In the palace, he was taught the Siamese alphabet by a woman, Nok Panakngan. The nobleman Phraya Pariyatidharrmadhātā or "Piam" (then called Luang Rājābhirama), deputy head of the Royal Pundits Department, came to the Palace to teach the young Vajirañana and other princes the Khmer script used to inscribe religious texts in Pāli. With a teacher who was official at the Outer Court, Vajirañana studied "Padamālā" (Pāli grammar), the Dhammapada commentary, and other texts until 1868. When his elder brother, Prince Brahmavarānurakṣa, ordained as a novice, Vajirañana was allowed to live with him in Wat Pavaraniveśa for some while. There he occasionally studied Pāli scripture with Phra Pariyatidharrmadhātā ("Chang", then Luang Śrīvaravohāra), one of the four section chiefs in the Royal Pundits Department, who taught monks and novices at the monastery.