visarga sandhi

visarga sandhi is the name for sandhi changes where the first sound is the visarga. Here is a simple example of visarga sandhi:

• रामः योद्धुम् इच्छति → रामो योद्धुम् इच्छति।
  rāmaḥ yoddhum icchati → rāmo yoddhum icchati.
  Rama wants to fight.
  

Many Sanskrit words end in the visarga, so visarga sandhi is very common.

Where does the visarga come from?

The visarga itself comes from a sandhi change. s and r become the visarga when they appear at the end of a word:

• रामस् → रामः
  rāmas → rāmaḥ
  Rama
  

• मातर् → मातः
  mātar → mātaḥ
  mother!
  

Most of the visargas you hear and see will come from s. A very small number will come from r. If the visarga comes from r, its sandhi rules have some small differences. So it is important for us to know which sound the visarga comes from.

Table of changes

Some learners find it helpful to see these sandhi changes in a table. So, here is a basic summary of visarga sandhi:

To use this table, find the ending of the word on the top row. Then find the second sound in the right column. The corresponding cell in the table is the result. For example, if the first term ends in -ās and the next one starts with c or ch, then the result is -āś.

Common changes

Some changes are common and apply to all visarga sounds.

If the second sound is unvoiced, the visarga can become ś, ṣ, or s to match the second sound's point of pronunciation. Here are some examples:

• बालः चरति → बालश् चरति
  bālaḥ carati → bālaś carati
  The boy walks.
  

• बालः टिप्पणीम् पठति → बालष् टिप्पणीं पठति
  bālaḥ ṭippaṇīm paṭhati → bālaṣ ṭippaṇīṃ paṭhati
  The boy reads the commentary.
  

• बालः तिष्ठति → बालस् तिष्ठति
  bālaḥ tiṣṭhati → bālas tiṣṭhati
  The boy stands.
  

These changes may even occur in front of śa, ṣa, and sa. But these changes are usually not written down:

• नरः शिलां गच्छति (नरश्शिलां गच्छति)
  naraḥ śilāṃ gacchati (naraśśilāṃ gacchati)
  The man goes to the rock.
  

• नरः षण्डं गच्छति (नरष्षण्डं गच्छति)
  naraḥ ṣaṇḍaṃ gacchati (naraṣṣaṇḍaṃ gacchati)
  The man goes to the thicket.
  

• नरः सागरं गच्छति (नरस्सागरं गच्छति)
  naraḥ sāgaraṃ gacchati (narassāgaraṃ gacchati)
  The man goes to the ocean.
  

-ās sandhi

If the visarga ends a term that originally ended in -ās, then it disappears if any voiced sound follows:

• नराः उदकम् पिबन्ति → नरा उदकं पिबन्ति
  narāḥ udakam pibanti → narā udakaṃ pibanti
  The men drink water.
  

• नराः मद्यम् पिबन्ति → नरा मद्यं पिबन्ति
  narāḥ madyam pibanti → narā madyaṃ pibanti
  The men drink wine.
  

• नराः वमन्ति → नरा वमन्ति।
  narāḥ vamanti → narā vamanti.
  The men vomit.
  

-as sandhi

If the visarga ends a term that originally ended in -as, then it becomes o if any voiced consonant follows:

• नरः मद्यं पिबति → नरो मद्यं पिबति
  naraḥ madyaṃ pibati → naro madyaṃ pibati
  The man drinks wine.
  

And if the second sound is a, then we replace all three sounds with o:

• नरः अमृतं पिबति → नरो ऽमृतं पिबति
  naraḥ amṛtaṃ pibati → naro 'mṛtaṃ pibati
  The man drinks nectar.
  

The ' symbol, which is called the avagraha, often shows that a vowel was removed due to sandhi.

Otherwise, the visarga disappears before other vowels, just as we saw with -ās above:

• नरः उदकम् पिबति → नर उदकं पिबति
  naraḥ udakam pibati → nara udakaṃ pibati
  The man drinks water.
  

• नरः ओदनम् इच्छति → नर ओदनम् इच्छति
  naraḥ odanam icchati → nara odanam icchati
  The man wants rice.
  

Other changes

Otherwise, the visarga becomes r in front of any voiced sound:

• अग्निः अस्ति → अग्निर् अस्ति
  agniḥ asti → agnir asti
  There is a fire.
  

• वायुः अस्ति → वायुर् अस्ति
  vāyuḥ asti → vāyur asti
  There is wind.
  

• द्वाः (द्वार्) अस्ति → द्वार् अस्ति
  dvāḥ (dvār) asti → dvār asti
  There is a door.
  

But if the second sound is r, the visarga disappears and the vowel before it becomes long:

• अग्निः रोचते → अग्नी रोचते
  agniḥ rocate → agnī rocate
  The fire is pleasing.
  

• वायुः रोचते → वायू रोचते
  vāyuḥ rocate → vāyū rocate
  The wind is pleasing.
  

• द्वाः (द्वार्) रोचते → द्वा रोचते
  dvāḥ (dvār) rocate → dvā rocate
  The door is pleasing.
  

sa and eṣa

The words saḥ (“he,” “that one”) and eṣaḥ (“he,” “this”) are very common in Sanskrit. They have their own unique visarga changes. But thankfully, those changes are simple. In front of a, they behave as you would expect:

• सः अचिन्तयत् → सो ऽचिन्तयत्
  saḥ acintayat → so 'cintayat
  He thought.
  

• एषः अपश्यत् → एषो ऽपश्यत्
  eṣaḥ apaśyat → eṣo 'paśyat
  He saw.
  

But in front of all other sounds, the visarga disappears:

• सः इच्छति → स इच्छति
  saḥ icchati → sa icchati
  He wants.
  

• सः चिन्तयति → स चिन्तयति
  saḥ cintayati → sa cintayati
  He thinks.
  

• एषः पश्यति → एष पश्यति
  eṣaḥ paśyati → eṣa paśyati
  He sees.
  

Review

You do not need to memorize the rules above. But if you would like to practice using them, you can try to apply the correct visarga sandhi changes to the examples below:

• रामः गच्छति।
  rāmaḥ gacchati.
  

• नराः गच्छन्ति।
  narāḥ gacchanti.
  

• नरः अश्वम् पश्यति।
  naraḥ aśvam paśyati.
  

• सः रामं पश्यति।
  saḥ rāmaṃ paśyati.
  

• गुरुः अस्ति।
  guruḥ asti.