Text 32]
Pastimes of Childhood and Youth
217
vyākaraṇa paḍāha, nimāñi paṇḍita tomāra nāma bālya-śāstre loke tomāra kahe guṇa-grāma
SYNONYMS
vyākaraṇa —grammar;  paḍāha —You teach;  nimāñi paṇḍita —Nimāi Paṇḍita;  tomāra —Your;  nāma —name;  bālya-śāstre —in grammar which is considered a study for boys;  loke —the people in general;  tomāra —of You;  kahe —declare;  guṇa-grāma —very qualified.
TRANSLATION
“I understand that You are a teacher of grammar,” he said, “and that Your name is Nimāi Paṇḍita. People speak very highly of Your teaching of beginners’ grammar.
PURPORT
Formerly Sanskrit schools first taught grammar very thoroughly, and this system continues even now. A student was supposed to study grammar carefully for twelve years in the beginning of his life, because if one is expert in the grammar of the Sanskrit language, all the  śāstras  are open to him. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was famous for teaching grammar to students, and therefore Keśava Kāśmīrī first referred to His position as a teacher of grammar. He was very proud of his literary career; he was far above the first lessons of grammar, and so he thought the position of Nimāi Paṇḍita not at all comparable to his own.
TEXT 32
ব্যাকরণ-মধ্যে, জানি, পড়াহ কলাপ ।
শুনিলুঁ কীকিতে তোমার পিয়ের সংলাপ ॥ ৩২ ॥
vyākaraṇa-madhye, jāni, paḍāha kalāpa śuniluṅ phāṅkite tomāra śiṣyera saṁlāpa
SYNONYMS
vyākaraṇa-madhye —among grammars;  jāni —I understand;  paḍāha —You teach;  kalāpa —the  Kalāpa-vyākaraṇa ;  śuniluṅ —I have heard;  phāṅkite —in deceitful word jugglery;  tomāra —Your;  śiṣyera —of the disciples;  saṁlāpa —the specific knowledge.
TRANSLATION
“I understand that You teach Kalāpa-vyākaraṇa. I have heard that Your students are very expert in the word jugglery of this grammar.”
PURPORT
There are many schools of grammar in the Sanskrit language, the most famous of which are the systems of Pāṇini and the Kalāpa and Kaumudī grammars. There