[2] Further study and comparison with a closely related text, the Petakopadesa eventually revealed that it was a guide to interpretation and the composition of definitive commentaries.
[2] Its translator, supported by Professor George Bond of Northwestern University, described it is a guide to help those who already understand the teaching present it to others.
[4] Consensus among contemporary scholars is that it was primarily intended as a guide to interpreting and providing explanation of canonical texts, similar to the Petakopadesa, whose content it resembles.
[2] Verses in the Nettipakarana composed in a poetic meter unknown in Sri Lanka suggest a northern Indian origin for the text that predates the Christian era.
[2] It is one of the few post-canonical texts composed in Pāli that predates the work of Buddhaghosa, who quotes from it and uses its methods and technical terms in his own commentaries.
[6] Other quotations are as yet unidentified, but suggest that the Nettipakarana is unusual for being a text drawn from beyond the Theravada tradition that influenced the composition of the definitive commentaries composed by Buddhaghosa.
[13] The Nettipakarana is divided into two divisions (vāra): The Uddesavāra enumerates three separate categories (Pali terms with Nanamoli's translations):[14] The Niddesavāra repeats the hāras and nayas of the previous section along with 12 padas ('terms'), of which six refer to linguistic forms and six to meaning and describes their relations.