भूते ऽपि दृश्यन्ते

By the last sutra, it was taught that the Unadi affixes come with the force of the present time. The present aphorism teaches that they come with the force of the past also, not as a general rule, but in special cases. The force of the words 'are seen' being that no general rule can be laid down about it, but on finding that certain words have a past significance, we conclude that the affix in that particular case has the force of the past time.

Thus वृत् + मनिन् = वर्त्मन् 'a way, road' (that which has been established as a rule); चर् + मनिन् = चर्मन् 'skin' (that which is lived in); so also भस्मन् 'ashes' (that which has been reduced to ashes).,