[INDOLOGY] The Dvandva

[JAMES RYAN]

Hi,
 
I’ve posed this query to a couple members of the list already. I’d thought the answer about the term/word dvandva would be simple and straight-forward. It seems this may not be so.  I got good responses that advanced my knowledge. I got the relevant sūtras of Pāṇini and the Kāśikavṛtti that discuss the word Dvandva. My question was: what does the word dvandva, which references the compound (as well as having several other senses), actually mean? Or, rather, how does “two-two” actually describe the nature of the compound (and the other meanings the word conveys.)  Properly the word is dvandvam. The word itself cannot be an itaretara dvandva as it is ekavacana.
Could it somehow be a samāhāra dvandva? It doesn't seem likely, but... Then, it would have to be a tatpuruṣa. If so, what would its vigraha or resolution be? What would the case (and number?) of the first member be? And how would we read it?
 
Many of the meanings of the word do possibly come down to "twos" abstractly. Perhaps a secret (rahasya) would be between two people. A duel is between two people. Strife is between two sides. But the word itself seems to make 2+2?!  Is there a way that the two words can constitute an emphasis (Sanskrit does express emphasis this way): TWO! TWO!, making it focused on twos or binaries? But dvandva compounds are commonly more than two....
 
You can see my dilemma (dvandva?). Shouldn't there be a simple, stereotyped, pandit answer to this?: What kind of compound is the word dvandvam and, if tatpuruṣa, what is the case of the first member? 
 
James Ryan
Asian Philosophies and Cultures (Emeritus)
California Institute of Integral Studies
1453 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
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