Panini’s Ashtadhyayi (5th century BCE) systematized Sanskrit through generative rules exhibiting remarkable computational properties. His meta-linguistic notation, recursive definitions, and algorithmic precision anticipated modern formal languages by millennia. Computer scientists now recognize Paninian grammar’s relevance to natural language processing, offering insights into linguistic architecture and rule-based systems. This tradition demonstrates that computational thinking isn’t Western innovation but cross-civilizational achievement. Studying Panini reveals how ancient knowledge systems solved problems of formalization, generation, and transformation—insights directly applicable to contemporary AI and linguistic technologies.