ABSTRACT
If any one asks, “Where are we to learn how to separate a root and an affix so as to be able to say, ‘This part is the original root and this is an affix,’ “may we not reply that to those who have drunk the waters of Patañjali this question produces no confusion, since it is notorious that the rules of grammar have reference to this very point of the separation of the original roots and affixes ? Thus the very first sentence of the venerable Patañjali, the author of the “Great Commentary,” is “atha Śabdánuśásanam” “Now comes the exposition of words.” The particle atha (“now”) is used here as implying a new topic or a commencement; and by the phrase, “exposition of words,” is meant the system of grammar put forth by Páṇini. Now a doubt might here arise as to whether this phrase implies that the exposition of words is to be the main topic or not ; and it is to obviate any such doubt that he employed the particle atha, since this particle implies that what follows is to be treated as the main topic to the exclusion of everything else.
