हो हन्तेर्ञ्णिन्नेषु

A guttural is substituted for the ह् in हन् 'to kill' before an affix having an indicatory ञ् or ण् and before न्।
As घातयति with णिच्, घातकः with ण्वुल्, साधुघातिन् with इञ्, घातंघातम् with णमुल्, घातः with घञ्, घ्नन्ति, घ्नन्तुम्, and अघ्नन् before न् ॥ Why do we specify ह्? Otherwise the substitute would replace the final letter. Why of हन् ? Observe प्रहारः, प्रहारकः ॥ ण् and ञ् qualify the affixes, and न् means the न् of हन् which becomes joined with ह् when the intermediate अ is dropped. This न् comes in immediate contact with ह, because it is heard in pronouncing, and in writing. If the elided अ be considered as sthanivat, then ह can never be followed by न्, for there will exist the intervention of this latent अ, but by virtue of the special text of this sutra, such an elided अ should not be considered as an intervention. And if ञ्, ण् and न् be all considered as qualifying the ह् of हन्, still on the maxim ये न नाव्यवधानं तेन व्यवहितेऽपि वचनप्रामाण्यात् therefore ण् or ञ् are considered to come after ह् though a portion of the root intervenes. But not so here, हननमिच्छति हननीयति, add ण्वुल् to this Denominative root, and we have हननायकः ॥