235.

Of the nominal abstracts the most important are those in -tā, -tvā and -bhāvaḥ, as they may be derived of any noun. Of mṛdu (weak) the abstract „weakness” is not only mārdavam or mradimā (see P. 5, 1, 122), but also mṛdutā, mṛdutvam and mṛdubhāvaḥ. Nothing, too, impedes making them of compounds, as śreṣṭhyapatyatā or -tvam or -bhāvaḥ „the being the child of a set” or caturmukhatvam (-tā, -tvam) „the having four mouths” (*1). Hence the abstracts in -tā and -tvam and their synonyms are a fit means for expressing clauses and the like in a concise form, especially when attended by a subjective genitive. So devadattasya śreṣṭhyapatyatvam = „the fact of N.N.’s being a merchant’s son,” brahmaṇaś caturmukhatā „the four-facedness of Brahma.”

Here are some examples of this widely used idiom: Panc. I, 222 kanyāpitṛtvaṃ khalu nāma kaṣṭam (it is a calamity to be father to a daughter); ibid. p. 71 dṛṣṭā mayāsya piṅgalakasya sārāsāratā (I have scrutinized the good qualities of P. as well as his vices); Kumâras. I, 48: if animals felt shame, the female yaks, it is said, when seeing the beautiful hair of fair Umâ, would have abated their pride of their tails kuryurvālapriyatvaṃ śithilaṃ camaryaḥ; Daç. 36 pravahaṇasya magnatayā sarveṣu nimagneṣu (as all were drowned because of the ship’s foundering); Panc. 73 tvayāsya sakhitvāt sarvo ’pi rājadharmaḥ parityaktaḥ (by having him as your friend you have neglected the whole of your royal duty); Çâk. II: king Dushyanta, as his presence is wanted at different places at the same time, says kṛtyayor bhinnadeśatvād dvaidhobhavati me manaḥ; Utt. II, p. 35 ghanavir alabhāvaḥ »the density and the being scattered,” that is »the relative density,” Comment. on R. 3, 42, 10 pattananagarayor arājadhānor ājadhānotvena bhedaḥ (the difference between the words pattana and nagara is this that the former does not signify the king’s residence, the latter does). The last example shows also the fitness of this idiom for the sake of explaining and demonstrating. By grasping the different links of a sentence into one single word, scientific or philosophical matters may be treated in the very clearest and plainest manner, complex ideas being rendered by complexes of words, whereas the relation of the abstract noun with the other words of the sentence is sufficiently pointed out by its case-ending.

(*1)
The suffixes for making these abstracts are taught by Pâṇini 5, 1, 119-136. Those in -bhāva are evidently tatpurushas, bhāva meaning »the state, the being.” For this reason Pâṇini is right not mentioning them.

235. 名詞派生の抽象名詞

名詞派生の抽象名詞（nominal abstract）について最も重要なものは、任意の名詞から派生する、-tāや-tvā、bhāvaḥに類するものである。mṛdu（弱い）の抽象名詞（弱さ）は、mārdavaやmradiman（P. 5, 1, 122を見よ）だけでなく、mṛdutāやmṛdutva、mṛdubhāvaもそうである。複合語にすることもできる：śreṣṭhyapatyatā（-tva、-bhāva）（権力者の子であること）、caturmukhatva（-tva、-bhāva）（4つの口を持つこと）（*1）のように。そういうわけで、-tāや-tvāとその同義語における抽象名詞は、特に主題を表す属格（subjective genitive）を伴う場合、文の節などを簡潔な形で表現するのに適した手段なのである。
devadattasya śreṣṭhyapatyatvam = ,,the fact of N.N.’s being a merchant’s son”
brahmaṇaś caturmukhatā ,,the four-facedness of Brahma”

Panc. I, 222 kanyāpitṛtvaṃ khalu nāma kaṣṭam (it is a calamity to be father to a daughter)
ibid. p. 71 dṛṣṭā mayāsya piṅgalakasya sārāsāratā (I have scrutinized the good qualities of P. as well as his vices)
Kumâras. I, 48: if animals felt shame, the female yaks, it is said, when seeing the beautiful hair of fair Umâ, would have abated their pride of their tails kuryurvālapriyatvaṃ śithilaṃ camaryaḥ
Daç. 36 pravahaṇasya magnatayā sarveṣu nimagneṣu (as all were drowned because of the ship’s foundering)
Panc. 73 tvayāsya sakhitvāt sarvo’pi rājadharmaḥ parityaktaḥ (by having him as your friend you have neglected the whole of your royal duty)
Çâk. II: king Dushyanta, as his presence is wanted at different places at the same time, says kṛtyayor bhinnadeśatvād dvaidhobhavati me manaḥ
Utt. II, p. 35 ghanavir alabhāvaḥ »the density and the being scattered,” that is »the relative density”
Comment. on R. 3, 42, 10 pattananagarayorarājadhānorājadhānotvena bhedaḥ (the difference between the words pattana and nagara is this that the former does not signify the king’s residence, the latter does)

最後の例は、説明や指示のためにもこの語法が適しているということを示している。文の様々なつながりを1つの語にして把握することで、科学的、あるいは哲学的問題を明晰かつ平易な仕方で扱うことができる。複雑な概念は複合語で描写される。その一方で、抽象名詞と文章中の他の語の関係は、その格語尾によって十分に指示されている。

（*1）
これらの抽象名詞を作る接尾辞はP. 5, 1, 119-136に説かれている。そのうち-bhāvaは、その語義が「状態、存在」であるから、〔正確に言えば接尾辞でなくて、〕明らかにtatpuruṣaである。この理由からして、Pāṇiniがそれらに言及しないのは正しい。