Semester 1

Objective – To provide an introduction and background of the Vyākaraṇa and allied Vedāṅgas, pre-Pāṇinian and Pāṇinian tradition of Vyākaraṇa

Expected Outcomes:

·       Ability to understand the architecture of Aṣṭādhyāyī as a treatise of language structure

·       Ability to independently study Aṣṭādhyāyī with allied texts

·       Comprehend the computational model of Sanskrit grammar as propounded in Aṣṭādhyāyī

Prerequisite - None

1.1.          Introduction to Vyākaraṇa: [3 hours]

·       Vedic limbs pertaining to language (Sanskrit) – Śikṣā, Nirukta and Vyākaraṇa

·       Sanskrit – Vedic and Laukika

1.2.          Pāṇini, his predecessors and successors [3 hours]

·       Tradition of Vyākaraṇa known preceding Pāṇini

·       Contribution of Pāṇini as the holistic grammarian and language scientist

·       Pāṇini and his successors – the unbroken lineage of Vyākaraṇa

1.3.          Structure of Aṣṭādhyāyī [9 hours]

·       The Māheśvara sūtras

·       Types of sūtras

·       General introduction to contents of the chapters of Aṣṭādhyāyī

·       Computation model of Aṣṭādhyāyī

·       Data vs meta data

·       Usage of artificial categories for a real purpose

·       Universal grammar

·       Introduction to Mahābhāṣya and Kāśikā

1.4.          Siddhānta-kaumudī model [3 hours]

·       Rationale of application of sūtras in the Siddhānta-kaumudī model over the Aṣṭādhyāyī model [2 hours]

·       Overview of chapterization in Siddhānta-kaumudī [1 hour]

1.5.          Aṣṭādhyāyī – sañjñā and paribhāṣā sūtra text (along with Kāśikā) [12 hours]

Objective:

• To provide an introduction and background of literature and poetics in Sanskrit

Expected Outcomes:

• Understand the landscape of classical literature and poetics in Sanskrit
• Understand the elements of aesthetics and its experience according to the Indic theories in poetics
• Independently identify the type and nature of a kāvya and appreciate the elements of aesthetics and poetics imbued in it

Prerequisite:

• None