vyākaraṇe maru-nīvṛti jīvana-lubdhāḥ sadāgha-saṁvignāḥ |
hari-nāmāmṛtam etat pibantu śatadhāvagāhantām ||
(Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 3)
“May those who are constantly afflicted by adversity and longing for water in the desert of grammar drink this nectar of Hari’s names and plunge [therein] a hundred times.”
āhata-jalpita-jaṭitaṁ dṛṣṭvā śabdānuśāsana-stomam |
hari-nāmāvali-valitaṁ vyākaraṇaṁ vaiṣṇavārtham ācinmaḥ ||
(Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 2)
“After reviewing a multitude of manuals on words [i.e., grammar textbooks] entangled with unfounded statements, we are compiling a grammar for the Vaiṣṇavas inset with a series of Hari’s names.”
kṛṣṇam upāsitum asya srajam iva nāmāvaliṁ tanavai |
tvaritaṁ vitared eṣā tat-sāhityādijāmodam ||
(Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 1)
“To worship Kṛṣṇa, let me compose a series of his names like a garland [for him]. This [series of names] will quickly bestow the delight produced by his association and so forth [alt., the delight produced by literature and so forth related to him].”
bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ
govindaṁ bhaja mūḍha-mate |
samprāpte sannihite kāle
na hi na hi rakṣati ḍukṛñ-karaṇe ||
(Moha-mudgara-stotram: 1)
“Serve Govinda, serve Govinda,
Serve Govinda, O fool!
When the time of death arrives,
Rules of grammar do not save you.”
prathame hi vidvāṁso vaiyākaraṇāḥ vyākaraṇa-mūlatvāt sarva-vidyānām |
(Dhvanyāloka of Ānanda-vardhana)
“From the very first, the learned are vaiyākaraṇas (grammarians), since vyākaraṇa (grammar) is the basis of all knowledges.”
tad dvāram apavargasya vāṅ-malānāṁ cikitsitam |
pavitraṁ sarva-vidyānām adhividyaṁ prakāśate ||
(Bhartṛhari’s Vākya-padīya: 1.14)
“This [i.e., vyākaraṇa] door to liberation, treatment for the impurities of speech, and purifier of all knowledges shines over [i.e., casts light on, all types of] knowledge.”
ekaḥ śabdaḥ samyag jñātaḥ śāstrānvitaḥ |
suprayuktaḥ svarge loke kāmadhug bhavati ||
(Mahābhāṣya: 6.1.84; cited in Sāhitya-darpaṇa 1.2)
“[Even] One word fully understood, in conformity to [grammatical] rule, and properly used, becomes a wish-fulfilling cow in Svarga and in this world.”
na cedānīm ācāryāḥ sūtrāṇi kṛtvā nivartayanti |
(Mahābhāṣya)
“And it is not that in this case the ācāryas make sūtras and then take them back.”
śiṣṭa-prayogo’py anupapannaḥ |
(Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita)
“Even the usage of the learned is [at times] unfounded [i.e., inconsistent or incompatible with grammatical or literary norms].”
vyākaraṇam adhīte veda vā vaiyākaraṇaḥ |
(Siddhānta-kaumudī)
“One who studies or knows vyākaraṇam [lsly., grammar] is [called] a vaiyākaraṇa [lsly., grammarian].”
