3.2.122 पुरि लुङ् चास्मे

Word by word (padaccheda)

Right context पुरि saptamī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term prathamā · ekavacanaIndeclinable च avyayaRight context अस्मे saptamī · ekavacana

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").
Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".

Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.

Pink letters are it-markers (anubandhas), tags dropped by 1.3.9. Hover or tap one for the rule that marks it, or try the it-letter finder.

Full reading

पुरि लुङ् च अस्मे

Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.

Commentary

Optionally the affixes लुङ् (Aorist) and लट् (Present Tense) come after a verb in denoting past time not belonging to the current day, when the word पुरा is used in the sentence, provided that the word स्म is not used.
The anuvritti of the word anadyatana which had come to a stop with 3.2.120 manifests itself again in this sutra by a process of jumping over the two intermediate aphorisms. This sort of anuvritti is technically called manduka-pluti 'the leap of a frog' i. e. skipping of several sutras and supplying a word from a previous sutra.

This is an optional rule, so that when lat and lun are not used, the proper tenses, as the case may be, must be employed. As वसन्तीह पुरा छात्राः 'the pupils lived here formerly'. So also, Aorist, अवात्सुः पुरा छात्राः; Imperfect, अवसन्निह पुरा छात्राः; Perfect, ऊषुरिह पुरा छात्राः ।

Why do we say 'when the word स्म is not used'? Observe यजति स्म पुरा युधिष्टिरः 'Yudhishthira did perform a sacrifice formerly'. Here rule 118 ante exerts its influence.

Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.