8.4.57
अणोऽप्रगृह्यस्यानुनासिकः
Operational rule vidhi
The अण् letter of a non-प्रगृह्य word becomes अनुनासिक optionally when it is followed by an अवसान.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Target ṣaṣṭhī · ekavacanaTarget अप्रगृह्यस्य ṣaṣṭhī · ekavacanaSubstitute / term prathamā · ekavacana
- Target Ṣaṣṭhī (6th case): names what gets replaced, "in place of X" (1.1.49 षष्ठी स्थानेयोगा).
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
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
अप्रगृह्यस्य
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
अप्रगृह्यस्य →
Replace aṇaḥ apragṛhyasya with anunāsikaḥ. Inherited words (anuvṛtti) may add further conditions.
Commentary
The अनुनासिका is optionally the substitute of an अण् vowel which occurs in a Pause, and is not a परिगृह्य।
अ, इ and उ, short and long, may, when final in a Pause, be pronounced as nasals, provided that they are not Pragrihya 1.1.11 &c.) The अण् here is a Pratyahara with the first ण् ॥ Thus दधिँ or दधि, मधुँ or मधु, कुमारीँ or कुमारी ॥
Why do we say 'of an अण् vowel?" Observe, कर्तृ, हर्तृ ॥
Why do we say 'which is not a pragrihya'? Observe अग्नी, वायू which are pragrihya by 1.1.11.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.