5.4.124
धर्मादनिच् केवलात्
Operational rule vidhi
The affix अनिच् (अन्) comes after the word धर्म when it is the last member of a बहुव्रीहि समास and is itself the only word without any other word joined with it or when the first member is a single word.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Left context धर्मात् pañcamī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term अनिच् prathamā · ekavacanaLeft context केवलात् pañcamī · 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.
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Full reading
धर्मात् अनिच् केवलात्
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The affix अनिच् (अन्) comes after the word धर्म when it is the last member of a बहुव्रीहि समास and is itself the only word without any other word joined with it or when the first member is a single word.
Thus कल्याणो धर्मोऽस्य = कल्याणधर्मन् nom. sin. कल्याणधर्मा so also प्रियधर्मा ॥ Why do we say केवलात् "when it alone is the last member"? Observe परमः स्वो धर्मोऽस्य = परमस्वधर्मः ॥ The word केवलात् according to Kasika qualifies the word पूर्वपद understood. That is, the first member must be one word though a compound word, according to Kaumudi, and it explains such forms as सन्दिग्धसाध्यधर्मा, अनुच्छित्तिधर्मा (e. g. अविनाशी वा अरेऽयमात्माऽनुच्छित्तिधर्मा) ॥ According to Prasadakara केवलात् qualifies both the words धर्मात् and पूर्वपदात् ॥
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.