Visarga Sandhi

Visarga sandhi refers to the set of rules that describes how a word ending in -s or -r changes in front of other words.

-aḥ Sandhi

For a detailed description of the reason for the changes below, see the lesson on verbless sentences.

Second Letter

Combination

a

o '

other vowel

a —

voiced consonant

o —

c, ch

aś —

ṭ, ṭh

aṣ —

t, th

as —

other consonant

aḥ —

• गच्छतः अश्वौ → गच्छतः ऽश्वौ

  gacchataḥ aśvau → gacchato 'śvau

• नरः इच्छति → नर इच्छति

  naraḥ icchati → nara icchati

• नरः गच्छति → नरो गच्छति

  naraḥ gacchati → naro gacchati

• नरः यच्छति → नरो यच्छति

  naraḥ yacchati → naro yacchati

• नरः हसति → नरो हसति

  naraḥ hasati → naro hasati

• नरः चरति → नरश्चरति

  naraḥ carati → naraś carati

• नरः तिष्ठति → नरस्तिष्ठति

  naraḥ tiṣṭhati → naras tiṣṭhati

• नरः पृच्छति → नरः पृच्छति

  naraḥ pṛcchati → naraḥ pṛcchati

• नरः स्मरति → नरः स्मरति

  naraḥ smarati → naraḥ smarati

-āḥ Sandhi

For a detailed description of the reason for the changes below, see the lesson on verbless sentences.

Second Letter

Combination

all vowels

ā —

voiced consonants

ā —

c, ch

āś —

ṭ, ṭh

āṣ —

t, th

ās —

other consonants

āḥ —

• नराः गच्छन्ति → नरा गच्छन्ति

  narāḥ gacchanti → narā gacchanti

• नराः पृच्छन्ति → नराः पृच्छन्ति

  narāḥ pṛcchanti → narāḥ pṛcchanti

• नराः तिष्ठन्ति → नरास्तिष्ठन्ति

  narāḥ tiṣṭhanti → narās tiṣṭhanti

• नराः इच्छन्ति → नरा इच्छन्ति

  narāḥ icchanti → narā icchanti

Other -ḥ Sandhi

Second Letter

Combination

any voiced letter

—r —

c, ch

—ś —

ṭ, ṭh

—ṣ —

t, th

—s —

other consonant

—ḥ —

However, there is an exception. When the second letter is r-, the -ḥ disappears; the vowel in front of it, if it is i or u, becomes long. If the visarga originally came from the letter -r, then an a becomes long, too.

Irregular -ḥ sandhi: saḥ and esaḥ

This special rule apply to tad and etad in the masculine singular of case 1. They apply to no other words.

In front of a vowel, saḥ and eṣaḥ behave normally. In front of a consonant, saḥ becomes sa and eṣaḥ becomes eṣa.

• यः पश्यति सः पश्यति → यः पश्यति स पश्यति

  yaḥ paśyati saḥ paśyati → yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati

• सः कामी → स कामी

  saḥ kāmī → sa kāmī

• सः अहम् → सो ऽहम्

  saḥ aham → so 'ham

• सः गच्छति → स गच्छति

  saḥ gacchati → sa gacchati

• सः इच्छति → स इच्छति

  saḥ icchati → sa icchati

• एषः तूद्देशतः → एष तूद्देशतः

  eṣaḥ tūddeśataḥ → eṣa tūddeśataḥ