वक्रतुण्डं नमस्कृत्य गुरूँश्चैव तदुत्तरम् ।

आचार्यां रोहिणीं चापि प्रारभे पाणिनीयकम् ।।

I salute lord Vakratunda, my Gurus, scholar Rohini ji and start the hour of Panini.

It is true that Paninian Grammar is bit difficult to learn or understand but you all need not worry as I will try my best to make it easier and well digested. Queries are most welcome. Usually when we study व्याकरण we perform मङ्गल(prayer) at the beginning. In the same manner here too we will be following that.

येनाक्षरसमाम्नायमधिगम्य महेश्वरात् ।

कृत्स्नं व्याकरणं प्रोक्तं तस्मै पाणिनये नमः ।।

Having learnt the Veda of alphabets from lord Maheshwara, Panini composed whole Vyakarana. One who did that, let us salute that Great Panini.

Paninian Grammar is the most efficient of all grammars. In this hour we will discuss about some of the most basic rules which are applied at the very beginning of etymological formation (शब्दसाधुत्वप्रक्रिया).

They are called इत्संज्ञासूत्राणि This is the technical term, which will become familiar as we progress. For now just know it as it is.

इत् is the technical term for एति which means गच्छति = go/goes i.e. which does not stay. इत् means an indicatory letter or syllable attached to root etc. It is proper name given to letter or syllable attached to root etc.

There are seven rules which deal with इत्संज्ञा. Again please don’t be concerned if they don’t make sense immediately. Panini’s language was a meta-language, not spoken Sanskrit. but once you know what it means – you can never make a grammatical mistake They are:

Now let us understand these rules respectively in detail:

उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत् – There are 4 words in this rule. They are: उपदेशे, अच्, अनुनासिकः, इत् । For those who wish to know about the structure of Ashtadhyayi, This is the second rule of the third sub-chapter of the first chapter of Ashtadhyayi

composed by Panini.

Now let us translate them word by word:

उपदेशे

उपदेशे is the सप्तमीविभक्ति locative of the word उपदेश. What does this word उपदेश means? उपदेश means आद्योच्चारणम् = Pretext, i.e. texts that went before (texts which are orally instructed by our ancestors). Again, do not be concerned by the complexity of the compound – it will be explained word by word. You just need to be patient and pay attention. Those pretexts are:

Now let us see the second word:

अच् –

Before knowing this we should know the rules by Lord Maheshwara which are known as माहेश्वरसूत्राणि. They are 14 in number. अ इ उण् । ऋऌक् । एओङ् । ऐऔच् । हयवरट् । लण् । ञमङणनम् । झभञ् । घढधष् । जबगडदश् । खफछठथचटतव् । कपय् । शषसर् । हल् ।

This is a प्रत्याहारः । प्रत्याहार is the comprehension of several letter or affixes into one syllable, effected by combining the first letter of सूत्र (rule) with its final indicatory letter or in the case of several सूत्राs, with the final letter of the last member; Thus अण् is the प्रत्याहार of the सूत्र – अइउण् । Similarly अच् is the प्रत्याहार for – अइउण् । ऋऌक् । एओङ् । ऐऔच् ।

The paninian rule for proper name प्रत्याहार is आदिरन्त्येन सहेता (१/१/७१). This rule has 4 words in it. They are: आदिः, अन्त्येन, सह, इता. Meaning of this rule is अन्त्येन इता सहिता आदिः मध्यगानां स्वस्य च संज्ञा स्यात्. It means – The first letter combined with the last letter is called प्रत्याहार which represents the letters between first letter and last letter as well as first letter.

Now let us move on to third word of the present rule i.e. अनुनासिकः. It is the proper name for the alphabets those are uttered with the help of nose. Thus the सूत्रम् – मुखनासिकावचनोऽनुनासिकः (१/१/८). This rule has two words: मुखनासिकावचनः and अनुनासिकः. The meaning of the rule is – मुखसहितनासिकया उच्चार्यमाणः वर्णः अनुनासिकसंज्ञः स्यात्. Means the letter which is uttered from nose is called अनुनासिक. Such as ञ म ङ ण न . Even अच् (vowels) are of two types: अनुनासिक and अननुनासिक (not अनुनासिक).

Thus उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत् rule says that if the अच् (vowel) in उपदेश is अनुनासिक then it is named as इत्. For example: there is a प्रत्यय (suffix) – सु. In this प्रत्यय “उ” is अनुनासिक so the rule उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत् will name it as इत्.

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