Trailer: Panini: What is Yan Sandhi? Students: The formula for Yan Sandhi or यण् सन्धिः is इकोयणचि (= इकः + यण् + अच्) which means for a non similar sawara to a given letter, यण् (= य्, व्, र्, ल्) must be written at the place of the given इकः (= इ, उ, ऋ, ऌ) letters.
Today you are going to read some inside story of the अक्षरकुटुम्बम् (family of letters). This is a never told story.
We all know what great service this family does and has done for mankind. Sanskrit would not be called Sanskrit if not for them letters. But all was not well initially when Maharshi Panini was formalising the language. Yes! It’s unbelievably true!
Also read about amazing bhagavad Gita quotes.
Here’s what transpired.
Yan Sandhi and how it came into play
The letter य् knew that when you utter the sounds from इ to अ, it comes into being.
इ/ई ———> अ ——-> य्
Similarly, व् comes into existence when उ joins hands with अ
उ/ऊ ———>अ ———> व्
र्, when ऋ says hi to अ
ऋ/ॠ ———> अ ———> र्
and ल्, when ऌ meets अ
ऌ ———> अ ———> ल्
Now let us understand the family hierarchy.
All the vowels are in the topmost tier of the family structure. They command respect merely by virtue of being a स्वर (swara). It’s difficult for the lower tier members to earn much respect without the support of the स्वरा: I’d like to call them the creamy layer.
Next comes the वर्गीयव्यञ्जनानि otherwise known as the classified consonants. There are 5 वर्गा: or classes with 5 members in each. The 5 members of each group are close knit amongst themselves and gladly exchange places with each other when required. So, you can call them the 5 happy sub-family units. These are just as important for the language to exist but because they take a lot of help from the स्वरा: most of the times, we can accord them a secondary status. I’d call them the soup.
Hey you might want to read about Sanskrit Alphabets.
Now comes the central characters of our story.
The अवर्गीयव्यञ्जनानि or unclassified consonants are य्, र्, ल्, व्, श्, ष्, स् and ह्. They are like the vegetables lying at the bottom of the soup, very nutritious and important but feel unloved and uncared for. We are interested only in य्, र्, ल् and व्.
We know that these 4 letters came about when certain स्वरा: combine so they are called as semi vowels. But despite being called semi vowels, they never enjoyed the attention that vowels get. So, this was a reason for them being miffed especially at their respective counterparts इ/ई, ऋ/ॠ, ऌ and उ/ऊ.
Now, Maharishi Panini could sense that these dissidents could create trouble for the future of the language he was structuring, especially if they go on a non-cooperation mode. So, he quickly formulated a solution.
He then called them out individually and said,
“Hey यकार, soon, certain favourable conditions will manifest and at that time if you are alert, you get to displace इ/ई and take its place. Remember, your act should be in accordance with dharma. Do not deviate.”
Please note: यकार = य + अकार = the letter य . This is how you refer to a single letter in Sanskrit (so respectful right!).
In this way, र्, व् and ल् could displace ऋ/ॠ, उ/ऊ and ऌ respectively and peace and order were restored.
Now the situation was like how the whole sun and the full moon would disappear when certain astronomical alignment happens.
For this situation, Panini had suggested a settlement. Let us look at the settlement terms.
The settlement was called the
The four यण् सन्धि: Rules.
Point 1 – Whenever इ/ई is followed by any स्वर other than इ/ई then य् can displace इ/ई in that word and a sandhi takes place. At this time, य् is called an आदेश*.
Point 2 – Whenever ऋ/ॠ is followed by any स्वर other than ऋ/ॠ then र् can displace ऋ/ॠ in that word and a sandhi takes place. At this time, र् is called an आदेश.
Point 3 – Whenever उ/ऊ is followed by any स्वर other than उ/ऊ then व् can displace उ/ऊ in that word and a sandhi takes place. At this time, व् is called an आदेश.
Point 4 – Whenever ऌ is followed by any स्वर other than ऌ then ल् can displace ऌ in that word and a sandhi takes place. At this time, ल् is called an आदेश.
( *आदेश is a technical term for something that displaces and occupies the space of a letter/letters).
Check this post to know fruits name in Sanskrit.
Yan Sandhi Graphical Explanation
I will explain this with one example of point 1 graphically.
यदि and अपि are about to come together in a sentence. If you notice the last letter of यदि is इ (य् + अ + द् + इ) and the first letter of अपि is अ. य् sees an opportunity here and the following happens.
Scene 1:
Scene 2:
Scene 3:
Scene 4:
Scene 5:
Scene 6:
Maharshi Panini was extremely pleased with his diplomacy and went about doing other important things. After seeing this whole drama व्, र् and ल् were extremely optimistic about their future.
Read about Savarna-deergha Sandhi
Yan Sandhi Examples
असवर्णस्वरः – Any vowel other than its own kind (long and short). E.g., इ and ई are सवर्ण to each other. So, any other स्वरः other than these are असवर्ण to इ and ई. Similarly, उ and ऊ are सवर्ण to each other and ऋ and ॠ are सवर्ण to each other.
- अति+अधिक =अत्यधिक
- अति+अंत =अत्यंत
- सु+आगत=स्वागत
- अनु+इति = अन्विति
- सु+अल्प=स्वल्प
Reverse Yan Sandhi (breaking the sentences)
- यद्यपि = यदि + अपि
- अभ्युदयः = अभि + उदयः
- स्वगतम् = सु + आगतम्
।।शुभमस्तु।।
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