Today we will look at the form ऋष्यशृङ्गः mNs from श्रीमद्भागवतम् 11.8.18.

ग्राम्यगीतं न शृणुयाद्यतिर्वनचरः क्वचित् । शिक्षेत हरिणाद्बद्धान्मृगयोर्गीतमोहितात् ।। ११-८-१७ ।।
नृत्यवादित्रगीतानि जुषन्ग्राम्याणि योषिताम् । आसां क्रीडनको वश्य ऋष्यशृङ्गो मृगीसुतः ।। ११-८-१८ ।।

श्रीधर-स्वामि-टीका
हरिणाच्छिक्षितमाह – ग्राम्येति । भगवद्गीतं तु शृणुयादेव । मृगयोर्लुब्धकस्य ।। १७ ।। हरिणशब्दादेव हरिणीसुतः ऋष्यशृङ्गोऽपि गुरुर्ज्ञातव्य इत्याह – नृत्येति । वश्यो बभूवेति शेषः ।। १८ ।।

Gita Press translation – An ascetic, living in a forest, should never hear vulgar songs. He should take this lesson from the deer, which attracted by the music of the hunter gets snared (17). Enjoying the vulgar dance, instrumental music and songs of women, Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, born of a deer, became a plaything in the hands of women (18).

(1) ऋष्यस्य शृङ्गमिव शृङ्गं यस्य स: = ऋष्यशृङ्ग: (मुनि:) – He (the sage) who had a horn like the horn of an antelope.

अलौकिक-विग्रह: –
(2) ऋष्यशृङ्ग सुँ + शृङ्ग सुँ । By 2-2-24 अनेकमन्यपदार्थे – Two or more terms having the designation पदम् and ending in the nominative case may optionally compound to yield a बहुव्रीहि: compound provided the terms are employed to denote the sense of another पदम् (which is not part of the compound.)
Note: The compound ऋष्यस्य शृङ्गम् = ऋष्यशृङ्गम् (used in this step) is a षष्ठी-समास: formed using the सूत्रम् 2-2-8 षष्ठी।

(3) By 1-2-43 प्रथमानिर्दिष्टं समास उपसर्जनम् – the term ‘ऋष्यशृङ्ग सुँ’ as well as ‘शृङ्ग सुँ’ gets the designation उपसर्जनम् because in the सूत्रम् 2-2-24 अनेकमन्यपदार्थे (which prescribes the compounding) the term अनेकम् ends in the nominative case. And hence 2-2-30 cannot help us in deciding which term to place in the prior position in the compound.

The adjective ‘ऋष्यशृङ्ग सुँ’ is placed in the prior position in the compound as per the सूत्रम् 2-2-35 सप्तमीविशेषणे बहुव्रीहौ – In a बहुव्रीहि: compound the पदम् which ends in a seventh case affix or is an adjective takes the prior position.
Note: ‘ऋष्यशृङ्ग’ serves as an adjective here because it stands for ‘ऋष्यशृङ्गसदृश’ (like the horn of an antelope.)
Note: ‘ऋष्यशृङ्ग सुँ + शृङ्ग सुँ’ gets the designation प्रातिपदिकम्‌ by 1-2-46 कृत्तद्धितसमासाश्च। This allows 2-4-71 to apply in the next step.

(4) ऋष्यशृङ्ग + शृङ्ग । 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) ऋष्यशृङ्ग । By वार्तिकम् (under 2-2-24 अनेकमन्यपदार्थे) सप्तम्युपमानपूर्वपदस्योत्तरपदलोपश्च – A compound पदम् which contains either a पदम् ending in the seventh case or a पदम् which denotes a standard of comparison drops its उत्तर-पदम् (final member) when it combines with another पदम् to yield a बहुव्रीहि: compound.
Note: Compounding is already prescribed by the सूत्रम् 2-2-24 itself. It is only for the elision of the उत्तरपदम् (of the compound पूर्वपदम्) that this वार्तिकम् is necessary.

The gender of a बहुव्रीहि: compound matches that of which it qualifies. In the present example ‘ऋषि’ is being qualified. Hence we assign the masculine gender to the compound प्रातिपदिकम् ‘ऋष्यशृङ्ग’। It declines like राम-शब्द:।

The विवक्षा is प्रथमा-एकवचनम् ।

(6) ऋष्यशृङ्ग + सुँ । By 4-1-2 स्वौजसमौट्छष्टाभ्याम्भिस्ङेभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसिँभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसोसाम्ङ्योस्सुप्।

(7) ऋष्यशृङ्ग + स् । अनुबन्ध-लोपः by 1-3-2 उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत् and 1-3-9 तस्य लोपः।

(8) ऋष्यशृङ्ग: । रुँत्व-विसर्गौ by 8-2-66 ससजुषो रुः and 8-3-15 खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः।

Questions:

1. In verses 15-20 of Chapter One of the गीता can you spot a compound (like ‘ऋष्यशृङ्ग’) composed using the वार्तिकम् (under 2-2-24 अनेकमन्यपदार्थे) सप्तम्युपमानपूर्वपदस्योत्तरपदलोपश्च (used in step 5)?

2. Which compound used in the verses is a तृतीया-तत्पुरुष: compound?

3. In which word in the verses has the letter ‘न्’ been elided?

4. Can you spot the affix ‘ट’ in the verses?

5. Why is the form जुषन् (प्रातिपदिकम् ‘जुषत्’, पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा-एकवचनम्) a आर्ष-प्रयोगः (irregular grammatical usage)?

6. How would you say this in Sanskrit?
“Rāvaṇa’s son, whose sound was like the sound (thunder) of a cloud, was killed by Lakṣmaṇa.” Construct a बहुव्रीहि: compound for ‘one whose sound is like the sound (thunder) of a cloud’ – मेघस्य नाद इव नादो यस्य स:।

Easy questions:

1. Which सूत्रम् prescribes the substitution ‘शृ’ in the form शृणुयात्?

2. Can you spot the augment ‘वुँक्’ in the commentary?