3.3.18
भावे
Heading adhikāra भावाधिकारः
The affix घञ् comes after a root when mere action is denoted.
Word by word (padaccheda)
In / when भावे saptamī · ekavacana
- In / when Saptamī (7th case): "in X" or "when X", a domain or condition.
Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
भावे
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The affix घञ् comes after a root when mere action is denoted.
Thus, पच् + घञ् = पाकः 'cooking' 7.2.116 and 7.3.52; त्यागः 'abandoning'; रागः 'colouring' 6.4.27. An action expresses a general state; so that all roots denote 'action' when their meaning is to be expressed. And as the meaning of the root can be expressed by the root itself, therefore, the affixes घञ् &c. come after all verbal roots, when the sense of the root is denoted as having attained to the completed state. It is not necessary that the words so formed should be always of the masculine gender, singular number. They may take any other gender or number. As पक्तिः, पचनम्, पाकौ, पाकाः । These affixes form, in short, verbal nouns, or abstract nouns being names of action.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.