Grammar and Linguistics: Panini, Karaka, and Sphota
What the exam tests
Vyakarana items test Panini's system, its commentarial tradition, and core concepts of Sanskrit linguistic analysis.
Ashtadhyayi
Panini's grammar has eight chapters (adhyayas), each in four padas, totaling roughly 4,000 sutras. It is supplemented by the Dhatupatha (roots), Ganapatha (word lists), Unadisutras, and Linganusasana. It describes bhasha and chandas, marking Vedic rules as such.
Method
Sutras use anuvritti (carry-over), adhikara (governing domain), paribhasha (interpretive rule), samjna (technical designation), vidhi (operation), niyama (restriction), and atidesha (extension). Karaka theory analyzes case roles: karta, karma, karana, sampradana, apadana, adhikarana. Samasa types are avyayibhava, tatpurusha, bahuvrihi, dvandva, and dvigu. Krit and taddhita suffixes generate nouns and derivatives.
Tradition
Katyayana's varttikas critique Panini; Patanjali's Mahabhashya defends him. Bhartrihari's Vakyapadiya develops sphota and the sentence as the unit of meaning. Later commentators include Kaiyata and Nageshabhatta.
Worked example
In "devadattah odanam pacati", the rice is karma because it is what the action most aims to bring into being; the cook is karta. Case endings (vibhakti) follow karaka relations, not fixed translation equivalents.
Traps
Panini did not write the Mahabhashya; the Ashtadhyayi is not a description of every Sanskrit dialect; sphota is Bhartrihari's theory, not Panini's; and taddhita must not be confused with krit.