apa gūhas

 The phrase “apa gūhas” most naturally means “he/she/it hid away” or “was concealed,” combining apa (“away, off”) with a verb form of the root guh (“to hide, conceal”).

Breaking down the expression

• apa (अप) — a common Sanskrit preverb meaning “away, off, aside, back”.
  It can also mean “water” in Vedic usage, as seen in the term ap / āpas (“waters”)

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  But in compounds with verbs, apa- usually functions as a directional prefix meaning “away.”
• gūhas / guhās — this resembles a verb form of the root √guh (गुह्), meaning “to hide, conceal, cover.”
  Likely possibilities include:
  • a perfect or aorist form, meaning “was hidden,” “hid,” or “has concealed.”
  • a passive sense (“was concealed”) depending on context.
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Combined meaning

When apa- is used as a verbal prefix with √guh, the sense becomes:

• “to hide away,” “to conceal completely,” “to remove from sight.”

Thus apa gūhas would mean something like:

• “(he/it) hid away,”
• “(he/it) concealed completely,” or
• “(he/it) was hidden away.”

Notes on attestation

• The exact phrase “apa gūhas” does not appear in the supplied dictionary resources

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  , so this interpretation is based on standard Sanskrit morphology and the known meanings of apa- and √guh.
• The meaning of ap / āpas as “water”

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  is not the likely sense here unless the phrase appears in a Vedic poetic context where “waters” metaphorically “hide” something. Without such context, the verbal-prefix interpretation is the most natural.
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  5 Sources

Summary

apa gūhas = a verbal expression meaning “hid away,” “concealed,” “covered up,” formed from apa- (“away”) + √guh (“to hide”).