Today we will look at the form शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्गानाम् mGp from श्रीमद्भागवतम् verse 8.8.26

शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्गानां वादित्राणां पृथुः स्वनः । देवानुगानां सस्त्रीणां नृत्यतां गायतामभूत् ।। ८-८-२६ ।।
ब्रह्मरुद्राङ्गिरोमुख्याः सर्वे विश्वसृजो विभुम् । ईडिरेऽवितथैर्मन्त्रैस्तल्लिङ्गैः पुष्पवर्षिणः ।। ८-८-२७ ।।

श्रीधर-स्वामि-टीका
तल्लिङ्गैर्विष्णुप्रतिपादकैः । अवितथैर्यथार्थैः ।। २७ ।।

Translation – A great noise issued forth from conchs, clarinets and clay tom-toms and other musical instruments, as well as from Gandharvas (attendants of the gods) and their wives dancing and singing (on that occasion) (26). All the creators of the world, headed by Brahmā, Rudra (the god of destruction) and the sage Añgirā, celebrated the Lord by means of sacred texts purporting to describe Him and representing the bare truth, and showered flowers on Him (27).

(1) शङ्खाश्च तूर्याश्च मृदङ्गाश्च = शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्गाः – conchs, clarinets and clay tom-toms

(2) शङ्ख जस् + तूर्य जस् + मृदङ्ग जस् । By 2-2-29 चार्थे द्वन्द्वः – Two or more terms having the designation पदम् and standing in a relation expressible by ‘च’ (‘and’) may optionally compound to yield a compound called द्वन्द्वः।

(3) शङ्ख जस् + तूर्य जस् + मृदङ्ग जस् । As per 2-2-34 अल्पाच्तरम्‌ – In a द्वन्द्व: compound the term having the least number of syllables (vowels) is placed in the prior position. Here ‘शङ्ख’ and ‘तूर्य’ have two syllables while ‘मृदङ्ग’ has three. Note: बहुष्वनियम: – when more than one member of the compound has the least number of syllables (vowels), any of these members may be placed in the prior position and the remaining members of the compound may be placed in any order. Therefore we can either place ‘शङ्ख जस्’ or ‘तूर्य जस्’ in the prior position followed by the remaining two in any order.

See question 1.

Note: ‘शङ्ख जस् + तूर्य जस् + मृदङ्ग जस् ’ gets the designation प्रातिपदिकम्‌ 1-2-46 कृत्तद्धितसमासाश्च। This allows 2-4-71 to apply in the next step.

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

= शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्ग ।

As per the सूत्रम् 2-4-26 परवल्लिङ्गं द्वन्द्वतत्पुरुषयोः, the compound प्रातिपदिकम् ‘शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्ग’ is masculine since the final member ‘मृदङ्ग’ of the compound is masculine. This द्वन्द्वः compound (which expresses इतरेतरयोगः) is plural in number because it has three members. It declines like राम-शब्द:।

The विवक्षा is षष्ठी-बहुवचनम्।

(5) शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्ग + आम् । By 4-1-2 स्वौजसमौट्छष्टाभ्याम्भिस्ङेभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसिँभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसोसाम्ङ्योस्सुप्।
Note: 1-3-4 न विभक्तौ तुस्माः prevents the ending letter ‘म्’ of the affix ‘आम्’ from getting इत्-सञ्ज्ञा।

(6) शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्ग + नुँट् आम् । By 7-1-54 ह्रस्वनद्यापो नुट् – The affix ‘आम्’ takes the augment ‘नुँट्’ when it follows a प्रातिपदिकम् which either ends in a short vowel or has the नदी-सञ्ज्ञा or ends in the feminine affix ‘आप्’।
As per 1-1-46 आद्यन्तौ टकितौ the augment ‘नुँट्’ joins at the beginning of the affix ‘आम्’।

(7) शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्ग + नाम् । अनुबन्ध-लोपः by 1-3-2 उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत्, 1-3-3 हलन्त्यम् and 1-3-9 तस्य लोपः।

(8) शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्गानाम् । By 6-4-3 नामि – The ending vowel of an अङ्गम् gets elongated if followed by the term ‘नाम्’।

Questions:

1. What are the three alternate forms for the compound ‘शङ्खतूर्यमृदङ्ग’?

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

3. Why is the compound सस्त्रीणाम् used in the verses a आर्षप्रयोगः (irregular grammatical usage?)

4. Where has the सूत्रम् 3-2-78 सुप्यजातौ णिनिस्ताच्छील्ये been used in the verses?

5. In which word in the verses has the affix ‘क्विँप्’ been used?

6. How would you say this in Sanskrit?
“The demons struck the monkeys with swords, spears and javelins.” Construct a द्वन्द्व: compound for ‘swords, spears and javelins’ = ‘खड्गाश्च शूलाश्च तोमराश्च’। Use the verbal root √तड् (तडँ आघाते १०.६४) for ‘to strike.’

Easy questions:

1. Where has the सूत्रम् 2-4-77 गातिस्थाघुपाभूभ्यः सिचः परस्मैपदेषु been used in the verses?

2. Which सूत्रम् prescribes the substitution ‘इरे’ in the form ईडिरे?