2.4.27
पूर्ववदश्ववडवौ
Operational rule vidhi
The gender of the compound of the word अश्व 'horse' and वडव 'a mare', is like that of the first word in it.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Indeclinable पूर्ववत् avyayaSubstitute / term अश्व- वडवौ prathamā · dvivacana
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
Full reading
पूर्ववत् अश्व-
Commentary
The gender of the compound of the word अश्व 'horse' and वडव 'a mare', is like that of the first word in it.
This applies where the compound is not an aggregate by rule 2.4.12; in that case it will be neuter, अश्ववडवाविमौ; अश्ववडवान्, अश्ववडवैः &c., (in every number and case) 'those two (mas.) the horse and the mare.' This is an exception to the last and general rule, by which the gender of the subsequent term, guides the gender of the whole compound.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.