Question

Which of the following statements or statements is/are correct about Panini's great grammar book Ashtadhyayi?
A. It was probably composed towards the 4th century BC.
B. It was mentioned that with Panini the language attained its highest state of development. Hence, there was an improvement only in its improvement.
C. Both A & B
D. None of the above

Answer 1

Hint:
Paṇini was the ancient Sanskrit philologist as well as a grammarian. He was a revered scholar in the ancient Indian time. He was also considered the father of linguistics. Ashtadhyayi is his foundational text of the grammatical branch of the Vedanga.

Complete step by step solution:
Ashtadhyayi was written by Panini who was considered as the great scholar and grammarian. This book is a great epic for the Indian linguistics. He composed this great work from 6th to 4th century BC. It is stated for Panini that the history of linguists started from him and not with Plato or Aristotle. The language also attained its highest state of development and hence thereafter there was an improvement only in its improvement. This was the known fact of it.

Additional Information:
Paṇini is known for his text Ashtadhyayi. This book was written in a sutra-style treatise on Sanskrit grammar. It contains the rules on linguistics, syntax and semantics distributed in eight chapters. These chapters are the foundational text of the vyakaran of the Vedanga. Also, his aphoristic text attracted numerous bhashya means commentaries.

Hence, the correct answer is option C.

Note:
Paṇini's analysis of the noun compounds are still applicable and forming the basis of modern linguistic theories of compounding in our Indian languages. His comprehensive and scientific theory of grammar has given the standards to Classical Sanskrit. Not only this, his theory of morphological analysis was more advanced than any equivalent Western theory during the 20th century.