1.2.69
नपुंसकमनपुंसकेनैकवच्चास्यान्यतरस्याम्
Operational rule vidhi
A neuter noun, which has the same form, only differing in affix, is optionally retained and the other is dropped and it is like a singular number.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Substitute / term नपुंसकम् prathamā · ekavacanaWith / by अनपुंसकेन tṛtīyā · ekavacanaIndeclinable एकवत् avyayaIndeclinable च avyayaTarget अस्य ṣaṣṭhī · ekavacanaRight context अन्यतरस्याम् saptamī · ekavacana
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
- With / by Tṛtīyā (3rd case): accompaniment or means.
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
- 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").
Full reading
नपुंसकम् अनपुंसकेन एकवत् च अस्य अन्यतरस्याम्
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
अस्य → नपुंसकम् / अन्यतरस्याम्
Replace asya with napuṃsakam when anyatarasyām follows. Inherited words (anuvṛtti) may add further conditions.
Commentary
A neuter noun, which has the same form, only differing in affix, is optionally retained and the other is dropped and it is like a singular number.
A neuter prevails over a masculine or feminine noun when spoken of along with them, provided that the words differ in gender signs only; but radically they be the same. Thus आलस्यो मैथुनं निद्रा सेव्यमानं विवर्द्धते 'Idleness, lust, and sleep, indulged in, increase.' Here the adjective 'sevyyamanam' is in the neuter gender, though it qualifies the words 'alasya' which is in the masculine, 'maithunam' which is in the neuter, and 'nidra' which is in the feminine gender. The rule, therefore, may be stated in these words, that where one adjective qualifies several nouns, in different genders, but one of which must be neuter, the adjective agrees with the neuter.
The above illustration also shows that the neuter ekasesha may be in the singular number.
If the neuter is compounded with another neuter, this rule does not apply. Thus शुक्लं + शुक्लं + शुक्लं = शुक्लानि; the word is in the plural; there is no ekavadbhava.
The words तल्लक्षणश्चेदेव विशेषः of sutra 1.2.65 governs this sutra also: thus शुक्लश्च कम्बलः, शुक्ला च वृहतिका, शुक्लं च वस्त्रं. "The white (masc.) blanket, the white (fem) wrapper, and the white (neut.) garment," may all he spoken of collectively as शुक्लं (neut.).
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.