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.”
antas-timira-nāśāya śābda-bodho nirarthakaḥ |
na naśyati tamo nāma kṛtayā dīpa-vārtayā ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 1661)
“Knowledge of words [i.e., grammar, śāstra] is useless for dispelling inner darkness, as darkness is not dispelled just by engaging in discussion of a lamp.”
kecid bhagnāḥ sudhy-upāsya-prayoge
kecid bhagnā rāma-śabda-prayoge |
kecid bhagnās tad-dhita-prakriyāyāṁ
sarve bhagnāḥ kāraka-prakriyāyām ||
(Unknown Source)
“Some are defeated in the section on eliding [i.e., sandhi, as in the case of the eliding of the words sudhī and upāsya to form the compound sudhyupāsya]. Some are defeated in the section on declension [i.e., wherein the word rāma is typically the first word practiced]. Some are defeated in the section on irregular affixes [i.e., the forming of nouns from other nouns, as in the case of forming the word taddhita from tat and hita]. All are defeated in the section on syntax [i.e., kārakas].”
yadyapi bahu nādhīṣe tathāpi paṭha putra vyākaraṇam |
svajanaḥ śvajano mā bhūt sakala śakala sakṛc chakṛt ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra: Vaiyākaraṇa-praśaṁsā, 2)
“Even if you do not study a lot, at least study vyākaraṇa [i.e., grammar], my son, lest svajana (a relative) be śvajana (a dog), sakala (a whole) be śakala (a part), and sakṛt (once) be śakṛt (excrement) [i.e., so that at least you do not pronounce svajana as śvajana, sakala as śakala, and sakṛt as śakṛt, or mistake one for the other].”
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.”
upāsanīyaṁ yatnena śāstraṁ vyākaraṇaṁ mahat |
pradīpa-bhūtaṁ sarvāsāṁ vidyānāṁ yad avasthitam ||
(Unknown Source)
“The great śāstra of vyākaraṇa, which remains fixed as the lamp of all [other] vidyās, is to be studied with exertion.”
kāṇādaṁ pāṇinīyaṁ ca sarva-śāstropakārakam |
(Unknown source)
“The work of Kaṇāda [i.e., Vaiśeṣika-darśana, or, loosely, logic] and the work of Pāṇini [i.e., vyākaraṇa, or, loosely, grammar] are helpful in all śāstras [i.e., all fields of knowledge].”
na cedānīm ācāryāḥ sūtrāṇi kṛtvā nivartayanti |
(Mahābhāṣya)
“And it is not that in this case the ācāryas make sūtras and then take them back.”
