There is a fascinating story behind the writing of this great Sanskrit grammar...
Some 2200 years ago, the great King Sātavāhana ruled the Andhra Pradesh.
*modakaṃ dehī deva = mā udakaṃ dehī deva
(Lord, please do not splash me with water)
Once, while he was relaxing in his water pond with his many queens; one of them, tiring of this sport, asked him in Sanskrit to stop splashing her with water by saying, "modakaṃ dehī deva". The brave King, unfamiliar with Sanskrit sandhis, incorrectly assumed that she wanted "modakas", a special kind of sweet, and asked his servants to fetch the vaunted sweet. The queen laughed at him and playfully rebuked him for his lack of proficiency at Sanskrit.
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