5.3.93
वा बहूनां जातिपरिप्रश्ने डतमच्
Operational rule vidhi
The affix डतमच् (अतम with the elision of the last syllable) comes after किम् , यत् and तत् , optionally when the object is the determining of the one out of many, the question being that of caste.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Indeclinable वा avyayaTarget बहूनाम् ṣaṣṭhī · bahuvacanaRight context जातिपरिप्रश्ने saptamī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term तम prathamā · ekavacana
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
- Target Ṣaṣṭhī (6th case): names what gets replaced, "in place of X" (1.1.49 षष्ठी स्थानेयोगा).
- 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").
- 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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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
वा बहूनाम् जातिपरिप्रश्ने डतमच्
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
बहूनाम् → डतमच् / जातिपरिप्रश्ने optional
Replace bahūnām with ḍatamac when jātiparipraśne follows, optionally. Inherited words (anuvṛtti) may add further conditions.
Commentary
The affix डतमच् (अतम with the elision of the last syllable) comes after किम् , यत् and तत् , optionally when the object is the determining of the one out of many, the question being that of caste.
The words किंयत्तदः and निरर्धारणे एकस्य are to be read into the sutra. Thus कतमो भवतां कठः 'which of you, Sirs, is a Katha Brahmana?' यतमो भवतां कठः, ततम आगच्छतु 'that one of you, Sirs, who is a Katha, let him come'. The word वा 'optionally' indicates that the affix अकच् 5.3.71 also comes, as यको भवतां कठः, तकः, आगच्छतु ॥ This idea may be expressed by a sentence also, owing to the महाविभाषा 4.1.82: as, को भवतां कठः; यो भवतां कठः, स आगच्छतु ॥
Why do we say 'when question is that of caste'? Observe, को भवतां देवदत्तः. Here the question is about a Name: and not jati. The word परिप्रश्न applies to किम् only, the pronouns यत् and तत् not being interrogative pronouns. But the word जाति applies to all these three pronouns.
According to some, the affix डतर has also this force, after the word किम्, as, कतरो भवतां कठः 'which of you, Sirs, is a Katha Brahmana?' कतरो भवतां कलापः. As may be inferred from the sutra कतरकतमौ जातिपरिप्रश्ने 4.1.63
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.