|1997|pp=261–262}} noting that the compound word ''[[Yona|{{IAST|yavanānī}}]], discussed'' in sutra 4.1.49 has been interpreted as referring to either to Old Persian cuneiform, Greek script, or Ionian women, with whom contact may have predated the conquests of Darius I (c. 518 BCE) or Alexander (326 BCE).{{sfn|Cardona|1997|p=261}}{{refn|group=note|In 1862 [[Max Müller]] argued that ''yavana'' may have meant "Greek"{{refn|group=note|Ionian}} during Pāṇinis time, but may also refer to Semitic or dark-skinned Indian people.<ref>{{cite book|author=Max Müller |author-link=Max Müller |title=On Ancient Hindu Astronomy and Chronology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VB1bAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA70 |year=1862|pages=footnotes of 69–71|bibcode=1862ahac.book.....M}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle |author-link=Patrick Olivelle |title=Dharmasutras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnVxqvPg9a0C |year=1999|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-283882-7|page=xxxii with footnote 13}}</ref>}} K. B. Pathak (1930) argues that the ''kumāraśramaṇa'' (''sūtra'' 2.1.70)—referring to female renunciates (''[[śramaṇa]])—''could also refer to [[Jainism|Jain]] [[Aryika|''Āryikā'']], potentially placing Pāṇini prior to [[Gautama Buddha]] in the 5th century BCE.{{sfn|Cardona|1997|pp=261–262}} Other scholars assign his work to the 6th or 5th century BCE on linguistic grounds:
* Rens Bod notes that as Pāṇini's grammar codifies Classical Sanskrit, he is placed in the late [[Vedic period]] (c. 7th–5th century BCE).{{sfn|Bod|2013|pp=14–18}} 
* According to [[Arthur Berriedale Keith|A. B. Keith]], the Sanskrit text closest to Pāṇini's linguistic profile is the ''[[Aitareya Brahmana|Aitareya Brāhmaṇa]]'' (c. 8th–6th century BCE).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keith |first=Arthur Berriedale |author-link=Arthur Berriedale Keith |title=Rigveda Brahmanas: the Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda |date=1998 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1359-5 |location=Delhi |language=en |oclc=611413511}}</ref>
* According to Harmut Scharfe, "Pāṇini's proximity to the language of the [[Upanishads]] and Vedic ''sūtras'' suggests a 5th or 6th century BCE date."{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}}

===Location===
{{Location map+
|Gandhara
|float      = right
|width      = 270
|caption    = Approximate location of [[Salatura]] in [[Gandhara]], in present-day northern [[Pakistan]]
|nodiv      = 1
|mini       = 1
|relief=yes
|places     =
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=34.02545|N|long=72.21561|E||label=[[Salatura]]|position=right |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=34.016667|N |long=71.583333|E |label=[[Peshawar]]|position=left |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=33.745833|N |long=72.7875|E |label=[[Taxila]] |position=right |label_size=70 }}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=34.15|N |long=71.733333|E |label=[[Charsadda]]|position=left |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=34.201222|N |long=72.025833|E |label=[[Mardan]]|position=right |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=34.5|N |long=71.95|E |label='''GANDHARA'''|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=34.48|N |long=70.7|E |label=''[[Kabul river|Kabul]]<br/>[[Kabul river|river]]''|position=bottom|label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=34.7|N |long=72.9|E |label=''[[Indus]]<br/>[[Indus|river]]''|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Gandhara |lat=33.6|N |long=72.1|E |label=''[[Indus]]<br/>[[Indus|river]]''|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
}}

Nothing certain is known about Pāṇini's personal life. In later epigraphical evidence, such as the 8th-century copper-plate inscriptions of  [[Maitraka dynasty|Siladitya VII]] of the [[Maitraka dynasty]] of [[Vallabhi]], he is called Śalāturiya (a man from Salatura), identifying his native place with ancient town of [[Salatura]] in [[Gandhara]].<ref name="Scharfe1977-Salatura">{{cite book |last=Scharfe |first=Hartmut |title=Grammatical Literature |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |year=1977 |isbn=978-3-447-01706-0 |series=A History of Indian Literature |volume=5 |page=88}}</ref><ref name="Fleet1888">{{cite book |last=Fleet |first=John Faithful |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. III: Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings and their Successors |publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta |year=1888 |pages=171–191 |chapter=No. 39: Alina Copper-Plate Inscription of Siladitya VII}}</ref> This means Pāṇini lived in Salatura in ancient Gandhara, which likely was near [[Lahor]] (present day northwest Pakistan), a town at the junction of the [[Indus River|Indus]] and [[Kabul River|Kabul]] rivers.{{refn|group=note|now a part of the [[Swabi District]] of modern [[Pakistan]]}}<ref name="harmut88">{{cite book |author=Hartmut Scharfe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_VbnWkZ-SYC&pg=PA88 |title=Grammatical Literature |publisher=[[Otto Harrassowitz]] |year=1977 |isbn=978-3-447-01706-0 |pages=88 with footnotes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Saroja Bhate |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.204734 |title=Panini |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |year=2002 |isbn=81-260-1198-X |page=4}}</ref> According to the memoirs of the 7th-century Chinese scholar [[Xuanzang]], there was a town called ''Suoluoduluo'' on the Indus where Pāṇini was born, and where he composed the ''Qingming-lun'' (Sanskrit: ''[[Vyākaraṇa]]'').<ref name="harmut88" /><ref>{{Citation |title=Encyclopaedia of Hinduism |pages=1983–2007 |year=1997 |editor-last=Singh |editor-first=Nagendra Kr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl8_VgikeLcC&q=statue&pg=PA1988 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Centre for International Religious Studies |isbn=978-81-7488-168-7}}</ref><ref name="arapv">{{cite book |last=Mishra |first=Giridhar |author-link=Rambhadracharya |title=अध्यात्मरामायणेऽपाणिनीयप्रयोगाणां विमर्शः |publisher=[[Sampurnanand Sanskrit University]] |year=1981 |place=Varanasi, India |language=sa |trans-title=Deliberation on non-Paninian usages in the Adhyatma Ramayana |chapter=प्रस्तावना |trans-chapter=Introduction |access-date=21 May 2013 |chapter-url=http://jagadgururambhadracharya.org/works/arapv/prastavana.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311211052/https://jagadgururambhadracharya.org/works/arapv/prastavana.php |archive-date=11 March 2014}}</ref>

According to Hartmut Scharfe, Pāṇini lived in [[Gandāra]] during a period when it was nominally a [[satrap]]y of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] following the 6th century BCE conquest of [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|Indus Valley]]. However Pāṇini’s work shows no influence from Old Persian.{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lal |first1=Shyam Bihari |author-link=Shyam Bihari Lal |date=2004 |title=Yavanas in Ancient Indian Inscriptions |journal=[[Proceedings of the Indian History Congress]] |volume=65 |pages=1115–1120 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44144820}}</ref> His geographical horizon in the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' remains centered on the Indian subcontinent (''Āryāvarta'' and the Northwest).<ref>{{cite book |author=Patrick Olivelle |author-link=Patrick Olivelle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnVxqvPg9a0C |title=Dharmasutras |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-283882-7 |pages=xxvi–xxvii}}</ref><ref name="Cardona1997">{{cite book |last=Cardona |first=George |title=Pāṇini: A Survey of Research |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1997 |isbn=978-81-208-1494-3 |pages=260–268}}</ref><ref name="Agrawala1953">{{cite book |last=Agrawala |first=Vasudeva Sharana |title=India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī |publisher=University of Lucknow |year=1953 |pages=34–45}}</ref>

===Legends and later reception===
According to legends in the ''[[Kathāsaritsāgara]]'', Pāṇini studied under his ''guru'' Varsha in [[Pataliputra]] (modern [[Patna]]). Considered a slow student, he followed the advice of Varsha's wife and travelled to the [[Himalayas]] to perform penance and seek wisdom from [[Shiva]]. Shiva appeared, performed a cosmic dance, and played his [[damaru]], producing the foundational sounds of Sanskrit. Pāṇini compiled these into ''[[Shiva Sutras]]''. Equiped with this knowledge, Pāṇini returned to Pataliputra. At that time, [[Vararuchi]], another disciple of Varsha, had learned grammar from [[Indra]]. They [[debates in ancient India|engaged in a debate]] which lasted eight days and on the last day, with Vararuchi emerging dominant, Pāṇini won when Shiva destroyed Vararuchi's work. Pāṇini went on to defeat the rest of Varsha's disciples and emerged as the foremost grammarian.<ref name="mani">Vettam Mani. ''[https://archive.org/stream/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft Puranic Encyclopedia: a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature]''. [[Motilal Banarsidass]]. 1975.</ref>

According to tradition, Pāṇini spent much of his life in Pataliputra, with some scholars suggesting his family had previously migrated there from [[Salatura]].<ref name="mani"/> Other traditions associate Pāṇini with the [[University of Taxila]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Prakash|first1=Buddha|title=Political And Social Movements in Ancient Punjab|date=1964 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6QSPwAACAAJ|quote=Pāṇini and [[Kautilya]], two masterminds of ancient times, were also brought up in the academic traditions of [[Taxila]].}} {{isbn|9788120824584}}.</ref>

Pāṇini also appears in traditional Indian fables and other ancient texts. The ''[[Panchatantra]]'', for example, records a story in which Pāṇini was killed by a lion.{{sfn|Cardona|1997| ps=. The verse reads {{IAST|siṃho vyākaraṇasya kartur aharat prāṇān priyān pāṇineḥ}} "a lion took the dear life of Panini, author of the grammatical treatise". (Panchatantra II.28)}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bhattacharyya |first1=D. C. |date=1928 |title=Date of the Subhasitavali |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland]] |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=135–137 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00059773 |jstor=25221320 |s2cid=162641089}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Winternitz|first=Moriz|author-link=Moriz Winternitz|title=History of Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ql0BmInD1c4C&pg=PA462|year=1963|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]page=462}} {{isbn|978-81-208-0056-4}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Nakamura|first=Hajime|author-link=Hajime Nakamura|title=A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCl0qRJTpHwC&pg=PA400|year=1983|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]|isbn=978-81-208-0651-1|page=400}}</ref>

According to some historians, ''āchārya'' [[Pingala]] was the brother of Pāṇini.''<ref name="FPencyclo2">[[Pāṇini#FPencyclo|François & Ponsonnet (2013: 184)]].</ref>''

Pāṇini was depicted on a five-rupee [[List of postage stamps of India|Indian postage stamp]] in August 2004.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stamps 2004 |publisher=Indian Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology |date=23 April 2015 |url=http://postagestamps.gov.in/Stamps2004.aspx |access-date=3 June 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.istampgallery.com/panini/|title=Panini|website=www.istampgallery.com| date=23 October 2015 |access-date=2018-12-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hinduismtoday.com/|title=Hinduism Today Magazine|last=Academy|first=Himalayan|website=www.hinduismtoday.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.getpincodes.com/stamps/postage-stamp-on-panini-01-aug-2004|title=India Postage Stamp on Panini issued on 01 Aug 2004|website=www.getpincodes.com|access-date=2018-12-11}}</ref>

== ''Ashtadhyayi'' ==
{{main|Aṣṭādhyāyī}}

Pāṇini's principal work, the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'', is a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. The grammar is descriptive<ref>{{Cite book |last=Huet |first=Gérard |title=Sanskrit Computational Linguistics: First and Second International Symposia Rocquencourt, France, October 29-31, 2007 Providence, RI, USA, May 15-17, 2008 Revised Selected and Invited Papers |last2=Kulkarni |first2=Amba |last3=Scharf |first3=Peter M. |date=2009 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg Springer e-books |others=International Sanskrit Computational Linguistics Symposium, International Sanskrit Computational Linguistics Symposium |isbn=978-3-642-00155-0 |series=Lecture notes in computer science Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (En ligne) |location=Berlin, Heidelberg}}</ref> and generative, using concise, rule-based formulas to define phonology, morphology and syntax. It is supplemented by three ancillary texts: the ''akṣarasamāmnāya'', ''dhātupāṭha''{{efn-ua|''dhātu'': root, ''pāṭha'': reading, lesson}} and ''gaṇapāṭha''.{{efn-ua|''gaṇa'': class}}{{sfn|Cardona|1997|pp=§1–3}} While it is based on the spoken dialect of educated speakers of his era, the text also accounts for archaic form found in [[Vedic Sanskrit|Vedic]] Sanskrit.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cardona |first=George |title=Pāṇini, his work and its traditions |date=1997 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |isbn=978-81-208-0419-7 |edition=2nd |location=Delhi |language=en |ref=none}}</ref>

Developed out of earlier efforts to preserve the linguistic accuracy of Vedic hymns, the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' systematized rules to standardize the language and prevent dialectal drift. Although earlier grammatical works existed, the ''Aṣtādhyāyī'' is the earliest Sanskrit grammar work that survives intact.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burrow |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Burrow |title=The Sanskrit language |date=2001 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1767-8 |edition=1st Indian |location=Delhi |page=49}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Itkonen |first=Eas |author-link=Esa Itkonen |title=Universal History of Linguistics: India, China, Arabia, Europe |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]] |year=1991 |isbn=978-90-272-7767-1 |page=69}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Burnell |first=Arthur Coke |author-link=Arthur Coke Burnell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1DYLAAAAQAAJ&dq=whitney+panini+grammar&pg=PA85 |title=On the Aindra School of Sanskrit Grammarians, Their Place in the Sanskrit and Subordinate Literatures |date=1875 |publisher= |page=87 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Embleton |first1=Sheila |author-link=Sheila Embleton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iT5IAAAAQBAJ&dq=whitney+panini+grammar&pg=PA154 |title=The Emergence of the Modern Language Sciences: Studies on the transition from historical-comparative to structural linguistics in honour of E.F.K. Koerner. Volume 2: Methodological perspectives and applications |last2=Joseph |first2=John E. |last3=Niederehe |first3=Hans-Josef |date=1999-10-15 |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-90-272-9842-3 |page=154 |language=en}}</ref>

The ''Ashtadhyayi'' consists of 3,959 ''sūtras''{{efn-ua|aphoristic threads}} organized into eight chapters (''adhyāyas''), which are each subdivided into four sections or ''pādas''. The text takes material from lexical lists (''dhātupāṭha'', ''gaṇapātha'') as input and describes the algorithms to be applied to them for the generation of well-formed words. Such is its intricacy that the correct application of its rules and metarules is still being worked out centuries later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg3gw9v7jnvo|title=Cambridge PhD student solves 2,500-year-old Sanskrit problem|website=BBC News|date=15 December 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/solving-grammars-greatest-puzzle|title=Solving grammar's greatest puzzle|website=University of Cambridge|date=15 December 2022 }}</ref> As a generative grammatical system, it operates with an integrated framework and rules:<ref name="Kiparsky2002">{{cite book |last=Kiparsky |first=Paul |title=Trends in Indian Linguistics |publisher=Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |year=2002 |editor=Mishra |editor-first=V. N. |pages=33–74 |chapter=On the Architecture of Pāṇini's Grammar}}</ref><ref name="Cardona1988">{{cite book |last=Cardona |first=George |title=Pāṇini: His Work and Its Traditions, Volume 1: Background and Introduction |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1988 |isbn=978-81-208-0419-7 |pages=9–26}}</ref>

* Śiva Sūtras (Akṣarasamāmnāya): A phonological framework establishing the phonetic system that produces succinct operational abbreviations (pratyāhāras).
* Dhātupāṭha: A supporting vocabulary highlighting verbal roots and their meaning.
* Gaṇapāṭha: Catalogs of nouns represented in a way that can help with the morphological transformation of language.
* Paribhāṣā Sūtras: A collection of metarule illustrating the way of solving conflicting rules.

The ''Ashtadhyayi'', composed in an era when oral composition and transmission was the norm, is staunchly embedded in that oral tradition. In order to ensure wide dissemination, Pāṇini is said to have preferred brevity over clarity<ref>Whitney, p. xiii</ref>—it can be recited end-to-end in two hours. This has led to the emergence of a great number of commentaries{{efn-ua|''bhāṣya''s}} of his work over the centuries, which for the most part adhere to the foundations laid by Pāṇini's work.<ref name="Burrow21">Burrow, §2.1.</ref><ref>Coulson, p xvi.</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Stamp of India - 2004 - Colnect 158527 - Panini.jpeg|thumb|Stamp of India depicting Pāṇini (2004)]]
Pāṇini is known for his text ''Ashtadhyayi'', a [[sutra]]-style treatise on [[Sanskrit grammar]],{{sfn|Staal|1965}}{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002|pp=64–65, 140, 402}} which consists of 3,996<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India |publisher=Pearson |year=2021 |isbn=978-81-317-1677-9 |page=258}}</ref> verses or rules on [[linguistics]], [[syntax]] and [[semantics]] in "eight chapters" which is the foundational text of the ''[[Vyākaraṇa]]'' branch of the [[Vedanga]], the auxiliary scholarly disciplines of the [[Vedic period]].<ref>W. J. Johnson (2009), ''A Dictionary of Hinduism'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0198610250}}, article on ''Vyakarana''</ref>{{Sfn|Harold G. Coward|1990|p=105}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Lisa Mitchell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fBchTO0NS0EC |title=Language, Emotion, and Politics in South India |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-253-35301-6 |page=108}}</ref> His [[aphoristic]] text attracted numerous ''[[bhashya]]'' (commentaries), of which the ''[[Mahābhāṣya|Mahabhashya]]'' by [[Patanjali]] is the most famous.{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002|p=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/497 497]}} His ideas influenced and attracted commentaries from scholars of other [[Indian religions]] such as [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Hartmut Scharfe|title=Grammatical Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_VbnWkZ-SYC&pg=PA152|year=1977|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-01706-0|pages=152–154}}</ref>

Pāṇini's analysis of [[Compound (linguistics)|noun compound]]s still forms the basis of modern linguistic theories of compounding in [[Languages of India|Indian languages]]. Pāṇini's comprehensive and [[scientific theory]] of grammar is conventionally taken to mark the start of [[Sanskrit#Classical Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Yuji Kawaguchi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaZxAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA223 |title=Corpus-based Analysis and Diachronic Linguistics |author2=Makoto Minegishi |author3=Wolfgang Viereck |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-90-272-7215-7 |pages=223–224}}</ref> His systematic treatise inspired and made Sanskrit the preeminent Indian language of learning and literature for two millennia.

Pāṇini's theory of [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological analysis]] was more advanced than any equivalent Western theory before the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Staal |first1=Frits |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7IqsyNmt8XYC&q=Panini |title=Universals: studies in Indian logic and linguistics |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-226-76999-8 |page=47}}</ref> His treatise is generative and descriptive, uses [[metalanguage]] and [[Meta (prefix)|meta]]-rules, and has been compared to the [[Turing machine]] wherein the logical structure of any computing device has been reduced to its essentials using an idealized [[mathematical model]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kak |first1=Subhash C. |date=January 1987 |title=The Paninian approach to natural language processing |journal=[[International Journal of Approximate Reasoning]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=117–130 |doi=10.1016/0888-613X(87)90007-7 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Bhaṭṭikāvya and Pedagogical Influence ===
{{main|Bhaṭṭikāvya}}

Pāṇini's grammatical rules directly shaped later Sanskrit classical literature (''Kāvya'') and pedagogy. A prominent example is the ''Bhaṭṭikāvya'', composed centuries later by the poet Bhaṭṭi as a dual purpose work; A poem narrating the Rāmāyaṇa while systematically illustrating Pāṇini's grammatical rules.

Indian curriculums in the late classical era had at their core a system of grammatical study and linguistic analysis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Filliozat |first=Pierre-Sylvain |title=The Sanskrit language: an overview: history and structure, linguistic and philosophical representations, uses and users |date=2000 |publisher=Indica Books |isbn=978-81-86569-17-7 |location=Varanasi}}</ref> The core text for this study was the ''Ashtadhyayi'' of Pāṇini, the ''[[sine qua non]]'' of learning.<ref>Fallon, Oliver. 2009. Bhatti's Poem: The Death of Rávana ({{IAST|Bhaṭṭikāvya}}). New York: [[Clay Sanskrit Library]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8147-2778-2}}</ref> This grammar of Pāṇini had been the object of intense study for the ten centuries prior to the composition of the ''Bhaṭṭikāvya''. It was Bhaṭṭi's purpose to provide a study aid to Pāṇini's text by using the examples already provided in the existing grammatical commentaries in the context of the ''[[Ramayana|Rāmāyaṇa]]''. The intention of the author was to teach this advanced science through a relatively easy and pleasant medium. In his own words:

<blockquote>
This composition is like a lamp to those who perceive the meaning of words and like a hand mirror for a blind man to those without grammar.

This poem, which is to be understood by means of a commentary, is a joy to those sufficiently learned: through my fondness for the scholar I have here slighted the dullard.

''Bhaṭṭikāvya'' 22.33–34.
</blockquote>

==Modern linguistics==
Pāṇini's work became known in 19th-century Europe, where it influenced modern linguistics initially through [[Franz Bopp]]. Subsequently, a wider body of work influenced Sanskrit scholars such as [[Ferdinand de Saussure]], [[Leonard Bloomfield]], and [[Roman Jakobson]]. [[Frits Staal]] discussed the impact of Indian ideas on language in Europe. After outlining the various aspects of the contact, Staal notes that the idea of formal rules in language&nbsp;– proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure in 1894 and developed by [[Noam Chomsky]] in 1957&nbsp;– has origins in the European exposure to the formal rules of Pāṇinian grammar.<ref name=staalflood/> In particular, de Saussure, who lectured on Sanskrit for three decades, may have been influenced by Pāṇini and [[Bhartrihari]]; his idea of the unity of the signifier-signified in the [[sign (semiotics)|sign]] somewhat resembles the notion of [[Sphoṭa]]. More importantly, the very idea that formal rules can be applied to areas outside of logic or mathematics may itself have been catalysed by Europe's contact with the work of Sanskrit grammarians.<ref name=staalflood>Frits Staal, The science of language, Chapter 16, in [[Gavin D. Flood]], ed.  ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism'' [[Blackwell Publishing]], 2003, 599 pages {{ISBN|0-631-21535-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-631-21535-6}}.  p. 357-358</ref>

===De Saussure===
Pāṇini, and the later Indian linguist [[Bhartrihari]], had a significant influence on many of the foundational ideas proposed by [[Ferdinand de Saussure]], professor of [[Sanskrit]], who is widely considered the father of modern [[structuralism|structural linguistics]] and with [[Charles S. Peirce]] on the other side, to [[semiotics]], although the concept Saussure used was [[semiology]]. Saussure himself cited Indian [[grammar]] as an influence on some of his ideas. In his ''Mémoire sur le système primitif des voyelles dans les langues indo-européennes'' (''Memoir on the Original System of Vowels in the Indo-European Languages'') published in 1879, he mentions Indian grammar as an influence on his idea that "reduplicated [[aorist]]s represent imperfects of a verbal class." In his ''De l'emploi du génitif absolu en sanscrit'' (''On the Use of the [[Genitive Absolute]] in Sanskrit'') published in 1881, he specifically mentions Pāṇini as an influence on the work.<ref name=Cardona/>

Prem Singh, in his foreword to the reprint edition of the German translation of Pāṇini's Grammar in 1998, concluded that the "effect Pāṇini's work had on Indo-European linguistics shows itself in various studies" and that a "number of seminal works come to mind," including Saussure's works and the analysis that "gave rise to the [[laryngeal theory]]," further stating: "This type of structural analysis suggests influence from Pāṇini's analytical teaching." [[George Cardona]], however, warns against overestimating the influence of Pāṇini on modern linguistics: "Although Saussure also refers to predecessors who had taken this Pāṇinian rule into account, it is reasonable to conclude that he had a direct acquaintance with Pāṇini's work. As far as I am able to discern upon rereading Saussure's ''Mémoire'', however, it shows no direct influence of Pāṇinian grammar. Indeed, on occasion, Saussure follows a path that is contrary to Pāṇinian procedure."<ref name=Cardona>{{citation | author=George Cardona | journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] | volume=120 | number=3 | year=2000 | pages = 464–5 | jstor=606023 | title=Book review: ''{{IAST|Pâṇinis}} Grammatik''| author-link=George Cardona }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=D'Ottavi |first=Giuseppe |year=2013 |title=Paṇini et le Mémoire |trans-title=Panini and the Memoir |url=http://arenaromanistica.uib.no/?document_id=84 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607073911/http://arenaromanistica.uib.no/?document_id=84 |archive-date=7 June 2013 |journal=Arena Romanistica |volume=12 |pages=164–193}} (reprinted in {{cite book |url=http://www.lambert-lucas.com/livre/de-lessence-double-du-langage-et-le-renouveau-du-saussurisme/ |title="De l'essence double du langage" et le renouveau du saussurisme |year=2016 |trans-title="On the double essence of language" and the revival of Saussurism}}).</ref>

===Comparison with modern formal systems===
Pāṇini's grammar has been described as "the first context-sensitive [[formal language|formal model of language]]", showing "many features of a formal, computationally implementable system" comparable to the modern [[Backus–Naur form]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Lowe | first=J.J. | title=Modern Linguistics in Ancient India | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2024 | isbn=978-1-009-36450-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnn1EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 | page=163}}</ref> It is a rigorous [[formal system]] developed well before the 19th century innovations of [[Gottlob Frege]] and the subsequent development of [[mathematical logic]].<ref name="Kadvany"/>

In designing his grammar, Pāṇini used the method of codifying rules through use of auxiliary markers, in which  affixes are designated to mark [[syntactic categories]] and the control of grammatical derivations through replacement rules (e.g.: "what to do if a stem is marked as a past tense verb, what to do if a noun is marked as an instrumental object, how to indicate passive versus active, what sound adjustments to make for adjacent phonemes, and so forth").<ref name="Kadvany">John Kadvany (2014). "Pāṇini grammar is the earliest known computing language" [https://doc.gold.ac.uk/aisb50/AISB50-S13/AISB50-S13-Kadvany-paper.pdf]</ref> This technique has been compared to the rewrite systems developed in the 1920s-1930s by the logician [[Emil Post]], which became a standard method in the design of [[computer programming language]]s.{{Sfn|Bhate|Kak|1993|pp=79–94}}{{Sfn|Kadvany|2007|pp=487–520}} Sanskritists now accept that Pāṇini's linguistic apparatus is well-described as an "applied" Post system.  Considerable evidence shows ancient mastery of [[context-sensitive grammar]]s, and a general ability to solve many complex problems.

[[Frits Staal]] has written that "Pāṇini is the Indian [[Euclid]]"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frits |first=Staal |url=http://eprints.nias.res.in/435/1/L1-2005.pdf |title=What Euclid is to Europe, Panini is to India - Or Are They? |date=6 May 2005 |publisher=[[National Institute of Advanced Studies]] |isbn=81-87663-57-X}}</ref> and that the ancient Indian grammarians, especially Pāṇini, had mastered methods of linguistic theory not rediscovered again until the 1950s and the applications of modern mathematical logic to linguistics by [[Noam Chomsky]].<ref>{{Cite book | last1=Staal | first1=Frits | author-link=Frits Staal | year=1986 | title=The Fidelity of Oral Tradition and the Origins of Science | publisher=Mededelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie voor Wetenschappen, North Holland Publishing Company }}</ref> (Chomsky himself has said that the first [[generative grammar]] in the modern sense was Pāṇini's grammar).<ref name=front>[http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1825/18250150.htm An event in Kolkata] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510134321/http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1825/18250150.htm |date=May 10, 2012 }}, [[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]</ref>

==Other works==

Two literary works are attributed to Pāṇini, though they are now lost.
* The ''Jāmbavati Vijaya'' is a lost epic poem cited by [[Rajashekhara (Sanskrit poet)|Rajashekhara]] in Jalhana's ''[[Suktimuktavali|Sukti Muktāvalī]]''. A fragment of this work can be found in Ramayukta's commentary on the [[Amarakosha|Namalinganushasana]]. The title suggests that the work dealt with [[Krishna|Krishna's]] winning of [[Jambavati]] from the underworld as his bride.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mukherjee |first=Sujit |author-link=Sujit Mukherjee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCJrUfVtZxoC&dq=jambavati+vijaya+panini&pg=PA144 |title=A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850 |date=1998 |publisher=[[Orient Blackswan]] |isbn=978-81-250-1453-9 |page=144 |language=en}}</ref> Rajashekhara is quoted thus in Jalhana's ''Sukti Muktāvalī'':
<blockquote>
: नमः '''पाणिनये''' तस्मै यस्मादाविर भूदिह।
: आदौ व्याकरणं काव्यमनु '''जाम्बवतीजयम्'''॥
: namaḥ '''pāṇinaye''' tasmai yasmādāvirabhūdiha।
: ādau vyākaraṇaṃ kāvyamanu '''jāmbavatījayam'''॥
</blockquote>
* Ascribed to Pāṇini, the ''Pātāla Vijaya'' (Victory in/over the Underworld) is a lost work cited by Namisadhu in his commentary on the Kavyalankara (Poetic Aesthetics) of [[Rudrata]]. The ''Pātāla Vijaya'' is considered the same work as the ''Jāmbavati Vijaya'' by [[Moriz Winternitz]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Winternitz |first=Moriz |author-link=Moriz Winternitz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gO1l_5WP8N8C&q=patala+vijaya+panini |title=History of Indian Literature: pt. 1. Classical Sanskrit literature. 1st ed. 1963. pt. 2. Scientific literature. 1st ed. 1967 |date=1963 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |page=36 |language=en}}</ref>

There are many proto-mathematical concepts found in Pāṇini's works. Pāṇini came up with a plethora of ideas to organize the known grammatical forms of his day in a systematic way.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joseph |first=George Gheverghese |author-link=George Gheverghese Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XIj4DAAAQBAJ&dq=panini+mathematical+grammar&pg=PA135 |title=Indian Mathematics: Engaging With The World From Ancient To Modern Times |date=2016-07-28 |publisher=[[World Scientific]] |isbn=978-1-78634-063-4 |pages=135–136 |language=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Plofker |first=Kim |author-link=Kim Plofker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DHvThPNp9yMC&dq=panini+mathematical+grammar&pg=PA54 |title=Mathematics in India |date=2009-01-18 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-12067-6 |page=54 |language=en}}</ref> Like any mathematician who models a known phenomenon in mathematical language, Pāṇini created a [[metalanguage]] which is very close to the modern-day ideas of algebra.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhaskar Kompella |url=http://archive.org/details/panini-article-for-pub |title=Mathematical Structures in Panini's Ashtadhyayi |date=2019-09-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kornai |first=András |author-link=András Kornai |title=Mathematical linguistics |date=2008 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-84628-985-9 |series=Advanced information and knowledge processing |location=London |page=75}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Petersen |first=Wiebke |date=7 June 2004 |title=A Mathematical Analysis of Pānini's Śivasūtras |url=https://user.phil.hhu.de/~petersen/paper/petersen_jolli_proof.pdf |journal=[[Journal of Logic, Language and Information]] |language= |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=471–489 |doi=10.1007/s10849-004-2117-7 |issn=0925-8531}}</ref>

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=40em}}
*[[List of Indian mathematicians]]
*[[Pingala]]
*[[Seṭ and aniṭ roots]]
*[[Tolkāppiyam]]
{{colend}}

== Glossary ==
{{notelist-ua|20em}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|30em|refs=
<!-- "dating" -->
{{refn|group=note|name="dating"|'''4th century BCE date:'''

* Johannes Bronkhorst (2019): "Pāṇini's ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' has been the target of much guesswork as to its date. Only recently have more serious proposals been made. Oskar von Hinüber (1990: 34) arrives, on  the basis of a comparison of Pāṇini's text with [[Numismatics|numismatic findings]], at a date that can hardly be much earlier than 350 BCE; Harry Falk (1993: 304; 1994: 327 n. 45) refines these reflections and moves the date forward to the decennia following 350 BCE. If  Hinüber and Falk are right, and there seems no reason to doubt this, we have here for Pāṇini a ''terminus post quem''.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2019}}
* Michael Witzel (2009): "c. 350 BCE"{{sfn|Witzel|2009}}
* George Cardona (1997): "The evidence for dating Panini, [[Kātyāyana]] and Patanjali is not absolutely probative and depends on interpretation. However, I think there is one certainty, namely that the evidence available hardly allows one to date Panini later than the early to mid fourth century B. C."{{sfn|Cardona|1997|p=268}}
* Frits Staal (1965): "fourth century B.C."{{sfn|Staal|1965|p=99}}
* Houben (2009), p.6{{sfn|Houben|2009|p=6}}
* Vergiani 2017, p. 243, n.4{{sfn|Vergiani|2017|p=243, n.4}}

'''6th or 5th century BCE date''':
* Frits Staal (1996): "the Sanskrit grammar of Panini (6th or 5th century b.c.e.)"{{sfn|Staal|1996|p=39}}
* Hartmut Scharfe (1977): "Panini's date can be fixed only approximately; he must be older than [[Kātyāyana]] (c. 250 B.C.) who in his comments on Panini's work refers to other earlier scholars dealing with Panini's grammar; his proximity to the Vedic language as found in the [[Upanishads]] and Vedic sutras suggests the 5th or maybe 6th c. B.C."{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}} Scharfe refers to: [[Paul Thieme]], ''Panini and the Veda'' (Allahabad, 1935), p. 75-81, {{OCLC|15644563}}."{{sfn|Scharfe|1977|p=88}}
* Encyclopedia Britannica: "Ashtadhyayi, Sanskrit Aṣṭādhyāyī ("Eight Chapters"), Sanskrit treatise on grammar written in the 6th to 5th century BCE by the Indian grammarian Panini."

'''7th to 5th century BCE date'''
* Rens Bod (2013): "All we know is that he was born in Gandhara, in former India (currently Afghanistan), and that it must have been between the seventh and fifth centuries BCE."{{sfn|Bod|2013|p=14}} Bod refers to "S. Shukla, 'Panini', ''[[Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics]]'', 2nd edition, Elsevier, 2006. See also [[Paul Kiparsky]], [https://web.stanford.edu/~kiparsky/Papers/encycl.pdf 'Paninian Linguistics'], ''[[Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics]]'', 1st edition, Elsevier, 1993."{{sfn|Bod|2013|p=14, note 2}}}}
<!-- "script" -->
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|22em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite journal |last1=Bhate |first1=Saroja |last2=Kak |first2=Subhash |author-link2=Subhash Kak |year=1993 |title=Panini's Grammar and Computer Science |url=https://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/bhate.pdf |journal=[[Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute]] |volume=72}}
*{{Citation |last=Bod |first=Rens |year=2013 |title=A New History of the Humanities: The Search for Principles and Patterns from Antiquity to the Present |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-966521-1 |author-link=Rens Bod}}
*{{Citation |last=Bronkhorst |first=Johannes |year=2016 |title=How the Brahmins Won: From Alexander to the Guptas |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=muAzDwAAQBAJ&q=P%C4%81%E1%B9%87ini |isbn=978-90-04-31551-8 |author-link=Johannes Bronkhorst}}
*{{Citation |last=Bronkhorst |first=Johannes |year=2019 |title=A Śabda Reader: Language in Classical Indian Thought |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWNbDwAAQBAJ&q=P%C4%81%E1%B9%87ini |isbn=978-0-231-54831-1 |author-link=Johannes Bronkhorst}}
*{{citation |last=Cardona |first=George |year=1997 |orig-date=1976 |author-link=George Cardona |title=Pāṇini: A Survey of Research |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1494-3}}
*{{cite book |author=Harold G. Coward |title=The Philosophy of the Grammarians, in Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 5 |author-link=Harold Coward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CEj6wRqeRAC |year=1990 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-81-208-0426-5 |editor-last=Potter |editor-first=Karl |editor-link=Karl Harrington Potter}}
*{{Cite book |last=Houben |first=Jan E. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MxuCQAAQBAJ |title=Sanskrit Computational Linguistics |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-3-540-93884-2 |pages=6–25 |chapter=Panini's Grammar and Its Computerization: A Construction Grammar Approach}}
*{{Cite encyclopedia |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|SAGE Publications]] |isbn=978-1-4129-9963-2 |volume=1 |pages=184–187 |editor=Jon R. McGee |editor2=Richard L. Warms |last1=François |first1=Alexandre |author1-link=Alexandre François (linguist) |last2=Ponsonnet |first2=Maïa |title=Descriptive linguistics |encyclopedia=Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropology: An Encyclopedia |date=2013 |url=https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/Francois-Ponsonnet_Descriptive-Linguistics_Theory-Social-Cultural-Anthropology_184-187.pdf |ref=FPencyclo}}
*{{cite journal |last=Kadvany |first=John |title=Positional Value and Linguistic Recursion |journal=[[Journal of Indian Philosophy]] |year=2007 |volume=35 |issue=5–6 |doi=10.1007/s10781-007-9025-5 |s2cid=52885600}}
*{{Citation |last=Lidova |first=Natalia |year=1994 |title=Drama and Ritual of Early Hinduism |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1234-5}}
*{{Citation |last=Lochtefeld |first=James G. |year=2002 |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M |publisher=[[Rosen Publishing|The Rosen Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch}}
*{{Citation |last=Misra |first=Kamal K. |year=2000 |title=Textbook of Anthropological Linguistics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LnydbB5d8Q8C |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=81-7022-819-0}}
*T. R. N. Rao. [http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_es/t_es_rao-t_syntax.htm ''Pāṇini-backus form of languages''.] 1998.
*{{Citation |last=Scharfe |first=Hartmut |year=1977 |title=Grammatical Literature |publisher=[[Otto Harrassowitz|Otto Harrassowitz Verlag]] |isbn=978-3-447-01706-0 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.202747/2015.202747.Grammatical-Literature_djvu.txt}}
*{{Citation |last=Staal |first=Frits |title=Euclid and Pāṇini |journal=[[Philosophy East and West]] |volume=15 |number=2 |date=April 1965 |author-link=Frits Staal |pages=99–116 |jstor=1397332 |doi=10.2307/1397332}}
*{{cite book |last1=Staal |first1=Frits |title=A Reader on the Sanskrit Grammarians |date=1972 |author-link=Frits Staal |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=0-262-19078-8}}
*{{Citation |last=Staal |first=Frits |author-link=Frits Staal |year=1996 |title=Ritual and Mantras: Rules Without Meaning |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1412-7}}
*[[Kapil Muni Tiwary|Tiwary, Kapil Muni]] 1968 Pāṇini's description of nominal compounds, University of Pennsylvania doctoral dissertation. Janaki Prakashan: Patna. {{OCLC|12868577}}
*{{Citation |last=Vergiani |first=Vincenzo |year=2017 |chapter=Bhartrhari on Language, Perception, and Consciousness |editor-last=Ganeri |editor-first=Jonardon |title=The Oxford Handbook of Indian Philosophy |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-931463-8 |editor-link=Jonardon Ganeri |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Npg4DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Bhartrhari+on+Language%2C+Perception%2C+and+Consciousnes%22&pg=PA231}}
*{{Citation |last=Witzel |first=Michael |year=2009 |title=Moving Targets? Texts, language, archaeology and history in the Late Vedic and early Buddhist periods |journal=[[Indo-Iranian Journal]] |volume=52 |issue=2–3 |pages=287–310 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:8457940 |doi=10.1163/001972409X12562030836859 |s2cid=154283219 |author-link=Michael Witzel|url-access=subscription }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Carter |first1=George F. |author-link=George F. Carter |display-authors=etal |title=On Mundkur on Diffusion |journal=[[Current Anthropology]] |year=1979 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=425–428 |doi=10.1086/202297 |s2cid=143783458}}
*{{cite book |last1=Cardona |first1=George |title=Pāṇini, His Work and Its Traditions: Background and introduction |date=1988 |author-link=George Cardona |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-0419-7}}
*{{cite journal |last=Ingerman |first=Peter Zilahy |date=March 1967 |title="Pāṇini-Backus Form" Suggested |journal=[[Communications of the ACM]] |volume=10 |issue=3 |page=137 |doi=10.1145/363162.363165 |s2cid=52817672 |doi-access=free}} Ingerman suggests that the then-called [[Backus–Naur form|Backus normal form]] be renamed to the Pāṇini–Backus form, to give due credit to Pāṇini as the earliest independent inventor.
*{{cite book |last=Kiss |first=Tibor |title=Syntax - Theory and Analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mgVfCAAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=[[De Gruyter|Walter de Gruyter]] |isbn=978-3-11-037740-8}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Panini}} 2000.
*{{cite book |last1=Prince |first1=Alan |author-link1=Alan Prince |last2=Smolensky |first2=Paul |author-link2=Paul Smolensky |title=Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGBrYc-eJpMC |date=15 April 2008 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0-470-75939-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=[[Srisa Chandra Vasu|Vasu]] |first=Srisa Chandra |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.552481 |title=The Ashtadhyayi. Translated into English by Srisa Chandra Vasu Book 4 |date=1896}}
* {{Cite book |last=Vasu |first=Srisa Chandra |url=https://archive.org/details/ashtadhyayitrans06paniuoft |title=The Ashtadhyayi. Translated into English by Srisa Chandra Vasu Book 6-8|date=1897}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|sa|अष्टाध्यायी|Aṣṭādhyāyī (Sanskrit Text)}}
*[https://web.stanford.edu/class/linguist289/encyclopaedia001.pdf Paninian Linguistics]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20171207101516/http://sanskrit.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/ PaSSim – Paninian Sanskrit Simulator] simulates the Paninian Process of word formation
*[http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2004/panini.html The system of Panini]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101208155616/http://www.taralabalu.org/panini/ Gaṇakāṣṭādhyāyī], a software on Sanskrit grammar, based on Panini's Sutras
* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ashtadhyayi Ashtadhyayi, Work by Panini]
*Forizs, L. [https://www.academia.edu/7590911/The_Relevance_of_Whitehead_for_Contemporary_Buddhist_Philosophy_P%C4%81%E1%B9%87ini_N%C4%81g%C4%81rjuna_and_Whitehead Panini, Nāgārjuna and Whitehead – The Relevance of Whitehead for Contemporary Buddhist Philosophy]
*[http://www.wilbourhall.org/index.html#panini The ''(Aṣṭādhyāyī)'' of Panini], with the ''Mahabhashya'' and ''Kashika'' ''Kāśikā'' commentaries, along with the ''Nyāsa'' and ''Padamanjara'' commentaries on the ''Kashika''. (PDF) Sanskrit.

{{Indian mathematics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panini}}
[[Category:6th-century BC mathematicians]]
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