Chandragomi

Chandragomi (c 7th century) famous grammarian. According to Tibetan sources, he was born in a ksatriya family in the northern varendra region. He subsequently got converted to buddhism.

Chandragomi was a disciple of Sthiramati, the abbot of Nalanda Mahavihar. At Nalanda Chandragomi studied Buddhism, sanskrit grammar, literature, logic. It is widely believed that Chandrakirti, the chancellor of Nalanda Mahavihar, received him cordially after his return from a tour to South India and Sri Lanka. Later on, Chandragomi became an abbot of Nalanda.

Chandragomi wrote about 36 books on the Buddhist vajrayana worship and several treatises on tara and Mavjuxri. However, it is not clear whether Chandragomi, the grammarian and Nyaya philosopher, and the tantric Chandragomi are the same person. Bhartrihari in V'a'kyapad'i'ya and Kalhan in R'a'jatara'b'gin'i mention Chandracharya, a grammarian. Some believe that Chandracharya and Chandragomi are two names of the same person. Vamanajayaditya, in his annotation Kashika, cites 35 rules from Chandragomi. Therefore, it is believed that Chandragomi was alive in the 7th century or earlier.

Chandragomi';s famous grammar, chandravyakaran (Grammar by Chandra), a simplification on Panini';s A's'tadhyay'i, was in wide circulation in Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Tibet and Nepal. It is believed that Chandragomi also wrote a book on logic titled Ny'a'yasiddhy'a'loka. [Kanailal Ray] [Ray, Kanailal Professor of Linguistics, Rajshahi University]