1.1.71
आदिरन्त्येन सहेता
Definition saṃjñā प्रत्याहारसंज्ञा
A beginning letter, when combined with an ending इत् letter, stands for itself and for all the letters in between.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Term / subject आदिः prathamā · ekavacanaWith / by अन्त्येन tṛtīyā · ekavacanaIndeclinable सह avyayaWith / by tṛtīyā · ekavacana
- Term / subject Prathamā (1st case): the term being defined, or the subject of the statement.
- With / by Tṛtīyā (3rd case): accompaniment or means.
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
आदिः अन्त्येन सह
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
An initial letter, with a final इत् letter as a final, is the name of itself and of the intervening letters.
This sutra explains the mode of interpreting pratyaharas. Thus the pratyahara अक् means those letters whose beginning is अ and whose final इत् is क्.
Why do we say with 'the final indicatory letter?' Because a pratyahara like सुट् would be otherwise ambiguous. It might be doubted whether it is formed with the final ट् of औट् and refers to the first five case-affixes, or whether it is formed with the initial ट् of टा and therefore refers to the first seven case-affixes. The present sutra clears up the doubt. A pratyahara is formed with the final इत् and not with the initial इत्.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.