Studies in the Kasikavrtti. The Section on Pratyaharas

The volume is the first outcome of an international project aiming to create a complete critical edition of the Kasikavrtti (7th c. CE) of Jayaditya and Vamana, the oldest surviving complete commentary on the Astadhyayi of Panini (ca. 4th c. BCE). The first phase, culminating in this critical edition of the Kasikas initial section (devoted to the Pratyaharasutras, the rules for abbreviations) was jointly coordinated by the editors together with Professor Saroja Bhate, a Paninian scholar of global renown. This edition is accompanied by a description of the manuscripts collated, an annotated English translation by the editors, and a series of editorial contributions dealing with the history of the Kasikavrttis editions and its current textual sources. Summaries of the methodology and results of the projects first phase are also included. In the second part of the study, various authors discuss an array of theoretical, historical and methodological topics ranging from the historical importance of the Kasika and its relation with the seminal Mahabhasya of Patanjali, to a comparison with the corresponding section in the Candravrtti, the evidence of Bhartrharis influence on the Kasika, and the copyists invocations and the incipit attested in the Kasikavrtti manuscripts.