ABSTRACT
These two views regarding the relationship between the Vedic texts and the corresponding 'word-by-word' versions persist in the later literature and cause untold problems in our comprehension of specific texts. For example, the well known phrase padaprak7:til; sa1hhita which is used by both Yaska (Nirukta, 1.17) and by the ~gveda Pratisakhya (2.1) is interpreted in the later traditions in at least two opposite ways:
The SaIilhita is the basis (prakr:ti) of the Padapa!ha. The SaIilhita has the Padapa!ha as its basis (Prakr:ti).
