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Panini is a great Rishi. Did you know he has a lot of works to his name prime ones being Ashtadyayi, Siksha Shastra of the Vedas and many more.

I would like to discuss about the origins of his Ashtadhyayi.

Ashtadhyayi is his treatise on Vyakarana or grammar of the Vedas.

His story has been mentioned in the Katha Sarit Sagara written by Somadeva Bhatta. Katha Sarit Sagara is the basis for stories from the Panchatantra, The Arabian Nights, Aesop's fables etc.

The story goes like this...

Panini was once in his Gurukul and was somehow not able to concentrate on his work. So his Guru asks his to go to Himalayas and get the blessings/ Anugraha from Siva.

So Panini obeys his Guru and goes to the Himalayas. There he witnesses the Tandava or the divine dance of Siva in the form of Nataraja. He witnesses this spectacle with all the Devatas and Rishis and Munis. At the end of the dance, the last beat comes out of his Damaru (drum) which is called a Chapu. This chapu contains in it 14 sounds. These 14 sounds are called Maheswara Sutrani or Sutras.

They are; 

1. अ इ उ ण् |

2. ऋ ऌ क् |

3. ए ओ ङ् |

4. ऐ औ च् |

5. ह य व र ट् |

6. ल ण् |

7. ञ म ङ ण न म् |

8. झ भ ञ् |

9. घ ढ ध ष् |

10. ज ब ग ड द श् |

11. ख फ छ ठ थ च ट त व् |

12. क प य् |

13.श ष स र् |

14. ह ल् |

These 14 sounds were used by Panini to create his masterpiece on Sanskrit Grammar called Ashtadhayi. He codified these 14 sounds into 8 chapters and vocalized the syllables and letters for the Vedic mantras.

These 14 sounds can be heard during the Upakarma ceremony which happens every year on Sravana Purnima or Rakhi Purnima when men wear new janeu and discard the old ones.

This is how the great treatise was created.

This Vyakarana is a part of the 6 Vedangas of the Vedas. The remaining 5 are; Siksha, Chandas, Nirukta, Jyotisha and Kalpa. These 6 are the limbs of the Vedas and it is very important to know about all these things.

To learn more about all these 6 briefly, do check out the video link where I explain them. The 6 Vedangas

Thank you!