Vachmi

What is Vibhakti
In Sanskrit, every noun has a nominal stem (base form) called प्रातिपदिक (prātipadika). These forms cannot be directly used in sentences. They need be modified based on the gender, number and case. This is applicable not just to the nouns but the same is true in case of adjectives and pronouns.

This process of modification of noun, pronoun and adjective based on the gender, number and case is called declension. It is the inflection (changing the ending of the word) of nouns, pronouns and adjectives.
Case is called Vibhakti in Sanskrit.

In Sanskrit, there are

• 3 genders - masculine, feminine or neuter
• 3 numbers - singular, dual and plural
and

• 8 cases - 7 vibhaktis and the 8th one called सम्बोधनम्
  • प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative Case)
  • द्वितीया विभक्ति (Vocative Case)
  • तृतीया विभक्ति (Accusative Case)
  • चतुर्थी विभक्ति (Instrumental Case)
  • पंचमी विभक्ति (Dative Case)
  • षष्ठी विभक्ति (Ablative Case)
  • सप्तमी विभक्ति (Genitive Case)
  • सम्बोधनम् विभक्ति (Locative Case)

In the subsequent chapters, we would look at each of these Vibhaktis in detail.