8.2.33
वा द्रुहमुहष्णुहष्णिहाम्
Operational rule vidhi
A हकार occurring at end of verbs द्रुहँ, मुहँ, ष्णुहँ and ष्णिहँ at पदान्त or when followed by a झल् letter is converted optionally to a घकार.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Indeclinable वा avyayaTarget द्रुहमुहष्णुहष्णिहाम् ṣaṣṭhī · bahuvacana
- 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).
Dotted words are technical terms, dashed ones pratyāhāras (names for classes of sounds or affixes). Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
वा द्रुहमुहष्णुहष्णिहाम्
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The ह of 1. द्रुह् 2. मुह् 3.ष्णुह् and 4. ष्णिह् is optionally changed to ध before a झल् (all consonant except semi-vowels and nasals) letter or at the end of a word.
Thus द्रुहः, द्रोढा or द्रोग्धा, मित्रधुक्, मित्रधुट्, मुह, उन्मोग्धा, उन्मोढा, उन्मुक्, उन्मुट्, ष्णुह, उत्स्नोग्धा, उत्स्नोढा, उत्स्नुक्, उत्स्नुट्, ष्णिह, स्नेग्धा, स्नेढा, स्निक्, स्निट् ॥
The root द्रुह would have taken always घ by the last sutra, this makes it optional. The others would not have got घ but for this sutra.
These roots belong to Radhadi sub-class of Divadi gana: and are taught there in this very order (Divadi 89-91). By belonging to Radhadi sub-division, the इट् is optional 7.2.45. Instead of making the sutra वाद्रुहादीनाम्, this longer formation of the aphorism indicates that the rule applies to यङ्लुक् also, as दोध्रुक् or दोध्रुट् ॥ See 7.1.6, for if the roots were taught not specifically but by गण, then the rule would not apply to yan luk.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.