Re: kaccaayanappakara.na

Hi Robert,

It's possible that Kaccayana's grammar could be earlier than the
earliest extant Sanskrit grammar by Panini. Scholars differ on the
dating of Panini, somewhere in the range of the 8th to the 4th century
BCE. M. Winternitz in his History of Indian Literature, Vol. III, pt
II, favours the 5th century BCE. It is interesting that the next
important Sanskrit grammarian after Panini is Kaatyaayana (a Skt.
spelling of Kaccaayana). Winternitz who dates Kaccayana after the 5th
century CE says that he (Kaccayana) ". . .does not derive Pali from
Sanskrit, but treats it as an independent language, . . ." -- p. 451.
I know where you're coming from on Pali being the oldest language (the
muulabhaasa or root language).

Jim

> > ___________
> I think this is possible Jim.
> Sanskrit Scholars believe sankrit older than Pali
> -This is not so but the belief distorts aspects of
> such studies.
> Robert