prAk kaDArAt samAsaH ONPANINI 21003
Up to kaDAra, compound.mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 162

headline. The next rules, down to 22038 kaDArAHka, explain what compounds are allowed.

Roughly explained, a compound noun is a noun made by joining two nouns.

Examples in English --

The noun bluegrass means a kind of music. It is made from joining two words, blue and grass, so it's a compound.

The noun coralsnake means a sort of snake. This has a bit more logic than the bluegrass thing, that has hardly anything to do with grass and can't be painted blue.

Then the noun white-eye means a sort of bird. This has more logic than the above two, because these guys have a white circle around each eye.

Examples in Sanskrit --

kRSNazakuniH is a compound of two words, kRSNas and zakunis, and means a certain kind of bird. Not the blackbird (Turdus merula and other species), of course, but the Indian crow, also called kAka (Corvus culminatus and other species).

kRSNazH zakuniH however are two separated words, which mean any black bird.

sarvabhUtAni is a compound of sarvANi and bhUtAni, and mean "all creatures".

You may also say sarvANibhUtAni, which is not a compound, but two words, which also mean "all creatures".

The rules below explain which pairs of nouns may be joined into a compound, and how the meaning of the compound will be related to the meaning of the words. If you are planning to use only compounds that are already listed in whatever Sanskrit dictionaries you have acess to, you have little use for those rules. However, if you have a good grasp of the rules, they will allow you to figure out that some compounds not in your dictionary are kosher, and that some of the compounds in the dictionary suck.

KAZIKA kaDAra-saMzabdanAt prAg yAnita Urdhvam anukramiSyAmaH, te samAsa-saMjJA veditavyAH. vakSyati yathA 'sAdRzye ( 21007 ). yathA vRddhaM brAhmaNAnAmantrayasva. prAgvacanaM saMjJAsamAvezArtham. samAsapradezAH tRtIyAsamAse ( 11030 ) ity evam AdayaH.

avyayIbhAvaH ONPANINI 21005
unchanging compounds are made by the next rules.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 163

headline. The words built by following rules, down to 21020, are called avyayIbhAva "compounds turned into unchanging".

They are considered unchanging and not nouns, even though they have an am at the end, because they never take any other sup.

They are built by compounding a prAdi before a noun, making the compound neuter, and adding am, wich will be affected by svamorna or atom.

Examples --

prati "against, traversely" + loman- "hair" + su →svamorna pratiloman →nalopaHprA pratiloma "against the grain"

anuloma "along the grain"

anu + malinI + tIra + am →atom anumAlinItIram "along the bank of the mAlinI"

They are used as adverbs of manner, as in --

zRNu vaptar mama giramM mA kSuraH pratiloma mAm "barber, pay heed to my word -- don't shave me against the grain"

KAZIKA avyayIbhAvaH ity adhikAro veditavyaH. yAn ita Urdhvam anukramiSyAmaH, avyayIbhAva-saMjJA aste veditavyAH. vakSyati yathA 'sAdRzye ( 21007 ). yathA-vRddhaM brAhmaNAn Amantrayasva. anvartha-saMjJA ceyaM mahatI pUrva-pad%Artha-prAdhAnyam avyayIbhAvasya darzayati. avyayIbhAva-pradezAH avyayIbhAvaz ca ( 24018 ) ity evam AdayaH.

tatpuruSaH ONPANINI 21022
tatpuruSa start here.mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 164

headline. Compounds described from this point on, down to 22023 zeSobahuvrIhiH exclusive, are called tatpuruSa compounds.

Roughly explained, a tatpuruSa is a compound that means the same thing as its second half.

For instance, a policeman is a man, and a firefighter is a fighter, so these words are tatpuruSa compounds. Yet, Blackbeard was not a beard, but a pirate, so the compound "Blackbeard" is not a tatpuruSa (it is a longhorn, actually).

Back to types of compounds .

taddhit%Arth%ottarapada-samAhAre ca ONPANINI 21051
( numeral and direction may compound) with the meaning of a taddhita, when former, and when meaning a group.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 168

(1) example with the meaning of a taddhita.

The taddhita aN may mean "prepared in" when talking about grains --

yavAH kumbhe saMskRtAH →saMskRtaMbhakSAH yavAH kaumbhAH "barleygrains prepared in a pot"

This kaumbha- is kumbha plus aN --

kumbha "pot" + aN →taddhiteSva kaumbha + a →yasyetica kaumbha- "related to pots"

Therefore, according to this rule, we may also use the numeral paJca as a former to mean "prepared in", when talking about grains, and this time kumbha- gets no aN --

yavAH paJcasu kumbheSu saMskRtAH paJca + kumbha + jas →dvigurekavacanam paJcakumbha + su → paJcakumbhas "(barleygrains) prepared in five pots"

Rule dvigurekavacanam worked here because paJcakumbhAH is a dvigu by rule saGkhyApUrvodviguH below.

(2) Example when the new compound will be the former of another compound.

Ordinarily cannot compound together pUrvA zAlA "the Eastern Hall". But we can do that if the new compound will be the former of another compound , as in --

asmai pUrvA zAlA priyA "he likes the Eastern hall" pUrvazAlA-priyaH "one that likes the Eastern hall"

asmai paJca nAvaH priyAH "he likes five ships" paJca + nau- + priya + su →nAvodvigoH paJca + nau + Tac + priya + su →ecoya paJcanAva-priyaH "one that likes five ships"

Rule nAvodvigoH worked here because paJcanau- is a dvigu by rule saGkhyApUrvodviguH below.

(3) Examples meaning a group --

paJca pUlAsH samAhRtAH "five bundles taken together" paJca + pUla- →dvigoH paJcapUlI- @f "a group of five bundles"

trINy ahAni samAhRtAni trINi + ahan- tryaha- @m "a group of three days"

KAZIKA dik-saGkhye ityanuvartate. taddhitArthe viSaye uttarapade ca parataH samAhAre ca abhidheye diksaGkhye samAnAdhikaraNena supA saha samasyete, tatpuruSazca samAso bhavati. taddhitArthe tAvat pUrvasyAM zAlAyAM bhavaH, dik-pUrva-padAd asaMjJAyAM JaH 42107, paurvazAlaH. AparazAlaH. uttarapade pUrvazAlApriyaH. aparazAlApriyaH. samAhAre dikzabdo na sambhavati. saGkhyA taddhitArthe pAJcanApitiH. paJcakapAlaH. uttarapade paJcagavadhanaH. dazagavadhanaH. samAhAre paJcapUlI. dazapUlI. paJcakumAri. dazakumAri. sa napuMsakam 24017 iti napuMsaka-tvam. hrasvo napuMsake prAtipadikasya 12047 iti hrasvatvam.

saGkhyA-pUrvo dviguH ONPANINI 21052
And if the former is a numeral they are dvigu too.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 169

The compounds made by the previous rule are all tatpuruSa. If the first half is a numeral, they are dvigu too.

Example: "dvigu-", if it means "cowpair, a group of two cows", is a tatpuruSa, and, by this rule, it is also a dvigu compound. But if it means "(a guy) that has two cows" then it is not a tatpuruSa, and not a dvigu.

The dvigu are singular, by dvigurekavacanam.

naJ ONPANINI 22006
naJ (makes tatpuruSa compounds optionally)mmmmmmmmm ^ M+ C+ 170

The na(J) means na ("not", "there is no"), is an unchanging, and is used only as a former.

The J label of naJ just tells it apart from other na. The n is not a label, but is always deleted by naloponaJaH. After the remaining a, rule tasmAnnuDaci will sometimes add n.

Each compound of naJ + X may mean either "that has no X" --

a-rakSasaM vanam "the forest is demon-free"

a-brAhmaNaH puram "there are no brahmins in the city"

or "that is not X" --

tad an-Rtam "that's not true"

a-brAhmaNasH saH "he's not a brahmin"

Some may mean "lack of X, X-lessness" or "opposite of X" --

a-jJAnam "lack of knowledge, ignorance"

a-dharmaH "lack of righteousness, evil"

This naJ looks like a before consonants, but like an before vowels --

na + Rtam "it's not true" na(J) + Rtam →naloponaJaH a + Rtam →tasmAnnuDaci a + nRtam → anRtam "it's untrue, it's a lie"

KAZIKA naJ samarthena subantena saha samasyate, tatpuruSazca samAso bhavati. na brAhmaNaH abrAhmaNaH. avRSalaH.

SaSThI ONPANINI 22008
sixth (compounds optionally before the noun it links to)mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 171

And the compound is tatpuruSa.

Usually, when a first, third, etc links to a noun, in cases like zuklazH zakuniH "white bird" or lavaNena mizritam "mixed with salt", we can only turn the two words into a compound if a rule allows it. The opposite is the case for the words that carry sixth. They can always compound optionally with the noun they go with. Unless, of course, one of the exceptions below says they cannot.

Examples --

tasya "his" + puruSaH "man" tasyapuruSaH →supodhA tad- + puruSaH →kharica tatpuruSaH "his man"

rajJas + puruSaH "man of the king, policeman" rAjJaspuruSaH rAjapuruSaH "man of the king, policeman"

See exception nanirdhAraNe below.

KAZIKA SaSThy-antaM subantaM samarthena subantena saha samasyate, tatpuruSazca samAso bhavati. rAjJaH puruSaH rAjapuruSaH. brAhmaNakambalaH. kRdyogA ca SaSThI samasyata iti vaktavyam. idhmaprabrazcanaH. palAzazAtanaH. kim artham idam ucyate? pratipadavidhAnA ca SaSThI na samasyate iti vakSyati, tasyAyaM purastAdapakarSaH.

na nirdhAraNe ONPANINI 22010
( sixth) doesn't (compound) when meaning specification.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 172 km

Exception to SaSThI above. The sixth that means "among" (see 23041) won't compound.

So, we cannot turn --

kRSNA gavAM sampanna-kSIra-tamA "the German Black Pied has the highest milk production among cow breeds"

into kRSNA go-sampannakSIratamA.

Even though this rule does not say so, a seventh that means specification (as in kRSNA goSu sampanna-kSIra-tamA) can't compound either.

KAZIKA pUrveNa samAse prApte pratiSedha Arabhyate. nirdhArane yA SaSThI sA na samasyate. jAtiguNakriyAbhiH samudAyAdekadezasya pRthakkaraNaM nirdhAranam. kSatriyo manuSyANAm zUratamaH. kRSNA gavAM sampannakSIratamA. dhavann adhvagAnAM zIghratamaH. pratipada-vidhAnA ca SaSThI na samasyate iti vaktavyam. sarpiSo jJAnam. madhuno jJAnam.

kartari ca ONPANINI 22016
( Sixth won't compound before a tRc, or a Nvul) that means a doer.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 173 km

Exception to SaSThI.

So, these pairs won't form compounds --

lokAnAmM bhettA "destroyer of worlds"

kumbhAnAGM kartA "maker of pots"

kumbhAnAGM kArakaH "maker of pots"

vajrasya bhartA "bearer of the Aegis"

Of course, words that mean the doer of their root but are formed with other kRt affixes may compound after a sixth just fine. For instance, the nounbase kRt- "maker" (made from kR + kvip) must compulsorily compound with its object --

kumbhAnAGM kRt- "maker of pots" → kumbhakRt- "potmaker"

kAlo 'smi loka-kSaya-kRt "I am Death, the Destroyer of Worlds"

KAZIKA kartari ca yau tRj-akau tAbhyAM saha SaSThI na samasyate. sAmarthyAdakasya vizeSaNArthaM kartR-grahaNam, itaratra vyabhicArAbhAvAt. apAM sraSTA. purAM bhettA. vajrasya bhartA. nanu ca bhartRzabdo hy ayaM yAjakAdiSu paThyate? sambandhi-zabdasya patiparyAyasya tatra grahanam. akaH khalvapi odanasya bhojakaH. saktUnAM pAyakaH.

zeSo bahuvrIhiH ONPANINI 22023
The rest are longhorns.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 174 km

headline. The compounds described by the next five rules ( anekamanyapadArthe to tenasaheti) are called longhorn compounds.

Actually, when we say " longhorn", we usually mean a compound made by anekamanyapadArthe. The compounds described by the next four rules are not properly longhorns, but they behave in grammar as if they were, so they are subject to rules such as bahuvrIhau prakRtyA pUrva-padam.

KAZIKA upayukatAd anyaH zeSaH. SezaH samAso bahuvrIhisaMjJo bhavati. kaz ca zeSaH samAso noktaH. vakSyati anekam anyapadArthe citraguH. zabalaguH. kRSNottarAsaGgaH. zeSaH iti kim? unmattagaGgam. lohitagaGgam. bahuvrIhipradezAH. na bahuvrIhAv ity evam AdayaH.

anekam anya-pad%Arthe ONPANINI 22024
Two or more nouns ( compounded) to mean something else (make a longhorn).mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 175 km

This may be reworded as:

"You may join several nouns to make a compound adjective."

Those are called longhorn compounds.

Examples of compounding two nouns --

dIrghe zRGge yasya "that has two long horns" → dIrghazRGa- "long-horned"

dIrghaM zRGgaM yasya "that has a long horn" → dIrghazRGa- "long-horned"

dIrghANi zRGgANi yasya "that has many long horns" → dIrghazRGa- "long-horned"

yasya gAvAz citrAH "that owns spotted cows" → citrago- →gostri citragu-

yasmin gAvAz citrAH "that there are spotted cows in it" → citrago- →gostri citragu-

zastraM yasya pANau "in whose hand there is a weapon" → zastrapANi- "weapon-in-hand"

zirAMsi yasya trINi "that has three heads" → triziras- "three-headed, tricephalous"

Example of compounding three nouns --

ajinam gajasya vAso yasya "whose garment is elephant skin" → gajAjinavAsas- "elephant-skin-dressed (a name of ziva-)"

The wording of this rule is far too wide. For the compounding to be allowed, the two nouns must either have the same referent, as in dIrghAni zRGgANi, or be a first and a sixth, as in pANau zastram.

KAZIKA anekaM subantam anyapadArthe vartamAnaM supA saha samasyate, bahuvrIhizca samAso bhavati. prathamArtham ekaM varjayitvA sarveSu vibhakty-artheSu bahuvrIhir bhavati. prAptam udakaM yaM grAmaM prAptodako grAmaH. UDha-ratho 'naDvAn. upagRta-pazU rudraH. udghRtaudanA sthAlI. citragur devadattaH. vIra-puruSako grAmaH. prathamArthe tu na bhavati. vRSTe deve gataH. anekagrahanaM kim? bahUnAm api yathA syAt, susUkSmajaTakezena sugajAjinavAsasA. samantazitirandhreNa dvayor vRttau na sidhyati. bahuvrIhiH samAnAdhikaraNAnam iti vaktavyam. vyadhikaraNAnAM mA bhUt, paJcabhir bhuktamasya.avyayAnAM ca bahuvrIhir vaktavyaH. uccair-mukhaH. nIcair-mukhaH. saptamy upamAna-pUrva-padasya uttara-pada-lopaz ca vaktavyaH. kaNThe sthitaH kAlo 'sya kaNThekalaH. urasilomA. uSTrasya mukham iva mukhaM yasya sa uSTramukhaH. kharamukhaH. samudAyavikAraSaSThyAzca bahuvrIhiruttarapadalopazca iti vaktavyam. kezAnAM saGghAtaH kezasaGghAtaH, kezasaGghAtaH cUDA 'sya kezacUDaH. suvarNasya vikAro 'laGkAro 'sya suvarNAlaGkAraH. prAdibhyo dhatujasya uttarapadasya lopazca vA bahuvrIhir vaktavyaH. prapatitaM parNamasya praparNaH, prapatitaparNaH. pratitaM palAzamasya prapalAzaH, prapatitapalAzaH. naJo 'sty arthAnAM bahuvrIhir vAc%ottarapada-lopaz ca vaktavyaH. AvidyamAnaH putro yasya aputraH, avidyamAnaputraH. abhAryaH, avidyamAnabhAryaH. sub-adhikAre 'stikSIrAdInAM bahuvrIhir vaktavyaH. asti-kSIrA brAhmaNI. asty-Adayo nipAtAH.

All of my students take a long time to understand that compounds like dIrghazRGgas do not mean "a long horn", but "(something) that has long horns". Similarly, the idea that Sanskrit for "a long horn" must be dIrghaM zRGgam, and not dIrghazRGgam, takes some time to sink in. My advice to them is: "if you mean a head that is painted red, don't say a redhead".

tena sah%eti tulya-yoge ONPANINI 22028
"With him", if the action is shared.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 177

Adding the trickle, and taking samarthAnA into account, this rule means --

"The form saha- may be compounded before a third-ender that does the same action as the doer of the sentence, and that compound is a longhorn."

Example. If the priest leaves, and his sons leave too, and they all leave together, then they all share the same action. In such a situation we may say --

gacchati vipraH putraisH saha "the priest leaves with (his) sons"

Here, putrais is a third-ender, and took bhis because of saha. So, this rule allows us to replace putrais saha with a compound of saha + putrais. The compound nounbase will be sahaputra-, and it will take the gender, case and number of the priest --

gacchati viprasH sahaputraH "the priest leaves with (his) sons"

Notice that because we erased the bhis of putrais and added the su of the priest, we always end up saying sahaputras in the singular, no matter if we started with putrais, putrAbhyAm or putreNa.

Why does pANini say that sahaputra- is a longhorn? Being a longhorn allows vopa to work, so we may also say --

gacchati viprasH saputraH "the priest leaves with (his) sons"

See also sa-compound confusion .

KAZIKA saha ity etac chAbda-rUpaM tulya-yoge vartamAnaM tena iti tRtIyA-'ntena saha samasyate, bahuvrIhiz ca samAso bhavati. saha putreNAgataH saputraH. sacchAtraH. sakarmakaraH. tulyayoge iti kim? sahaiva dazabhiH putrair bhAraM vahati gardabhI. vidyamAtair eva dazabhiH putrair bhAraM vahati ity arthaH. kathaM sakarmakaH, salomakaH, sapakSakaH iti? na hy atra tulyayogo gamyate. kiM tarhi? vidyamAnatA. prAyikaM tulyayoge iti vizeSanam. anyatrApi samAso dRzyate.

c/Arthe dvaMdvaH ONPANINI 22029
dvandva compounds mean "and".mmmmmmmmm ^ M+ C+ 178

We may replace any number of nouns joined by "and" with a compound.

Example. You may replace optionally --

azvo gajaz ca "horse and elephant" with azva-gajau "horse and elephant"

mUSikAnAnM narANAJM ca "of mice and men" with mUSika-narANAm "of mice and men"

The compound has the same case as all the nouns, the same gender as the last one, and its number is the sum of the numbers --

sItArAmau ramete

rAmasIte ramete

There are many rules about the order of parts inside dvandva compounds, but most of them should not be taken seriously, like alpActaram.

KAZIKA anekam iti vartate. anekaM subantaM c' .Arthe vartamAnam samasyate, dvandva-saMjJaz ca samAso bhavati. samuccayAnvAcayetaretara-yoga-samAhArAzca arthAH. tatra samuccayAnvAcayayor asAmarthyAt nAsti samAsaH. itaretarayoge samAhAre ca samAso vidhIyate. plakSaz ca nyagrodhaz ca plakSa-nyagrodhau. dhavaz ca khadiraz ca palAzaz ca dhava-khadira-palAzAH. vAk ca tvak ca vAk-tvacam. vAgdRSadam. dvandvapradezAH dvandve ca 11031 ity evam AdayaH.

alpActaram ONPANINI 22034
The one with the less vowels (goes first in a dvandva).mmmmmmmmm ^ M+ C+ 179

In a dvandva, place the word with less vowels first --

plakSa;nyagrodhau "the plakSa and the nyagrodha trees"

This rule is not compulsory. Otherwise, rule lakSaNa-hetvoH kriyAyAH would have been worded as hetu-lakSaNayoH kriyAyAH.

Numbers are sorted numerically --

navati-zatam "between ninety and a hundred"

Brothers are sorted from eldest to youngest --

yudhiSThirArjunau

KAZIKA dvandve iti vartate. alpActaraM zabda-rUpaM dvandve samAse pUrvaM prayoktavyam. plakSaz ca nyagrodhaz ca plakSa-nyagrodhau. dhavakhadirapalAzAH. bahuSv aniyamaH zaGkha-dundubhi-vINAH, vINA-zaGkha-dundubhayaH. Rtu-nakStrANAm AnupUrvyeNa samAnakSarAnAM pUrva-nipAto vaktavyaH. hemanta-zizira-vasantAH. citrAsvAtI. kRttikArohiNyau. samAnAkSarANAm iti kim? grISma-vasantau. laghvakSaraM pUrvaM nipatati iti vaktavyam. kuzakAzam. zarazAdam. abhyarhitaM ca pUrvaM nipatati iti vaktavyam. mAtApitarau. zraddhamedhe. dIkSA-tapasI. varNAnAm AnupUrvyeNa pUrva-nipAtaH. brAhmaNa-kSatriya-viT-zUdrAH. samAnAkSarANAm ity atra na asti. bhrAtuz ca jyAyasaH pUrva-nipAto vaktavyaH. yudhiSThir%Arjunau. saGkhyAyA alpIyasyAH pUrva-nipAto vaktavyaH. dvi-trAH. tri-caturAH. navati-zatam.

kaDArAH karmadhAraye ONPANINI 22038
Optionally swap karmadhAraya compounds of kaDAra- etc.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 180

So, these two compounds are good --

kaDAra-jaiminiH "jaimini the servant"

jaimini-kaDAraH "the servant jaimini"

KAZIKA gunazabdAnAM vizeSanatvAt pUrvanipAte prApte vikalpa ucyate. kaDArAdayaH karmadhAraye samAse vA pUrvaM. prayoktavyAH. kaDArajaiminiH, jaiminikaDAraH. kaDAra. guDula. kANa. khaJja. kuNTha. khaJjara. khalati. gaura. vRddha. bhikSuka. piGgala. tanu. vaTara. karmadharaye iti kim? kaDArapuruSo grAmaH. iti zrIjayAdityaviracitAyAM kAzikAyAM vRttau dvitIyAdhyAyasya dvitIya pAdaH. dvitIyAdhyAyasya tRtIyaH pAdaH