History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.274

v2.c24.s1.274

The rules about returning a salutation (about *pratyabhivāda*) are made somewhat intricate and obscure by the varying interpretations of commentators. Pratyabhivāda consists in pronouncing a benediction in the proper form given by a guru or other person who has been saluted. Among the oldest⁸²⁰ is the rule in Āp. Dh. S. I. 2. 5. 18 'when returning the salute of one belonging to the first three castes, the (last syllable of the) name (of the person whose salutation is to be returned) shall be lengthened to three moras'. Vasiṣṭha's rule (XIII. 46) is 'when the salute is returned, the last vowel (of the noun standing) in the vocative is protracted to the length of three moras and if it is a diphthong (i. e. e or o but not of the dual number) it becomes 'āy' or 'āv' e. g. 'bho becomes bhāv'. Manu II. 125 prescribes "a brāhmaṇa should be thus saluted in return, 'mayst thou be long-lived, O gentle one!' and the vowel 'a' or any other vowel at the end of the name (of the person addressed) should be made *pluta* (i.e. lengthened to three moras) and if the name ends in a consonant, the preceding vowel is made *pluta*."