antya yoni

antya yoni is written in Devanagari as अन्त्य योनि 

Antya‑yoni is a Sanskrit compound meaning “of the lowest origin/birth”, used in classical texts and lexicons to denote someone belonging to the lowest social class.

Meaning of the compound

• The term is a karmadhāraya or bahuvrīhi compound formed from antya (“last, lowest”) and yoni (“origin, source, birth”)

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• Lexicons gloss it as “of the lowest origin,” “of lowest birth,” or “belonging to the lowest tribe”

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Usage in Sanskrit sources

• Manusmṛti 8.68 is cited as a primary example: antyānām antyayonayaḥ (“those of the lowest birth among the lowest people”)

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• The term appears both as:
  • adjective: “of lowest origin” (e.g., antya‑yoniḥ)

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  • substantive noun: “the lowest source/origin”

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Relevance to Sanskrit grammar (vyākaraṇa)

While antya‑yoni itself is not a technical grammatical term, it appears in:

• lexicographic and grammatical dictionaries, where compounds are analyzed morphologically.
  The entry explains it as a karmadhāraya or bahuvrīhi compound and gives its declension and usage

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• It is related to the grammatical study of compound formation (samāsa), since its structure (antya + yoni) is explicitly analyzed in dictionaries

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Distinguishing from antya in grammar

The word antya alone is a technical grammatical term meaning:

• “final letter” of a word or consonant group (antya‑varṇa)

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• But antya‑yoni does not carry this grammatical meaning; it retains its social/lexical meaning.
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Summary

• antya‑yoni = “lowest origin/birth”, a compound used in Dharmaśāstra and lexicons.
• It is not a technical grammatical term, but its compound structure is relevant to Sanskrit grammar.
• It is consistently defined across dictionaries as referring to people of the lowest caste or origin

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