One Compound, Two Defensible Vigrahas
An 8-mark grammar question gives the sentence 'पीताम्बरः कृष्णं सेवते' and asks: (i) name the samasa in 'पीताम्बरः', (ii) give its vigraha, (iii) explain the sandhi between 'पीत' and 'अम्बर'. A candidate writes 'tatpurusa' and the vigraha 'पीतम् अम्बरम् यस्य सः', then explains the sandhi as 'guna'. She has 6 minutes left. Her grammar notes show both 'पीताम्बरः' as a bahuvrihi epithet of Krishna and as a karmadharaya meaning 'yellow garment'. The sentence's verb and context clearly refer to Krishna. The marking scheme allots 3 marks for the samasa name, 3 for vigraha, 2 for sandhi. She also wrote 'पीताम्बर' as two separate words in the sandhi answer.
1. Is 'tatpurusa' defensible here? Decide the correct analysis and justify from the sentence.
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No. The candidate's own vigraha, 'पीतम् अम्बरम् यस्य सः', is a bahuvrihi vigraha: 'the one whose garment is yellow'. A tatpurusa would be analysed as 'पीतम् अम्बरम्', a neuter compound meaning 'yellow garment', and it would not refer to Krishna. In the sentence 'पीताम्बरः कृष्णं सेवते', the word is the subject and refers to Krishna, so the bahuvrihi analysis is required. The candidate's label contradicts her vigraha, which is why she loses the 3 name marks even though the vigraha is correct. The context, not the isolated word, decides the samasa.
2. Explain the sandhi accurately and identify why 'guna' is wrong.
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The junction is between पीत, ending in -अ, and अम्बर, beginning with अ-. The rule is अ + अ = आ, giving पीताम्बर. This is dirgha sandhi, not guna. Guna would produce a different vowel grade and does not describe this combination. She should also write the result as one word, पीताम्बर, not as two separate words, because the question asks for the sandhi form. The correction is worth 2 marks and takes seconds: state the two sounds, apply the rule, and give the final form.
3. Give a parallel example and a three-step check to avoid this error.
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A parallel example is नीलाम्बरः, where नील + अम्बर gives नीलाम्बर and the context can make it a bahuvrihi epithet. The three-step check is: first, read the sentence to see what the word refers to; second, test the vigraha against that reference; third, match the samasa label to the vigraha, not to the dictionary meaning of the first member. If the vigraha contains यस्य or येन, the compound is likely bahuvrihi. If the vigraha simply qualifies the second member, it is likely tatpurusa or karmadharaya. This check prevents the common error of labelling by the literal meaning of the first word alone.