After this chapter you will be able to form and read the dvandva, the compound that joins two or more words which a sentence would link with ca "and": dhavaś ca khadiraś ca → dhavakhadirau "a dhava and a khadira tree". You will know the four senses of ca and why only two of them allow a compound (SK 901). You will know which member stands first (SK 902–905). You will know the long list of member-classes for which the compound must, or may, be a single neuter group-word — pāṇī ca pādau ca → pāṇipādam "hands and feet" — and the few cases where that restriction is lifted (SK 906–920). You will know the sound-changes that the first member undergoes in a compound of relatives or of deities: mātā ca pitā ca → mātāpitarau, mitraś ca varuṇaś ca → mitrāvaruṇau, agniś ca somaś ca → agnīṣomau (SK 921–929). And you will know the closing affix that ends a consonant-final group-compound: vāk ca tvak ca → vāktvacam (SK 930). Every one of the thirty rules is shown at work on a concrete word.
ahorātraḥ.dhavaś ca khadiraś ca → dhavakhadirau / saṃjñā ca paribhāṣā ca → saṃjñāparibhāṣamThis group has one rule, the rule that defines the compound. Several nouns that a sentence would join with ca "and" may be compounded, and the compound is named dvandva. But ca has four senses, and only two of them let the words compound. When the things are taken together, the result is a dual or plural: dhavakhadirau, "a dhava and a khadira (tree)". When the things are named as one group, the result is a singular neuter: saṃjñāparibhāṣam, "the saṃjñā-rules and the paribhāṣā-rules (as a body)".
Rule. Several nouns (more than one, aneka), each ending in a case-ending (subanta), that stand in the sense of ca "and", are optionally compounded. The compound is named dvandva. The word subanta is carried forward by anuvṛtti from subāmantrite (A 2.1.2), as read into SK 649, and aneka from the bahuvrīhi rule (A 2.2.24), so the rule reads "several nouns, in the sense of ca".
Example.
dhavaś ca khadiraś ca "a dhava and a khadira" → the two are taken together → compound, drop the case-endings → dhava + khadira → add the dual ending → dhavakhadirau.
saṃjñā ca paribhāṣā ca "the saṃjñā-rules and the paribhāṣā-rules" → the two are named as one body → compound → saṃjñā + paribhāṣā → the group is one thing, so the ending is singular, and the compound is neuter by SK 821 → saṃjñāparibhāṣam.
Applies when / blocked by. Ca has four senses, and the rule works in only two of them.
īśvaraṃ guruṃ ca bhajasva "worship the Lord, and the guru" — the verb is understood twice, once with each object. No compound.bhikṣām aṭa gāṃ cānaya "go for alms; and bring the cow (if one turns up)". No compound.dhavakhadirau. Compound; the number is dual or plural, and the gender is that of the last member.saṃjñāparibhāṣam. Compound; the number is singular and the gender neuter.In the first two senses there is no compound because the words lack the capacity to compound (asāmarthya): they are not construed with each other, only each with the verb. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators put it this way: a compound needs its members to share one meaning, as the members of a bahuvrīhi share the thing they describe; items merely listed side by side do not.
The word aneka, "more than one", licenses a dvandva of any number of members: hotṛpotṛneṣṭodgātāraḥ "the hotṛ, the potṛ, the neṣṭṛ and the udgātṛ (priests)". One may instead compound each pair and then compound the two pairs: hotāpotārau + neṣṭodgātārau → hotāpotāneṣṭodgātāraḥ. Why the two forms differ (the ā in hotā) is taught at SK 921.
Watch out. A dvandva is always optional: the sentence dhavaś ca khadiraś ca remains correct beside dhavakhadirau. And the same pair of words can be either shape; which one you are reading is told by the ending — dual or plural for the pair, singular neuter for the group.
hariś ca haraś ca → hariharau; indraś ca agniś ca → indrāgnīIn the compounds of chapters 17–19 the first place went to the upasarjana. In a dvandva neither member is subordinate, so the grammar needs other tests to decide the order. This group gives them: a list of fixed exceptions (SK 902), then three rules of form — the short-vowel stem first (SK 903), the vowel-initial a-final stem first (SK 904), the stem with fewer vowels first (SK 905) — with vārttikas for seasons, castes and brothers. Placing a member first is called pūrvanipāta.
Rule. In the compounds of the rājadanta list, the member that would deserve first place by upasarjanaṃ pūrvam (SK 654) is placed second instead. The word upasarjana is carried forward from that rule.
Example.
dantānāṃ rājā "the king of the teeth (the chief tooth)" → danta is the genitive member, the upasarjana, and should go first → but the pair is in the list → rājadantaḥ, with danta second.
Applies when / blocked by. The list is an ākṛtigaṇa, an open list. It holds tatpuruṣas such as rājadantaḥ and also dvandvas; Bhaṭṭoji's commentators cite viṣvaksenārjunau, in which arjuna, due first by SK 904, goes second. That is why the rule is placed in the dvandva chapter.
A vārttika, dharmādiṣv aniyamaḥ: in the pairs dharma and the rest there is no fixed order — arthadharmau or dharmārthau "wealth and duty". (Whether this statement is a vārttika or a line of the list itself, scholars discuss.)
The same list gives dampatī, jampatī and jāyāpatī "wife and husband": for the word jāyā the substitutes dam and jam are set down by nipātana, optionally, so all three forms are correct. Here pati, though the more honoured member, is placed second.
Rule. In a dvandva, the member that bears the name ghi — a stem ending in short i or short u — is placed first. The word pūrvam "first" is carried forward from SK 654.
Example.
hariś ca haraś ca "Hari and Hara" → hari ends in short i, so it is ghi → hari goes first → hariharau.
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika, anekaprāptāv ekatra niyamo 'niyamaḥ śeṣe: when first place falls due to more than one member, the restriction binds only one of them, and the rest are free. In hari + guru + hara both hari and guru are ghi; one of them must lead, the other may stand anywhere: hariguruharāḥ or hariharaguravaḥ.
Rule. In a dvandva, a member that begins with a vowel (ac) and ends in a is placed first.
Example.
īśa + kṛṣṇa "Īśa and Kṛṣṇa" → īśa begins with a vowel and ends in a → īśa goes first → īśakṛṣṇau. Kṛṣṇa ends in a too, but it does not begin with a vowel, so it has no claim.
Applies when / blocked by. Among many members there is no restriction: aśvarathendrāḥ or indrāśvarathāḥ "horses, chariots and Indra".
A vārttika, ghyantād ajādyadantaṃ vipratiṣedhena: when this rule and SK 903 both claim first place, this rule wins by vipratiṣedha, the principle that in a conflict of two rules the later one prevails (A 1.4.2). indraś ca agniś ca → agni is ghi (SK 903), indra is vowel-initial and a-final (SK 904) → SK 904 wins → indrāgnī "Indra and Agni".
Rule. In a dvandva, the member with fewer vowels (ac) is placed first.
Example.
śiva + keśava "Śiva and Keśava" → śiva has two vowels, keśava three → śivakeśavau.
Applies when / blocked by. The affix tarap "-er" in alpāctaram does not imply a comparison of exactly two; it is set down by nipātana in its own sense (svārthika), so the rule also decides the order in dvandvas of many members. Five vārttikas add further tests:
hemantāśiśiravasantāḥ "winter, cool season, spring" (so printed; the commentators read hemantaśiśira-); kṛttikārohiṇyau "Kṛttikā and Rohiṇī". Why "of the same number of syllables"? grīṣmavasantau "summer and spring": the counts differ, so this rule does not apply and grīṣma, with fewer vowels, goes first by SK 905 itself.kuśakāśam "kuśa and kāśa grass"; kuśa has short u, kāśa long ā.tāpasaparvatau "the ascetic and the mountain".brāhmaṇakṣatriyaviṭśūdrāḥ.yudhiṣṭhirārjunau "Yudhiṣṭhira and Arjuna".Watch out. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators observe that these later tests set aside SK 903 and SK 904 where they conflict, so that the honoured member goes first even when the other member is ghi or vowel-initial; scholars discuss this.
pāṇī ca pādau ca → pāṇipādamSK 901 leaves every dvandva free to be a pair (itaretarayoga) or a group (samāhāra). The next fifteen rules restrict, relax or lift that freedom for certain classes of members. Most of them say that the dvandva of such words is ekavat, "treated as one", that is, singular. The word ekavacanam "singular" is carried forward by anuvṛtti from dvigur ekavacanam (SK 731), and the neuter comes from sa napuṃsakam (SK 821). But a group is already one thing, so a rule that merely said "the group-compound is singular" would add nothing. Bhaṭṭoji therefore reads the whole block as a niyama, a restriction: for these classes the dvandva is a samāhāra only. pāṇipādam "hands and feet" is correct; pāṇipādau is not. This group gives the ten classes for which the restriction is absolute.
Rule. A dvandva of words for parts (aṅga) of living beings, for parts of musical instruments, or for parts of an army is ekavat, treated as one. The word aṅga at the end of the sūtra goes with each of the three: parts of a body, parts of musical instruments, parts of an army.
Example.
pāṇī ca pādau ca "hands and feet" → parts of a living body → the dvandva is a samāhāra only → singular → neuter by SK 821 → pāṇipādam.
mārdaṅgika + pāṇavika "mṛdaṅga-players and paṇava-players" → parts of musical instruments (the players who work them) → mārdaṅgikapāṇavikam.
rathika + aśvāroha "chariot-fighters and horsemen" → parts of an army → rathikāśvāroham.
Applies when / blocked by. Since a samāhāra is one already, singularity needs no rule; this section serves as a restriction: for these classes the dvandva is a samāhāra only, never a pair. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators add that the restriction runs one way — it does not say that only these classes may form a samāhāra; any dvandva may, by SK 901. They also read each class with itself: body-parts with body-parts, army-parts with army-parts, not mixed.
Watch out. Dvandva here means the samāhāra-dvandva. A form such as pāṇipādaḥ, a masculine singular of a pair, is not what the rule produces.
Rule. A dvandva of the names of *caraṇa*s — the schools of Vedic reciters, such as the Kaṭhas and the Kālāpas — is ekavat when used in an anuvāda, a restatement of something already established.
Example.
udagāt kaṭhakālāpam "the Kaṭha-and-Kālāpa (school) has arisen" → the arising is an accomplished fact merely restated → kaṭhakālāpam, singular.
pratyaṣṭhāt kaṭhakauthumam "the Kaṭha-and-Kauthuma (school) has stood firm" → kaṭhakauthumam.
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika, stheṇor luṅīti vaktavyam, narrows the rule: the singular is to be stated only when the verb is a luṅ (aorist) form of sthā "stand" or of iṇ "go". udagāt is the luṅ of ud-i, pratyaṣṭhāt the luṅ of prati-sthā.
Rule. A dvandva of words naming sacrifices prescribed in the Yajurveda — adhvaryu, the priest of that Veda, stands for the Veda itself — is ekavat, provided the words are not neuter.
Example.
arkaś ca aśvamedhaś ca "the arka and the aśvamedha" → both Yajurveda sacrifices, both masculine → arkāśvamedham.
Applies when / blocked by. Why "of the adhvaryu"? iṣuvajrau: the iṣu and the vajra are prescribed in the Sāmaveda, so the dvandva stays dual. Why "not neuter"? rājasūyavājapeye: these two are Yajurveda sacrifices, but they belong to the ardharca list of words used in both genders and may be neuter; as neuters they stay dual.
Rule. A dvandva of words for persons whose designations are close to one another by way of study is ekavat. The affix tasi in adhyayanataḥ has the sense of the instrumental: "by study".
Example.
padakāś ca kramakāś ca "students of the pada-text and students of the krama-text" — the word-by-word (pada) and the linked-word (krama) recitations of the Veda → the krama-study follows directly on the pada-study, so the two names are neighbours in study → padakakramakam.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators note why the rule is needed: padakramam, the dvandva of the two texts themselves, is already singular by SK 910, but there is no class-word for their students, so a rule of their own is required.
Rule. A dvandva of words that denote a class (jāti) is ekavat, provided the class is not one of living beings.
Example.
dhānāś ca śaṣkulyaś ca "parched grain and śaṣkulī-cakes" → class-words, not living → dhānāśaṣkuli, singular; the final ī of śaṣkulī is shortened because the compound is neuter.
Applies when / blocked by. Living beings: viṭśūdrāḥ "vaiśyas and śūdras" stays plural. Only classes residing in substances count — Bhaṭṭoji's commentators derive this from the maxim that a negation of the form "not X" picks out what resembles X (the nañ-ivayukta maxim); so not rūparasau "colour and taste" (classes residing in qualities) nor gamanākuñcane "going and contracting" (classes residing in actions). And the rule holds only when the class as such is predominant; when particular things are meant, there is no ekavadbhāva: badarāmalakāni "(these) jujubes and myrobalans".
Watch out. The same pair gives badarāmalakam when the two fruits are meant as kinds and badarāmalakāni when particular fruits are meant. Read the sentence, not the compound alone.
Rule. A dvandva of river-names, or a dvandva of region-names — but not of village-names — is ekavat in the samāhāra sense when the members differ in gender.
Example.
uddhyaś ca irāvatī ca "the Uddhya (masculine) and the Irāvatī (feminine)" → rivers of different gender → uddhyerāvati, singular and neuter, with the final ī shortened.
gaṅgā ca śoṇaś ca → gaṅgāśoṇam.
kuravaś ca kurukṣetraṃ ca "the Kurus and Kurukṣetra" → regions of different gender → kurukurukṣetram.
Applies when / blocked by. Why "of different gender"? gaṅgāyamune (both feminine), madrakekayāḥ (both masculine) stay dual and plural. Why "not villages"? jāmbavaṃ nagaram, śālūkinī grāmaḥ "Jāmbava is a city, Śālūkinī a village" → jāmbavaśālūkinyau: even a city paired with a village stays dual. The word nadī covers the masculine rivers (nada) too, since otherwise no clash of gender could arise. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators read the rule as two statements — rivers with rivers, regions with regions — and take deśa as a country, not a mountain.
Rule. A dvandva of words for small creatures (kṣudrajantu) is ekavat in the samāhāra sense.
Example.
yūkāś ca likṣāś ca "lice and nits" → small creatures → yūkālikṣam, singular neuter, with the final ā shortened.
Applies when / blocked by. Which creatures are "small"? Those up to the mongoose (nakula), following the Bhāṣya.
Rule. A dvandva of the names of those whose enmity is perpetual is ekavat as before, that is, samāhāra only.
Example.
ahi + nakula "the snake and the mongoose" → perpetual enemies → ahinakulam.
Applies when / blocked by. Virodha here means enmity, not mere inability to coexist; so chāyātapau "shade and sunshine" is not covered. And the enmity must be perpetual: devāsurāḥ "gods and demons" stays plural, their hostility being occasional. The ca of the sūtra has a job: in govyāghram "cow and tiger" and kākolūkam "crow and owl" the members are also domestic animals or birds, and the option of SK 916, being the later rule, would prevail by paratva and make the singular optional. The ca re-enjoins the obligatory singular for them.
Rule. A dvandva of names of śūdras who are not excluded (aniravasita) is ekavat as before. "Not excluded" means: not excluded from the vessel — those after whose eating a vessel can still be purified.
Example.
takṣāṇaś ca ayaskārāś ca "carpenters and blacksmiths" → not excluded → takṣāyaskāram.
Applies when / blocked by. Of those excluded from the vessel: caṇḍālamṛtapāḥ "caṇḍālas and mṛtapas" stays plural.
Rule. The dvandvas gavāśva and the rest of its list are correct in the form in which they are pronounced in the list — that is, as singulars.
Example.
gāvaś ca aśvāś ca "cattle and horses" → in the list → gavāśvam.
dāsyaś ca dāsāś ca "female and male servants" → dāsīdāsam, and so on.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators explain what the list adds. gavāśvam is a dvandva of domestic animals, so SK 916 would have made the singular optional; the list makes it fixed. Because the rule says "as pronounced", it covers only the form gavāśvam; the sandhi variants go-aśvam and go'śvam allowed by another rule fall outside the restriction (scholars discuss exactly what follows for them). In dāsīdāsam the list also blocks the rule of ekaśeṣa (taught in a later chapter) by which a masculine alone would stand for the pair.
gāvaś ca mahiṣāś ca → gomahiṣam / gomahiṣāḥThe next five rules soften the block. SK 916 and SK 917 make the singular optional for certain classes; SK 918 forbids it for a short list; SK 919 and SK 920 lift the restriction when a number is stated. The running example, gomahiṣam beside gomahiṣāḥ "cattle and buffaloes", shows the option: the group-word and the plural are both correct.
Rule. Optionally ekavat: a dvandva of words for trees, for deer, for grasses, for grains, for condiments, for domestic animals, or for birds — seven classes — and the three dvandvas aśvavaḍava "stallion and mare", pūrvāpara "prior and posterior", adharottara "lower and upper". For the seven classes only words for particular species are meant, not the class-words vṛkṣa and the rest themselves.
Example.
gāvaś ca mahiṣāś ca "cattle and buffaloes" → domestic animals → either the group, gomahiṣam, or the pair, gomahiṣāḥ.
Likewise, class by class: plakṣanyagrodham / plakṣanyagrodhāḥ (trees), rurupṛṣatam / rurupṛṣatāḥ (deer), kuśakāśam / kuśakāśāḥ (grasses), vrīhiyavam / vrīhiyavāḥ (rice and barley), dadhighṛtam / dadhighṛte (curd and ghee), śukabakam / śukabakāḥ (parrots and cranes); and the three pairs aśvavaḍavam / aśvavaḍavau, pūrvāparam / pūrvāpare, adharottaram / adharottare.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji audits the list, item by item.
pūrvottarau is a pair only.aśvavaḍavam. Without it the later rule pūrvavad aśvavaḍavau (SK 813), which makes the compound follow the gender of its first member, would give a masculine even in the group sense. With it, SK 813 keeps its scope in the pair, aśvavaḍavau.A vārttika, phalasenāvanaspatimṛgaśakunikṣudrajantudhānyatṛṇānāṃ bahuprakṛtir eva dvandva ekavad iti vācyam, is a supplement to the whole block, not to this rule alone: a dvandva of words for fruits, army-parts, forest trees, deer, birds, small creatures, grains or grasses is ekavat only when its members stand in the plural (bahuprakṛti, "having a plural as its base"). badarāṇi ca āmalakāni ca "jujubes and myrobalans" → members plural → badarāmalakam, by SK 910. But badaraṃ ca āmalakaṃ ca → members singular → badarāmalake, dual; likewise rathikāśvārohau (though army-parts, SK 906) and plakṣanyagrodhau (though trees), and so on.
Watch out. A compound such as gomahiṣam is optional at three levels: whether to compound at all (SK 901), whether the compound is a group or a pair (SK 901), and, for these classes, whether the pair is allowed beside the group (this rule lifts the "group only" restriction optionally).
Rule. A dvandva of words of opposed meaning that do not denote substances (adhikaraṇa, here the same as dravya) is optionally ekavat. The word vibhāṣā is carried forward from SK 916.
Example.
śīta + uṣṇa "cold and heat" → opposed, and qualities rather than substances → śītoṣṇam or śītoṣṇe.
Applies when / blocked by. SK 901 already allows the group-compound optionally, so this rule is a restriction on that option: if words of opposed meaning form a group-compound, only words not denoting substances do so. Hence for substances there is the pair only: śītoṣṇe udake staḥ "there are cold and hot waters". Why "opposed"? nandakapāñcajanyau, Viṣṇu's sword and conch: they are not opposed — both rest in Viṣṇu — so the restriction does not touch them, and the group-compound remains available on one alternative. "Opposed" here means unable to coexist, not the enmity of SK 913.
Rule. The dvandvas dadhipayas and the rest of its list are not ekavat: for them there is no group-compound at all.
Example.
dadhi ca payaś ca "curd and milk" → in the list → dadhipayasī, dual only.
idhma + barhis "fuel and sacred grass" → idhmābarhiṣī; the long ā of idhmā is set down by nipātana.
ṛk ca sāma ca → ṛksāme; vāk ca manaś ca "speech and mind" → vāṅmanase; these two take the closing affix ac (A 5.4.77) that gave ahorātraḥ in chapter 18.
Applies when / blocked by. For dadhipayasī the obligatory singular of SK 910 had already been made optional by SK 916 (condiments); this rule withholds even the option. The negation is of the singular itself, not merely of the restriction: the list also holds brahmaprajāpatī, which no "samāhāra only" rule ever reached, so the rule can only mean that the group-compound allowed by SK 901 is forbidden for these.
Rule. When a definite count of the substances (adhikaraṇa) is understood from another word, the restriction "singular only" does not hold.
Example.
daśa dantoṣṭhāḥ "ten teeth and lips" → teeth and lips are body-parts, so SK 906 would demand dantoṣṭham → but the count daśa is stated → the restriction is lifted → dantoṣṭhāḥ, the pair, is correct.
Applies when / blocked by. What is lifted is the restriction, not the singular treatment as such. A group-compound is in any case unavailable here: the members depend on the outside word daśa, and members that depend on an outside word cannot form a group. What survives is the pair, daśa dantoṣṭhāḥ.
Rule. When the count of the substances is only approximate (samīpa, "near"), the restriction "samāhāra only" holds optionally. The words adhikaraṇaitāvattve are carried forward from SK 919.
Example.
upadaśaṃ dantoṣṭham "teeth and lips, about ten" → the restriction kept → dantoṣṭham, the group; upadaśam "near ten" is an avyayībhāva (chapter 17), used with it because it agrees in gender and number.
upadaśā dantoṣṭhāḥ → the restriction dropped → dantoṣṭhāḥ, the pair; upadaśāḥ "those near ten" is a bahuvrīhi (chapter 19).
mātā ca pitā ca → mātāpitarau; mitraś ca varuṇaś ca → mitrāvaruṇauThe rest of the chapter turns from number to sound. In certain dvandvas the prior member changes shape before the later member. The first change is ānaṅ: a substitute that puts ā in place of the final sound of the prior member. It is written ānaṅ because the ṅ is a marker (it) telling you that the substitute replaces the final sound only, and the n is dropped as the last sound of a word; what remains is ā. Two rules give it: one for relatives whose names end in ṛ (mātāpitarau "mother and father"), one for pairs of deities (mitrāvaruṇau "Mitra and Varuṇa").
Rule. In a dvandva of ṛ-final words that denote persons related through learning (vidyā) or through birth (yoni), ānaṅ replaces the final ṛ of the prior member when a later member (uttarapada) follows.
Example.
mātā ca pitā ca "mother and father" → stems mātṛ + pitṛ, related by birth → ānaṅ for the ṛ of mātṛ → mātā + pitṛ → dual ending → mātāpitarau.
hotā ca potā ca "the hotṛ and the potṛ (priests)" → related by learning, the offices of one sacrifice → hotāpotārau.
hotṛ + potṛ + neṣṭṛ + udgātṛ in one flat dvandva → only neṣṭṛ stands directly before the last member → ānaṅ on it alone → neṣṭā + udgātāraḥ → ā + u → o by guṇa → hotṛpotṛneṣṭodgātāraḥ. Compare the pair-wise form of SK 901, hotāpotāneṣṭodgātāraḥ, where each pair had its own prior member.
Applies when / blocked by. The word putre "before putra" leaps down into this rule by anuvṛtti from putre 'nyatarasyām (A 6.3.22), skipping the rules in between — a maṇḍūkapluti, "frog-leap". Hence also pitā ca putraś ca → pitāputrau "father and son", though putra does not end in ṛ.
Watch out. The ā appears only on the member that stands immediately before the last member. In hotṛpotṛneṣṭodgātāraḥ, hotṛ and potṛ keep their ṛ.
Rule. In a dvandva of deity-names too, ānaṅ replaces the final of the prior member when a later member follows — whether or not it ends in ṛ.
Example.
mitraś ca varuṇaś ca "Mitra and Varuṇa" → deities → ānaṅ for the final a of mitra → mitrā + varuṇa → mitrāvaruṇau.
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika, vāyuśabdaprayoge pratiṣedhaḥ: when the word vāyu is a member, whether first or second, there is no ānaṅ — agnivāyū, vāyvagnī.
The word dvandve was already carried forward from SK 921, yet the sūtra says it again. The repetition limits the rule to deities whose association is well known: those heard in the Veda as sharing one portion of the oblation, or otherwise well known as a pair. Hence no ānaṅ in brahmaprajāpatī "Brahmā and Prajāpati", a pairing known neither from the Veda nor from ordinary usage (Bhaṭṭoji's commentators discuss whether the second criterion is sound).
agniś ca somaś ca → agnīṣomau; agnāmarutau devate asya → āgnimārutamThe deity agni has rules of its own. Before soma or varuṇa its final becomes ī instead of ā (SK 923); the s of soma then becomes ṣ (SK 924); and when the compound is the base of a taddhita word whose second member carries vṛddhi, the final becomes short i (SK 925). The three together give agnīṣomau "Agni and Soma" and āgnimārutam "(a rite) whose deities are Agni and the Maruts".
Rule. In a dvandva of deity-names, ī replaces the final of agni when soma or varuṇa follows as the later member. Bhaṭṭoji's whole comment is that devatādvandve "in a deity-dvandva" continues from SK 922 by anuvṛtti. His commentators add that the rule is an exception (apavāda) to ānaṅ: where it applies, SK 922 does not.
Example.
agniś ca somaś ca "Agni and Soma" → deities, soma follows → ī for the i of agni → agnī + soma; the finished form agnīṣomau needs one more step, taught in SK 924.
agniś ca varuṇaś ca → agnī + varuṇa → agnīvaruṇau.
Applies when / blocked by. Only in a deity-dvandva. Two boys named Agni and Soma give agnisomau, without ī.
Rule. In a compound, the s of stut, stoma and soma becomes ṣ when they follow agni. This is a rule from a later part of the grammar, spliced in here because agnīṣomau cannot be finished without it.
Example.
agni + stut "(the sacrifice) in which Agni is praised" → s after agni → agniṣṭut, the name of a sacrifice.
agni + stoma → agniṣṭomaḥ, the name of a hymn of praise (stotra) and of a form of the soma-sacrifice.
agnī + soma (from SK 923) → s after agni → agnīṣomau "Agni and Soma".
agnī + varuṇa → no s to change → agnīvaruṇau.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators note that this rule is an exception to sāt padādyoḥ (A 8.3.111), which otherwise forbids ṣ at the beginning of a word inside a compound. And they note that the non-deity agnisomau gets neither ī nor ṣ: the ṣ of soma is wanted only after the lengthened agnī.
Rule. In a deity-dvandva, when the later member carries vṛddhi, short i (it; the t is for pronunciation) replaces the final of agni. A later member carries vṛddhi when the dvandva is the base of a taddhita word: by devatādvandve ca (SK 1239) such a derivative takes vṛddhi in both members.
Example.
agnāmarutau devate asya "(the rite) whose deities are Agni and the Maruts" → the taddhita affix is added to the dvandva → vṛddhi in both members by SK 1239 → the later member māruta now carries vṛddhi → short i for the final of agni → āgnimārutaṃ karma.
agnīvaruṇau devate asya → both members take vṛddhi → āgnivāruṇam.
Applies when / blocked by. The i is prescribed at the technical stage of derivation (the alaukika sentence, the analysis with case-endings shown) and there it sets aside both ānaṅ (SK 922) and ī (SK 923). Bhaṭṭoji's commentators observe that prescribing i in place of i has its point precisely in displacing those two substitutes. Why "when there is vṛddhi"? āgnendraḥ "(the rite) of Agni and Indra": by nendrasya parasya (SK 1240) indra as later member takes no vṛddhi, so this rule does not apply, ānaṅ stands, and ā + i gives e by guṇa.
A vārttika, viṣṇau na: not before viṣṇu — āgnāvaiṣṇavam, where ānaṅ remains although vaiṣṇava carries vṛddhi.
dyauś ca pṛthivī ca → dyāvāpṛthivyau / divaspṛthivyauThree more deity-names change shape as prior members: div "sky" becomes dyāvā, and before pṛthivī also divas; uṣas "dawn" becomes uṣāsā. The group closes with a regional form, mātarapitarau, that replaces mātāpitarau in the speech of the north.
Rule. In a deity-dvandva, dyāvā is substituted for div when a later member follows. Bhaṭṭoji supplies only the setting, "in a deity-dvandva, when an uttarapada follows"; the subject and the substitute are read off the sūtra itself.
Example.
dyauś ca bhūmiś ca "heaven and earth" → div is the prior member → dyāvā + bhūmi → dyāvābhūmī.
dyauś ca kṣāmā ca → dyāvākṣāmā, a Vedic form, kṣāmā being a Vedic word for the earth; there the case-ending is replaced by ḍā by a Vedic rule (A 7.1.39).
Rule. Before pṛthivī, divas is substituted for div — and, by the ca, dyāvā as well. The word divaḥ "of div" continues from SK 926.
Example.
dyauś ca pṛthivī ca "heaven and earth" → divas for div → divaspṛthivyau; or dyāvā for div → dyāvāpṛthivyau.
Applies when / blocked by. The sūtra states the substitute as divasa, with an a after the s. The a is not heard in the result; it is pronounced only so that the s is not turned into ru by sasajuṣo ruḥ (A 8.2.66), which would give a visarga. In the Veda the rule follows attested usage (dṛṣṭānuvidhi): dyāvā cid asmai pṛthivī, where the two members stand apart with other words between them. In divaspṛthivyor aratim the authors of the word-by-word recitation (padapāṭha) read a visarga, divaḥ-pṛthivyoḥ; scholars discuss this.
Rule. In a deity-dvandva, uṣāsā is substituted for the word uṣas "dawn".
Example.
uṣas + sūrya "Dawn and the Sun" → uṣāsā for uṣas → uṣāsāsūryam.
Rule. The form mātarapitarau "mother and father" is set down by nipātana in the usage of the northerners (udīcām): the final ṛ of mātṛ appears as ar instead of taking ānaṅ.
Example.
mātā ca pitā ca → in northern usage → mātarapitarau.
Applies when / blocked by. Why "of the northerners"? Elsewhere the form is mātāpitarau, by SK 921.
vāk ca tvak ca → vāktvacamThe chapter ends with a closing affix. A group-compound (samāhāra) whose last member ends in a palatal stop, or in d, ṣ or h, takes the affix ṭac, of which only the a remains; the compound then declines as an a-stem neuter.
Rule. After a dvandva ending in a consonant of the c-class (cu: c ch j jh ñ), or in d, ṣ or h, the closing affix ṭac is added in the sense of samāhāra. The ṭ and the c of ṭac are markers; the affix adds a.
Example.
vāk ca tvak ca "speech and skin" → group-compound vāktvac, ending in c → add ṭac → vāktvaca → neuter singular → vāktvacam.
tvac + sraj "skin and garland" → ends in j → tvaksrajam; the j-final example shows why the whole class cu is named, not c alone.
śamī + dṛṣad "śamī-wood and a stone" → ends in d → śamīdṛṣadam.
vāc + tviṣ "speech and splendour" → ends in ṣ → vāktviṣam.
chatra + upānah "umbrella and sandal" → ends in h → chatropānaham.
Applies when / blocked by. Why "in samāhāra"? prāvṛṣ + śarad "the rains and the autumn" as a pair → prāvṛṭśaradau, with no affix. With this rule the dvandva-samāsa-prakaraṇa ends.
| SK | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 901 | Several nouns in the sense of ca → dvandva; only in itaretarayoga (pair) and samāhāra (group), not in samuccaya or anvācaya | dhavakhadirau; saṃjñāparibhāṣam |
| 902 | In the rājadanta list the member due first goes second; dharma-pairs free; dampatī | rājadantaḥ |
| 903 | A ghi member goes first; when several qualify, only one is bound | hariharau |
| 904 | A vowel-initial a-final member goes first; beats SK 903 | īśakṛṣṇau; indrāgnī |
| 905 | The member with fewer vowels goes first; seasons and asterisms in sequence, light vowel, honoured member, varṇas, elder brother | śivakeśavau; kuśakāśam |
| 906 | Parts of a body, parts of musical instruments, parts of an army → samāhāra only | pāṇipādam |
| 907 | Caraṇa-names in a restatement, with luṅ of sthā or iṇ → singular | udagāt kaṭhakālāpam |
| 908 | Non-neuter Yajurveda sacrifices → singular | arkāśvamedham |
| 909 | Persons whose names are neighbours in study → singular | padakakramakam |
| 910 | Class-words for non-living things → singular | dhānāśaṣkuli |
| 911 | Rivers or regions (not villages) of different gender → singular | gaṅgāśoṇam |
| 912 | Small creatures → singular | yūkālikṣam |
| 913 | Perpetual enemies → singular; the ca keeps it obligatory against SK 916 | ahinakulam |
| 914 | Śūdras not excluded from the vessel → singular | takṣāyaskāram |
| 915 | The gavāśva list, as pronounced → singular | gavāśvam |
| 916 | Trees, deer, grasses, grains, condiments, domestic animals, birds, and three named pairs → optionally singular; vārttika: only with plural members | gomahiṣam / gomahiṣāḥ |
| 917 | Opposed non-substance words → optionally singular; substances → pair only | śītoṣṇam / śītoṣṇe |
| 918 | The dadhipayas list → never singular | dadhipayasī |
| 919 | A definite count stated → the "singular only" restriction lifted | daśa dantoṣṭhāḥ |
| 920 | An approximate count → the restriction optional | upadaśaṃ dantoṣṭham / upadaśā dantoṣṭhāḥ |
| 921 | ānaṅ for the final ṛ of a relative-name before the last member | mātāpitarau |
| 922 | ānaṅ in a deity-dvandva; not with vāyu; only well-known pairs | mitrāvaruṇau |
| 923 | ī for the final of agni before soma or varuṇa | agnīvaruṇau |
| 924 | s of stut, stoma, soma → ṣ after agni | agnīṣomau |
| 925 | Short i for the final of agni when the later member carries vṛddhi; not before viṣṇu | āgnimārutam |
| 926 | dyāvā for div in a deity-dvandva | dyāvābhūmī |
| 927 | divas (or dyāvā) for div before pṛthivī | divaspṛthivyau / dyāvāpṛthivyau |
| 928 | uṣāsā for uṣas | uṣāsāsūryam |
| 929 | Northern mātarapitarau | mātarapitarau |
| 930 | ṭac after a samāhāra-dvandva ending in a palatal, d, ṣ or h | vāktvacam |