Avyaya in Grammar

Avyayas are the peculiar kind of words, whose form remains the same in all the genders, numbers and cases.

saduśaṃ triṣu liṅgeṣu sarvāsu ca vibhaktiṣu |
vacaneṣu ca sarveṣu yanna vyeti tadavyayam ||

The first definition given for Avyaya by Pāṇinī is svarādinipātamavyayam (1/1/37) The words svar (heaven) etc. and the particles (Nipāta) are called indeclinable or Avyaya.

The following verse shows an example for Avyaya.

sukarmaṇaḥ kṣmāvibudhāṃhavirdudhāstathārjunīrgāḥ sma nihanti satkaṣam |
anānnasūtrāmakakāṅkṣitāpadaṃ na lālapā sā tamacīkaratkṛpām || (Vāsudevavijaya 3.46)

Here the particle na is an avyaya. As per the rule cādayo'satve, the letter na has got nipātatva and thus there applies the rule svarādinipātamavyayam | As it is known as a nipāta, it can be termed as an Avyaya also.

The subsequent rule is taddhitaścāsarvavibhaktiḥ (1/1/38).The words ending in taddhita or secondary affixes which are not declined in all the cases are also indeclinable.

To this rule, the word asakṛd is used as an example in Vāsudevavijaya in the verse,

kṣaumaiḥ praurṇod gṛhastūrṇaṃ momudīti purājanaḥ |
stavīti smāsakṛt śakraṃ svasthanīyastvabhūd vrajaḥ ||(Vāsudevavijaya 6.169)

The word asakṛt is formed with a taddhita affix viz. suc as per the rule ekasya sakṛcca (5/4/19).Thus the taddhita ending asakṛt has got the name Avyaya.

The words formed by those kṛt or primary affixes, which end with m or in e, o, ai and au are also indeclinable. This is ordained in the rule kṛnme'jantaḥ (1/1/39).

Example for this from Vāsudevavijaya is included in the following verse,

gārgīva vijñānacaṇā yaśaścayaiḥ śyenīḥkaṭākṣoṣṭhamṛdusmitairdiśaḥ |
gaurīgariṣṭhā śabalīrvitanvatī saidhāṃbabhūvādbhutakāmanīyakā || (Vāsudevavijaya 1.27)

In this verse the word ām (edhāṃbabhūva) is an Avyaya. It is ended with the letter m, so it bears the name avyaya as per the rule kṛnme'jantaḥ | Besides Vāsudeva states that the words am, ām are studied in the svarādipāṭha and hence the rule svarādinipātamavyayam can also be applied here.

Another rule for Avyaya is ktvātosuṃkasunaḥ (1/1/40) which means that the words ending with ktvā, tosun and kasun are indeclinable.

Vāsudeva illustrates this rule in the verse—

bahūnyuditvā khalu yā babhūva yuddiviha ye cakrabhṛtā nijaghnire |
mayi dviṣaste janimetya tanvate tanuṃ vṛṣasya dvipadīmanaṅghrikām || (Vāsudevavijaya 1.5)

Here the word uditvā is formed from the root vada vyaktāyāṃ vāci with the affix ktvā | As it ends with ktvā, it can be termed as Avyaya as per this rule.

Thus the rules regarding Avyayas are well illustrated here. But it can be assumed that he has not intentionally do the same, because all these rules and examples regarding Avyayas scattered in the poem. These do not possess the order in Aṣṭādhyāyī. Thus Vāsudeva has included some Avyayas in some verses, and in those contexts he mentions the rules regarding them also.