वर्णागमो वर्णविपर्ययश्च
द्वौ चापरौ वर्णविकारनाशौ ।
धातोस्तदर्थातिशयेन योग-
स्तदुच्यते पञ्चविधं निरुक्तम् ॥
varṇāgamo varṇa-viparyayaś ca
dvau cāparau varṇa-vikāra-nāśau |
dhātos tad-arthātiśayena yogas
tad ucyate pañca-vidhaṁ niruktam ||
(Kārikā on Aṣṭa-dhyāyī: 6.3.109; cited in the vṛtti to Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: 2028)
“(1) Addition of a phoneme (varṇa) [as in the case of kuñjaraḥ], and (2) reversal [i.e., reordering] of a phoneme [as in the case of siṁha], also the other two—(3) change of a phoneme [as in the case of ṣo-ḍan] and (4) deletion of a phoneme [as in the case of pṛṣodara], and (5) application of a verbal root (dhātu) with an exceedance of its meaning [as in the case of mayūra]—etymology (niruktam) is thus said to be of five types.”
Commentary
The Amṛta-ṭīkā on Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa glosses the word niruktam as follows:
niścayenocyate’rtho’neneti niruktam |
“That by which the meaning [of a word] is expressed with certainty is [called] an etymology (niruktam).”