Explainers

Learn the machinery

Short, interactive lessons, each built around one idea and a few sūtras. They work silently, or you can switch on narration and let the śiṣya ask the questions you'd ask.

1. 01 माहेश्वरसूत्राणि Śiva sūtras & pratyāhāras 14 lines of sounds and a trick that turns any stretch of them into a two-letter name.
2. 02 सूत्रस्य अङ्गानि Anatomy of a sūtra Case endings as operators: how इको यणचि packs a whole rewrite rule into three words.
3. 03 अनुवृत्तिः अधिकारश्च Anuvṛtti & adhikāra Words that flow down into later rules, and headings that scope whole chapters.
4. 04 इत्संज्ञा It-markers Tags attached to affixes and roots that switch rules on, then vanish.
5. 05 स्थानेऽन्तरतमः The nearest substitute Which y, v, r or l replaces which vowel? Nearest match on a map of the mouth.
6. 06 सूत्रप्रकाराः Six kinds of sūtra Definitions, meta-rules, operations, restrictions, extensions and headings.
7. 07 विप्रतिषेधः When rules collide Later beats earlier, the specific beats the general, and other tie-breakers.
8. 08 पूर्वत्रासिद्धम् The invisible last three pādas Why the final 3 pādas behave like a later compiler pass.
9. 09 प्रक्रिया Building a word: भू → भवति Watch a root, a tense and a person become a finished verb, rule by rule.
10. 10 धातवः Where words come from Roots, word lists and uṇādi: the lexicon the rules plug into, and how nouns are made from verbs.