Shastra Shikshana Paddhati (शास्त्रशिक्षणपद्धतिः)
Sutras
A sutra (sūtra सूत्र) is a Sanskrit word that means "string, thread".[1] Each sutra is any short rule, like a theorem distilled into few words or syllables, around which "teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar or any field of knowledge" can be woven.[1][2]
Sanatana Dharma has six systems or six different schools of thought called the Shad Darsanas. Each school has developed, systematised and correlated the various parts of the Veda in its own way. Each system has its Sutrakara, i.e., the one great Rishi who systematised the doctrines of the school and put them in short aphorisms or Sutras. The Sutras are terse and laconic. The Rishis have condensed their thoughts in the aphorisms. It is very difficult to understand them without the help of commentaries by great sages or Rishis. Hence, there arose many commentators or Bhashyakaras. There are glosses, notes and, later, commentaries on the original commentaries.[3]
Apart from philosophy, various fields of arts, law and social ethics developed respective sutras, which helped teach and transmit ideas from one generation to the next. Each set of Sutras has got its Bhashya, Vritti, Vaartika, Vyakhyana or Tika and Tippani.[3]
A Sutra or an aphorism is a short formula with the least possible number of letters, without any ambiguity or doubtful assertion, containing the very essence, embracing all meanings, without any stop or obstruction and absolutely faultless in nature.[3]
The best example of the greatest, the tersest and the most perfect of Sutra literature is the series of aphorisms called the Ashtadhyayi composed by Panini. Panini is the father of all Sutrakaras from whom all others seem to have borrowed the method of composition. The Sutras are meant to explain a big volume of knowledge in short assertions suitable to be kept in memory at all times. The six Vedangas and the six systems of Hindu philosophy form the twelve sets of Sutra literature of the world.[3]
In addition to these, there are later compositions like the Narada-Bhakti Sutras, the Sandilya-Bhakti Sutras.[3]
Bhashya[3]
सूत्रार्थो वर्ण्यते यत्र, पदै: सुत्रानुसारिभिः।
स्वपदानि च वर्ण्यन्ते, भाष्यं भाष्यविदो विदु: ॥
A Bhashya (Sanskrit: भाष्य) is an elaborate exposition, a commentary on the Sutras, with word by word meaning of the aphoristic precepts, their running translation, together with the individual views of the commentator or the Bhashyakara.[4]
The best and the exemplary Bhashya in Sanskrit literature is the one written by Patanjali on the Vyakarana Sutras of Panini. This Bhashya is so important that it is called the MAHABHASHYA and its celebrated author is specially called the BHASHYAKARA. Patanjali is the father of Bhashyakaras. The next important Bhashya is the one on the Mimamsa Sutras written by Sabara-Swamin who learnt the art from Patanjali's commentary. The third important Bhashya was written by Sankara on the Brahma Sutras, in close following with Sabara-Bhashya. The Bhashyas on the six sets of aphorisms dealing with Indian philosophy were written by Vatsyayana, Prasastapada, Vijnanabhikshu, Vyasa, Sabara and Sankara. On the Vedanta or Brahma sutra there are about sixteen Bhashyas, like those of Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha, Nimbarka, etc.[4]
Vritti[3]
A Vritti is a short gloss explaining the aphorisms in a more elaborate way, but not as extensively as a Bhashya. An example is Bodhayana's Vritti on the Brahma Sutras.
Varttika[3]
A Varttika is a work where a critical study is made of that which is said and also of that which is left unsaid or imperfectly said in a Bhashya. It also includes ways of making it perfect by supplying the omissions therein. Examples are the Varttikas of Katyayana on Panini's Sutras, of Suresvara on Sankara's Upanishad-Bhashyas, and of Kumarila Bhatta on the Sabara-Bhashya on the Karma-Mimamsa.
Vyakhyana or Tika[3]
A Vyakhyana is a running explanation in an easier language of what is said in the original, with little elucidations here and there. A Vyakhyana, particularly of a Kavya, deals with eight different modes of dissection of the Sloka, like Pada-Chheda, Vigraha, Sandhi, Alankara, Anuvada, etc. This forms an important aspect in the study of Sanskrit Sahitya Sastra. An Anu-Vyakhyana—like the one written by Sri Madhva—is a repetition of what is already written, but in greater detail. An Anuvada is merely a running translation or statement of an abstruse text of the original. Tika is only another name for Vyakhyana. The best Vyakhyanas are of Vachaspati Misra on the Darsanas, especially on Sankara's Brahmasutra-Bhashya.
Tippani[5]
Tippani is just like a Vritti, but is less orthodox than the Vritti. It is an explanation of difficult words or phrases occurring in the original. Examples are Kaiyata's gloss on the Mahabhashya of Patanjali, Nagojibhatta's gloss on Kaiyata's gloss, or Appayya's gloss on Amalananda's gloss on the Bhamati of Vachaspati Misra.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Monier Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Entry for sutra, page 1241
- ↑ M Winternitz (2010 Reprint), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120802643, pages 249
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Swami Sivananda, All About Hinduism, Page 47-50
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Swami Sivananda, All about Hinduism
- ↑ Swami Sivananda, All About Hinduism, Page 51-53