वाचो व्याहृतार्थायाम्

Operational rule vidhi

The affix ठक् comes after वाच् when it means the purport of the message spoken by another.

Word by word (padaccheda)

Left context वाचः pañcamī · bahuvacanaRight context व्याहृता- अर्थायाम् saptamī · ekavacana

Left context Pañcamī (5th case): "after X", the operation applies to what follows (1.1.67 तस्मादित्युत्तरस्य). Also used for limits and sources.
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").

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Full reading

वाचः व्याहृता-अर्थायाम्

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

Commentary

The affix ठक् comes after वाच् when it means the purport of the message spoken by another.
The word व्याहृत means 'declared, expressed'. That which was spoken formerly by another, and which is carried by a third party as a 'tiding' or 'news', is called व्याहृतार्थ ॥ Thus वाचिकं कथयति 'he relates the verbal message'. वाचिकं ऋद्धे ॥ Some say it applies to written message also.

Why do we say "when it means a verbal message ?" Observe, मधुरा वाक् देवदत्तस्य 'the speech of Devadatta is sweet'.

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