Praudhamanorama 12_251

12_251

Under 'aṣṭābhya auś' (Pā. Sū. 7.1.21), on 'from that which has had ā substituted': Now, it has been said that 'hali' is dragged back; how then is there the state of having ā substituted? To this, he says: 'aṣṭābhyaḥ'. This is an imitation of that which has had substitution of ā, not an [inherent] substitution of ā brought about by the rule. For if that were the case, since it is optional by virtue of the indicator to be mentioned, he would have simply said 'aṣṭabhyaḥ' for the sake of brevity—this is the point.
Regarding 'this': the meaning is 'that which is directly stated and that which is inferred.'
Regarding 'aṣṭano dīrghāt': following aṣṭan ending in a long vowel, a non-sarvanāmasthāna case ending takes the acute accent. 'aṣṭābhiḥ'. Why [say] 'from a long vowel'? 'aṣṭabhiḥ'. This has the acute accent on the middle syllable; for settting aside 'ṣaṭtricaturbhyo halādiḥ' (Pā. Sū. 6.1.179), 'jhalyupottamam' (Pā. Sū. 6.1.180) applies. Its meaning is: 'In a word ending in a case ending beginning with a jhal after ṣaṭ, tri, and catur, the penultimate syllable is acute.' Such being the case, [the specification] being made for the purpose of excluding the short vowel would be pointless if the substitution of ā were obligatory—this is the meaning.
Regarding 'even due to an earlier [rule]': And thus the ṣṭutva cited by Haradatta in 'priyāṣṭṇe' does not occur—this is the point. Nor can it be said that there is the prohibition 'under a rule belonging to the section of earlier unestablished rules, there is no treatment like the original', because that [rule] has exceptions in 'tasya doṣaḥ'. If it is objected: 'We will take there the change to ṇ expressly stated in 'raṣābhyām', but not that which is obtained by the rule of ṣṭutva'? Do not say so; because according to the Bhāṣya's view that is untenable. For in the rule 'raṣābhyām', the mention of ṇ has been rejected in the Bhāṣya by continuing the rule 'apadāntasya mūrdhanyaḥ', and the prohibition rule 'padāntasya' has also been rejected. And no distinction can be readily asserted for the letter ṇ whether produced by the word mūrdhanya or by the word ṣṭutva; since the authority of the sages is in chronological order, treatment like the original alone is proper.