3.3.120
अवे तॄस्त्रोर्घञ्
Operational rule vidhi
The affix घञ् comes after the roots 1. तॄ 'to cross' 2. स्तॄ 'to spread, to cover', when the उपसर्ग अव is in composition with them and when the word so formed is an appellative related to the verb either as an instrument or as a location.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Right context अवे saptamī · ekavacanaTarget तॄ- स्त्रोः ṣaṣṭhī · dvivacanaSubstitute / term prathamā · 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").
- Target Ṣaṣṭhī (6th case): names what gets replaced, "in place of X" (1.1.49 षष्ठी स्थानेयोगा).
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
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Full reading
अवे तॄ-
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
तॄ-
Replace tṝ-stroḥ with ghañ when ave follows. Inherited words (anuvṛtti) may add further conditions.
Commentary
The affix घञ् comes after the roots 1. तॄ 'to cross' 2. स्तॄ 'to spread, to cover', when the उपसर्ग अव is in composition with them and when the word so formed is an appellative related to the verb either as an instrument or as a location.
This supersedes घ । The ञ् is indicatory and causes the vriddhi of ॠ 7.2.115 and is also for the sake of regulating the accent 6.1.195, 6.1.197. The indicatory घ् is useful in the subsequent aphorism where it changes the palatals into gutturals. Thus अवतारः 'the descent (or incarnation of a diety); अवस्तारः 'a screen round a tent'.
How do we apply अवतार also in phrases like अवतारो नद्याः 'the descent of rivers', for here the word avatara is not an appellative? This use is also allowed, because the anuvritti of the word प्राय is understood here also; so that those words avatara &c. may be employed in senses other than appellative.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.