Editing Patanjali (section)

==={{IAST|Mahābhāṣya}}===

The {{IAST|[[Mahābhāṣya]]}} ("great commentary") of Patañjali on the {{IAST|[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]}} of {{IAST|[[Pāṇini]]}} is a major early exposition on Pāṇini, along with the somewhat earlier ''Varttika'' by [[Katyayana]]. Patanjali relates to how words and meanings are associated – Patanjali claims ''shabdapramâNaH'' – that the evidentiary value of words is inherent in them, and not derived externally<ref name=watw/> – the word-meaning association is natural. These issues in the word-meaning relation ([[symbol]]) would be elaborated in the [[Sanskrit grammarian|Sanskrit]] linguistic tradition, in debates between the [[Mimamsa]], [[Nyaya]] and [[Buddhist]] schools over the next fifteen centuries.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

==== Sphota ====
Patanjali also defines an early notion of [[sphota]], which would be elaborated considerably by later Sanskrit linguists like [[Bhartrihari]].  In Patanjali, a ''sphoTa'' (from ''sphuT'', spurt/burst) is the invariant quality of speech.  The noisy element (''dhvani'', audible part) can be long or short, but the sphoTa remains unaffected by individual speaker differences. Thus, a single letter or 'sound' (''varNa'') such as ''k'', ''p'' or ''a'' is an abstraction, distinct from variants produced in actual enunciation.<ref name=watw>{{cite book | title =        Bimal Krishna Matilal | author =        The word and the world: India's contribution to the study of language | publisher =        Oxford | year =        1990 | isbn =        978-0-19-562515-8 | url-access =        registration | url =        https://archive.org/details/wordworldindiasc0000mati }}</ref> This concept has been linked to the modern notion of [[phoneme]], the minimum distinction that defines semantically distinct sounds.  Thus a phoneme is an abstraction for a range of sounds.  However, in later writings, especially in Bhartrihari (6th century CE), the notion of ''sphoTa'' changes to become more of a mental state, preceding the actual utterance, akin to the [[Lemma (psycholinguistics)|lemma]].

Patañjali's writings also elaborate some principles of [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] (''prakriyā'').  In the context of elaborating on Pāṇini's aphorisms, he also discusses [[Kātyāyana]]'s commentary, which are also aphoristic and ''sūtra''-like; in the later tradition, these were transmitted as embedded in Patañjali's discussion.  In general, he defends many positions of Pāṇini which were interpreted somewhat differently in Katyayana.

====Metaphysics as grammatical motivation====
Unlike Pāṇini's objectives in the Ashtyadhyayi, which is to distinguish correct forms and meanings from incorrect ones (''shabdaunushasana''), Patanjali's objectives are more metaphysical.  These include the correct recitations of the scriptures (''Agama''), maintaining the purity of texts (''raksha''), clarifying ambiguity (''asamdeha''), and also the pedagogic goal of providing an easier learning mechanism (''laghu'').<ref name=watw/> This stronger metaphysical bent has also been indicated by some as one of the unifying themes between the Yoga Sutras and the Mahābhāṣya, although a close examination
of actual Sanskrit usage by Woods showed no similarities in language or terminology.

The text of the ''{{IAST|Mahābhāṣya}}'' was first critically edited by the 19th-century orientalist Franz Kielhorn, who also developed [[philological]] criteria for distinguishing Kātyāyana's "voice" from Patañjali's.  Subsequently, a number of other editions have come out, the 1968 text and translation by S.D. Joshi and J.H.F. Roodbergen often being considered definitive. Regrettably, the latter work is incomplete.

Patanjali is often stated as having claimed there was a hostility between the orthodox Brahminic (''Astika'') groups and the heterodox, ''nAstika'' groups (Buddhism, [[Jainism]], and atheists), like that between a [[mongoose]] and a snake.<ref>[[Romila Thapar]] (1992): ''Interpreting Early India'', Oxford University Press, p. 63</ref> [[Nathan McGovern]] argues Patanjali never used this mongoose-snake analogy.<ref>[[Nathan McGovern]] (2019): ''The Snake and the Mongoose. The Emergence of Identity in Early Indian Religion'', Oxford University Press, p. 3</ref>

Patanjali also sheds light on contemporary events, commenting on the recent Greek incursion, and also on several tribes that lived in the Northwest regions of the subcontinent.