4.2.58
घञः साऽस्यां क्रियेति ञः
Operational rule vidhi
The affix ञ added to a noun of action ending in the affix घञ् denotes an action occurring in that.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Left context घञः pañcamī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term सा prathamā · ekavacanaRight context अस्याम् saptamī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term क्रिया prathamā · ekavacanaIndeclinable avyayaSubstitute / term ञः prathamā · ekavacana
- Left context Pañcamī (5th case): "after X", the operation applies to what follows (1.1.67 तस्मादित्युत्तरस्य). Also used for limits and sources.
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
- 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").
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
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Full reading
घञः सा अस्याम् क्रिया ञः
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The affix ञ added to a noun of action ending in the affix घञ् denotes an action occurring in that.
These words are also feminine. The meaning of the words of the aphorism is:- घञः "after a word ending in the affix घञ्"; सा 'that', अस्यां 'in it', the feminine gender shows that the word is also feminine. क्रिया "action"; this qualifies the sense of the affix. To put it in other words, the sutra means "After a word ending in घञ्, expressing an action, being in the Ist case in construction, the affix ञ is added in the sense of a 7th case-affix, the resultant word being in the feminine gender".
Thus श्येनपातोऽस्यां वर्तते - श्यैनंपाता, so also तैलंपाता ॥ The nasal is added by 6.3.71. Thus श्यैनंपाता मृगया 'a chase with hawks to bring down or fell the prey'. तैलंपाता स्वधा "an oblation to the ancestors in which sesamum is thrown".
The repetition of सास्यां in this sutra, though its anuvritti could have been obtained from the last sutra, indicates that this is a general rule, and not one confined to "games" only. Thus दण्डपातोऽस्यां तिथौवर्तते = दाण्डपाता तिथिः; मौसलपाता तिथिः ॥
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.