5.3.68
विभाषा सुपो बहुच् पुरस्तात्तु
Operational rule vidhi
Optionally to a declined noun may be added the affix बहुच् (बहु) but it stands before, when the sense is slight incompleteness.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Substitute / term prathamā · ekavacanaLeft context pañcamī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term बहु prathamā · ekavacanaIndeclinable पुरस्तात् avyayaIndeclinable तु avyaya
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
- Left context Pañcamī (5th case): "after X", the operation applies to what follows (1.1.67 तस्मादित्युत्तरस्य). Also used for limits and sources.
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
Dotted words are technical terms, dashed ones pratyāhāras (names for classes of sounds or affixes). Hover or tap one to see its card.
Pink letters are it-markers (anubandhas), tags dropped by 1.3.9. Hover or tap one for the rule that marks it, or try the it-letter finder.
Full reading
बहुच् पुरस्तात् तु
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
Optionally to a declined noun may be added the affix बहुच् (बहु) but it stands before, when the sense is slight incompleteness.
This is the only exception to the general rule that an affix is added after a word. The affix बहुच् however is added before the word. The च् of बहुच् indicates that the udatta will fall on the final vowel of the word. See 6.1.163. Thus बहुपटुः꣡ 'a tolerably skillful person'. बहुमृदुः꣡, बहुगुडा꣡ दाक्षाः ॥ By the word 'optionally' it is indicated that the affixes कल्प &c also come. By using the word सुपः 'to a noun ending in a case-affix i. e a declined noun', it is indicated that the affix is not added to finite verbs (तिङन्त) ॥
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.