Simple Sanskrit – Lesson 31
Across the previous two lessons, what has been discussed is -
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समास-s is such specialty of Sanskrit, that a compound word can have large number of component words
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विग्रह means detailing the meaning of the compound word, which should be done by taking up two component words at a time
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some names of types of समास-s, viz. कर्मधारय, तत्पुरुष, बहुव्रीहि, अव्ययीभाव also नञ्-तत्पुरुष.
The process of विग्रह actually brings forth the relationship between two component words on hand.
For example, विग्रह of बाह्योद्यानम् is बाह्यं उद्यानम्. The relationship is adjective-noun relationship. Type-name of समास of such adjective-noun relationship is कर्मधारय.
विग्रह of बाह्योद्यानस्थितः is बाह्योद्याने स्थितः Note, having already explained विग्रह of बाह्योद्यानम् we take that as a component word. And we proceed to explore the relationship between बाह्योद्यानम् and the next component स्थित. As mentioned in Lesson 29, we proceed by taking two components at a time. When proceeding, first of the two components can be a compound word, which has been already detailed. The first component is called as पूर्वपद and the second component is called as उत्तरपद.
As can be appreciated from विग्रह of बाह्योद्यानस्थितः = बाह्योद्याने स्थितः, in this विग्रह, उत्तरपद (स्थितः) is the principal प्रधान component.
By mathematical logic, we can say that broad classification of types of समास-s can be पूर्वपदप्रधान, उत्तरपदप्रधान, both पूर्वपद and उत्तरपद equally प्रधान, none of the two प्रधान. Such mathematical, rather Boolean logic is actually valid !
If not being प्रधान = 0 or False and being प्रधान =1 or True, we get following Truth Table -
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पूर्वपदप्रधान (10) – अव्ययीभाव, also a sub-type of कर्मधारय can be of this type
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उत्तरपदप्रधान (01) – तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय, द्विगु
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both पूर्वपद and उत्तरपद equally प्रधान (11) – द्वन्द्व
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none of the two प्रधान, hence also mentioned as अन्यपदप्रधान (00) – बहुव्रीहि
In a booklet of 1912 by the name समासचक्रम्, there is a mention as follows -
समासाः षड्-विधाः । तत्पुरुषः कर्मधारयः बहुव्रीहिर्द्विगुर्द्वंद्वः अव्ययीभावश्चेति भेदात् ।
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पूर्वपदार्थप्रधानोऽव्ययीभावः ।
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उत्तरपदार्थप्रधानस्तत्पुरुषः ।
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उभयपदार्थप्रधानो द्वन्द्वः ।
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अन्यपदार्थप्रधानो बहुव्रीहिः ।
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द्विगुकर्मधारयौ तत्पुरुषभेदौ ।
समासार्थबोधकं वाक्यं विग्रह इति ।
Above lines come after a preamble as follows -
अथ समासचक्रं प्रारभ्यते ।
षोढाः समासाः संक्षेपात् अष्टाविंशतिधा स्मृताः ।
नित्यानित्यत्वयोगेन लुगलुक्त्वेन च द्विधा ॥
तत्राष्टधा तत्पुरुषः सप्तधा कर्मधारयः ।
सप्तधा च बहुव्रीहिर्द्विगुराभाषितो द्विधा ॥
चकारबहुलो द्वंद्वः स चासौ कर्मधारयः ।
यस्य येषां बहुव्रीहिः शेषस्तत्पुरुषः स्मृतः ॥
अथ समासविधिः कथ्यते ।
In समासचक्रम्, one gets specimen examples also, such as -
वृक्षशाखा तत्पुरुषः श्वेताश्वः कर्मधारयः ।
रक्तवस्त्रो बहुव्रीहिः द्वंद्वश्चन्द्रदिवाकरौ ॥
Of course there are sub-types of the six main types – अव्ययीभाव, तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय, द्विगु, द्वंद्व, बहुव्रीहि. Of these अव्ययीभाव has been somewhat discussed in the previous lesson.
In समासचक्रम्, अव्ययीभाव has been detailed as follows -
अथ अव्ययीभावः ।
सः यथा – तटं तटं प्रति = अनुतटम् ।
क्रमं अनतिक्रम्य वर्तते इति यथाक्रमम् ।
वेलायामिति अधिवेलम् ।
कुंभस्य समीपे वर्तते इति उपकुंभम् ।
मक्षिकाणां अभावः निर्मक्षिकम् ।
हिमस्य अत्ययः अतिहिमम् ।
Although we had mention of तत्पुरुष and कर्मधारय in the context of बाह्योद्यानस्थितः we should learn the तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय and द्विगु better, understanding also their sub-types.
Sub-types of तत्पुरुष are detailed as -
तत्राष्टधा तत्पुरुषक्रमः ।
प्रथमातत्पुरुषो द्वितीयातत्पुरुषस्तृतीयातत्पुरुषश्चतुर्थीतत्पुरुषः ।
पंचमीतत्पुरुषः षष्ठीतत्पुरुषः सप्तमीतत्पुरुषो नञ्-तत्पुरुषश्चेति ॥
In the above श्लोक, तत्पुरुष is said to be of eight types. It can however be noted that names of first seven have names of विभक्ति-s. In doing विग्रह of बाह्योद्यानस्थितः as बाह्योद्याने स्थितः we used सप्तमी विभक्ति of बाह्योद्यान. And the type of समास was noted as सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष. We had examples also of तृतीया-तत्पुरुष and also of नञ्-तत्पुरुष.
Starting with प्रथमातत्पुरुष, what needs some clarification and explanation is the difference between प्रथमातत्पुरुष and कर्मधारय. As can be seen, in the विग्रह of बाह्योद्यानम् = बाह्यं उद्यानम्, both बाह्यम् and उद्यानम् are in प्रथमा विभक्ति. If so, why can कर्मधारय be not considered to be प्रथमातत्पुरुष ?
To understand the difference, it would be better to take an example of प्रथमातत्पुरुष. In a compound word, say, पुनर्जन्म the grammatical characteristic of the पूर्वपद पुनः is not adjectival. Grammatically पुनः is an indeclinable. The meaning of पुनर्जन्म (= rebirth) is not adverbial or अव्ययीभाव. Grammarians thought it fit to treat such compound words as प्रथमातत्पुरुष, maybe, because it satisfies the qualification उत्तरपदार्थप्रधानस्तत्पुरुषः. Here उत्तरपद is जन्म and it is obviously प्रधान.
However, compound words of प्रथमातत्पुरुष can have the पद having प्रधान principal meaning as पूर्वपद. For example, in a compound word such as भूतपूर्वम्, the component word having प्रधान principal meaning is भूत. विग्रह of भूतपूर्वम् is पूर्वम् भूतम्. Here also the पद पूर्वम् is grammatically an indeclinable. The meaning of भूतपूर्वम् (= what happened sometime back) is not adverbial or अव्ययीभाव.
Mention of भूतपूर्वम् brings to mind a word in गीता – अदृष्टपूर्वं .. हृषितोस्मि दृष्ट्वा (11-45). This word अदृष्टपूर्वम् has three components – अ, दृष्ट, पूर्वम्. The sequential विग्रह would be -
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न दृष्टम् इति अदृष्टम् (नञ्-तत्पुरुषः)
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पूर्वं अदृष्टम् इति अदृष्टपूर्वम् (प्रथमा-तत्पुरुषः)
Typically one can see that in compound words of प्रथमातत्पुरुष type, one component is an indeclinable, though the meaning of the word is not adverbial or अव्ययीभाव. And in the विग्रह, the पद having प्रधान principal meaning, has its meaning as of प्रथमा विभक्ति. That makes the compound word to be of प्रथमातत्पुरुष type.
Other types of तत्पुरुष समास, with विग्रह requiring पूर्वपद to be detailed by its विभक्तिरूप, are quite straightforward.
There is one more type of तत्पुरुष, the उपपद-तत्पुरुष which is missed out. This should be the ninth type of तत्पुरुष समास.
उपपद-तत्पुरुष is an interesting type of तत्पुरुष समास. As the name suggests, one पद is not a complete पद. But on deciphering meaning, it seems as good as a complete पद. Because it is like पद, but is not a complete पद, it is called as उपपद.
Some simple examples are अण्डज, पयोद, खग.
The उपपद-s here are ज in अण्डज, द in पयोद, ग in खग.
उपपद-s are like suffixes and hence are in उत्तरपद position. For the समास to be called as तत्पुरुष, उत्तरपद should be प्रधान. How can an उपपद be प्रधान ? How is it then, that the समास is called as a type of तत्पुरुष ? As was explained about भूतपूर्वम् example of प्रथमातत्पुरुष, I would say that उत्तरपद-प्रधान is not a very rigid definition of तत्पुरुष. Rather, a समास is of तत्पुरुष class, if it is not of any other class ! In समासचक्रम् also, there is the quote शेषस्तत्पुरुषः स्मृतः !!
Although उपपद-s are like suffixes, they are not प्रत्यय-s. They are specific abbreviations for specific meanings.
For example,
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विग्रह of अण्डजः is अण्डे जायते इति अण्डजः So in अण्डज, ज stands for जायते.
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Likewise विग्रह of पयोद is पयः ददाति इति पयोदः. So in पयोद, द stands for ददाति.
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विग्रह of खग is खे गच्छति इति खगः So ग in खगः stands for गच्छति.
As can be seen most उपपद-s stand for some verb. And in the विग्रह of उपपद-तत्पुरुष समास-s, the पूर्वपद is detailed by its विभक्तिरूप. By that token, the उपपद, which is in उत्तरपद position, connotes a meaning of a verb and can be considered to be the principal meaning. By such consideration, उपपद-तत्पुरुष seems to satisfy the premise, that in तत्पुरुष समास-s, उत्तरपद should be प्रधान.
Actually components of a समास are either -
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उपसर्ग – प्रति as in प्रतिदिनम्, स as in साश्चर्यम्, अ as in अदृष्टम्
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नाम – अण्डम्, पयस्, खम्,
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अव्यय – पुनः as in पुनर्जन्म, पूर्वम् as in भूतपूर्वम्
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उपपद – ज as in अण्डजम्, ग as in खगः,
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विशेषणम् – भूत as in भूतपूर्वम्, बाह्य as in बाह्योद्यानम्
The component of a समास is never a verb धातु.
The resultant compound word is often either a noun नाम or adjective विशेषणम् or a word with अव्ययीभाव (not exactly an अव्यय but sounding the sense of an अव्यय). So, the resultant compound word can decline taking up विभक्तिप्रत्यय-s.
In the line “द्विगुकर्मधारयौ तत्पुरुषभेदौ” कर्मधारय and द्विगु are mentioned as variations of तत्पुरुष. But कर्मधारय has its own seven sub-types. We shall discuss कर्मधारय and द्विगु in the next lesson.
शुभं भवतु !
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