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A Neti–Neti Decision Procedure for Samāsa Identification: A Context-Based Study of śvetāmbara
Dr. Pijus Kanti Pal
Assistant Coordinator,

Indian Knowledge Systems Division
Ministry of Education,

Government of India, New Delhi
Emails: pal.pijuskanti@gmail.com; asstcoordinator1@iksindia.org

 

Abstract:
Samāsa (compound formation) is one of the most extensively discussed and time-consuming topics in learning Sanskrit grammar, as encapsulated by the Bengali proverb samāsa lāge chamās (‘samāsa takes six months’). This paper interrogates whether this difficulty is inherent or stems from the topic’s breadth and context-dependence. It argues that analysis is challenging primarily because: (a) the Pāṇinian tradition presents a large search space of categories, (b) a single surface-form often permits multiple valid analyses, and (c) discourse context frequently determines the correct interpretation.

To address this, the paper proposes a rule-guided elimination procedure—an algorithmic approach to samāsa identification. This study introduces a stepwise elimination strategy, resembling neti neti (‘not this, not this’), which systematically narrows candidates using morphological and semantic cues (e.g., avyaya markers, negation, numerals, kāraka-relations, and gender agreement). The compound śvetāmbaraṃ serves as a case study, shown to be a samānādhikaraṇa karmadhāraya (under Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.1.57) in one context and a anyapadārthapradhāna bahuvrīhi (under 2.2.24) in another, with gender-marking aiding disambiguation. The paper provides a curated pedagogical inventory of 44 samāsa categories and 448 annotated examples.

 

Keywords: samāsa, Pāṇini, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Sanskrit pedagogy