Katantra Explained

The Katantra (Sanskrit: कातन्त्र; IAST: Kātantra) is a treatise on Sanskrit grammar (Vyakarana) attributed to Sharvavarman living at the time of the Satavahana dynasty.^[1]

It is a simplified and abridged version of Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī and divided into the chapters Sandhi, Nāmni Catuṣṭaya and Ākhyāta.

The terms Kālāpa, Kālāpaka and Kālāpa-vyākaraṇasūtra refer to either the Katantra or a different version of it.^[2]

Arthur Coke Burnell compared the arrangement of the Katantra to those of the Aindra school and the Tolkāppiyam.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Book: New Catalogus Catalogorum. III. 306.
2. Web site: Sanskrit Dictionary. 2022-01-16. sanskritdictionary.com.
3. Book: Burnell, Arthur Coke. On the Aindra school of Sanscrit Grammarians: their place in the Sanscrit and subordinate literatures. 9. "That the arrangement of the Kātantra, Kaccāyana's Pali Grammar, and the Tolkāppiyam is really the same will be seen by the following comparative table...".