प्रहासे च मन्योपपदे मन्यतेरुत्तम एकवच्च
When one person wants to make fun of what other person thinks, and he uses the verb 'मन्' to indicate the thinking process, the verb मन् is used in उत्तमपुरुष-एकवचन and the other verb is used in मध्यमपुरुष. For example, consider this statement - 'Do you think you can eat the rice' (एहि मन्ये ओदनम् भोक्ष्यसे)? Here the speaker is making fun of the thinking process of other person, saying that the other person is thinking he could eat the rice, but he would not be able to. In such a case, the verb मन् would get उत्तमपुरुष (instead of ideally getting मध्यमपुरुष), and the other word (भुज् in this case) would get मध्यमपुरुष instead of ideally getting उत्तमपुरुष). So, instead of saying रे बुभुक्षित, किम् त्वं एतत् मन्यसे यत् अहम् ओदनम् भोक्ष्ये, we would say - एहि मन्ये ओदनम् भोक्ष्यसे?
Word by word (padaccheda)
- 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".
- Left context Pañcamī (5th case): "after X", the operation applies to what follows (1.1.67 तस्मादित्युत्तरस्य). Also used for limits and sources.
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.
See the table this defines: 3.4.78 तिङ् The 18 verb endings →
Full reading
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
When joke is implied with reference to an action, the verb denoting it is used in the 2nd person; provided that the word मन्य 'to think' is the attendant word (उपपद) of such verb and of the verb मन्य itself, the affix must be of the 1st person and singular number.
The word प्रहास means joke, sport. As एवं मन्ये ओदनं भोक्ष्यसे इति; नहि भोक्ष्यसे, भुक्तः सोऽतिथिमिः. Thus thou thinkest 'I shall eat rice,' thou shalt not eat, that has been eaten by a guest. एहि मन्ये रथेन यास्यसि नहि यास्यसि, यातस्तेन ते पिता. I think thou wilt go by the chariot, no, thou wilt not, thy father has gone before thee on it. When joke is not intended, the proper persons should be used: as, एहि मन्यसे ओदनं भोक्ष्ये. Thus thou thinkest 'I shall eat rice.'
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.