3.3.103
गुरोश्च हलः
Operational rule vidhi
The affix अ comes after a verb which has a prosodially heavy vowel and ends in a consonant when the word to be formed is feminine.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Left context गुरोः pañcamī · ekavacanaIndeclinable च avyayaLeft context pañcamī · ekavacana
- Left context Pañcamī (5th case): "after X", the operation applies to what follows (1.1.67 तस्मादित्युत्तरस्य). Also used for limits and sources.
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
Dotted words are technical terms, dashed ones pratyāhāras (names for classes of sounds or affixes). Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
गुरोः च
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The affix अ comes after a verb which has a prosodially heavy vowel and ends in a consonant when the word to be formed is feminine.
This debars क्तिन् । Thus कुण्डा 'an adulteress'; हुण्डा 'a tigress'; ईहा 'effort'; उहा 'supplying an ellipsis'.
Why do we say 'which has a prosodially heavy vowel'? Observe भक्ति devotion'. Why do we say 'which ends in a consonant'? Observe नीति 'polity'.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.