1.2.59
अस्मदो द्वयोश्च
Operational rule vidhi
The plural of the pronoun अस्मद् 'I', is used optionally, though the sense requires a singular or a dual number.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Target अस्मदः ṣaṣṭhī · ekavacanaRight context द्वयोः saptamī · dvivacanaIndeclinable च avyaya
- Target Ṣaṣṭhī (6th case): names what gets replaced, "in place of X" (1.1.49 षष्ठी स्थानेयोगा).
- Right context Saptamī (7th case): "when X follows", the operation applies to what precedes (1.1.66 तस्मिन्निति निर्दिष्टे पूर्वस्य). Also a condition or domain ("in the sense of").
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
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Full reading
अस्मदः द्वयोः च
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The plural of the pronoun अस्मद् 'I', is used optionally, though the sense requires a singular or a dual number.
Thus "I speak" or "we speak" (अहं ब्रवीमि or वयं बुमः), may be spoken by one person; similarly two persons may either use the dual case or the plural case; thus आवां ब्रूवः 'we two speak' or वयं ब्रूमः 'we speak.'
Vart:- There is prohibition when the pronoun of the Ist person is qualified by an attribute :- as अहं देवदत्तो ब्रवीमि, 'I Devadatta am speaking.' अहं गार्ग्यो ब्रवीमि, 'I Gargya am saying.' Here we cannot use the plural.
Vart:- The word गुरु 'master' may have plural form though referring to one person, when following the word युष्मद्; as त्वं मे गुरुः or यूयं मे गुरवः, 'Thou art my master,' or 'you are my master.'
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.