Sanskrit Grammar: Sandhi

So far we have looked at combinations of what are called śuddha (शुद्ध) vowels - अ, आ, इ, इ, उ, ऊ.  Those combinations have resulted in what are called saṃyukta (संयुक्त) vowels: e (ए) and o (ओ). There are two more saṃyukta (संयुक्त) vowels that we need to cover - ai (ऐ) and au (औ ) 

If an a (अ ) or (आ) meet an e (ए), we get an ai (ऐ), and if they meet an o (ओ) we get an  au (औ ):

मम + एषः = ममैषः

तथा + एव = तथैव 

Similarly देव + ऐश्वरम् = देवैश्वरम्

महा + ऐरावतः = महैरावतः

जल + ओघः = जलौघः

अत्र + ओष्ठौ = अत्रौष्ठौ
महा + औषधम् = महौषधम्

महा + ओदनम् = महौदनम्

विद्या + औत्सुक्यम् = विद्यौत्सुक्यम्

Important: when you read a verse or sentence, if you see an ऐ or and औ, in the middle of a long 'word' and it seems like sandhi ask yourself what the combinations might be.

If a word ends in इ or ई and it is followed by ANY other vowel, the इ/ ई   becomes a य् and combines with the vowel of the next word. In the word iti, we know that ति= त्+ इ.  The इ becomes a य् and takes the vowel at the beginning of the next word:

य् +अ = य

य् +उ  = यु

य् + ऊ = यू

य् + ए = ये

य् + ऐ = यै

Meanwhile the preceding consonant in the first word cannot be lost - it becomes a halant consonant e.g. in  इति, all that will remain is  इत् because the  इ has been removed from it: ति - इ = त्. Some examples:

इति + आदि = इत्यादि 

इति + उवाच = इत्युवाच

महति + एषणा = महत्येषणा

देवी + ऐक्यम् = देव्यैक्यम्

सरस्वती + औत्सुक्यम् = सरस्वत्यौत्सुक्यम्

In the same manner, if an उ or ऊ are followed by ANY other vowel it comes a व्

मधु + अस्ति = मध्वस्ति

गुरु + आदेश = गुर्वादेश

रिपु + ईशः = रिप्वीषः

भानु _ ओः = भान्वोः

वधू  + आज्ञा = वध्वाग्या

If  अ or आ are followed by a ऋ both are replaced by an अर्:

अत्र + ऋतुः = अत्रर्तुः

यदा + ऋषभः = यदर्षभः

The governing principle is sandhi is like a chemical equation - elements that you start with can change, but NO element can be lost. By breaking the word down to its constituent elements, we see:

अत्र = अ + त् + र् + (अ + ऋ= अर्) + तुः 

The final 'a' of atra is meeting the  ऋ of ऋतुः and becoming an  अर्. What is left of the second word is तुः  so it becomes अ + त् + र् + अर् + तुः = अत्र + अर् +  तुः = अत्रर्तुः

Similarly, in यदा + ऋषभः = यदर्षभः  I'm only going to fully disect the sandhi portion. Of course you could break it down completely (य् + अ etc) but that is not relevant to the sandhi.

य + द् + आ + ऋ + ष + भः 

आ + ऋ = अर्

= य+द् + अर् + ष + भः

= यदर्षभः

Finally on  ऋ , If a ऋ is followed by any vowel, it becomes र्

धातृ + अंशः = धात्रंशः

Process: धात् + ऋ ---> र्

धा + त् + र् = धात्र  

And the left over is न्शः

Likewise

पितृ + ओष्ठः = पित्रोष्ठः

Two very important vowel sandhis are left. What happens when ए, ऐ, ओ or औ are followed by a vowel? 

When ए is followed by अ, the ए  remains, but the अ gets elided and an avagraha remains:
रमे अथ becomes रमे ऽथ

Likewise, when ओ is followed by अ, the ओ  remains, but the अ gets elided and an avagraha remains:

गुरो अस्ति becomes गुरो ऽस्ति 

But if ए is followed by ANY other vowel other than an अ, it is transformed into an अ while the following vowel remains unchanged:

गजे उपविश  becomes गज उपविश

While in the case of or ओ it becomes an अव् and combines with the following vowel:
विष्णो इदानीम् becomes विष्णविदानीम्
In the case of ऐ followed by ANY vowel, it becomes an आ and the following vowel remains unchanged:
तस्मै अदात् becomes तस्मा अदात् 
In the case of औ it becomes आव् and combines with the next vowel:

भक्तौ इच्छति becomes भक्ताविच्छति

(You must have noticed already that the ओ becomes an अव् and the औ becomes आव्)

Here ends part 2 of Sandhi. In the next Twitter session on October 13th we will do consonant sandhi.