According to Dravidian scholar Sheldon Pollock, because of this work he is considered the "greatest theorist of Kannada grammar".
[4][5] The rules mentioned therein were penned in kanda metre and followed a vrutti style (illustrative commentary by the author himself).
[7] The text of Shabdamanidarpana begins with poetry ehalting earlier generations of writer who are cited by Kesiraja as authoritative examples: The expert way (sumārgam) of Gajaga, Gunanandi, Manasija, Asaga, Candrabhatta, Gunavarma, Srivijaya, Honna (Ponna), Hampa (Pampa), Sujanōttamsa – these provide the illustrative instances (lakshya) in this work.
In Shabdamanidarpana, about twenty poets and thirty different works are cited, and almost every rule is explained with quotations.
There is also a chapter called "PrayŌgasāra" where Kesiraja has quoted a number of rare words along with their meanings.