साप्तपदीनं सख्यम्

Operational rule vidhi

The word साप्तपदीन is anomalous when meaning 'friendship'.

Word by word (padaccheda)

Substitute / term साप्तपदीनम् prathamā · ekavacanaSubstitute / term सख्यम् prathamā · ekavacana

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

साप्तपदीनम् सख्यम्

Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.

Commentary

The word साप्तपदीन is anomalous when meaning 'friendship'.
The word साप्तपदीन comes from सप्तपद but the connection of senses is not very clear. It is said सप्तभिः पदैरवाप्यते = साप्तपदीनम् "formed by walking together seven steps or by talking together seven words". The circumambulation of the Fire by the bride and bridegroom in seven steps makes the marriage irrevocable. साप्तपदीनं seems to have some connection with that. The word साप्तपदीनः or म् means 'a friend' also; the abstract sense being made applicable by analogy to the person as well.

Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.