One Question Decides Every Samas

समास is the joining of two or more words into a single compound word (समस्त पद), with the connecting particles dropped. Breaking it back open is called विग्रह.

राजा का पुत्र → राजपुत्र. Here 'राजा का पुत्र' is the विग्रह and 'राजपुत्र' is the समस्त पद.

Hindi grammar sections carry 1–3 marks from this topic in almost every paper, and candidates lose them by memorising lists of examples instead of learning the test.

The test is a single question: which part carries the meaning?

• ›First word dominant → अव्ययीभाव
• ›Second word dominant → तत्पुरुष (with its sub-types कर्मधारय and द्विगु)
• ›Both words dominant → द्वंद्व
• ›Neither — a third thing is meant → बहुव्रीहि

Write the विग्रह down first, every single time. Nine out of ten wrong answers come from classifying a compound without ever breaking it open.

अव्ययीभाव and तत्पुरुष

अव्ययीभाव — first word dominant. The first part is an indeclinable (अव्यय) such as यथा, प्रति, आ, भर, and the whole compound then behaves as an अव्यय itself.

• ›यथाशक्ति = शक्ति के अनुसार
• ›प्रतिदिन = प्रत्येक दिन
• ›आजीवन = जीवन भर
• ›भरपेट = पेट भरकर
• ›हाथोंहाथ = हाथ ही हाथ में

तत्पुरुष — second word dominant. The विग्रह restores a case marker, and the compound is named after that marker:

• ›कर्म (को): स्वर्गप्राप्त = स्वर्ग को प्राप्त
• ›करण (से/द्वारा): तुलसीकृत = तुलसी द्वारा कृत
• ›संप्रदान (के लिए): विद्यालय = विद्या के लिए आलय
• ›अपादान (से, अलग): रोगमुक्त = रोग से मुक्त
• ›संबंध (का/के/की): राजपुत्र = राजा का पुत्र
• ›अधिकरण (में/पर): गृहप्रवेश = गृह में प्रवेश

So the quick move is: restore the missing particle. If a particle comes back, you are in तत्पुरुष and the particle names the sub-type.

कर्मधारय and द्विगु — Both Are तत्पुरुष Underneath

कर्मधारय joins an adjective to its noun (विशेषण–विशेष्य), or a thing to what it is being compared with (उपमान–उपमेय). No case marker comes back in the विग्रह — instead the words 'रूपी' or 'के समान' appear.

• ›नीलकमल = नीला कमल (blue lotus)
• ›महापुरुष = महान् पुरुष
• ›चंद्रमुख = चंद्र के समान मुख
• ›चरणकमल = कमल के समान चरण
• ›नरसिंह = नर रूपी सिंह

द्विगु has a number as its first word and denotes a collection.

• ›त्रिभुज = तीन भुजाओं का समूह
• ›नवरत्न = नौ रत्नों का समूह
• ›चौराहा = चार राहों का समूह
• ›दोपहर = दो पहरों का समूह
• ›पंचवटी, सप्तर्षि, त्रिलोक

The separating test: does the first word count something? If yes, द्विगु. If it merely describes or compares, कर्मधारय. 'नीलकमल' describes; 'त्रिभुज' counts. That single question sorts the two faster than any list.

द्वंद्व, बहुव्रीहि — and the Trap Examiners Love

द्वंद्व — both words dominant. The विग्रह uses और / या / एवं, and the two parts are usually written with a hyphen.

• ›माता-पिता = माता और पिता
• ›दिन-रात, नर-नारी, पाप-पुण्य, रोटी-कपड़ा, देश-विदेश

बहुव्रीहि — neither word dominant. The compound points at a third person or thing entirely outside both words. The विग्रह uses जिसका / जिसकी / वाला.

• ›दशानन = दस हैं आनन जिसके → रावण
• ›लंबोदर = लंबा है उदर जिसका → गणेश
• ›चक्रधर = चक्र को धारण करने वाला → विष्णु
• ›त्रिनेत्र = तीन हैं नेत्र जिसके → शिव

The trap. The same word can be two different समास depending on the meaning intended:

• ›पीतांबर = पीत अंबर (a yellow garment) → कर्मधारय. But = पीत है अंबर जिसका (Krishna) → बहुव्रीहि.
• ›नीलकंठ = नीला कंठ → कर्मधारय. But = नीला है कंठ जिसका (Shiva) → बहुव्रीहि.
• ›चतुर्भुज = चार भुजाओं का समूह → द्विगु. But = चार भुजाएँ हैं जिसकी (Vishnu) → बहुव्रीहि.

So the विग्रह printed in the question, not the word, decides the answer.

What Exams Actually Ask

BPSC TRE-4 Part I (Hindi Language) asks the plain identification: a compound is given, four समास names follow. The trap is offering both कर्मधारय and बहुव्रीहि for a word like नीलकंठ and settling it only through the विग्रह printed in the stem — read the bracket before the options.

CTET and state TET Language papers usually go the other way: they print the विग्रह and ask for the समस्त पद, or ask which option is not an example of a given type. That word 'not' is missed more often than the grammar is.

SSC selection-post and CHSL Hindi papers stay with the frequent list — यथाशक्ति, दशानन, माता-पिता, त्रिभुज — and mostly test whether you can separate द्विगु from बहुव्रीहि when the first word is a number.

UPSC's compulsory Indian-language paper may ask for a विग्रह in writing rather than as a choice, so learn to write the expansion out, not just recognise it.

Across all of them the same four or five words recur: पीतांबर, नीलकंठ, चतुर्भुज, दशानन, यथाशक्ति.

Points to Remember

• ›समास = joining of words; विग्रह = breaking them back apart.
• ›पूर्वपद प्रधान → अव्ययीभाव (यथाशक्ति, प्रतिदिन, आजीवन).
• ›उत्तरपद प्रधान → तत्पुरुष; the restored particle names the sub-type (राजपुत्र, रोगमुक्त, गृहप्रवेश).
• ›Adjective + noun, or उपमान + उपमेय → कर्मधारय (नीलकमल, चंद्रमुख).
• ›Number + collection → द्विगु (त्रिभुज, नवरत्न, चौराहा).
• ›दोनों पद प्रधान, विग्रह में 'और' → द्वंद्व (माता-पिता, दिन-रात).
• ›Neither dominant, a third thing meant, विग्रह has 'जिसका/वाला' → बहुव्रीहि (दशानन, लंबोदर).
• ›कर्मधारय and द्विगु are formally sub-types of तत्पुरुष.

⚠ Exam Tip 1: If the first word is a number, you are choosing between द्विगु and बहुव्रीहि, never anything else. A collection (चार राहों का समूह) is द्विगु; a named third being (चार भुजाएँ हैं जिसकी = विष्णु) is बहुव्रीहि.

⚠ Exam Tip 2: Whenever the विग्रह ends in जिसका, जिसकी, जिसके or वाला, the answer is बहुव्रीहि — no exceptions worth worrying about in an objective paper. Scan the bracket for that one word before you read a single option.