4.2.55
सोऽस्यादिरिति च्छन्दसः प्रगाथेषु
Operational rule vidhi
To indicate a प्रगाथ using the छन्द of the first stanza of that प्रगाथ, an appropriate तद्धितप्रत्यय can be attached to the प्रथमासमर्थ representing the name of the छन्द.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Substitute / term सः prathamā · ekavacanaTarget अस्य ṣaṣṭhī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term आदिः prathamā · ekavacanaIndeclinable avyayaLeft context छन्दसः pañcamī · ekavacanaRight context प्रगाथेषु saptamī · bahuvacana
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
- Target Ṣaṣṭhī (6th case): names what gets replaced, "in place of X" (1.1.49 षष्ठी स्थानेयोगा).
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
- Left context Pañcamī (5th case): "after X", the operation applies to what follows (1.1.67 तस्मादित्युत्तरस्य). Also used for limits and sources.
- 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").
Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
सः अस्य आदिः छन्दसः प्रगाथेषु
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
अस्य → सः आदिः / छन्दसः प्रगाथेषु
Replace asya with saḥ ādiḥ when it comes after chandasaḥ when pragātheṣu follows. Inherited words (anuvṛtti) may add further conditions.
Commentary
The affix अण् is added to the names of Meters, indicates a प्रगाथ beginning therewith.
The words of this sutra require a little explanation. सः 'that' i.e. a word in construction in the first case. अस्य 'its' i.e. this gives the meaning of the affix. आदिः 'beginning'; this qualifies the base or prakriti. The word इति is added for the sake of precision. छन्दसः 'after the name of a metre'. This points out the base. प्रगाथेषु 'in the sense of Pragatha'. This qualifies the meaning of the affix. To put it in other words, the sutra means, that the affix अण् is added to the name of a metre, when that metre is the beginning of a Pragatha, and the whole word so formed means a Pragatha beginning with that metre. Thus पंक्ति is the name of a metre, adding अण् to it we get पांक्तः which means "a Pragatha beginning with the metre Pankti". Similarly आनुष्टुभः, जागतः &c.
Why do we say "beginning"? If the metre is in the middle or end of a 'Pragatha' the affix will not be employed. Why do we say 'after the name of a metre'? The affix will not be added to a word which is in the beginning of a Pragatha. Why do we say 'in the sense of a Pragatha'? The affix will not be added, if the metre is the beginning of an Anuvaka &c and not of a Pragatha. Pragatha is the name of a particular kind of Mantra or Hymn यत्र द्वे ऋचौ प्रगथनेन तिस्रः क्रियन्ते, स प्रगायनात् पकर्षगानात् वा प्रगाथ इत्युच्यते ॥
Varti:- The affix अण् is added to the name of a metre in a self-descriptive sense without changing the meaning of it; and the word so formed is in the neuter gender. As, त्रैष्टुभम् 'the metre Trishtubha', जागतम् &c.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.