Today we will look at the form बलाहकः  mNs from श्रीमद्भागवतम् 10.55.26.

अन्तःपुरवरं राजन्ललनाशतसङ्‌कुलम् । विवेश पत्न्या गगनाद्विद्‌युतेव बलाहकः ।। १०-५५-२६ ।।
तं दृष्ट्वा जलदश्यामं पीतकौशेयवाससम् । प्रलम्बबाहुं ताम्राक्षं सुस्मितं रुचिराननम् ।। १०-५५-२७ ।।
स्वलङ्‌कृतमुखाम्भोजं नीलवक्रालकालिभिः । कृष्णं मत्वा स्त्रियो ह्रीता निलिल्युस्तत्र तत्र ह ।। १०-५५-२८ ।।

श्रीधर-स्वामि-टीका
विद्‌युता सह बलाहको मेघ इव ।। २६ ।। २७ ।। नीलाश्च वक्राश्च येऽलकास्त एवालयस्तैः । ह्रीता लज्जिताः ।। २८ ।।

Gita Press translation – Like a cloud attended with lightning, Pradyumna descended with his spouse from the sky into the magnificent gynaeceum crowded with hundred of ladies (26). Seeing him, sombre as a cloud and clad in yellow silk, with exceptionally long arms and reddish eyes, wearing a winsome smile and a charming countenance, his lotus-like face graced with locks of dark-blue curly hair, and thinking him to be Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the ladies, so the story goes, hid themselves wherever they could out of bashfulness (27-28).

(1) वारिणो वाहक: = बलाहक: – a cloud (carrier of water.)

अलौकिक-विग्रह: –
(2) वारि ङस् + वाहक सुँ । By 2-2-8 षष्ठी – A पदम् ending in a sixth case affix optionally compounds with a (syntactically related) पदम् ending in a सुँप् affix and the resulting compound gets the designation तत्पुरुष:।
By the सूत्रम् 1-2-43 प्रथमानिर्दिष्टं समास उपसर्जनम् – ‘वारि ङस्’ (which ends in a sixth case affix) gets the designation उपसर्जनम् because in the सूत्रम् 2-2-8 षष्ठी (which prescribes the compounding) the term षष्ठी ends in the nominative case.
And hence as per 2-2-30 उपसर्जनं पूर्वम्‌ the term ‘वारि ङस्’ is placed in the prior position in the compound. Note: ‘वारि ङस् + वाहक सुँ’ gets the designation प्रातिपदिकम्‌ by 1-2-46 कृत्तद्धितसमासाश्च । This allows the सूत्रम् 2-4-71 to apply in the next step.

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

(4) बलाहक । As per 6-3-109 पृषोदरादीनि यथोपदिष्टम् – The forms such as ‘पृषोदर’ etc (which contain irregular operations – like an elision or an augment or a transformation of a letter – not prescribed by any rule) are to be taken as valid forms as they are used by the scholars.
The पृषोदरादि-गण: is listed in the गण-पाठ: as follows – ‘पृषोदर’, ‘पृषोत्थान’, ‘बलाहक‘, ‘जीमूत’, ‘श्मशान’, ‘उलूखल’, ‘पिशाच’, ‘बृसी’, ‘मयूर’।
6-3-109 is used to justify the ad hoc substitution of ‘ब’ in place of the entire पूर्वपदम् ‘वारि’ and of the letter ‘ल्’ in place of the initial letter ‘व्’ of the उत्तरपदम् ‘वाहक’ in order to arrive at the final compound form ‘बलाहक’ listed in the पृषोदरादि-गण:।

As per the सूत्रम् 2-4-26 परवल्लिङ्गं द्वन्द्वतत्पुरुषयोः, the compound प्रातिपदिकम् ‘बलाहक’ is masculine since the latter member ‘वाहक’ (which after the application of 6-3-109 becomes ‘लाहक’) of the compound is used here in the masculine. The compound declines like राम-शब्द:।

The विवक्षा is प्रथमा-एकवचनम् ।

(5) बलाहक + सुँ । By 4-1-2 स्वौजसमौट्छष्टाभ्याम्भिस्ङेभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसिभ्याम्भ्यस्ङसोसाम्ङ्योस्सुप्।

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

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

Questions:

1. Which compound in the verses has been composed using the सूत्रम् 2-1-55 उपमानानि सामान्यवचनैः?

2. What type of compound is रुचिराननम् as used in the verses?
i. कर्मधारय:
ii. षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष:
iii. बहुव्रीहि:
iv. द्वन्द्व:

3. What is the विग्रह: of the compound सुस्मितम् (प्रातिपदिकम् ‘सुस्मित’, पुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया-एकवचनम्) used in the verses?

4. Which सूत्रम् justifies the use of a third case affix in the words पत्न्या and विद्‌युता used in the verses?

5. Can you spot the समासान्त: affix षच् in the verses?

6. How would you say this in Sanskrit?
“Without clouds lightning cannot occur.” Use the verbal root √भू (भू सत्तायाम् १. १) with the उपसर्ग: ‘सम्’ for ‘to occur.’

Easy questions:

1. In which word in the verses has the substitution णल् (in place of the affix तिप्) been used?

2. Where has the सूत्रम् 6-4-82 एरनेकाचोऽसंयोगपूर्वस्य been used in the verses?