1.1.34
पूर्वपरावरदक्षिणोत्तरापराधराणि व्यवस्थायामसंज्ञायाम्
Definition saṃjñā सर्वनामसंज्ञा
The words 'पूर्व', 'पर', 'अवर', 'दक्षिण', 'उत्तर', 'अपर' and 'अधर'; when used in the sense of 'limit' but not as a proper noun; are optionally called सर्वनाम when followed by the जस् प्रत्यय.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Term / subject पूर्व- पर- अवर- दक्षिण- उत्तर- अपर- अधराणि prathamā · bahuvacanaIn / when व्यवस्थायाम् saptamī · ekavacanaIn / when असंज्ञायाम् saptamī · ekavacana
- Term / subject Prathamā (1st case): the term being defined, or the subject of the statement.
- In / when Saptamī (7th case): "in X" or "when X", a domain or condition.
Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
पूर्व- पर- अवर- दक्षिण- उत्तर- अपर- अधराणि व्यवस्थायाम् असंज्ञायाम्
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The words पूर्व 'prior', पर 'after', अवर 'posterior', दक्षिण 'south', उत्तर 'north', अपर 'other', अधर 'inferior', when they discriminate relative position, not when they are appellatives, are optionally सर्वनाम before the affix जस्।
These seven words have already been mentioned in the list of sarvanamas. They are always sarvanamas, when they have the meaning given to them in the list, i. e., when they imply a relation in time and space, but when used in any other sense than the one which has been determined or fixed for them, they are not sarvanamas, nor are they so when they are used as appellatives (संज्ञा). Thus, when the word दक्षिण means 'clever,' it is not a sarvanama, as, दक्षिणा इमे गायकाः 'these clever minstrels,' similarly in उत्तराः कुरवः 'the northern Kurus,' the word उत्तर is not a pronominal, for though it declares a direction, it is a proper noun.
When these seven words are sarvanama, they are declined like sarva, except in the nominative plural, when they may be declined either as sarvanamas, or as ordinary nouns. The option allowed in the case of these words is a praptavibhasa.
That there is a 'specification' (niyama), or tacit implication, of a determinate point (avadhi), with reference to which something is to be described by the word itself, is what we mean when we say "that a relation in time or place (avastha) is implied." For example, if we wish to describe Benares as being southern (dakshina), to do this, we may specify some point, say one of the peaks of the Himalaya with reference to which Benares may be described as a "place to the southward." Again we in the north may thus speak of the people to the south of the Vindhya mountains, as being southern, not with reference to the inhabitants of Ceylon, but with reference (as every one here understands by tacit implication) to us ourselves, who live to the north the Vindhya range. Thus, (पूर्वे or पूर्वाः, अवरे or अवराः, परे or पराः) दक्षिणे or दक्षिणे or दक्षिणाः; उत्तराः; अपरे or अपराः; अधरे or अधराः.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.