Varadarāja was a 17th century Sanskrit grammarian. He compiled an abridgement of the work of his master, the Siddhānta Kaumudī of Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita, in three versions, referred to as madhya "middle", laghu "short" and sāra "substance, quintessence" versions of the Siddhāntakaumudī, the latter reducing the number of rules to 723 (out of the full 3,959 of Pāṇini). These are comparatively accessible introductions to the very technical grammar of Pāṇini himself, and the 1849 edition by Ballantyne was important to the understanding of native Indian grammatical tradition in Western scholarship (Pāṇini's grammar was first edited by Otto von Böhtlingk

Otto von Bohtlingk

Otto von Böhtlingk was a German Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. His magnum opus was a Sanskrit dictionary.-Biography:He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia...

 in 1887).

Editions:

• Maṅgala Dharmakīrtti Śrī Anavamadarśī, Laghu Siddhānta Kaumudi (included in Pāṇini Grammar): Sanskrit by Pandit Varadaraja with Tatwadipika. A Sinhalese Commentary, Colombo: M.J. Rodrigo Vidane Mohandiram (1926)
• Jñānavimala Tiṣya, Pāṇini Sanskrit Grammar: Maddhya Siddhanta Kaumudi, Panadure: M.H. Salgado 1928.
• G. V. Devasthali, Sārasiddhāntakaumudī of Varadarāja, University of Poona (1968), review: Rosane Rocher, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1970)
• James R. Ballantyne
  James R. Ballantyne
  James Robert Ballantyne was a Scottish Orientalist, from 1845 superintendent of the Sanskrit College in Varanasi...
  
  , Laghukaumudi of Varadaraja (1849–52); 2001 reprint: ISBN 8120809165