2.1.63
कतरकतमौ जातिपरिप्रश्ने
Operational rule vidhi
The words कतर 'which or who of two', and कतम 'which or who of many', when used in asking questions about the genus or class, are compounded with the other case-inflected words with which they are in construction and the resulting compound is तत्-पुरुष .
Word by word (padaccheda)
Substitute / term कतर- कतमौ prathamā · dvivacanaRight context जाति- परिप्रश्ने saptamī · ekavacana
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
- 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").
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Full reading
कतर-
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The words कतर 'which or who of two', and कतम 'which or who of many', when used in asking questions about the genus or class, are compounded with the other case-inflected words with which they are in construction and the resulting compound is तत्-पुरुष ।
As कतरकठः and कतरकालापः 'which of the two is katha, and which kálápa?' कतरकठः and कतरकालापः 'which of these is katha &c.'
It might be objected, 'what is the use of employing the word जातिपरिप्रश्न in the aphorism; since the word कतम is especially employed in asking such questions; (see V, S. 93) and the word कतर will get the same signification by being read along with it?' The very use of this phrase in the aphorism shows that the word कतम has other meanings besides that of an interrogative pronoun, of determining játi; as कतरो भवतोर्देवदत्तः 'which of you two, Sirs, is Devadatta,' and कतमो भवतां देवदत्तः 'which of you, Sirs, is Devadatta.' Here there is no questioning about játi; all belonging to the same genus, hence there is no compounding. (Accent VI.2.57.)
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.