1. Where has the सूत्रम् 2-3-2 कर्मणि द्वितीया (used in step 1) been used in for the first time in the गीता? Where has it been used for the last time?
Answer: The सूत्रम् 2-3-2 कर्मणि द्वितीया has been used for the first time in the गीता in the form किम् –
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच |
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः |
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय || 1-1||

The सूत्रम् 2-3-2 कर्मणि द्वितीया has been used for the last time in the गीता in the form अत्यद्‌भुतम् (an adjective to रूपम्) –
तच्च संस्मृत्य संस्मृत्य रूपमत्यद्‌भुतं हरेः |
विस्मयो मे महान्‌ राजन्हृष्यामि च पुनः पुनः || 18-77||

2. Commenting on the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 कर्तुरीप्सिततमं कर्म, the सिद्धान्तकौमुदी says – कर्तु: किम्? माषेष्वश्वं बध्नाति। कर्मण ईप्सिता माषा न तु कर्तु:। Please explain.
Answer: In order to understand the importance of the term ‘कर्तु:’ (the doer’s) in the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 कर्तुरीप्सिततमं कर्म consider the example माषेष्वश्वं बध्नाति – (Someone) ties a horse among the beans (crop.) Here ‘माष’ does not receive the designation कर्म because even though the beans are very much desired by the horse they are not the doer’s most desired to be obtained/reached through the act of binding. If the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 had not clarified ‘कर्तु:’, then in this example ‘माष’ would have become eligible to receive the designation कर्म which would have been undesirable.

3. Commenting further on the same सूत्रम्, the सिद्धान्तकौमुदी says – तमब्ग्रहणं किम्? उपदंशेन शाकं भुङ्क्ते। Please explain.
Answer: In order to understand the importance of the use of the superlative affix ‘तमप्’ in the form ईप्सिततमम् in the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 कर्तुरीप्सिततमं कर्म consider the example उपदंशेन शाकं भुङ्क्ते – (Someone) eats a vegetable with a condiment. Here even though the vegetable and the condiment are both desired (to be obtained) by the doer through the act of eating, the object most-desired is the vegetable and not the condiment. Hence only ‘शाक’ and not ‘उपदंश’ receives the designation कर्म। If the superlative affix ‘तमप्’ (meaning ‘most’) had not been used in the form ईप्सिततमम् in the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 then in this example ‘उपदंश’ would have also become eligible to receive the designation कर्म which would have been undesirable.

4. Commenting further on the same सूत्रम्, the सिद्धान्तकौमुदी says – कर्मेत्यनुवृत्तौ पुन: कर्मग्रहणमाधारनिवृत्त्यर्थम्। अन्यथा गेहं प्रविशतीत्यत्रैव स्यात्। Please explain.
Answer: Why has पाणिनि: mentioned the term ‘कर्म’ in the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 कर्तुरीप्सिततमं कर्म in spite of it being available as अनुवृत्तिः from the सूत्रम् 1-4-46 अधिशीङ्स्थासां कर्म? The reason is as follows –
The term कर्म used in the सूत्रम् 1-4-46 is tied to the term आधारः (which comes down from the prior सूत्रम् 1-4-45 आधारोऽधिकरणम् in to the सूत्रम् 1-4-46.) Hence in the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 if we were to use the अनुवृत्तिः of कर्म from the सूत्रम् 1-4-46 it would bring the term आधारः with it and the meaning of the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 would become – That कारकम् (participant in the action) which the doer most desires to obtain/reach thru the action is called कर्म (object) but only if it is also the location of the action. This would restrict the use of the designation कर्म only to examples such as गेहं प्रविशति (someone enters the house) where the house is the most desired to be reached by the doer through the act of entering and is also the location of the act of entering. It would prevent the designation कर्म from applying in examples such as ओदनं भुङ्क्ते (someone eats rice) where the rice is the most desired to be obtained by the doer through the act of eating but is not the location of the act of eating. This restriction of the designation कर्म to only those situations where the object is also the location of the action is undesirable. Thus in order to decouple the term कर्म from the term आधार:, पाणिनि: explicitly mentions it in the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 कर्तुरीप्सिततमं कर्म rather than taking the अनुवृत्तिः from the सूत्रम् 1-4-46.

5. Commenting on the सूत्रम् 1-4-49 कर्तुरीप्सिततमं कर्म, the तत्त्वबोधिनी says – क्तप्रत्ययेनोपस्थितं वर्तमानत्वं चेह न विवक्षितम्। तेन कटं कृतवान् करिष्यतीत्यादि सिद्धम्। Please explain.
Answer: The तत्त्वबोधिनी commentary says that the affix ‘क्त’ used in the form ईप्सिततमम् in the 1-4-49 कर्तुरीप्सिततमं कर्म denotes an action in the present tense as per the सूत्रम् 3-2-188 मतिबुद्धिपूजार्थेभ्यश्च। (And correspondingly the sixth case affix used in the word कर्तु: is as per the the सूत्रम् 2-3-67 क्तस्य च वर्तमाने।) But this does not mean that the designation कर्म is limited only to those situations where the action is done in the present. Hence even in examples such as कटं कृतवान् (He made the mat) and कटं करिष्यति (He/She will make the mat) the designation कर्म is assigned to the term ‘कट’ even though the action is done in the past and future respectively.

6. How would you say this in Sanskrit?
“Śrī Rāma killed Rāvaṇa, the king of ogres.”
Answer: श्रीरामः रक्षसाम् राजानम् रावणम् जघान = श्रीरामो रक्षसां राजानं रावणं जघान।

Easy questions:

1. Where has the सूत्रम् 6-1-110 ङसिङसोश्च been used in the verses?
Answer: The सूत्रम् 6-1-110 ङसिङसोश्च has been used in the form गुरोः (पुंलिङ्ग-प्रातिपदिकम् ‘गुरु’, षष्ठी-एकवचनम्)।

गुरु + ङस् । By 4-1-2 स्वौजसमौट्छष्टाभ्याम्भिस्ङेभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसिभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसोसाम्ङ्योस्सुप्‌। ‘गुरु’ has घि-सञ्ज्ञा by 1-4-7 शेषो घ्यसखि।
= गुरो + ङस् । By 7-3-111 घेर्ङिति।
= गुर् ओ + अ स् । अनुबन्ध-लोपः by 1-3-8 लशक्वतद्धिते, 1-3-9 तस्य लोपः। 1-3-4 न विभक्तौ तुस्माः prevents the ending letter ‘स्’ of ‘ङस्’ from getting the इत्-सञ्ज्ञा।
= गुरोस् । By 6-1-110 ङसिङसोश्च – In place of a preceding एङ् (‘ए’, ‘ओ’) letter and the following short ‘अ’ of the affix ‘ङसिँ’ or ‘ङस्’, there is a single substitute of the former (एङ् letter.)
= गुरोः । रुँत्व-विसर्गौ by 8-2-66 ससजुषो रुः and 8-3-15 खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः।

2. Which सूत्रम् prescribes the substitution ‘छ्’ in the form इच्छाम:?
Answer: The सूत्रम् 7-3-77 इषुगमियमां छः prescribes the substitution ‘छ्’ in the form इच्छाम: – derived from the verbal root √इष् (इषुँ इच्छायाम् ६. ७८).

The विवक्षा is लँट्, कर्तरि प्रयोग:, उत्तम-पुरुषः, बहुवचनम्।
इष् + लँट् । By 3-2-123 वर्तमाने लट्।
= इष् + ल् । अनुबन्ध-लोपः by 1-3-2 उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत्, 1-3-3 हलन्त्यम्, 1-3-9 तस्य लोपः।
= इष् + मस् । By 3-4-78 तिप्तस्झिसिप्थस्थमिब्वस्मस्तातांझथासाथांध्वमिड्वहिमहिङ्, 1-3-78 शेषात् कर्तरि परस्मैपदम्।
= इष् + श + मस् । By 3-1-77 तुदादिभ्यः शः।
= इष् + अ + मस् । अनुबन्ध-लोपः by 1-3-8 लशक्वतद्धिते, 1-3-9 तस्य लोपः। 1-3-4 न विभक्तौ तुस्माः prevents the ending letter ‘स्’ of ‘मस्’ from getting the इत्-सञ्ज्ञा।
Note: The affix ‘श’ is ङिद्वत् (as if it has the letter ‘ङ्’ as a इत्) by 1-2-4 सार्वधातुकमपित्। Therefore, 1-1-5 क्क्ङिति च stops the गुणादेशः (the substitution ‘ए’ in place of the penultimate letter ‘इ’ of the base ‘इष्’) which would have been done by 7-3-86 पुगन्तलघूपधस्य च।
= इछ् + अ + मस् । By 7-3-77 इषुगमियमां छः – When followed by an affix which begins with the letter ‘श्’ as an इत्, the ending letter of the verbal roots √इष् (इषुँ इच्छायाम् ६. ७८), √गम् (गमॢँ गतौ १. ११३७) and √यम् (यमँ उपरमे १. ११३९) gets the letter ‘छ्’ as replacement.
= इ तुँक् छ् + अ + मस् । By 6-1-73 छे च, 1-1-46 आद्यन्तौ टकितौ।
= इ त् छ् + अ + मस् । अनुबन्ध-लोपः by 1-3-2 उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत्, 1-3-3 हलन्त्यम्, 1-3-9 तस्य लोपः।
= इ त् छा मस् । By 7-3-101 अतो दीर्घो यञि। Note: The affix ‘मस्’ has the designation सार्वधातुकम् by the सूत्रम् 3-4-113 तिङ्शित्सार्वधातुकम्। This allows 7-3-101 to apply here.
= इत्छामः । रुँत्व-विसर्गौ by 8-2-66 ससजुषो रुः and 8-3-15 खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः।
= इच्छामः । By 8-4-40 स्तोः श्चुना श्चुः।