Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī's
श्री हरिनामामृत व्याकरणम्
Śrī Harināmāmṛta Vyākaraṇam
(The Grammar of the Holy Names of Lord Hari)
The Maṅgalācaraṇa — Two Verses on Sarasvatī
हानीयं पाणिनीयं रसवदरसवत्काकलापः कलापः
सारप्रत्यागि सारस्वतमपहतगीर्विस्तरो विस्तरोऽपि ।
चान्द्रं दुःखेन सान्द्रं सकलमविकलं शास्त्रमन्यच्च धन्यं
गोविन्दं विन्दमानां भगवति भवतीं वाणि नो चेद् ब्रवाणि ॥
hānīyaṁ pāṇinīyaṁ rasavad arasavat kāka-lāpaḥ kalāpaḥ
sāra-pratyāgi sārasvatam apahata-gīr vistaro vistaro 'pi
cāndraṁ duḥkhena sāndraṁ sakalam avikalaṁ śāstram anyan na dhanyaṁ
govindaṁ vindamānāṁ bhagavati bhavatīṁ vāṇi no ced bravāṇi
O Sarasvatī, divine goddess of speech, if I don't use you to obtain Govinda, then Aṣṭādhyāyī is rubbish, Rasavat is tasteless, Kalāpa is like the cawing of crows, Sārasvata (although spoken by you) is useless, Vistara is verbiage, Cāndra is full of misery, and all other grammars are inauspicious.
पाणीयं पाणिनीयं रसमृदु रसवन्मुत्कलापः कलापः
सारश्रीसारि सारस्वतमधिमधुगीर्विस्तरो विस्तरोऽपि ।
चान्द्रं सौख्येन सान्द्रं सकलमविकलं शास्त्रमन्यत्प्रशस्तं
गोविन्दं विन्दतीं त्वां यदि भगवति गीर्वाणि वाणि ब्रवाणि ॥
pāṇīyaṁ pāṇinīyaṁ rasa-mṛdu rasavan mut-kalāpaḥ kalāpaḥ
sāra-śrīsāri sārasvatam adhi-madhu-gīr-vistaro vistaro 'pi
cāndraṁ saukhyena sāndraṁ sakalam avikalaṁ śāstram anyat praśastaṁ
govindaṁ vindatīṁ tvāṁ yadi bhagavati gīr-vāṇi vāṇi bravāṇi
However, O goddess, if I use you to obtain Govinda, then Aṣṭādhyāyī is worth drinking, Rasavat is tasteful, Kalāpa is a bundle of joy, Sārasvata leads to steady opulence, Vistara is an elaboration on sweet speech, Cāndra is full of happiness, and all other grammars are auspicious.
— Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Afterword to Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa
The finest treatise of Sanskrit grammar ever composed
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī studied virtually every major Sanskrit grammar in existence — Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī with the Vārttikas, Mahā-bhāṣya, and Kāśikā; Śarvavarmā's Kātantra; Vopadeva's Mugdha-bodha; Kramadīśvara's Saṅkṣipta-sāra; Candra Gomī's Cāndra-vyākaraṇa; Padmanābha Datta's Supadma; Anubhūti Svarūpāchārya's Sārasvata; and Rāmacandra Āchārya's Prakriyā-kaumudī. Having weighed them all, he found each one either incomplete, riddled with errors, or so terse it was unusable without a chain of commentaries. Even Pāṇini's own Aṣṭādhyāyī demands the Vārttikas, the Mahā-bhāṣya, and the Kāśikā together just to be understood — and the Mahā-bhāṣya covers barely a third of Pāṇini's sūtras.
Unparalleled clarity
Every sūtra is composed so its meaning is immediate and unambiguous — no chain of commentaries required.
The ocean, churned
Jīva Gosvāmī churned the entire ocean of Sanskrit grammar and distilled only its essence into this one work.
Grammar as nectar
Every example is drawn from the names and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, turning dry rules of language into rasa.
Amṛta's Prayer to Jīva Gosvāmī
Desiring the welfare of the short-lived people of Kali-yuga, the compassionate Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī churned the great ocean of Sanskrit grammar and bestowed upon them this Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa. He converted dry grammar into nectar by adding the rasa of the holy names, and distributed it to everyone. May his feet be my shelter.
Know more about Hari-nāmāmṛta Vyākaraṇa →Scripture Anvyayas
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam & Bhagavad-gītā, in prose order
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