Word-segmenting स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः on the Heritage engine

[sumant]

Hi,

I was expecting the Reader tool of the Heritage Engine https://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/SKT/DICO/reader.html to split स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः (from ऋतुसंहारम् 1.1) as two obvious words - स्पृहणीय and चन्द्रमाः. It does not do so, nor does it seem to treat it as one word either. Am I missing something on how this tool works?

Thanks,

Sumant

[kenp]

स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः is grammatically one single word in Sanskrit.

It is a compound word, known as a Samasa (समास). Sanskrit frequently joins multiple individual words together into a single, continuous compound word to form complex descriptions.

How it works:

• As one word: It functions as a single adjective meaning "one whose moon is desirable."
• As individual components: It is made by fusing स्पृहणीय (desirable) and चन्द्रमाः (moon).

In the verse, this entire compound word acts as an adjective describing the summer season (निदाघकालः). It tells us that summer is a time "when the moon becomes highly desirable."

The phrase "स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः" (spṛhaṇīyacandramāḥ) comes from the first verse of Mahakavi Kalidasa's famous Sanskrit work, the Ritusamhara

When split, this compound word (Samasa) breaks down into two distinct terms:

1. स्पृहणीय (Spṛhaṇīya): Meaning "desirable," "coveted," "attractive," or "pleasing to long for."
2. चन्द्रमाः (Candramāḥ): Meaning "the moon."

Full Context of the Phrase

In the poem, it describes the beauty and contrast of the summer season (निदाघकालः):

• प्रचण्डसूर्यः (Pracaṇḍasūryaḥ): The sun is fierce, blazing, and powerful.
• स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः (Spṛhaṇīyacandramāḥ): The moon (and the nighttime) is highly desirable, refreshing, and eagerly longed for.

Together, the phrase highlights how the intense heat of the day makes the cool, glowing moon incredibly soothing and welcome at night.

• Here is the grammatical breakdown (Vigraha Vakya) of the compound word स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः, showing how it functions as a single adjective.
  1. The Grammatical Breakdown (विग्रहवाक्यम्)
  In Sanskrit, to explain a compound word, we write it out as a phrase. For this word, the breakdown is:
  • स्पृहणीयः चन्द्रमाः यस्मिन् सः (निदाघकालः)
  • Spṛhaṇīyaḥ candramāḥ yasmin saḥ (nidāghakālaḥ)
  Literal Translation: "That (summer season) in which the moon is highly desirable."
  2. Type of Compound (समासप्रकारः)
  This is a Bahuvrihi Samasa (बहुव्रीहि समास), specifically a Vyadhikarana Bahuvrihi.
  • A Bahuvrihi compound occurs when two words join together to point to a third, outside object.
  • Neither "desirable" nor "moon" is the main subject here. Together, they form a single descriptive tag for the summer season (Nidagha).
  3. Usage in a Full Sentence
  If we expand the compound into a regular Sanskrit sentence to describe summer, it looks like this:
  • निदाघकाले चन्द्रमाः स्पृहणीयः भवति।
  • Nidāghakāle candramāḥ spṛhaṇīyaḥ bhavati.
  • Translation: "During the summer season, the moon becomes desirable."
  By turning it into a Samasa, Kalidasa brilliantly condenses that entire sentence into a single, elegant poetic adjective: स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः.

[Gérard Huet]

Hello Sumant. This is a bug, due to a wrong generation of the future participle स्पृहणीय of root spṛh. It will be corrected in the next version. Thanks for your report. Gérard

[sumant]

Thanks for addressing this, Gérard. Big fan of the site, by the way!

Sumant

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