Today we will look at the form यशस्करम् nAs from श्रीमद्-वाल्मीकि-रामायणम् 1.2.42.

तस्य शिष्यास्ततः सर्वे जगुः श्लोकमिमं पुनः । मुहुर्मुहुः प्रीयमाणाः प्राहुश्च भृशविस्मिताः ।। १-२-३९ ।।
समाक्षरैश्चतुर्भिर्यः पादैर्गीतो महर्षिणा । सोऽनुव्याहरणाद्भूयः शोकः श्लोकत्वमागतः ।। १-२-४० ।।
तस्य बुद्धिरियं जाता वाल्मीकेर्भावितात्मनः । कृत्स्नं रामायणं काव्यमीदृशैः करवाण्यहम् ।। १-२-४१ ।।
उदारवृत्तार्थपदैर्मनोरमैस्तदास्य रामस्य चकार कीर्तिमान् । समाक्षरैः श्लोकशतैर्यशस्विनो यशस्करं काव्यमुदारदर्शनः ।। १-२-४२ ।।

Gita Press translation – Then all his pupils repeated the aforesaid verse (uttered by their teacher) and, getting delighted again and again, spoke (to one another as follows), greatly astonished (at the honor conferred on their teacher by the creator himself by calling on him of his own accord) :- (39) “What was uttered by the great sage (Vālmīki) in four feet consisting of an equal number of syllables was (nothing but) his grief converted into a verse because of it being voiced by him.” (40) The thought occurred to the great sage of purified mind that he should compose the entire poem of the Rāmāyaṇa in such verses (similar to the one already uttered by him out of grief) (41). The illustrious sage, endowed (as he was) with a catholic outlook, then composed in hundreds (thousands) of soul-ravishing verses with their feet comprising an even number of syllables and consisting of words depicting the noble deeds of the glorious Śrī Rāma, a poem which has brought (great) renown to him (42).

यश: करोतीति यशस्करम् (काव्यम्)। यशसो हेतु: (काव्यम्) इत्यर्थ:।

“कर” is a कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिकम् (participle form) derived from the verbal root √कृ (डुकृञ् करणे, # ८. १०).

The (compound) प्रातिपदिकम् “यशस्कर” is derived as follows:

(1) यशस् + ङस् + कृ + ट । By 3-2-20 कृञो हेतुताच्छील्यानुलोम्येषु – When in composition with a पदम् which denotes the object (of the action), the verbal root √कृ (डुकृञ् करणे, # ८. १०) may take the affix “ट” to express the meaning of a cause or habitual/natural action or amiability (going with the grain.)

Note: The term कर्मणि (which comes as अनुवृत्ति: in to the सूत्रम् 3-2-20 from the सूत्रम् 3-2-1 कर्मण्यण्) ends in the seventh (locative) case. Hence “यशस् ङस्” (which is the object (कर्म-पदम्) of करोति) gets the उपपद-सञ्ज्ञा here by 3-1-92 तत्रोपपदं सप्तमीस्थम्‌ – The designation उपपदम् is applied to a term which denotes a thing – like a pot etc. – which is present (as the thing to be expressed) in a word ending in the locative case in the सूत्रम्।
Note: The affix “ङस्” is used here as per 2-3-65 कर्तृकर्मणोः कृति – To express the agent or the object (of an action), a nominal stem takes a sixth case affix when the nominal stem is used in conjunction with a term which ends in a कृत् affix. (This is what is called as कृद्योगे षष्ठी)।

(2) यशस् + ङस् + कृ + अ । अनुबन्ध-लोप: by 1-3-7 चुटू and 1-3-9 तस्य लोपः।

(3) यशस् ङस् + कर् अ । By 7-3-84 सार्वधातुकार्धधातुकयोः, an अङ्गम् whose final letter is an इक् gets गुण-आदेशः, when a सार्वधातुक-प्रत्यय: or an आर्धधातुक-प्रत्यय: follows. By 1-1-51 उरण् रपरः, in the place of ऋवर्ण: if an अण् letter (“अ”, “इ”, “उ”) comes as a substitute, it is always followed by a “रँ” (“र्”, “ल्”) letter.

= यशस् ङस् + कर

We form a compound between “यशस् ङस्” (which is the उपपदम्) and “कर” by using the सूत्रम् 2-2-19 उपपदमतिङ् – A सुबन्तम् (term ending in a सुँप् affix) having the designation “उपपद” (in this case “यशस् ङस्”) invariably compounds with a syntactically related term (in this case “कर”) as long as the compound does not end in a तिङ् affix.

In the compound, “यशस् ङस्” is placed in the prior position as per 2-2-30 उपसर्जनं पूर्वम्‌ – In a compound a term which has the designation “उपसर्जन” should be placed in the prior position. Note: Here “यशस् ङस्” is the उपपदम् and hence it gets the उपसर्जन-सञ्ज्ञा by 1-2-43 प्रथमानिर्दिष्टं समास उपसर्जनम् – A term denoted by a word (in this case “उपपदम्”) ending in a nominative case in a सूत्रम् (in this case 2-2-19 उपपदमतिङ्) which prescribes a compound gets the designation “उपसर्जन”।
“यशस् ङस् + कर” gets प्रातिपदिक-सञ्ज्ञा by 1-2-46 कृत्तद्धितसमासाश्च – A word form that ends in a कृत्-प्रत्ययः or a तद्धित-प्रत्ययः and so also compounds gets the name प्रातिपदिकम्।

(4) यशस् + कर । By 2-4-71 सुपो धातुप्रातिपदिकयोः – A सुँप् affix takes a लुक् elision when it is a part of a धातुः or a प्रातिपदिकम्।

(5) यशः + कर । रुँत्व-विसर्गौ by 8-2-66 ससजुषो रुः and 8-3-15 खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः।

Note: At this point 8-3-37 कुप्वोः ≍क≍पौ च would apply, but the special सूत्रम् 8-3-46 अतः कृकमिकंसकुम्भपात्रकुशाकर्णीष्वनव्ययस्य comes into effect.

(6) यशस्कर । By 8-3-46 अतः कृकमिकंसकुम्भपात्रकुशाकर्णीष्वनव्ययस्य – In a compound, a विसर्ग: always takes सकार: as a substitute if the following conditions are satisfied:
(i) the विसर्ग: is preceded by a अकार:
(ii) the विसर्ग: does not belong to a अव्ययम्
(iii) the विसर्ग: is followed by one of the following – √कृ (डुकृञ् करणे, # ८. १०), √कम् (कमुँ कान्तौ, # १. ५११), ‘कंस’, ‘कुम्भ’, ‘पात्र’, ‘कुशा’ or ‘कर्णी’।

The विवक्षा is नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-एकवचनम्।

(7) यशस्कर + अम् । By 4-1-2 स्वौजसमौट्छष्टाभ्याम्भिस्ङेभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसिँभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसोसाम्ङ्योस्सुप्।

(8) यशस्कर + अम् । By 7-1-24 अतोऽम् – The affixes “सुँ” and “अम्” that follow a neuter अङ्गम् ending in the short vowel “अ” take “अम्” as their replacement. 1-3-4 न विभक्तौ तुस्माः prevents the ending मकार: of “अम्” from getting the इत्-सञ्ज्ञा।

(9) यशस्करम् । By 6-1-107 अमि पूर्वः – In place of a preceding अक् letter and the following vowel (अच्) belonging to the affix “अम्” there is a single substitute of that preceding अक् letter.

Questions:

1. In the सिद्धान्तकौमुदी the वृत्ति: of the सूत्रम् 3-2-20 कृञो हेतुताच्छील्यानुलोम्येषु (used in step 1) is given as एषु द्योत्येषु करोतेष्टः स्यात्। Commenting on this, the तत्त्वबोधिनी says – एषु किम्? कुम्भकार:। Please explain.

2. Commenting on the  सूत्रम् 8-3-46 अतः कृकमिकंसकुम्भपात्रकुशाकर्णीष्वनव्ययस्य (used in step 6) the सिद्धान्तकौमुदी says – समासे किम्? यश: करोति। Please explain.

3. Where has the सूत्रम् 3-4-89 मेर्निः been used in the verses?

4. Can you spot an affix क्यप् in the verses?

5. From which verbal root is जगुः derived?

6. How would you say this in Sanskrit?
“Ignorance (is) the cause of bondage.” Use a उपपद-समास: for “the cause of bondage.”

Easy Questions:

1. Where has the सूत्रम् 7-2-110 यः सौ been used in the verses?

2. In the verses can you spot a प्रातिपदिकम् which is used only in the plural (no singular or dual)?