The tense affixes called la are used in denoting the object and the agent and after intransitive verbs, they denote the action as well as the agent.,
The term ल् means the ten affixes known as लट्, लिट्, &c; ल् is the common element of them all; and these affixes, when stripped of all indicatory letters, leave behind only the letter ल् which is thus common name for them all. The लः in the sutra, is the nominative plural of ल् । By the word च in the sutra, we draw in the word कर्ता or 'agent' from the last sutra into this. The force of these tense-affixes, when placed after transitive verbs is to denote the object and the agent; and when placed after intransitive verbs, is to denote either 'action' (भाव) or it may denote the 'agent'.
The verb itself denotes the action; to be or to do, generally; or to be or to do, in a particular manner. In the active voice the affix marks the agent; in the passive voice of a transitive verb, it marks the object; but in the passive form of an intransitive verb, the action itself. Thus, गम्यते ग्रामो देवदत्तेन 'the village is gone to by Devadatta'; here ते of गम्यते denotes the object and is in passive construction. गच्छति ग्रामं देवदत्तः 'Devadatta goes to the village'; here the affix ति of गच्छति denotes the agent, and the sentence is in active construction. The verb गम् being a transitive verb, can take both the active and passive constructions or, to use the Sanskrit technical phraseology, the tense affixes, after transitive verbs, denote the agent and the object. They can never denote भाव or action after transitive verbs, that is, transitive verbs cannot be used impersonally. Let us now give examples of Intransitive verbs; आस्यते देवदत्तेन 'it is seated by Devadatta'; the verb आस्यते here denotes merely भाव or 'action'. In other words, we may call this an impersonal construction. आस्ते देवदत्तः 'Devadatta sits'; here the verb आस्ते denotes the agent or is in the active voice.
Professor Bohtlingk translates the sutra thus:- \A finite verb expresses the agent as well as the object; but the Intransitive verbs denote, in addition to that, the Impersonal idea of the action\. The word भाव means action considered in the abstract.,