The Sutra texts dealing with the Siksa or Phonetics are at least as old of the exegetic Vedangas. The Sutras of the Vedanga Siksa are very closely related to the Vedic Samhitas. Source materials of Phonetics are to be found in the Pratisakhyas, Nirukta, various Phonetic texts like Apisali etc., the Grammar of Panini and so on. The chapters of the book have been critically and scientifically classified in order to serve as models for future researchers in this field. The work is a painstaking one to satisfy the intellectual cravings of the learned scholars in the fields of both the Vedic and Sanskrit Grammar and Phonetics.
Prof. Pradyot Kumar Datta of the Department of Sanskrit has attempted a study of these ideas in the context of Vedic phonetics.
It is hoped that the outlook of the author and his scholarly attitude, will be a valuable addition to the publication undertaken by the DSA Department of Sanskrit, Jadavpur University.
Manabendu BanerjeeCo-Ordinator; DSA (Skt.) JU.
Proem:
Ancient science and mythology are often inextricably intertwined. But perhaps never in the history of human intellectual tradition did this synergy between science and mythology create texts that inspire more awe and wonder than the Pratisakhya and Siksa texts of India.
The nine and five Pratyahara Sutras believed to have emerged from the sound of Lord Siva's percussion instrument not only contain all the phonemes of the Sanskrit language but also arrange them in natural classes that are time and again referred to in ancient Indian phonetic and grammatical texts. Such sophistication in phonological description did not exist in any other tradition in any other part of the world, not only at the dawn of civilization in the hoary past, but at any time prior to our century. In fact the study of natural classes in phonology did not even begin to be pursued seriously until very recent times. Bloomfield's accolade to Panini's Astadhyayi is equally applicable to many of the ancient Indian Pratisakhya and Siksa texts. They constitute some of the "greatest monuments of the human intellect."
It is a matter of great regret that these intellectual treasures are in utter neglect in our times. It is extremely difficult, often impossible, to locate many of the Pratisakhya and Siksa texts, or even put together a reasonable bibliography of source materials from the great Indian phonetic tradition. The present volume by Professor Pradyot Kumar Datta is a major contribution in this direction and very welcome in the current scenario. After the initial path-breaking contributions by Professors W. S. Allen and Siddheswar Verma, there have been very few contributions in that tradition. Professor Datta's volume endeavours to fill this lacuna. Readers will appreciate his impeccable scholarship, rigorous methodology and lucid style. Researchers on the ancient Indian phonetic tradition will be hard put to find a better road-map and source of bibliographic information on their field of inquiry.
It gives me much pleasure and a true sense of gratification to introduce and recommend this book not only to highly specialized researchers of the Indian grammatical tradition but also to all those who are in search of the roots of our great intellectual legacy.
KolkataApril 1, 1994
Gautam Senguptaprofessor of Applied LinguisticsJadavpur University
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