Shiva Sutra
The Śivasūtras (Devanagari: शिवसूत्र), also known as akṣara samāmnāya (Devanagari: अक्षर समाम्न्या) , and referred to by terms such as māheśvarāṇi sūtrāṇi, pratyāhāra·sūtrāṇi, and varṇa·samāmnāya, consist of a set of fourteen aphorisms that organise the sounds of Sanskrit for grammatical analysis, as articulated by the grammarian Pāṇini (Devanagari: पाणिनि) in his seminal work, the Aṣṭādhyāyī (Hindi: अष्टाध्यायी).[1][2]
Pāṇini himself employs the term 'akṣara·samāmnāya, while the colloquial designation "Shiva sutra" is believed to have emerged later. According to claims made by Nandikeśvara in his Kāśikā, it is said that the deity Śiva struck his drum fourteen times to unveil these sounds to Pāṇini. The origins of the Śiva·sūtras are debated, with some suggesting they were either[lower-alpha 1] composed by Pāṇini to complement his Aṣṭādhyāyī or that they predate him.[1][2][3]
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