PREFACE

It was in the Pre-partition days (previous to 1947) when

I was yet in the service of the D . A . - V . College, Lahore that I
conceived a plan o f writing a comparatively small book on the
use and function of the Sanskrit Preposition. Little did I ima-
gine then that it would assume the dimensions that it has. I set
myself the task of studying the vast Sanskrit literature, both
Vedic and Classical, in my quest of the appropriate uses of the
Sanskrit Prepositions. I endeavoured to discover their true
meanings with the help of the commentaries, wherever available,
which I have quoted in this work in extenso. But I have not
allowed my regard for the old commentators to prevail over
my sense of judgment. I have on occasions discarded the mean-
ings offered by them in favour of my suggestions, for which I
have invariably given reasons. I have also gone into textual
I criticism, wherever it was called for.
Though an arduous task, I have never felt it as such. T h e
study of the Sanskrit prepositions has been a fascinating one
for me. Indeed the more I studied them, the more fascinated
I was. I have roamed all these years in the realm of the Vedic
literature, the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Sutras (Srauta,
G r h y a and D h a r m a ) . T h e language of these ancient works is
rich with prepositions. T h e seers have a predilection for the
use of the prepositions. T h e y would use a single root and pre-
fix to it a preposition to express an action or a modification of
it. For each additional modification, they would have an addi-
tional preposition; thus a root carries sometimes as many as
five prepositions. There is little like it in the later literature,
termed classical. Prepositions there arc, but they are few
nil far between. T h e wealth of meanings is missing here,
likijigness too is gone.
 T h e Epics, the R a m a y a n a and the Mahabharata match
with the Vedic Texts in the use of the Sanskrit Prepositions.
Here we find a copious use of the prepositions with an aboun-
ding variety of sense, almost as striking and charming as that
met with in the Vedic literature. I have pored over the pages
of the Epics for years and studied all available commentaries
and embodied in this work the varying comments offered
therein.

I n the introduction to this work, I have discussed thread-

bare the time-honoured several theories about the function of
the Sanskrit preposition. I have brought to bear on the subject
quite new material, fresh lively evidence, for a correct
appraisal. There is a fresh approach. All that goes to elucidate
these theories is summed up here within a short compass of 40
pages.
T o my predecessors iri the field, I owe a deep debt of
gratitude, especially, to the great Savants, Roth and Bohtlingk,
the renowned authors of the Worterbuch, the unsurpassed
Sanskrit-German Lexicon. I have freely drawn upon the
pertinent material contained therein.
Needless to say that I have gone far beyond the material
utilized by the authors of the Worterbuch. A host of works, both
Vedic and Classical, such as the Jaiminiya Brahmana, the Arth-
asastra of Kautalya, Bhasa Natakacakra, the Tattvasamgraha
of Santaraksita, the Kasyapa Samhita (Ayurveda)—to mention
a few—were not known when the Worterbuch was compiled.
Many of the Sutragranthas also, such as the Laugaksi, the
Agnivesa appeared later. I have tried to make the present work
as comprehensive as possible. T h e entire work when completed
is expected to cover nearly 1000 pages in print. It is proposed
to issue it in 5 fasciculi of nearly 200 pages each. T h e first
fasciculus is being issued.

I have retained the traditional order of prepositions,

pra, para, apa, etc. T h e roots are, however, listed in the alpha-
betical order.
I have based my observations on tha text preserved in
the Bombay Recensions of the Epics. T h e amplified Epics, with
al' their accretions go back to a very early age of the Sanskrit
Literature. Since I wanted to take notice of the usage that
prevailed up to their final redaction, the distinction between
the earlier and later layers being immaterial for me, I have
not used the critical editions with a mass of genuine Sanskrit
Speech scored out. Some of the quotations in the Ramayana
are drawn from the editions by Schlegel and Gorresio.
T h e references to chapter and verse would not therefore
accord with the Bombay recension. Some of the quotations
from the Mahabharata too as recorded in the Worterbuch
are not traceable to the Vulgate.
My thanks are due to Dr. J i y a Lai Kamboja, my old
pupil, now Lecturer in Sanskrit in the Hindu College, Delhi
University for his labour of love he did for me in checking
the references and going through the proof-sheets.
1 am currently running the 81st year of my life. My only
prayer is that God may grant me the requisite physical stren-
gth and mental alertness to carry on my literary activities with-
out a pause to the end of my earthly sojourn.

TT c^gps^fe ^rcft fas ^

*n (ito ^i^iy.) 1
Charudeva Shastri
Surabhi, 3/54,
R o o p Nagar, Delhi.
27th September, 1976.
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