Shringaraprakasha 6.p1.1

6.p1.1

Sixth: The illumination of the fourfold group beginning with inflectional meaning.

6.1. Inflectional meaning is threefold: number, syntactic role, and the residual relation. Among these, number consists of singularity, duality, and plurality residing in the relation of syntactic roles. It is of six kinds: conventional, intentional, conditional, technical, optional, and residual.

Among these, conventional is, for example: *āpaḥ* ('waters'), *dārāḥ* ('wife'), *lājāḥ* ('fried grain'), *dvayam* ('a pair'), *anekam* ('many'), *niyutam* ('a hundred thousand'). Here, the plural or singular exists purely from lexical convention; hence it is conventional.

Intentional is, for example: *rodasī* / *rodasyau* ('the two worlds'), *kabarī* / *kabaryaḥ* ('braid' / 'braids'), *stanau* / *stanāḥ* ('breasts'), *viśākhā* / *viśākhe* / *viśākhāḥ* ('Viśākhā' in singular, dual, or plural), *dṛk* / *dṛśau* / *dṛśaḥ* ('eye' / 'two eyes' / 'eyes'), *jagat* / *jagatī* / *jaganti* ('world' / 'two worlds' / 'worlds'). Here, singularity, duality, and plurality arise from the speaker's intention; hence it is intentional.

Conditional is, for example: *vṛkṣaḥ* ('tree'), *śobhanaḥ* ('beautiful'), *dampatī* ('husband and wife'), *pitarau* ('parents'), *akṣāḥ* ('dice'), *gabhastayaḥ* ('rays'). Here it is conditional because of the actual existence of an external condition [in the entity].

Technical is, for example: *mārdaṅgikapāṇavikam* ('players of mṛdaṅga and paṇava'), *puruṣau* ('two men'), *khalatikam* ('baldness'), *vanāni* ('forests'), *godau* ('two givers of cows'), *grāmaḥ* ('village'), *tiṣyapunarvasū* ('Tiṣya and Punarvasu'), *tārakaḥ* ('star'), *pañcālāḥ janapadaḥ* ('the Pañcāla country'), *sa cāhaṃ ca pacāvaḥ* ('he and I cook'). Here it is technical because singularity, etc., are technically stipulated in places where duality, plurality, etc., exist.

Optional is, for example: *aśvabaḍabam* / *aśvabaḍabau* ('horse and mare'), *plakṣanyagrodham* / *plakṣanyagrodhāḥ* ('Plakṣa and Nyagrodha trees'), *pūrvaphalgunyau* / *pūrvāḥ phalgunyaḥ* ('the Pūrva-phālgunī stars'). Here it is optional because singularity, duality, and plurality depend on grammatical option.

Residual is, for example: *ekaḥ* ('one'), *dvau* ('two'), *bahavaḥ* ('many'), *ubhau* ('both'), *dvitrāḥ* ('two or three'), *ardhatṛtīyāḥ* ('two and a half'). Here it is residual because the affixes *su*, etc., are added to express a remainder of the number already expressed by *eka* ('one'), etc. As it is said:

'In the case of "one", [the word itself] is taught as the cause for inflected forms; but the inflection applies to the singularity belonging to the possessor of that [number].'

6.2. The syntactic role has been stated previously to be of six kinds. It unfolds separately into six types according to its expressibility by the accusative and following cases. Among these, the object is expressible by the accusative: *kaṭaṃ karoti* ('he makes a mat'); expressible by the instrumental: *mātrā sañjānīte* ('he recognizes through the mother');