Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/184

I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. a. Bahuvrihis are also formed with a few adverbs of another kind as first member: itthá-dhi- 'having such thought', 'devout', nána-surya- illuminated by various suns', púnar- magha- (AV. TS.) 'repeatedly offering oblations', purudhá-pratika- 'having various aspects', sadya-uti- 'helping at once'¹. There are also several formed with sahá-, sumád-, smád-2 'together with', as sahá-gopa- 'having the cowherds with them', sahá-puruşa- (AV.) 'accom- panied by the men', sumáj-jäni- 'accompanied by his wife', sumád-gu- (AV.) 'accompanied by the cows', smád-abhisu- provided with reins', smád-ista- having an errand', smád- ūdhan- 'provided with an udder'. 174 c. Certain particles frequently appear as the first member of Bahu- vrihis. These are the privative a- or an-, ku-3 expressing depreciation, dus- 'ill', su- 'well'; e. g. a-pád- 'footless', a-sapatná- 'having no rivals', an-udaká- 'having no water', 'waterless'; kú-yava- 'causing a bad harvest', dus-pád- 'ill-footed'; su-parná- 'having beautiful wings'. 290. Bahuvrihis are very frequently used as m. (sometimes f.) sub- stantives in the sense of Proper Names, in many instances without the adjectival sense occurring at all; thus byhád-uktha- m., as the N. of a seer and adj. 'having great praise'; brhád-diva- m., N. of a seer (brhad-divá- f., N. of a goddess) and adj. 'dwelling in high heaven'; but priyá-medha- m. ('to whom sacrifice is dear') and vāmá-deva- m. ('to whom the gods are dear') only as the names of seers. a. Bahuvrīhis are further not infrequently used as neuter substantives with an abstract and a collective sense, especially when the first member is the privative particle a- or an- and sárva- 'all'; e. g. a-satrú- 'free from foes', n. (AV.) 'freedom from foes', a-sapatná- ‘having no rivals', n. (AV.) 'peace', a-sambādhá- (AV.) n. 'non-confinement', a-skambhaná- (AV.) n. 'lack of support', an-apatyá- 'childless' (AV.), n. 'childlessness', an-amitrá- (AV.) 'foeless', n. (AV. VS.) 'freedom from foes'; sarva-rathá- 'the whole line of chariots', sarva-vedasá- (AV. TS.) 'whole property'; ni-kilbişá- n. ‘deliverance from sin', pitr-bandhú- (AV.) 'paternal kinship', matṛ-bandhú- (AV.) ‘maternal kinship', rikta-kumbhá-4 (AV.) 'empty-handedness', su-mrgá- (AV.) ‘good hunting' 5. b. A special category of Bahuvrīhis used as substantives are those in which the first member is a numeral from dvi- 'two' upwards. They ex- press a collection or aggregate and are singular neuter7 except those formed. with -ahá- 'day', which are singular masc.; e. g. tri-yugá- n. 'period of three lives', tri-yojana- (AV.) n. 'distance of three Yojanas', try-udayá- n. 'threefold approach to the altar', daśangulá- n. 'length of ten fingers', dasantaruṣyá- n. 'distance of ten stations', dvi-rajá- (AV.) n. 'battle of two kings', panca- yojana- (AV.) n. 'distance of five Yojanas', sad-ahá-(AV. TS.) m. 'series of six days'. These numeral collectives always end in accented -á³. 291. Origin of Bahuvrihis. Considering that Bahuvrihis, which are adjectives, are far commoner than the corresponding determinatives, which are substantives, it cannot be assumed that the former always passed through The Bahuvrihi compound ävir-rjika- is n. 'safety' (adj. 'free from danger'), and vi of uncertain meaning; see WACKERNAGEL hrdaya- (AV.) ‘lack of courage'. 2¹, p. 287 (middle). 2 Compounds formed with these three words might also be explained as belonging to the governing' class. 6 These are called Dvigu by the Hindu grammarians, and are classed by them as a subdivision of Tatpurusas. 7 A few numeral collectives are determi- natives used in the pl. and the original gender: saptarsáyas 'the seven seers', sapta- grdhrás 'seven vultures' (AV.); tri-kadru-ka- pl. 'three soma-vessels' (from kadrú- f.). 8 With the suffix-ya is formed sahasrahn-ya- n. (AV.) ‘a thousand days' journey'. 3 Also the cognate kim- in kim-šilá- (VS. TS.) (land) 'having small stones'. 4 See WHITNEY's note on AV. XIX. 84. 5 Accentuation of the final syllable (as in the cognate singular Dvandvas) prevails in these n. Bahuvrihis; exceptions are á-bhaya-,