Keywords
Aṣṭādhyāyī
Gaṇapāṭha
Gaṇasūtra
Vyākaraṇa
Lāghava
Generative Grammar
Baddha Gaṇa
How to Cite
Abstract
The Gaṇapāṭha serves as an essential lexical database for Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī, enabling a generative system of Sanskrit grammar through the principle of lāghava (economy). This paper investigates the structural and semantic significance of Gaṇasūtras—specific rules and conditions embedded directly within these lexical lists. It argues that Gaṇasūtras are sophisticated localized directives that refine general morphological operations. By distinguishing between closed groups (Baddha Gaṇas) and open groups (Ākṛtigaṇas), the Gaṇapāṭha balances theoretical brevity with descriptive linguistic realism. The analysis also provides a statistical overview of the corpus, exploring the distribution of internal rules and their enduring relevance in modern computational linguistics.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Nilesh Joshi (Author)