Saddanīti (Padamālā)

The Padamālā, the first part of the Saddanīti — the “garland of words”.

The Saddanīti is “the greatest of extant Pali grammars”, written by Aggavaṃsa of Arimaddana in Burma in 1154 CE; a copy was carried to Ceylon soon afterwards. It follows Kaccāyana on the whole, but Aggavaṃsa used Pāṇini too, and it is said to rest on the writings of the ācariyas as well as on canonical material. The whole runs to 28 chapters in three parts — the Padamālā, the Dhātumālā and the Suttamālā — the first nineteen forming the Mahāsaddanīti and the last nine the Cullasaddanīti.

The authorship is confirmed from inside this collection, not only from the handbooks. The Pali catalogue printed here as its own volume states it: aggavaṃso nāmācariyo saddanītipakaraṇaṃ nāma akāsi — the teacher named Aggavaṃsa made the work called Saddanīti.