The Mauryan Polity c5.s2.t2.14

c5.s2.t2.14

furnishes us with 14 alphabetical sūtras, Māheśvara sūtras or Pratyāhāra sūtras, consisting of 42 letters of which nine are vowels and thirty-three are consonants. Notwithstanding these, there is justification for concluding that Pāṇini is distinctly older than Kauṭalya even though the lowest limit of 350 B.C. is to be finally established.