Vyākaraṇa-mahābhāṣya 1.1.8.3

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IASTदेवनागरीবাংলা

MBH 1.1.8.3

← 1.1.8.2 1.1.9.1 →

mukha-nāsikā-vacano 'nunāsikaḥ

Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.1.8

Vṛtti Patañjali

itaretarāśrayam tu bhavati .

But (tu) there is mutual dependence (itaretarāśraya).

kā itaretarāśrayatā .

What (is) the mutual dependence?

sataḥ anunāsikasya sañjñayā bhavitavyam sañjñayā ca nāma anunāsikaḥ bhāvyate .

An existing anunāsika must acquire the designation (saṁjñā), and by the designation, indeed, the anunāsika is (in turn) established.

tat itaretarāśrayam bhavati .

That is mutual dependence.

itaretarāśrayāṇi ca kāryāṇi na prakalpante .

And mutually-dependent operations do not come off (na prakalpante).

anunāsikasañjñāyām itaretarāśraye uktam .

As regards the mutual dependence in the anunāsika-designation, it has (already) been stated (uktam).

siddham tu nityaśabdatvāt iti .

'But (tu) it is established, because words are eternal (nitya-śabdatva)' — thus.

nityāḥ śabdāḥ .

Words are eternal.

nityeṣu śabdeṣu sataḥ anunāsikasya sañjñā kriyate .

Words being eternal, a designation is made for the (already) existing anunāsika.

na sañjñayā anunāsikaḥ bhāvyate .

The anunāsika is not brought into being by the designation.

yadi tarhi nityāḥ śabdāḥ kimartham śāstram .

If, then (tarhi), words are eternal, for what purpose (is) the śāstra?

kimartham śāstram iti cet nivartakatvāt siddham .

If (it be asked) 'for what purpose the śāstra?' — (it is) established, because (the śāstra) is exclusionary (nivartaka).

nivartakam śāstram .

The śāstra is exclusionary (nivartaka).

katham .

How?

āṅ asmai aviśeṣeṇa upadiṣṭaḥ ananunāsikaḥ .

The non-nasal (ananunāsika) āṅ has been taught to him without distinction (aviśeṣeṇa).

tasya sarvatra ananunāsikabuddhiḥ prasaktā .

For it, the notion 'non-nasal' would arise everywhere.

tatra anena nivṛttiḥ kriyate .

There, by this (rule) an exclusion (nivṛtti) is made.

chandasi aci parataḥ āṅaḥ ananunāsikasya prasaṅge anunāsikaḥ sādhuḥ bhavati iti .

'In the Veda (chandas), when a vowel (ac) follows, where the non-nasal āṅ would (otherwise) apply, the nasal (anunāsika) āṅ is the correct form' — thus.

Translator notes mūla-only construal · not shown in the reading edition

Dialectic construal (whole unit): the same itaretarāśraya → nitya-śabda → nivartaka-śāstra movement as at 1.1.1.4, transferred to the anunāsika designation. s1–s5: OBJECTION (pūrvapakṣa) — there is mutual dependence (itaretarāśraya): an existing anunāsika must acquire the designation, yet by the designation the anunāsika is (said to be) established (s3), so the two arms lean on each other (s4), and mutually-dependent operations do not come off (s5). v1 is KĀTYĀYANA'S vārttika (kind: vartika): 'as regards the mutual dependence in the anunāsika-designation, it has (already) been stated' — i.e. the answer given earlier (at 1.1.1) carries over. s6 quotes that earlier solution ('but it is established, because words are eternal — thus'); s7–s9 (Patañjali's gloss, on which I leaned to construe v1) unfold it: words being eternal, the designation is merely applied to the already-existing anunāsika (s8) and does not PRODUCE it (s9) — one arm of the circle is removed. s10: sub-question — if words are eternal, what is grammar for? s11–s17: grammar is exclusionary/restrictive (nivartaka), illustrated by the non-nasal āṅ (s14–s15) from which a chāndasa rule excludes a nasal āṅ before a vowel (s17). I read s1–s5 as the opponent, v1/s6 onward as the settled reply.
v1 is Kātyāyana's; 'uktam' ('it has been stated') is a back-reference to the itaretarāśraya discussion at 1.1.1 (the vṛddhi-saṁjñā). I construed v1 against Patañjali's following prose (s6–s9), as the contract directs; noting the lean here.
s3 'sataḥ anunāsikasya sañjñayā bhavitavyam / sañjñayā ca nāma anunāsikaḥ bhāvyate' rendered as the two arms of the circle: the existing anunāsika must acquire the designation; and by the designation, in turn, the anunāsika is (said to be) brought into being. 'nāma' rendered as the mild emphatic 'indeed'.
s11 'kimartham śāstram iti cet nivartakatvāt siddham' reads like a compressed aphorism embedded in the prose ('if [it be asked] ‹what is the śāstra for?› — established, because it is exclusionary'); s12 then restates it. Rendered literally.
s14 'āṅ asmai aviśeṣeṇa upadiṣṭaḥ ananunāsikaḥ' — parallel to 1.1.1.4 s24: the (particle) āṅ, non-nasal, has been taught to him (the learner) without distinction (aviśeṣeṇa). s17 quotes the excepting chāndasa rule: in the Veda, before a following vowel (ac), where the non-nasal āṅ would apply, the nasal (anunāsika) āṅ is the correct form. Technical terms (āṅ, chandas, ac, nivṛtti) kept.

← 1.1.8.2 1.1.9.1 →