Dear Teng Kee,

<< Dear Jim,

> The abhinava culanirutti (sadhammaguru)his just a 36 pages useless

book because the author already wrote nirutimanjusa -a tika to
culanirutti by yamaka.

>
> The mahaniruti is a book almost as big as saddaniti because

saddaniti is 360 leaves complete in one bundle but the thai
mahaniruti is 230 leaves still uncomplete.The burmese have fragments
of them which adding to at least as big as saddaniti.the editor of
kaccayana in SLTP 100 years

> ago mentioned the most important thing is to edit mahaniruti but

still undone after a century with burmese busying copying out 300
bundles of saddaniti all over the world.I have to have travel to burma
to find a complete copy of these two which is earlier than nyasa. >>

In your previous message, you wrote: "Warder hasn't read
mahanirutti(nirutipitaka in leaves only)by kaccayana himself". The CPD
lists the Niruttipi.taka (by Mahaakaccaayana) as the earliest Pali
grammar. It also lists the Mahaanirutti. Just to clarify, according to
your understanding, are these two books separate works or the same
work known by different names? Also, is the Kaccaayana of the
Niruttipi.taka the same one whose name is in the title of the
Kaccaayanavyaakara.na? I seem to come across an approx. 7th cent. AD
dating for the latter work and Geiger says that this work is posterior
to Buddhaghosa. The following is in the Saddaniti, pp. 87-8:

". . . ayamaayasmataa mahaakaccaanena pabhinnapa.tisambhidena katasmaa
niruttipi.takato uddharito purisa iccetassa pakatiruupassa
naamikapadamaalaanayo."

Is this not saying that the author of the Niruttipi.taka is none other
than the Buddha's great disciple, Mahaakaccaana? If this is true, then
we can date the first Pali grammar back to the time of the Buddha and
perhaps even before Panini (whose dating I'm still not clear about).
The Saddaniti mentions and quotes from the Niruttipi.taka a number of
times. If this work still exists in an Ms., as you say, I think it's a
top priority to print it as soon as possible. I would consider this
work the most important of all Pali grammars.

<< That all 100 books must be studied by you before you claim that
pali grammar books are not complete,that is still without burma
nisya.Nyasa is written in a boring eassy-like comment for each
sutta.The 400 years niruttisaramanjusa is a book almost 80% as big as
saddaniti.In is a tika for nyasatika,nyasapadipa ,thanbyin ,indeed is
a very comprensive book.balavataratika by sumangala a century old is
also an eassy-like book-he mentioned that kalatipati is wrong with
anagata included in saddaniti sutta.kaccayana only has atita. >>

You sure know a great deal about Pali grammars. I would certainly love
to study all 100 books if only I could get my hands on them. The
Saddaniti says that kaalaatipatti or the conditional tense can be
either future or past, depending on the context. Here's a quote to
back it up:

"kaalaatipattivibhatti pana katthaci atiitakaalikaa katthaci
anaagatakaalikaa, tasmaa tadantaani padaani atiitavacanaanipi
anaagatavacanaanipi honti." -- Saddaniti (Padamala), p. 49

Best wishes,

Jim