Trikāṇḍī ("Three books") is a Sanskrit treatise on the philosophy of language and grammar (vyakarana), written by the 5th-century Indian grammarian and philosopher Bhartṛhari.
[1] However, the early printed editions of the work, such as those from 1888 and 1905, incorrectly presented Vākyapadiya as the title of the entire collection containing the three books.
[1] Bhartrhari's Trikāṇḍī presents Vedas as the organizing principle of the world, serving not just as a guide (upadestr) for proper conduct and knowledge, but as the underlying essence (prakrti) of the universe, suggesting that the Veda is both the source of knowledge and the foundation of the world's existence.
[2] Since the earliest times, tradition attributes the authorship of the vṛttis to Bhartṛhari himself, although some manuscripts name Harivṛṣabha alias Vṛṣabha as their author.
[4] It briefly discusses the Vedic branches and the Vedas as a source of rites, smṛti, schools of philosophy, and traditional knowledge.
[5] The text then discusses various topics, including words, meanings, and the relationship between them; the scope of grammar; linguistic forms; sphota; cognizance of the sound, etc.
He mentions several earlier scholars, including Panini, Patanjali, Chandra, Baiji, Saubhava, and Haryaska.