Verse 3.14.607

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.607:

राजाश्वादिश्च विषयः स्यादन्यो वेत्यनिश्चितम् ।
तेन छस्य विधानात् प्राग् व्यपदेशो न विद्यते ॥ ६०७ ॥

rājāśvādiśca viṣayaḥ syādanyo vetyaniścitam |
tena chasya vidhānāt prāg vyapadeśo na vidyate || 607 ||

607. Whether a compound like rājāśva is within the scope of cha or some other is not clear. Therefore, before the suffix cha is taught, there is nothing which bears the name (chaviṣaya).

Commentary

[If tad refers to the suffix cha, it is not clear which compound would be considered to be chaviṣaya, so that the suffix may be added to it. If a compound becomes chaviṣaya by merely becoming the stem for adding cha, then any compound would become so and there would be no point in teaching cha, after a compound which is chaviṣaya. So one has to understand that the word tad refers to something else than cha. Tadviṣayāt cannot mean chaviṣayāt merely because cha is the main thing here as it is taught by the sūtra. If tad cannot refer to the main tiling, one must take it as referring to what is only secondary, in this case, the meaning of cha, that is the meaning of iva. But how can the prakṛti of the suffix cha be the viṣaya of the meaning of the suffix? This is possible only by postulating two functions for the meaning of iva. One function is to qualify the meaning of the prakṛti and the other function is to be the meaning of the suffix. The sūtra would then mean that the suffix cha having the meaning of iva is added to a compound formed in the sense of iva. But it might be said: if the compound is already qualified by the meaning of iva, how can the suffix having the meaning of iva be added to it? It cannot be added merely because there is a rule to that effect, because, then, it can be added to a compound like śastrīsyāmā which also involves the meaning of iva.]