Sūrassatīnīti

Sūrassatīnīti, “the maxims of Sūrassatī” — the name is Sarasvatī, goddess of speech and learning, in her Pali form: the usual patron for a book of instruction. It opens with verses of homage before the maxims begin. It closes on the shortness of the opportunity: Adhanassa khaṇo appo, saddhammo appakālino — for a poor man the moment is short and the good Dhamma lasts a little while, so let him use the little he has to gain the moment often.

Of the volumes in this collection that name nobody, this is the plainest in language: its rate of Sanskrit kāvya vocabulary is the lowest measured anywhere in the set, well below the Lokanīti.

The text names no author and no initiator, and that is a fact about the text, not a gap in the searching. A scan of its opening and closing found no ganthārambhakathā, no colophon and no place name anywhere in it, and no source on file names the work. No date can be given.