dhātu
Our prakriyā begins with a dhātu (“element,” “verb root”). If we think of the Aṣṭādhyāyī as a factory that makes metal sculptures, then dhātus are like the ores and metals that enter the factory. We then apply various procedures to convert the dhātu into the shape we desire.
Here is how dhātus are defined:
भूवादयो धातवः। १.३.१
bhūvādayo dhātavaḥ (1.3.1)
bhū-ādayaḥ dhātavaḥ
The items bhū, etc. [are called] dhātu.
The word bhūvādayaḥ refers to a list of items starting with bhū. But where do we find that list?
The Dhātupāṭha
The Dhātupāṭha is one of the secondary texts that we use with the Aṣṭādhyāyī. It is a list of roughly 2000 different dhātus, and it also contains a small number of extra rules that describe these dhātus.
Each dhātu is listed with its basic meaning:
भू सत्तायाम्। १.१
bhū sattāyām (1.1)
bhū in the sense of existing
This is the first entry we've seen from the Dhātupāṭha, so let's dwell
on it for a moment. First is the dhātu (bhū). Next is its meaning,
given as an abstract noun (sattā) in the seventh case. The 1.1 means
that this is the first root of the first gaṇa (“collection”) of the
text. There are ten gaṇas in all, and each corresponds to a different class
of Sanskrit verb.
You can click on the 1.1 to see this dhātu's entry on ashtadhyayi.com. There, you can see many of the forms that derive from this dhātu, and you can click on a form to view a computer-generated prakriyā.
The dhātus in the Dhātupāṭha are provided in their upadeśa forms. bhū above is also an upadeśa, and it looks quite simple. But other upadeśas might seem especially strange:
डुकृञ् करणे। ८.१०
ḍukṛñ karaṇe (8.10)
kṛ in the sense of doingषहँ मर्षणे। १.१८८
ṣaha̐ marṣaṇe (1.188)
sah in the sense of enduringणीञ् प्रापणे। १.१०४९
ṇīñ prāpaṇe (1.1049)
nī in the sense of obtaining or leadingवदिँ अभिवादनस्तुत्योः। १.११
vadi̐ abhivādanastutyoḥ (1.11)
vand in the sense of greeting or praising
An upadeśa may look strange, but it has a deliberate design and conveys plenty of useful information. In the sections below, we will convert these upadeśas into their more recognizable forms. Along the way, we will learn more about why these upadeśas have the strange forms they do.
it sounds
Do you remember where we first saw the word upadeśa? It was a part of rule 1.3.2 (upadeśe'janunāsika it), which defines which sounds are it and which are not. By applying the rules from this section, we can remove the its from the dhātus above and create more recognizable forms:
Although it is incomplete, this is our first look at a prakriyā. When we
write a prakriyā, the left side shows the result and the right side shows
which rules we applied to get that result. As usual, you can click on the
numbers for some rule to see some information about that rule on ashtadhyayi.com.
The root kṛ has the it sounds ḍu and ñ. In other words, we can say that it is ḍvit (“having ḍu as an it”) and ñit. ḍvit roots are allowed to use the -tri nominal suffix, which is minor and rare. And ñit roots have a special function that we will study in our lesson on parasmaipada and ātmanepada endings.
Not all it letters have some special meaning. For example:
If a̐ were absent, then the last h of ṣah would become an it sound by 1.3.3 (halantyam). So we use a̐ to protect the root's last consonant sound.
As for ṇīñ, it is ñit just like kṛ:
and vadi̐ is idit (“having short i as an it”), which we will discuss further below:
Even after applying these rules, the roots ṣah, ṇī, and vad still seem strange. Let's apply some more rules to convert them to a more recognizable form.
satva and natva
We can handle ṣah and ṇī by using these two rules:
धात्वादेः षः सः। ६.१.६४
dhātvādeḥ ṣaḥ saḥ (6.1.64)
dhātu-ādeḥ ṣaḥ saḥ
The ṣ that begins a dhātu is replaced with s;णो नः। ६.१.६५
ṇo naḥ (6.1.65)
ṇaḥ naḥ
and likewise, ṇ with n.
The replacement of ṣ with s is sometimes called satva (“sa-ness”), and likewise for natva. We can cause satva for ṣah:
and natva for ṇī:
But why were these roots stated in such a strange way in the first place? To answer that question, let's return to a rule from the previous unit:
आदेशप्रत्यययोः। ८.३.५९
ādeśapratyayayoḥ (8.3.59)
ādeśa-pratyayayoḥ
[The non-word-final s that follows iṇ or ku̐ becomes a retroflex ṣa in samhitā] when it is of an ādeśa (substitution) or pratyaya (suffix) [even if separated by nu̐m, the visarjanīya, or a śar sound].
The ādeśa in this rule refers to the result of a rule like 6.1.64 (dhātvādeḥ ṣaḥ saḥ). If the first s of a dhātu was created by rule 6.1.64, then we can apply rule 8.3.59 to make changes like this:
वि सह् → विषह्
vi sah → viṣah
But several roots don't make this kind of change, even though they start with s. In order to distinguish which roots are which, Pāṇini thought of a clever way to concisely split the roots that start with s into two classes:
If a dhātu's first s is able to become ṣ, replace the s with ṣ in the upadeśa.
If a dhātu's first s is not able to become ṣ, do nothing.
With this split, some of these roots will be in scope for rule 8.3.59 and some of these roots won't. A similar line of thought applies for the change from ṇ to n.
nu̐m
Last but not least, here is how we handle idit roots:
इदितो नुं धातोः। ७.१.५८
idito nuṃ dhātoḥ (7.1.58)
it-itaḥ nu̐m dhātoḥ
Roots that are idit take nu̐m as a substitute.
nu̐m is stated as an upadeśa. Once we apply 1.3.2 (upadeśe'janunāsika it) and 1.3.3 (halantyam) to it, all that we are left with is n. u̐ has no special meaning here, but m does:
आद्यन्तौ टकितौ। १.१.४६
ādyantau ṭakitau (1.1.46)
ādi-antau ṭa-kitau
[Substitutes that are] ṭit or kit are placed before and after [the substitution], respectively.मिदचोऽन्त्यात् परः। १.१.४७
midaco'ntyāt paraḥ (1.1.47)
mit acaḥ antyāt paraḥ
[Substitutes that are] mit are placed after [the substitution's] last vowel.
What does rule 1.1.47 mean? It means that when the grammar asks us to replace a term with nu̐m, what we really do is insert an n after the term's last vowel. You can see this insertion in the prakriyā below. Note the use of rules 8.3.24 and 8.4.58, which are from the asiddha section of the Aṣṭādhyāyī:
- vadi̐
- vad1.3.2 upadeśe'janunāsika it
1.3.9 tasya lopaḥ - va nu̐m d7.1.58 idito nuṃ dhātoḥ
1.1.47 midaco'ntyātparaḥ - va n d1.3.2 upadeśe'janunāsika it
1.3.3 halantyam
1.3.9 tasya lopaḥ - va ṃ d8.3.24 naścāpadāntasya jhali
- va n d8.4.58 anusvārasya yayi parasavarṇaḥ
Why do we use nu̐m at all? Ultimately, it is for reasons similar to why we use ṣ and ṇ in our roots.
sanādyanta-dhātus
On the subject of dhātus, there is one more type of dhātu worth knowing about:
सनाद्यन्ता धातवः। ३.१.३२
sanādyantā dhātavaḥ (3.1.32)
san-ādi-antāḥ dhātavaḥ
Terms ending with [the suffixes] san etc. are [also] called dhātu.
This rule refers to various “derived” dhātus that we create by adding suffixes to the basic dhātus we discussed above. Specifically, the rule refers to various suffixes listed from rules 3.1.5 to rules 3.1.31. These suffixes include san, which usually creates verbs that express “wanting” to do something:
नी + सन् → निनीष → निनीषति
nī + san → ninīṣa → ninīṣati
He wants to lead.पा + सन् → पिपास → पिपासति
pā + san → pipāsa → pipāsati
He wants to drink.
and ṇic, which usually creates causal verbs:
नी + णिच् → नायि → नाययति
nī + ṇic → nāyi → nāyayati
He makes (someone) lead.
Once we add such suffixes, we can treat the result like any other root. That is why these results are called dhātu as well.
Review
In this lesson, we learned how to read roots in the Dhātupāṭha and convert a root's raw upadeśa form into a form we can more easily recognize and understand:
Now that we have our dhātu, it's time to start using it. In the next lesson, we will begin the process of verb derivation by adding a verb suffix to our root.