Dec 14, 2013 — USA (SUN) — My thanks and respects to Sriman Gadadhar Prabhu for furthering the discussion of the terms 'upastha' and 'upasthe' that are found in various places in our literature. After reading the entire article, I could understand that two explanations are being asked for:
Question 1) Why the term 'upasthe' in "rathopasthe 'stra" (Śrīmad-bhāgavatam 10.54.3) does not change its form?
Question 2) Why the term 'upasthe' in Śrīmad-bhāgavatam 4.17.35 and Śrīmad-bhāgavatam 5.23.7 does not change its form?
Before I attempt to answer these two questions according to my limited capacity, my respects again to one and all. I pray that the pure devotees of the Lord like Srila Prabhupada be merciful on me, for I am in great requirement of such mercy.
Praying to the devotees, I begin the explanations for these two questions as follows:
1) In this instance, the term 'upasthe' is followed by 'astra'. The rule specified 'eco 'yavāyāvaḥ' (Pāṇini 6.1.78) should have been perfectly applicable in this case and the result would have been 'upasthayastra'. However, since the term 'upasthe' is a 'pada' (see definition below), another rule becomes applicable here. In this case, the transformation happens as follows:
This rule 6.1.109 states that when a 'pada' ending with 'e' or 'o' is combined with a term beginning with a short 'a', both alphabets will be replaced by the former alphabet.
A 'pada' is a term which ends in a nominal suffix or a verbal suffix. (According to Pāṇini 1.4.14 - sup-tiṅ-antaṁ padam.) In simple terms, a 'pada' refers to a noun form or a verbal form.
In this case, the former alphabet is 'e', and the latter alphabet is the short 'a' therefore, both 'e' and 'a' are replaced by a single 'e', and it leads to 'upasthe 'stra'. We put the single apostrophe to denote that there was a short 'a' in this place before the rule got applied.
In short, it would have followed the rule 6.1.78, but since 'upasthe' got defined as a 'pada', and since the immediate next term began with the short 'a', the rule 6.1.109 got applied instead of 6.1.78.
The rule 6.1.109 is not applicable in the case of 'rathopastha upāviśat' because although 'rathopasthe' here is a 'pada', the latter term 'upāviśat' doesn't begin with a short 'a'. It begins with a short 'u' and therefore, the usual rule 6.1.78 becomes applicable.
2) In both these cases, the term 'upasthe' is followed by a term which begins with a consonant and NOT a vowel. Therefore, the rule 6.1.78 (which is applicable ONLY when the latter term begins with a vowel) does not apply in this case. Therefore, 'upasthe' (or the terms following it) do not undergo any change in these cases.
I would like to humbly say again that I do not wish to comment on any of the translation related questions. Respects to one and all again by,
their servant,
Hari Parshad das
