Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/182

 I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. A comparison is sometimes implied between the first substantive and the second: varsájya (AV.) 'whose rain is like butter', vrksá-keśa- 'tree-haired' 'whose trees are like hair' 'wooded' (mountain). 172 = = The first member further sometimes expresses the material of which the second consists; e. g. rajatá-nabhi- (VS.) 'whose naval is (made of) silver'; hiranya-nemi- 'whose fellies are (made of) gold'; or something closely connected with and characteristic of it, as niyúd-ratha- 'whose car is (drawn by) a team'. 287. Dependent Bahuvrihis. The first member is dependent on the last in the sense of a case-relation, the case-ending being sometimes retained. a. It has often a genitive sense, as páti-kama- (AV.) ‘having desire for a husband'; with genitive ending, rāyás-kāma- 'having a desire of wealth'. Here the first member often implies a comparison (when it never has the case- ending): agní-tejas- (AV.) ‘having the brightness of fire', 'fire-brighť', įkṣa-grīva- (AV.) 'having the neck of a bear' (demons), gó-vapus- 'having the form of a cow', jñāti-mukha- (AV.) 'having the face of (= like) relatives', máno-javas- 'having the swiftness of thought' 'swift as thought', mayúra-roman- 'having the plumes of peacocks' (Indra's steeds). — - b. In a few instances it has the sense of, and then always the ending of, the instrumental: á-giraukas- 'not to be kept at rest (ókas-) by a song (girá)', krátvā-magha- 'constituting a reward (gained) by intelligence', bhāsă- ketu- 'recognisable by light' 2.. c. The locative sense is more frequent, being often accompanied by the case-ending: asánn-isu- 'having arrows in his mouth', diví-yoni- 'having origin in heaven'; also several formed with dūre- 'in the distance', as dūré- anta- 'ending in the distance', dūré-gavyūti- (AV.) 'whose sphere is far away' 3. There are further examples in which the last member has the locative sense when it is a part of the body and what is expressed by the first member appears in or on it: aśru-mukhí- (AV.) 'having tears on her face', 'tear-faced', kīlálodhn-í- (AV.) 'having sweet drink in her udder', ghrtá-prstha- 'butter-backed', pátra-hasta- (AV.) 'having a hand in which is a vessel', mani- grīvá- 'having pearls on the neck', mádhu-jihva- 'having a tongue on which is honey', vájra-bahu- 'having an arm on which is a bolt'. 288. Coordinate Bahuvrihis. -No example is found in the RV. and hardly any in the other Samhitas of the first and last members of Bahuvrihis being coordinated in sense. The VS. has stóma-prstha- 'containing Stomas and Prṣṭhas'; also áhar-divá (XXXVIII. 12) 'daily', which is a kind of Dvandva Bahuvrīhi, being formed from the adverb áhar-divi ‘day by day'. The form somendrá- 'belonging to Soma and Indra', occurs only in B. passages of later Samhitas (TS. MS. K.). 289. Indeclinables as first member.-In a number of Bahuvrihis the first member is not a noun, but an indeclinable word, either a preposition or an adverb. a. Prepositions are common as first member of Bahuvrihis, expressing the local position of the final member in relation to the substantive with which the Bahuvrihi agrees. Some sixteen prepositions are thus used, the most frequent being vi which occurs as often in the RV. as all the rest put together. They are áti 'beyond', ádhi ‘on', antár ‘within', ápa 'away', abhi ¹ An accusative in sense and form appears | not a Bahuvrīhi with ápas- 'work'; cp. 278 a in tvám-kama- 'having a desire for thee'. and 91 B. 2 The compound vidmanápas 'working 3 On a few doubtful instances of such with skill' (vidmána) is probably a determi-locative compounds see WACKERNAGEL 2¹, native formed with the adj. apás- 'working', p. 278 (bottom).