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by A.K. Aruna
First Print Mar 2011 (ISBN 978-0-9818640-0-6)
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Bowing to Lord Nārāyaṇa (Kṛṣṇa), and to Nara, the best of men (Arjuna), and to the Goddess (of knowledge) Sarasvatī, may one now commence the (epic) Jaya (‘Victory’).
This book provides the succinct grammar rules and structures for the Sanskrit language. If you are unfamiliar with Sanskrit grammar and wish to learn how to understand and apply these rules and structures for reading Sanskrit, please get the companion book, The Aruna Sanskrit Grammar Coursebook: 64 Lessons Based on the Bhagavad Gita Chapter Two by this author. The Aruna Coursebook and the Grammar Reference are designed to work together and are fully cross-referenced [•Note: If you are reading this from the Online web pages (http://upasanayoga.org/AKAruna/docs/AKA-Index.htm#Grammar), all these ‘Books’ or their equivalents are available there online and free as HTML files•]. To start this course of learning to read Sanskrit, begin with the Aruna Coursebook, which will assign specific sections of rules from this grammar book. In following all the lessons in the Aruna Coursebook, you will cover the entire grammar in this book and be able to fluently read with understanding the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita in its original Sanskrit.
To go even further into the study of Sanskrit so that you can completely read and understand the entire Bhagavad Gita, get the full set of The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series, of which this Grammar Reference and the Aruna Coursebook are the initial texts. The design and benefit of this series will be fully explained below within the context of Sanskrit and the methods of learning this language using The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series. This series is discribed below.
Introduction to Sanskrit
Sanskrit is a living language with ancient Vedic roots. Here I am using the term “living language” in its obvious sense – that it is still existing, still spoken, still studied, still communicative (and not just descriptive of what once was), and at least in one most highly desirable and non-academic area of study, namely, the Vedanta studied by people who newly come to its study to this day in the hundreds or thousands every year, is an irreplaceable medium for its full appreciation.
Recent archeological and related studies, just now scratching the surface, are seeing some indications of what could be described as the Vedic culture in the Indus-Saraswati civilization at its first urban development peak between 2600 to 1900 B.C. and its antecedent development in the same area starting at least eight thousand years ago including the large settlement of Mehrgarh (168 acres, one-quarter sq. mi., in 5000 B.C. – by many times the largest Neolithic settlement of its time in the world). The sites linked to this civilization over time are spread over one million square kilometers (the largest of any ancient civilization in the East, West or New World) – from eastern Afghanistan to the Ganges River and from the Himalaya mountains to the Godavari River in West-central India (an area nearly as large as the states of California and Texas together), with over 2,600 sites and more being found on a regular basis.
Unlike other cultures and civilizations that have come and gone within history, this civilization has been amazingly stable for an enormous period of time and has developed a very rich and deep tradition. There naturally occurred population shifts over this vast time period. Its first great cities, such as Mahenjo-Daro on the Indus River, Harappa on the Ravi River, and others were abandoned by 1900 B.C. Because the Indian sub-continent, due to continental drift, was slowly colliding into the Asian continent, there were massive land displacements and several of the rivers frequently shifted course, leaving barren once fertile banks. The greatest problem, however, was the complete drying up of the major Saraswati River along whose banks the largest bulk of the settlements have been found – likely due to the redirection of its feeder rivers as a result of the reshaping of the Himalayan headwater landscape. In addition there was a desertification of this vast area over time with prolonged drought between 2200-1900 B.C. throughout the whole of West and South Asia.
As a result, the portion of this urban-based civilization within the affected area over time, family by family, picked up its roots and migrated mostly into the fertile Ganges River plains in village-size settlements, bringing their cultural riches with them. These people, along with the portions of the civilization outside of this affected area, eventually emerged transparently into the India of today. With other ancient cultures, displacements of this magnitude would have destroyed the central culture, but, with its traditions maintained by strong, individual families dedicated to preserving its cultural treasures, their core literature has survived to this day, and is many times more extensive than that of any other ancient civilization.
The traditions of this civilization has been and still are being passed on to succeeding generations through oral transmission, and recently now augmented with printed text. The earliest form of this tradition that has survived is its collection of sacred hymns, which originally existed as separate hymns scattered among many families who had preserved them. These hymns were subsequently compiled and edited into the four books of the Vedas. That compilation is traditionally held to be done by a group of scholars headed by a man called Vyasa. Vyasa is also traditionally ascribed to be the author (maybe the compiler, editor and contributor of the various stories) of the great epic called the Mahabharata (or at least the initial stage of the epic – likely called Jaya meaning “Victory”). Within this epic is the jewel called the Bhagavad Gita, a work of 700 verses consisting of a dialogue between the Lord-incarnate Krishna and the warrior prince Arjuna at the start of a great war. Vyasa is also a participant in the Mahabharata story, and his name is mentioned twice in the Bhagavad Gita itself.
The Mahabharata centers on a great war said to have been fought thirty-five years before the beginning of the Kaliyuga, the last and declining age of the four cyclical ages. The Kaliyuga commenced by one calendar in 3102 B.C. Elsewhere, with support in the Puranas, the war was said to have been fought in 2449 B.C. A third view expressed in the Puranas “assumes that a total of 1,050 years elapsed between the time of Parikshit (Arjuna’s grandson) and Mahapadma Nanda’s rule,” which would place the war around 1500 B.C. This later date coincides with the recent datings of the underwater ruins of the ancient port city of Dwaraka (1700-1600 B.C.) from where Krishna came; somewhat coincides with B. B. Lal’s archeological dating of the apparent oldest layer of Hastinapura, a central city of the Mahabharata, to the Painted Gray Ware phase between 1100 and 800 B.C.; and also generally fits with the post-resettlement period of the Vedic people moving from the Saraswati River, which had dried up by 1900 B.C., eastward to the fertile Ganges River basin, the geographical site of the Mahabharata story. The Mahabharata, like the Puranas, is a popularization of the teachings of the Vedas and the Vedic traditions, and the Bhagavad Gita best summarizes that vision of the core teaching.
This set of books, called The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series, revolves around the Bhagavad Gita to teach the Sanskrit language and to expose the student to the core tradition of the culture in which this language flourished. The Bhagavad Gita is the most accessible prime example of the depth of cultural heritage that has allowed Indian culture to survive many times longer than any other culture of the past or present.
The origins of Sanskrit
Many scholars, even till today, are slow in accepting the Indus-Saraswati civilization, also called the Harappian or the Indus Valley civilization, as the oldest known appearance of Vedic culture or Vedic literature and language. These things take time to be assimilated and accepted. Many of these scholars are beholding to a great deal of investment by themselves, their teachers, the institutions they work under, their funding sources, their nation’s empire builders, and even their religion in the so-called Aryan invasion theory and its varients, which claim the soon-to-be authors of the Vedas invaded, or at least migrated, into the Northwest Indian sub-continent around 1500 B.C. from parts unknown, but widely speculated from anywhere except the Indian sub-continent itself.
Now indeed there is, so far, little direct physical evidence that the Indus-Saraswati civilization was in fact Vedic; however, there is no direct evidence that it was not Vedic. The reason it appears to be Vedic is that there is at least some exemplary evidence for it, it can as well alternatively explain away the minimal and now largely discredited evidentiary claims of the invasion theorists, and it better fits what the Veda and supporting Purana and Epic literature itself tell us.
Who better to turn to than the authors of the main evidence in question? The many authors within the Veda, with little dispute by scholars, describe the homeland of their ancestors as none other than the Indus-Saraswati area, and they make no claims of them or their ancestors having invaded from or lived elsewhere. Plus the Purana and Epic literature confirm and in fact voluminously expound on this one homeland theme, quite out of tune with the supposed nomadic Aryan invaders, who were the imagined authors of the Vedas by the theorists. Some may claim that the Purana and Epic literature is myth, but they are myth intermeshed with historical fact. For example, Dwaraka, the supposed legendary home of our story’s hero Krishna said to have been submerged shortly after Krishna’s death in the Mahabharata, was recently found underwater extending out 700 meters off shore of present day Dwaraka. This ancient city was a thriving sea-port on the broad delta near where the Saraswati River would have emptied into the Arabian Sea. Its underwater ruins and relics date to 1700-1600 B.C. This date has to be reconciled with the fact that the archaeological evidence shows that Dwaraka, the home of the eminent “Arya” Krishna, was a late development of the Indus-Saraswati civilization, that the city is located over 600 km south from the center of the civilization around the middle of the Saraswati river, that the Sanskrit spoken by Krishna in the Mahabharata is a much later development from the Sanskrit of the Vedas, and also that Dwaraka is a “recent” city first mentioned only in the Mahabharata, which postdates the Vedas, the Ramayana epic and many of the Puranas.
Now these are people natively gifted with tremendous memories. That is why we still have a vast amount of their literature today after many thousands of years, and better preserved than any comparable literature from anywhere else in the world that is more than even a couple hundred years old. Moreover, the vast bulk of their literature is spent in tracing their origin back to its divine source, so they were far from indifferent to recounting their past. Greek ambassadors to India told the Greek historians Pliny and Arrian of a list of 154 Indian kings reported to go back to 6676 B.C. Moreover, the archeologically supported population shift from the Saraswati River area to the Ganges River area is also clearly reflected in the differences of the geographic descriptions present in the Veda from those in the later Brahmana and Purana literature. This shows that their literature did indeed reflect their history. That these people could have collectively forgotten their roots, forgotten from wherever else they supposedly came from, within, by most scholars reckoning, a matter of a few hundred years from the supposed invasion (1500 B.C.) and the supposed time (1200 B.C.) of the initial compositions of the Veda literature, is itself a self-contradicting, if not preposterous, supposition that the invasionist scholars must swallow.
Admitting that the old archeological studies, or rather their interpretations, used to prop up the invasion theory are shaky, some current scholars now rely on the matching old linguistic studies to keep the origin of the Vedic culture, or at least the source of the Vedic language, out of the geographical area of the Vedas. Linguistics shows how languages may be interlinked in their developments or may be broadly categorized as belonging to agrarian or pastoral cultures, but the science of linguistics has no tools to address the problem of locating any language in a geographical area at a point in time – only archeology can do this. Linguistics at best can be used to rationalize an already assumed geographical dispersion of a group, or family, of languages.
Now, if human beings never move from their homeland and if language developed in only one place on earth and spread neighbor to neighbor from there, then linguistics alone, with knowledge of the geographical constraints within the area in question, could offer theories to where and how the language might have dispersed over time – but such is not the case. Human history is far too complicated for linguistic theory to claim the equal of a single concrete archeological fact. It should not be surprising then that by geographically locating the Vedic language and culture in the Indus-Saraswati area a couple, or several, thousand years before 1500 B.C. and given the convincing facts that there were extensive contacts by sea and over land between these people and the rest of the old world, that this gives more than enough time for linguistic theory to equally, or better, explain how that civilization’s language influenced and was influenced by other languages scattered throughout Central Asia, Middle East and Europe – especially since the archeological evidence of these other languages in other areas date so far at the earliest to around 3000 B.C., allowing more than enough time for this interaction to have taken effect by then.
The most likely scenario, which will forever remain unproven because systematic writing appears to be a recent invention and an ephemeral relic, is that groups of humans have separately initiated oral languages, some more complex than other, for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years, and have been exchanging these languages, in part and in total, through inter-marriage, migration, conquest, travel, trade and other cultural contacts from pre-historic times. That there is a similarity between languages within a geographically linked area as Euro-Asia should surprise no one, nor should it prove that there then had to have been some one mysterious nomadic tribe sprinkling its sole invention to the illiterate masses. Such an adamant fancy for the belief in a single, literate nomadic tribe befits only one who has an ulterior motive for its promulgation, as has been apply evidenced and admitted in the case of India by the European colonizers of India, the original inventors of the theory.
The current reluctance of some Western and Indian scholars of today to impartially re-appraise the frailty and self-promoting circularity of the theory may rest not only on the investment reasons mentioned above, but even on their vehemence, for whatever reason, against what many call “Hindutva,” the current revival of the core religion of India – viewing the loss of this theory as some kind of victory for the so-called “Hindutva crowd.”
Such is no excuse for not coming to grips with the facts as they present themselves. The fact is, the Vedas, the Puranas and the Epics, which form the basis of what they called Sanatana Dharma and is now called Hinduism, uniformly present their culture and language as beginningless. That the core of this tradition, the Vedas, are maintained unmanifest through the mechanism of karma and later reintroduced to mankind (once they have the language to receive it) in succeeding creation cycles each lasting billions of years, again and again – in current terminology, big-bang after big-bang. Those who appreciate and own up to this heritage would see no “victory” in pushing back this cultural heritage’s so-called origins just a few thousand years within this present cycle. Religious and anti-religious sentiments, as well as politics, indeed play a role in directing or misdirecting the search for historical truth, but not in establishing the truth.
A more fruitful and less speculative and contentious approach in this area may be to look at the movement of peoples within this region in the distant past, since migration and inter-marriage would have played at least some concrete role in the movement of cultures and languages. This is now possible with archaeogenetic evidence using genetic analysis. These studies have already been started and may in the future clear up some misconceptions in these regards.
For further information about this topic, start with either of the two books: The Invasion That Never Was by Michael Danino or In Search Of The Cradle Of Civilization by Feuerstein, Kak and Frawley. Their thought-provoking books will refer you to the available source materials on the subject. For a presentation by a top scholar in the archeological field on this topic see The Saraswati Flows On: the Continuity of Indian Culture by B.B. Lal.
Vedic Sanskrit versus Classical Sanskrit
Within the Vedic literature that has survived can be noticed subtle changes in grammatical forms and their usage from the earliest hymns to the concluding Upanishads (Vedanta). Various dialects and grammars of the language flourished in different regions and at different times within this Vedic period. Subsequent to the Vedic literature and Vyasa, grammar became formalized under Panini who lived at least two thousand years ago, and possibly even much earlier. Panini wrote a definitive grammar called the Panini Sutras, the oldest surviving grammatical work in the world. This work was so complete and influential that prior Sanskrit grammars, of which no fewer than sixty-four of their authors were mentioned, disappeared. The language had thus become formalized and has remained, for the most part, grammatically unchanged to the present – although some scholars have argued that the Sanskrit literature since the Vedic period, and even since Panini, has over time “suffered” a decline in grammatical richness.
A few language scholars claim that this apparent grammatically frozen nature of Sanskrit means it became a dead language. This is synonymous to saying a youth who has reached puberty, after which there is no further significant changes, except decline into old age, is “dead.” If it can be argued that English, or any other national or international language, is currently losing grammatical precision or richness, does this mean that that language is now “dead?”
Others may try to resuscitate the claim by saying that what they mean by “dead” is that it is no longer a language “commonly” used. However this claim suffers in at least two ways. The first is that they can offer no one number of speakers of a language that could reasonably quantify what “commonly” means, which would disqualify Sanskrit now as a “living language,” yet retain many other accepted living languages of the present or of the past spoken in certain areas or by certain tribes of people all over the world throughout history. Secondly, if “commonly” means predominately used throughout the daily life of its speakers, or, in other words, it is living when people choose to converse and formulate ideas in it in preference to any other, then they would have to prove that Sanskrit was ever the predominate daily language of its speakers, after which it became non-predominate and hence “dead” according to them. But what scholars of the language know of its history is that is was from earliest times always described as one of several languages known to its speakers, just like in present day India where most people are multi-lingual, changing the language to suit the listener or the situation.
Sanskrit was employed in several ways, such as for technical treatises, including scriptural treatises, where precision of expression is of utmost importance, for the language of the royal court, for the many daily rituals that occupied a substantial amount of the peoples time, and for a common language among a diverse linguistic audience. There are many different types of languages that are not the predominant language of anyone, such as legal language, various computer languages, mathematical languages, signal, code and sign languages, etc. These specialized languages we may call “dead” once they are no longer employed or known by anyone, but such is not the case with Sanskrit, of which quite a large number of people are currently skilled to varying degrees. I would venture to guess that more people are currently as skilled in Sanskrit, as those who are equally skilled in most any one of these other specialized languages, even though they are all simpler to learn than Sanskrit. In other words, “dead” just does not appear to be an objective, valid description of the language you are attempting to learn today. Now if “dead” is a valuation term meaning “useless”, then the fact that you are interested in this book shows, at least to your own satisfaction, that Sanskrit is not a dead language.
Whatever the status or stage of the language now, most call the earlier form of the Sanskrit language found in the Vedas as “Vedic Sanskrit” and the form of the language that conforms to Paninian grammar as “classical Sanskrit.” In this book, the grammar described is of the later, referred herein as simply Sanskrit.
If Panini wrote the definitive grammar book, then why are we offering this work?
Panini’s Sutras are in Sanskrit, so, if you don’t know the language and you wish to learn it, the Sutras themselves can’t help. Additionally, Panini himself addressed his grammatical work to those who were already familiar with the Sanskrit language and even speakers of that language, much like grammar is taught in all modern languages today to children who already are speakers of the language. Moreover, the Sutras are extremely brief, like mathematical expressions, requiring extensive enfoldment by a scholar of the language. Existing scholarly commentaries are available, but they are also in Sanskrit. So eventually you are driven to finding a teacher for these Sutras. There are many available, but being totally dependent upon the teacher for this study, you must commit many years of regular study with that teacher. Moreover, the Sutras themselves are extremely analytical and exhaustive on each topic throughout, so you cannot cut short this period of study and still get a broad enough grammatical basis to understand the language.
To address these issues many ancillary works are employed by teachers of the Sutras. These include a commentary on the Sutras, a book on verbal roots and their paradigm formations in verbal usage, a book on words and their paradigm formations into nominal and adjectival usages, a book of synonyms for basic vocabulary, a Sanskrit reader or examples from literature, sometimes (lately) a general Sanskrit dictionary, and often a simplified primer or handouts on some basic grammar topics. The problem with this massive collection is that a tremendous memory is required to retain and meld it, their vocabularies don’t match and the separate books don’t cross-reference or complement each other. Finally, this total package is best designed for a usage of the language that few beginning students will ever employ, namely to be full users of the language – readers, writers and speakers. Whereas, the vast majority of these students will only be readers of the Sanskrit language – quite a simpler skill.
Colleges in the West, and high schools and colleges in India, where a more limited length of study is available, solve this by employing Western style grammar books and usually a Sanskrit reader or examples from literature, along with the obligatory dictionary. Here the problem is not so much the method, but the materials provided.
The Sanskrit to English dictionaries for students that are chosen most in India are poorly printed editions that makes their use very frustrating. The readable dictionaries are expensive, and most are too complicated for the beginning student. The later also contain a mixture of Devanagari and English transliterated Sanskrit text that lowers their usability and hinders memory retention of what was just looked up.
The Sanskrit readers or examples from literature have little connection with the vocabulary, contents, or layout of the grammar book. Grammar books are of two styles – lesson style and reference style. Some lesson style grammars don’t complete the full spectrum of grammar necessary for a reading proficiency to go beyond their simple lesson sentences. Others provide too many grammar rules for beginning students, such as giving a grammar rule for isolated, individual forms that the student is never likely to encounter and would be better off just having the finished form of the word as a vocabulary entry. In other words, they admittedly are meant to prep the student to pass some final exam, rather than providing him or her with just enough to enjoy reading Sanskrit. Their vocabulary and practice sentences are sometimes offensive to Indian culture, reflecting the ruling British attitude of their day, or are geared towards children, or are collections of statements out of context that make them too difficult to understand and may even distort the culture as it sees itself. They therefore have little application to the literature a mature adult would want to read today. These lessons also break up the layout of the grammar and force the presentation order of the grammar to fit the lesson sentences, so that the grammar itself is disjointed and not nearly as effective as a unified, logical presentation would be.
Most of these grammar texts are not well printed, making them difficult to read and unnecessarily frustrating to the beginning student. The reference style grammar texts are mostly around 100 years old. They employ a Devanagari script, and/or an English transliterated script, of Sanskrit that contains a handful of archaic characters that are no longer used in printed texts. Several employ so much transliterated text – pandering too much to their students more interested in linguistic theories – that the student who simply wants to be able to read Sanskrit texts cannot relate it well to the literature in the Devanagari script with which he or she is faced. Practically all of them try to mimic or recreate every rule and exemption to the rule given in the major commentaries to Panini.
The best of the reference style grammars is Arthur Macdonell’s A Sanskrit Grammar for Students, a very well planned, logical, and especially concise presentation. I have based the following grammar on its best elements.
Lately there have cropped up teach yourself books. A perusal of them clearly shows that they present way too little grammar, and the grammar they present is usually so drowned in English prose explanations that the point of each topic is forgotten as the student turns the pages. Those books that don’t overwhelm the student with explanations fail in not explaining enough, or even any, of the grammar. They also employ too much of their Sanskrit text in English transliterated script, instead of the native Devanagari script, leaving the student ill prepared to even begin reading any useful or interesting Sanskrit text. There is one Indian teach yourself booklet series that uses the Devanagari script throughout by Dr. Pandit S. D. Satwalekar called Sanskrit Self Teacher. It avoids most problems of its genre, but its grammar presentation suffers many of the problems of the other lesson-style grammar books. I have based The Aruna Coursebook on its best elements.
Why is this series better for learning Sanskrit? And to whom is this work intended?
Why it is better is best addressed by describing the intended student. Firstly, if you are an Indian with a typical good memory for language, have an initial Sanskrit vocabulary provided by your native language and culture, and are young and have many years for study under a teacher, or are older and have the leisure time to study under a teacher for even more years, then use the Paninian method. This method has over thousands of years of perfection and can take you as far as you want to go in Sanskrit. However, if you are not one of the above or are one of the above and are older, you just might want to employ this work first. It will quickly get you to where you can experience the enjoyment of reading Sanskrit before undergoing the admitted stress of in-depth Paninian study. And it will get you to the proficiency in reading Sanskrit that Panini would have expected from his beginning students.
More important to many of these types of students, as well as to others, will be the accomplishment of knowing in great depth the Bhagavad Gita, the finest teaching on reality available anywhere in any language. The course should take from one to four years of daily attendance, depending on your starting background and the quality of effort put forth. This is a serious, academic work, even though in a self-teacher format, meant to provide the equivalent of two years of college-level Sanskrit study. You are encouraged to study two to three hours daily – short of this, it will take you longer to get through the material. The first one to two hours is (eventually) stress-free, daily reading of the Bhagavad Gita text. This practice has the added benefit of giving you a tremendous familiarity, if not memorization of the text. At the completion of the course you will know the Gita in the original better than any translation ever made, and that knowledge of Sanskrit and the Gita will be where it should be – in your head, instead of still in a book.
The intended audience for these books ranges from the very beginning Sanskrit student to the advanced student wanting technical details and explanations on the Bhagavad Gita, and includes the non-Sanskritist who is willing to wade through a little Sanskrit in order to clearly know the Bhagavad Gita and its mature Vedic vision.
The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series
The first title in The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series is The Aruna Sanskrit Grammar Reference. The Grammar Reference follows the reference style presentation of grammar. This will provide a logical, consistent and complete exposition of the grammar for reading-only proficiency. The grammar uses minimal wording and presents the material in outline and chart form as much as possible to maximize your visual memory of the information. This method also greatly assists review and re-review of the grammar, necessary to master the subject. Several of the charts have multiple forms within them that demonstrate simple, easy to remember patterns which are overlooked by many grammar books. This helps you to also logically remember the information. The grammar is presented in the Western style, which emphasizes analytic, reading skills, as opposed to the more difficult composition and speaking skills. As much as possible, the examples in the book are taken from the Bhagavad Gita, so your targeted vocabulary builds quickly.
The second title in The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series is The Aruna Sanskrit Grammar Coursebook: 64 Lessons Based on the Bhagavad Gita Chapter Two. The exercise in the first lesson of the Aruna Coursebook directs the student to the Script Reading Exercise, given in its appendix. This section provides the complete Bhagavad Gita second chapter in large-print Sanskrit with transliteration using the English alphabet under each line, followed with the entire chapter again with only the large-print Sanskrit to test your progress. The text and transliteration are broken down in two separate ways to show the separate syllables and then the individual words, thus progressively showing the student the proper methodology for correctly pronouncing the original Sanskrit text. This section should provide all the necessary practice material for the student to learn the Sanskrit script – essential for proceeding through the rest of this work and any other Sanskrit work. For students who need help in pronunciation of Sanskrit words, I highly advise finding a teacher, a friend or someone in your community who will surprise you with their readiness to assist you – knowledge of Sanskrit and its literature seems to nurture this helpful attitude. These people need not know the meaning of all the Sanskrit words, but they can read the Sanskrit script. Additionally, a tape or CD of the Bhagavad Gita is available through the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam (www.arshavidya.org).
An alternative help for this Script Reading Exercise is the specially developed Sanskrit Reading Tutor: Read It, Click It, Hear It!, a uniquely formatted PDF file that has the alphabet sections from the Grammar Reference plus the Script Reading Exercise of the Grammar Coursebook. The special feature of the PDF is that one can click on any of the characters in the alphabet section to hear its pronunciation, and on any of the individual lines, quarter verses, or their syllables of Script Reading Exercise to hear their pronunciation. In this way one can have each of these script elements individually re-read to you over and over while you are seeing the script on your screen – a unique and invaluable tool for learning the script and its pronunciation.
The rest of the lessons in the Aruna Coursebook give a relatively quick overview of the entire Grammar Reference – its layout, its methodology and how its grammar rules are to be understood. Enough explanation with little redundancy is provided to explain the outlined and charted grammar presented in the Grammar Reference so that you can learn on your own with little or no assistance from a teacher, assuming you can apply a post-high school aptitude towards this work.
The examples and exercises in the Aruna Coursebook are drawn from the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, which is taught completely in prose format, then finally in verse format. In the Aruna Coursebook, vocabulary is presented by giving the English meaning of the individual words, their grammar and also their contextual use within expressions from the Gita. This should make it very easy to learn the vocabulary. By teaching the vocabulary of the verses in a consistent Sanskrit prose order, which is syntactically based, the student gains a quicker grasp of Sanskrit syntax. All exercise expressions and sentences are taken directly from the Gita – no extraneous material is presented. These words, expressions and sentences are repeated throughout the Aruna Coursebook in the lessons and exercises to assist your memory; nothing is taken for granted as you progress through the Aruna Coursebook. All the examples and lessons are cross-referenced to their specific verses in the Gita, so the context and the English translation given therein will provide an answer-key and guide for the student’s work.
After knowing the prose order of all the verses of the second chapter, the student is then introduced to the analysis of verses so that he or she can quickly and confidently see the meaning of the Bhagavad Gita verses directly. Concepts presented in the Gita are expounded, so that non-Indian and Indian students alike can appreciate the depth of discussion within the Gita.
The Aruna Coursebook forms a four to twelve month full-time course in itself, depending on the effort put forth and any previous exposure to this language or familiarity with other languages that may have affinity to the Sanskrit language. At the completion of The Aruna Coursebook you will be familiar with the entire range of Sanskrit grammar for reading proficiency and be able to sight read with understanding all the verses of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, which briefly presents the entire teaching of the Gita.
The third title in The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series is The Bhagavad Gita Dictionary. This is a Sanskrit to Sanskrit and English dictionary of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Many entries include reference citations to grammatical rules for their peculiar formations presented in Grammar Reference. The derivation of many words is included as appropriate. The entries also provide Sanskrit synonyms and/or meanings, plus contextual Sanskrit analysis of compound words, so that your vocabulary builds beyond the Gita with each use. The goal of this vocabulary building is to encourage you to start to think in Sanskrit while you read Sanskrit – a multiplying effect that greatly enhances learning and builds the skills necessary to progress to Panini and the full grasp of the Sanskrit language, if you so choose.
The fourth title in The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series is The Bhagavad Gita Reader: Sanskrit/English Parallel Text, consisting of all eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. It presents on each left-hand page the Gita verses, then on the opposing page the same verses in easier to understand prose order and an English translation of those verses, in columnar format.
The purpose of this section and its design is three-fold. First, you are instructed to read Gita verses daily. Reading skills are encouraged and developed so that you can read Sanskrit text as effortlessly as your native language. By reading down each of the respective pages, the student can quickly read either the original verses, the prose version, or the English rendering – as well as relate these three by reading across the opposing pages. Later understanding of what you are reading follows and is greatly enhanced by this exercise.
Secondly, the prose presentation of the verses quickly brings you to an understanding of the meaning of the verses, well before the difficult skill of unraveling the grammar packed into verse form. Breaking with tradition, all words in the prose are grammatically split apart, helping you see the individual words with their full grammatical form. Interspersed in the prose in parentheses are additional Sanskrit words necessary to help you comprehend the meaning and context of certain words, and to understand the not-so-obvious references of certain pronouns found in some verses.
Thirdly, the English translation is given out-of-the-way in its own column to de-emphasize your dependence on English as a medium for understanding Sanskrit. This translation doubles as a quick answer-key to the Aruna Coursebook exercises, which are all cross-referenced to the matching verses. Additionally, contextual explanation is added in parentheses so as not to mislead the reader into confusing editorial commentary with the actual translation. This is a feature sorely lacking in existing translations that I have come across. Certain Sanskrit words that have a depth of technical and cultural meaning packed into them, or intentionally have multiple meanings, are well explained in the Aruna Coursebook and in The Bhagavad Gita Dictionary. After being initially translated, the original Sanskrit word is then used in the English translation of the following verses and is clarified, if necessary, only in parenthetical commentary. This makes for better readability of the translation, during this language study and especially after this study – once you realize that there are no equivalent, concise expressions in English for certain Sanskrit words, nor need they be manufactured.
The fifth title in The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series is The Bhagavad Gita Sanskrit Key: Verse-by-Verse Grammar & Vocabulary. The Gita Key also can be used as a quick answer-key to the Aruna Coursebook exercises. By collecting the vocabularies together, this becomes a marvelous tool to study the grammar, syntax and meaning of the verses of the entire Bhagavad Gita.
The Aruna Sanskrit Language Series was arranged for the following reasons. The Grammar Reference and the Aruna Coursebook are meant to stand together as an introduction to Sanskrit, without needing the other three books. If the student wants to proceed in this learning of the Bhagavad Gita, then minimally the Gita Key is also required. The Gita Dictionary was separated from the other books as it is more convenient to have a separate dictionary that can be opened as a reference for the Aruna Coursebook, Gita Reader, and Gita Key, or as a reference tool apart from this series. If one is not interested in learning Sanskrit grammar and can read the Sanskrit script, yet wants to know the Bhagavad Gita and how its meaning is arrived, then just the Gita Key will more or less suffice, though its thousands of grammar rule references require the Grammar Reference. If one simply wants a very good translation of the Bhagavad Gita and can read the Sanskrit script, then the Gita Reader is complete in itself. If you cannot read the Sanskrit script, but still want to see this same good translation, then see this author’s The Bhagavad Gita: Victory Over Grief and Death. It has the same English translation of the entire Bhagavad Gita within it, with the number of Sanskrit words, in transliteration, retained in the translations greatly reduced from the Gita Reader version.
Although not specifically designed as a classroom text, the various components of this work may be used as an aid or auxiliary to classroom instruction. On the other hand, this work specifically helps those who have students who are interested in learning Sanskrit, but who do not have the time, materials or expertise to teach the subject themselves, yet can act as an occasional or regular coach for these students.
If the reader is already familiar with or knowledgeable in Sanskrit, then this series provides the benefits of a quick but thorough reference guide to the grammar of written Sanskrit for personal or teaching purposes, and an in-depth analysis of each word, each compound-word, each sentence, and each topic of the Bhagavad Gita – in accordance with the ancient core tradition, free from any new-age accretion. Therefore nothing stands between you and the original text. You will understand in English, what Arjuna heard in Sanskrit from Lord Krishna.
1.1:The script. Saṃskṛta is the actual name of the language, but commonly is called by the Anglicized Hindi word Sanskrit. Today, Saṃskṛta is generally written in the Devanāgarī script, although some texts employ a regional script; for example, a version of the Tamil script in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The Devanāgarī script itself has varied over time (even within the past century). The character formations used in this book are the current standard. The Devanāgarī alphabet consists of 48 characters, for the basic 13 vowel and 35 consonant sounds.
1.2:The sounds. The ancient grammarian Pāṇani recognized all 48 of the Saṃskṛta sounds and scientifically grouped them under a number of classifications, depending on the purpose. One classification (listed in 1.3: using Western terminology) is the location of the sound as it is made by the human voice. Another classification is the effort of the contact within the mouth at that location (1.4:).
1.3:The five locations of sound.
Most characters have one location; some blend two locations; two (ḥ and ṃ) vary, depending on the sound that precedes them; and one of those two (ḥ) varies, depending on the sound that follows.
Guttural
Formed by contact of the base of the tongue against the back of the throat (kaṇṭha).
Palatal
Formed by contact of the middle of the tongue against the palate (tālu). The tip of the tongue touches near the front palatal ridge (the top of roots of upper front teeth, a half-inch above the top of the teeth).
Cerebral
Formed by contact of the tip of the tongue against the front of the downward hard dome (the mūrdha) at the middle of the palate. There is no good equivalent of this sound in English.
Dental
Formed by contact of the tip of the tongue against the base or root of the upper front teeth (danta).
Labial
Formed by contact of the lips (oṣṭha).
1.4:Five efforts of articulation and the characters that exhibit them.
The efforts are the extent of contact, or the shape of the restriction, between the organs of articulation where the sound is generated.
Touched
The five classes of consonants (k – m in the alphabetical table, 1.5:).
Slightly Touched
The semivowels (y – v).
Slightly Open
The sibilants (ś – s), h, visarga (ḥ), and anusvāra (ṃ) (see 1.5: ).
There is a tendency to slightly aspirate initial mutes, such as “k,” “t,” and “p” in English. In Saṃskṛta, initial nonaspirate mutes (1.9:) are more like these sounds at the end of isolated English words – where the aspiration is mostly cut off.
Noninitial short अ a has no character, as it is inherent in every consonant from क ka to ह ha. Consonants without any vowel after them are marked below with a stroke slanting left to right ् (called a virāma or halanta), as in क् k. When so written, the consonant is referred to by the term –kāra. For example, क् k is called ककार kakāra and ख् kh is खकार khakāra. Consonants by themselves without either a following or preceding vowel are considered not pronounceable. (We unknowingly admit the same in English. The letter b is pronounced “be,” f as “ef,” etc.) To pronounce each Saṃskṛta consonant in table 1.5:, a final अ a is added (e.g., क is read “ka”, but the description and classification there applies only to क् kakāra). Sometimes when a single consonant (e.g., a mute or न् n 1.9:) is at the end of a word with a pause afterward (e.g., at the end of a sentence), we add a short echo of the preceding vowel. For example, in तत् tat, the अ a is echoed: tata.
Visarga (ः ḥ) never occurs as a word initial. Like other consonants, visarga cannot be pronounced by itself without a preceding vowel; moreover, visarga cannot be joined in writing with a following vowel. Visarga corresponds to the second half (-h) of the hard aspirates ख् k-h, छ् c-h, थ् t-h, and फ् p-h (1.9:). It is usually pronounced from the same position as its preceding vowel – as a short, hard blowing out of the breath. Before the gutturals क् k and ख् kh, the visarga is a guttural – a distinct, hard blowing with constriction at the base of the tongue – and is called jihvāmūlīya. Before the labials प् p and फ् ph, the visarga is a labial and has a distinct bilabial “f” sound called upadhmānīya. When at the end of a word with a pause afterward (e.g., at the end of a sentence), visarga is pronounced as a hard “h” followed by a short echo of the preceding vowel. For example, कृष्णः kṛṣṇaḥ is pronounced kṛṣṇaḥa. When vowel is ऐ ai or औ au, the echo is of the component इ i or उ u (2.3.a:) respectively, e.g. नौः nauḥ (3.41:) is pronounced nauḥu. The optional visarga (before a sibilant, 2.28:) alphabetically occupies the place of the sibilant it replaces and is pronounced as the sibilant. For example, in अन्तःस्थ antaḥstha, the visarga has replaced the sibilant स् s that was in the original अन्तस्स्थ antasstha.
Anusvāra (ं ṃ) never occurs as a word initial. Its pronunciation is like the French nasalization of their vowels. For example, the French word bon in bon voyage would be written and pronounced in Devanāgarī as बां bāṃ. The optional anusvāra (before mutes and the nasals न् n and म् m, 2.55:) alphabetically occupies the place of the class nasal it replaces. For example, compare शंकर śaṃkara and शङ्कर śaṅkara (where anusvāra replaces ङ् ṅ) or – incorrectly (1.10:) – कंपित kaṃpita and कम्पित kampita (where anusvāra replaces the root medial nasal म् m).
व् v is usually pronounced as a labial-dental “v,” made with the lower lip first slightly touching the upper front teeth. When preceded by a consonant in the same syllable, however, it is pronounced as a bilabial “w.” This has led to the popular transliteration of the conjunct व् v as w in many Saṃskṛta words that were coined in another language. For example, स्वामी should be pronounced and is popularly transliterated as Swāmī, instead of Svāmī, although the latter is technically correct.
ह् h corresponds to and is derived from the second half (-h) of the soft aspirates घ् g-h, झ् j-h, ध् d-h, and भ् b-h (1.9:). It is pronounced from the same position as its following vowel.
1.6:Writing. When writing Devanāgarī, the distinctive part of each letter, occupying at least two-thirds of the height of the final letter, is normally written first, then the vertical line, and finally the top horizontal line. For example, the syllable त ta is written with three strokes, the last two being the vertical line then the horizontal line. But, write in whatever order works for you. The top horizontal line is usually drawn after the rest of the word or phrase has been written. In fact, it was regularly missing in old manuscripts.
1.7:Writing noninitial vowels. Each vowel is written in a different way, according to whether or not it is initial. There is no sign for the noninitial short अ a (as noted in 1.5.a:). The noninitial short इ i is written before the consonant after which it is pronounced (e.g., कि ki). The rest of the noninitial vowels are written after, below, or above the consonants. An example is the letter क् k with all its vowel signs:
क ka, का kā; कि ki, की kī; कु ku, कू kū; कृ kṛ, कॄ kṝ; कॢ kḷ; के ke, कै kai; को ko, कौ kau.
Certain consonants take certain vowel signs at the side instead of below. They are रु ru, रू rū, and हृ hṛ. When the consonant र् r precedes the vowel ऋ ṛ, it is written as a hook on top of ऋ ṛ (e.g., as र्ऋ rṛ) and is pronounced before the vowel. Note that the vowel ऋ ṛ is written as an initial vowel even though it is medial (e.g., निर्ऋतिः nirṛtiḥ). The consonant श् ś is often written in its alternant form when followed by the vowel ऋ ṛ or ॠ ṝ (e.g., शृ śṛ) and sometimes also when followed by the vowel उ u or ऊ ū.
1.8:Sound classifications. The 48 characters of the Devanāgarī alphabet are classified by sound as guttural, palatal, cerebral, dental, or labial (see table 1.9:). They are further grouped as mute/nonmute, hard/soft, class/nonclass, consonant/vowel, aspirate/nonaspirate, nasal/semivowel/sibilant, simple/diphthong, and short/long (see Glossary). The consonants have an added अ a for pronunciation purposes only (1.5.a:). Committing table 1.9: to memory is helpful for understanding sandhi (see chapter 2). Traditionally the consonants (and vowels) in table 1.9: are read alphabetically: Read the rows of the first five columns across (क ka, ख kha, ग ga, घ gha, ङ ṅa, च ca, छ cha…). Read the next three columns down (य ya, र ra… ह ha). If in doubt, refer to table 1.5: for correct order.
A mute is a sound that begins with a complete stop of the passage of the breath (1.4: touched), also called a stop in phonetics. Nasals are not full mutes, but are oral mutes with a nasal continuant (Macdonell 1927), thus in the following rules the term “mute” will not include nasals unless indicated.
Visarga (ः ḥ) may appear at the end of the last word in a sentence, before a sibilant, or before a hard guttural or labial. After last word ः ḥ is pronounced in the location of the preceding vowel, and before sibilant as the same sibilant (see 2.28:). In the last two cases ः ḥ is pronounced in the location of the following guttural or labial (see 1.5.b:). Hereafter, visarga will be indicated with a colon (:) for better visibility on these pages.
Diphthongs ए e and ऐ ai are guttural-palatal. Diphthongs ओ o and औ au are guttural-labial, per their component sounds (a-i for ए e and ऐ ai, and a-u for ओ o and औ au – see 2.3: and 2.3.a:).
1.10:Anusvāra (ं ṃ), or “after-sound,” is a nonmute, unmodified nasal that follows a vowel. It is sounded only through the nose, not the mouth. For this reason it is not classified in table 1.9:. Anusvāra is sometimes written as ँ m̐, where it is then described as anunāsika (pronounced through both the nose and mouth). There can be a nasalized ल् l, written as ल्ँ l̐ (2.51:). Anusvāra is properly found before the semivowels, sibilants, and ह् h (2.54:), and optionally before mutes or nasals (2.55:). But it is sometimes incorrectly used within a word (i.e., not due to a general sandhi, as in 2.55:) in place of any of the five class-consonant nasals when they are followed by a mute or nasal, or at the end of a word or sentence (e.g., the incorrect अंगं aṃgaṃ for अङ्गम् aṅgam). This usage does not affect the pronunciation of the correct corresponding class nasal. For more about anusvāra, see 1.5.c:.
1.11:Common symbols. Saṃskṛta commonly uses these punctuation or stylized symbols.
Symbol
Purpose
। ॥
Daṇḍa
The single daṇḍa । is used at the end of a line of verse and at the end of a sentence. The double daṇḍa ॥ is used at the end of a verse and (sometimes) at the end of a paragraph.
ऽ
Avagraha
Optionally marks the dropping of a short अ a at the beginning of a word due to a sandhi (phonetic combination) with a previous word (2.12:). If the अ is nasalized, the anusvāra normally appears before the ऽ avagraha. ऽ is usually transliterated as an apostrophe (e.g., तेजोंऽश tejoṃ'śa for तेजो अंश tejo aṃśa).
॰
Abbreviation
Marks the dropping of a contextually understood part of a word. For example, गतेन gatena is abbreviated ॰तेन -tena in a dictionary entry, where ग- (ga-) is understood.
ॐ
Om
A stylized form of ओम् Om, a name for brahman (reality).
1.12:Conjunct consonants. If a consonant is followed immediately by one or more consonants – even when the consonants are divided between two words in a sentence – they are normally joined, after sandhi (chapter 2), into a cluster called a conjunct consonant. For example, त् स् t s are combined into त्स् ts.
The general principle in forming a conjunct consonant is to drop the right side vertical lines except in the last letter (e.g., त् t + स् s + य ya is त्स्य tsya). When the first letter has no right-side vertical line, or when both letters have a right-side vertical line and the following consonant has room for the previous letter to anchor to its vertical line (above the distinctive portion of its character), then – in both cases – the letters are conjoined vertically, with the initial consonant on top. For example, अङ् aṅ + ग ga becomes अङ्ग aṅga and अञ् añ + च ca becomes अञ्च añca. There are also irregular formations (see tables 1.13:).
The character र् r is called रेफ repha, instead of rakāra – 1.5.a:.
र्
morphs with (e.g.)
क्+र
→
क्र
k·ra, when र् has a vertical line to attach to.
ड्+र
→
ड्र
ḍ·ra, when र् has no vertical line to attach to.
र्+त
→
र्त
r·ta, when र् precedes a consonant (or the vowel ऋ ṛ), the mark is placed above the (conjunct) consonant and to the right of any following vowel marker (e.g., नैष्कर्म्ये naiṣkarmye, निर्ऋण nirṛṇa).
1.14:Special conjuncts. There are two conjunct consonants whose component letters within Devanāgarī are indistinguishable: क्ष k·ṣa, and ज्ञ j·ña. One common, current pronunciation of ज्ञ j·ña, which is preferred by this author, has the component ज् j sound very slightly heard. For this sound, place the tongue and mouth in the palatal position to pronounce the ज् j, then pronounce the palatal ञ् ñ for the length of two consonants (ञ्ञ् ññ). In some parts of India, another pronunciation is with the “j” component pronounced as the guttural sound “g”. Since the following nasal would tend to naturally sound as a guttural, then the conjunct ज्ञ is pronounced as if ग्ङ gṅa. This latter pronunciation probably came in from a regional dialect, but you will hear it.
In Vedic grammar and phonetics, ज्ञ falls under the Vedic rule that when a consonant is in conjunction with र् or a nasal, the Vedic meter demands that a very short vowel (a fraction of the length of a normal vowel, called a svarabhakti, Vedic Grammar Macdonell 1966) be pronounced between them. Hence, ज्ञ would have been pronounced as jaña, so it would seem that the initial ज् j would have had its proper palatal pronunciation. Other than this conjunct, unlike English, classical Saṃskṛta is normally pronounced as it reads.
1.15:Printing consonants. In print, Devanāgarī conjunct consonants are presented in different ways. The differences are sometimes due to the inability of a particular Devanāgarī font to completely form a conjunct consonant. Other times they are due to an editorial preference. An editor may want to avoid using long or visually difficult conjunct consonants that challenge the reader. In these cases, one or more of the characters of the conjunct, usually the first character(s), are written with a virāma (1.5.a:). For example, बुद् बुद bud·buda, instead of बुद्बुद budbuda.
It is common, though, to avoid using the virāma in print wherever possible, even by joining a consonant-ending word to a following vowel-initial word. For example, the three words अशोच्यान् अन्वशोचः त्वम् aśocyān anvaśocaḥ tvam would be written as अन्वशोचानन्वशोचस्त्वम् aśocyānanvaśocastvam, where न् अ n a join to become न na, and visarga before त्वम् tvam changes to स् s (see 2.27:) and joins with the following consonants into स्त्वम् stvam. Saṃskṛta was written on materials such as palm leaves, so the writing of the script needed to be compacted to fit the compactness of the media. Hence this natural avoidance of virāmas which leave gaps between words.
1.16:Reading conjunct consonants. To read a conjunct consonant, read the component characters left to right and, within that, from top down (e.g., द्वन्द्व d·va·n·d·va). The only exception is र् r at the beginning of a conjunct consonant (e.g., कर्त्स्न्ये kar·t·s·n·ye, in this example, र् r is written after the final vowel e but pronounced before the t – see table 1.13:).
1.17:Common conjunct consonants (in alphabetical order). As new principles in conjoining are introduced alphabetically in the list, their examples are dark-shaded. Many conjuncts can be written in multiple ways, such as stacked or side-by-side, e.g., क्च or क्च k·ca. The below conjuncts are according to the Siddhanta font, unless your browser lacks or overrides this font. Another Devanāgarī font may differ in which conjuncts employ which of these principles. A conjunction of two components in transliteration is indicated by either a hyphen (-), or in this chart by the more compact middle dot (·).
Saṃskṛta is the original source for numerical writing in the West; therefore the number 2002 is familiarly written २००२.
1.19:Numerals as pronunciation indicators. The figure २ after a word indicates that the word is repeated (e.g., अहो २ indicates अहो अहो aho aho). The figure ३ after a vowel indicates the pluta, or protracted lengthening, of the vowel to three mātrās.
The pronunciation length of time (mātrā) of a short vowel, such as अ a, is one mātrā. A long vowel, such as आ ā, or a diphthong is two mātrās (twice as long as अ a). आ ३ indicates the vowel is three mātrās. The three-mātrā pronunciation is found only in the Veda, and there it is infrequent. The pronunciation length of one consonant is said to be a half mātrā.
1.20:The syllable. Like in English, a phonological (or pronunciation) syllable, is called an अक्षर akṣara (also called a मात्रा mātrā, but not to be confused with the pronunciation length of time in 1.19:). It is the smallest unit that can have a meaning, and is the building block of words.
1.21:Syllable structure. A syllable is centered on a vowel.
With/without a preceding consonant or conjunct consonant
+Vowel+
With/without a following consonant or two (including anusvāra or visarga), to complete a meaningful component of a word.
E.g., अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं consists of eight syllables: a-śoc-yān anv-a-śoc-as tvaṃ.
1.22:Quality of syllable. A syllable is heavy (गुरु guru) if its vowel is long or a diphthong, or if its vowel is followed by an anusvāra, visarga, or conjunct consonant (even if the conjunct consonant is in the next word or the result of a sandhi with the next word within the same pāda 1.23:). Otherwise, the syllable is light (लघु laghu). For example, the first syllables in the words bāl-a, bodh-i, duḥ-kha, and bud-dhi are heavy, and the second syllables are light. The quality of syllables may determine how a grammatical rule is applied to form a word stem. It also helps determine the meter (1.24:) of a verse.
1.23:The pāda. Much of Saṃskṛta literature is in verse form, and most verses are in the form of stanzas of four metrical quarters. A quarter is called a पाद pāda (literally, “foot”). Two pādas make a metrical line. The end of a metrical line is treated in pronunciation and writing like an end of a sentence. In accentuation (1.25:) though, each pāda is treated like an independent sentence; for instance, an enclitic (see Glossary) can never begin a pāda (4.3.1:).
1.24:Meter. The quality and the quantity of the syllables in a pāda determine the meter of the verse. The meter is the recurring pattern of the heavy and light syllables, forming a patterned rhythm. Anuṣṭubh, or Śloka, the most common meter in Saṃskṛta literature, is composed of two lines of two pādas, with eight syllables to a pāda. Occasionally three verses can be arranged into two triplets (three lines each). Each verse is typically a complete sentence. It is a particularly flexible meter, because of its wide variety of metrical forms. A metrical form defines how the light and heavy syllables are patterned in a line. In the most common metrical form of Anuṣṭubh by far, called Pathyā, the 5th-6th-7th syllables of the first pāda are light-heavy-heavy, and of the second pāda they are light-heavy-light, all the rest of the syllables of the line can be either light or heavy (see Macdonell 1975 Appendix II).
1.25:Accent. Saṃskṛta in Vedic literature has a tonal accent, in which the accent of a vowel is in the form of a change in pitch: raised (उदात्त udātta), lowered (अनुदात्त an-udātta), or transitional (स्वरित svarita – moving from a raised-tone semivowel y or v, indicating their original i and u vowel pronunciation, to the unaccented vowel that follows the y or v).
Later Saṃskṛta is pronounced with a stress accent instead of a tonal accent. In a stress accent, the accent of a vowel is pronounced more forcefully or loudly relative to nearby, unaccented vowels. Whereas there are rules and text markings for the placement and nature of the tonal accent, there are no specific rules or text markings for the stress accent. Although the placement of the stress accent in a word is generally deduced from the rules regarding the Vedic raised tonal accent, the stress accent may have shifted, depending on the quality (heavy or light) of the syllables.
In the case of the many new words introduced since Vedic literature, where the placement of the accent may not be clear from derivation, generally the accent falls on the last metrically heavy syllable within the word (e.g., Kalidā̍sa, Himā̍laya, kā̍rayati). The stress accent, like the Vedic tonal accent, may then disappear or move to another syllable, depending mostly on the word’s inflection (nominal declension – see Glossary and 3.3: – or verbal [···pg 10···] conjugation – see 5.3:), or placement in a sentence.
Like in any other language, accent in Saṃskṛta is best learned by listening to an experienced, native speaker, but a few guidelines are as follows:
The first finite verb in a main clause loses its accent, unless it begins the main clause or pāda. Subsequent verbs in the same main clause retain their accent, being treated in accent as if beginning their own sentence.
A word in vocative case is treated as having no syntactical part of a sentence (i.e., as if it is a separate sentence unto itself). As a result, a finite verb that follows the initial vocative(s) in a sentence or pāda is treated as if it were at their beginning. A vocative is always accented on its first syllable (3.7:), but the vocative loses the accent unless the word is at the beginning of the sentence or pāda.
For the treatment of unaccented, enclitic words, see 4.3:.
In certain sections of this text, for example, when a grammatical tonal accent rule is specified, the accent is marked (cf. Macdonell 1979). Note that a stress accent may shift if the syllable is not heavy. For example, the causal verb kāra̍yati, with its tonal accent on the causal suffix a̍ya (5.40:), may instead have its stress accent on the preceding heavy syllable kā̍rayati. For a discussion of Vedic tonal accent, see the appendix of A Vedic Grammar for Students (Macdonell 1966).
Now you have an understanding of the alphabet.
If you have The Aruna Sanskrit Grammar Coursebook: 64 Lessons Based on the Bhagavad Gita Chapter Two, it will help guide you through the study of the rest of this Grammar Reference. The Aruna Coursebook will direct you to the following chapters in this book as and when required.
Alternatively, if you do not have the Aruna Coursebook but need further excercise help to better read Devanāgarī text, you can order The Sanskrit Reading Tutor. This pdf file has audio clips attached to the text so you can read it, click it and hear it. The text in the pdf is the same as the Script Reading Exercise in the Aruna Coursebook appendix and covers the entire second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.
2.1:Coalescence of adjacent sounds. In Saṃskṛta every sentence is treated as a continuously spoken sequence of sounds, written exactly as they are pronounced. The coalescence of these sounds when pronounced as a sequence is called sandhi. The purpose of sandhi is to facilitate smooth pronunciation, and to avoid a gap between vowels in separate syllables, called a hiatus by Western grammarians.
Although several consecutive consonant sandhis may occur for easier pronunciation of a consonant cluster, only one vowel sandhi is applied between two adjoining vowels. Any hiatus in a finished Saṃskṛta text is either the result of only one vowel sandhi, in which case additional application of sandhi to avoid hiatus would render the original syllables unidentifiable, or the absence of any sandhi application at the end of a metrical line or the end of a sentence.
Because of sandhi, generally the ends and sometimes the beginning of words will be written in a sentence as they orally sound in combination, and not as they may be found separately, e.g., as in a dictionary.
a. The following sandhi rules, as well as many other grammar rules, are subject to occasional irregularities, of which only the common exceptions are noted herein. Not infrequent is the lack or irregular application of sandhi to maintain meter, such as retaining hiatus between two pādas (1.23:).
2.2:Guṇa and vṛddhi.Vowels may strengthen by taking guṇa or vṛddhi. The simple liquid vowels (i.e., इ ई, उ ऊ, ऋ ॠ including ऌ, theoretically), as well as these vowels as components of diphthongs (i.e., the non-simple liquid vowels), may change into semivowels, and those semivowels may revert back to their liquid vowel, as part of samprasāraṇa.
The simple liquid vowels (including the second half component इ or उ of diphthongs ए ऐ or ओ औ respectively) may become semi-vowels य्, व्, र् respectively. In reverse, these semivowels as part of weakening, called saṃprasāraṇa, may become their respective simple liquid vowels. Notice that the semivowel’s following or preceding अ is dropped in saṃprasāraṇa.
2.4:General and internal sandhi. There are two forms of sandhi.
General sandhi between:
Independent word
+ Independent word
Word in a cmpd.
+ Next word in the cmpd. (6.29:), including verbal compounds (6.11:)
Nominal stem
+ Secondary suffix beginning with any cons. except य् (6.27:)
+ Pada declension terms. - भ्याम्, भिस्, भ्यस्, सु (3.2.a:) – First apply general sandhi rules 2.23: & .24:, then internal sandhi rules will apply.
Internal sandhi between:
Other combinations
Applicable specific internal sandhi rules apply first, then general sandhi rules. With the exception that finals of roots usually don’t change, nor generally would rule 2.23: apply.
2.5:Reading sandhi charts. In the following sandhi charts, unless otherwise noted, the Preceding column’s letter(s) alone change.
For example, rule 2.9: should read – when अ आ (i.e., अ or आ) precedes a guṇa vowel, then both (अ and following guṇa vowel, or आ and following guṇa vowel) are changed to the following’s component liquid vowel’s vṛddhi. In this case, the component liquid vowel being इ or उ of the guṇa vowel ए (=अ+इ) or ओ (=अ+उ) per 2.3.a:, its vṛddhi would be ऐ or औ (2.3:), respectively.
Rule 2.14: should read - when guṇa vowel ओ precedes any vowel except अ, then the preceding ओ is changed to अव् and, if it is between independent words, it usually further becomes अ (i.e., the व् drops). Notice how the same rows match across, e.g., ओ row matches अव् row, and certain rows are shared, e.g., “guṇa vowel” row is shared by both ए row and ओ row.
In these listings a later rule, if equally applicable, takes precedence over a prior and thus more general rule.
In the following rules, the word “radical” means “belonging to a root or a substitute for a root”; this may apply to verbal roots made into nouns or into verbs.
“May” and “usually” mean optionally infrequent or frequent change, respectively; “sometimes” and “often” mean in certain words this change is found.
decl. or conj. du. term. final ई ऊ ए (but not अ इ ऐ औ) or final ई of अमी (masc. pl. nom. “those” 4.9:)
2.23:Permitted finals. Except when र् precedes a क् ट् त् प्, which is at the end of a root (or a substitute for a root) and is not a suffix, no word may be permitted to end in more than one consonant. The final conjunct consonant must be reduced by dropping the last consonants until only one consonant (or क्ष्) remains. Every final consonant (whether originally a conjunct or not) must be converted into one of the eight permitted final consonants according to the following chart (2.24:). Only after this conversion can the following rules (2.24.b:, & 2.25: to 2.62:) of general visarga and general consonant sandhi be applied.
2.24:Permitted final consonants of a (conjugated, declined, or indeclinable) word.
The consonants to the left of the arrow (→) become the consonant to the right of the arrow. The column on the right indicates certain consonants which may become either of two different consonants.
क्
ख्
ग्
घ्
च्
→
क्
ज् श् ह् क्ष् → क् , or in certain words ट्
ट्
ठ्
ड्
ढ्
ष्
छ्
→
ट्
त्
थ्
द्
ध्
→
त्
a. These apply in general sandhi combinations, so they also include finals of nominal stems before certain terminations or suffixes, as defined in 2.4:. b. Before a pause, an original final mute (after these conversions) may optionally change to the permitted final’s respective soft nonaspirate consonant – but is rarely applied in manuscripts.
doubles (as च्छ् c-ch). In the doubling of cons., an aspirate is doubled with its nonasp.; conj. aspir. before mute, sibi., or ह् is not allowed (2.76:, cf. 1.17:)
Rule 2.61:, .63:, & .64: are actually internal sandhi, but for convenience are included in this consonant doubling/abbreviation section of rules. The doubling of a consonant in the middle of a word (2.63:) after र् is rarely followed in recent manuscripts; the abbreviation (2.64:) is not uncommon.
2.65:Internal sandhis. Being difficult to grasp without a contextual reference, they may best be learned contextually in the subsequent chapters on declensions and conjugations, in which the rules are amply exemplified and referenced. After learning those chapters, then these charts may easily be understood. Here “s.f.” stands for either nominal stem final or verbal base final, as appropriate.
cerebral ऋ ॠ र् ष् (w/wo an intervening a vowel, guttural incl. ह्, labial incl. व्, य्, or anusvāra)
न्, if followed by a vowel or न् म् य् व्
न्
→
ण् (a following conj. न् म् also → ण्). (This rule also applies between many cmpd. words 6.29: (ex. only sometimes when न् is in conjunct with preceeding gutt. or labial cons.), including between all prefixes and verbal forms or nouns 6.11:)
vowels ex. अ आ b (w/wo intervening ं anusvāra or : visarga ), or क् र्
स् if followed by vow. or त् थ् न् म् य् व्. (But a following root or derivative with र् or ऋ, whatever its position, usually blocks the change.)
स्
→
ष्, the following dental त् थ् न् becoming cerebral also. (This rule also applies between many compound words 6.29:, including between all prefixes and verbal forms or nouns 6.11:)
Cerebralization (2.92:) of a distantly following न् (nasals being very susceptible to change of location/pronunciation-position) is allowed to occur when no intervening sound either “satisfies the need” to follow up the preceding non-touched (1.4:) cerebral (i.e., by an intervening cerebral mute) or moves the front part of the tongue out of position to cerebralize the nasal (i.e., by an intervening dental, sibilant or palatal - except the weak, i.e., slightly touched [1.4:] palatal य्).
The sound ष् hardly occurs of its own in words, apart from application of this rule (2.101:) and, to a lesser extent, rules 2.81:, .85: and .86:. In other words, if you see a ष्, suspect it was a स्.
The Inflection of Nominal Stems by Means of Case Terminations
3.1:Inflection. The inflection of nouns (including adjectives), numerals and pronouns is called declension (विभक्ति). In Saṃskṛta declensions there are-
a.Three genders (लिङ्ग-s): masculine, feminine and neuter (पुम् स्त्री नपुंसक respectively, abbreviated as पुं॰ स्त्री॰ नपुं॰). See 6.26:−.28: for examples of noun stems and gender.
b.Three numbers (वचन-s): singular, dual and plural (एक द्वि बहु respectively, abbreviated as ए॰ द्वि॰ ब॰). See 7.4:−.5: for discussion of number.
c.Eight cases (विभक्ति-s): nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive and locative. This is also the native grammarian order except that vocative, which, not being considered a proper case by them, is ordered at the end. I have followed the non-native order, since this shows how closely the vocative follows the nominative, making it easier to remember. The native grammarians name these seven cases - प्रथमा द्वितीया तृतीया चतुर्थी पञ्चमी षष्ठी सप्तमी i.e., 1st – 7th, see 4.26:, abbreviated as प्र॰ द्वि॰ तृ॰ च॰ प॰ ष॰ स॰. They call the vocative सम्बोधन (सं॰). See 7.7:−.13: for discussion of the cases.
3.2:Normal Case Terminations. This table should be committed to memory as it forms the basis for nominal declensions of most words, especially the consonant-ending declensions.
Generally only in the first three cases do the neut. terms. differ from the masc. and fem., hence they are shown separately below only for those first three cases.
These terminations are added to a nominal stem, called a प्रतिपादिक, to form a declined word fit to be employed in a sentence. Hyphens (—) indicate an absence of a termination, and hence, in those declined cases, there would appear no distinction from their प्रतिपादिक.
N. pl. nom. voc. acc. insert न् before a single final mute (changing to resp. class nasal 2.95:), sibilant or ह् (2.94:) of a consonant-ending stem, and insert न् after a vowel-ending stem.
3.3:Accent. In declension, accents follow the below general rules.
1.Vocative case is always accented on the first syllable.
2.Monosyllabic stems have their accent move to the weak (3.17:) or middle (pada) terminations.
Root-words in long ई ऊ (ī̍ ū̍) as final of cmpd. (6.24: & .38:) retain their accent throughout.
3. Accent of some polysyllabic stems ending in consonant moves to the weak termination.
Present participle stems ending in accented अत् a̍t (3.12:).
When the accented vowel in the final suffix is dropped, such as by syncopation (3.20.b:).
A few other sporadic instances.
4.Polysyllabic stems ending in an accented vowel shift the accent to a vowel-initial termination, if the accented stem vowel is lost by replacement with a semi-vowel (2.2:, 2.67:–.71:).
The genitive pl. term. आम् (3.29:–.30:, 3.38:) may also take the accent even though the nasal न् is inserted between it and the short accented इ उ ऋ (i̍ u̍ or ṛ̍).
3.4:Consonant-ending Stems. Nouns end in either consonants or vowels. The consonant-ending declensions are more regular than the vowel-ending, so we will present them first. Consonant-ending nouns can be divided into unchangeable stems and changeable stems. Although native grammarians for memorization teach recitation across the row (nom. sg. du. pl…), the visual and logical patterns go down the column (sg. nom. voc. acc…).
Rule 3.2.b:, न् is inserted b/4 a single final mute (त्) in n. pl. nom. voc. acc., ∴ jaga-n-t-i.
3.6:The rest of the unchangeable stems. It is only necessary to show four forms that exemplify the various formations during declension. The rest of the forms can be easily extrapolated from these four based on the nature of what follows the stem, then adding the appropriate normal case terms. Exceptional forms are dark-shaded.
Stems in स् are almost all from the primary nominal suffixes अस् इस् उस्, chiefly neuters. They lengthen their final vowel before the inserted nasal (changed to anusvāra 2.94:) in n. pl. nom. voc. acc., but not before other vowel initial terms. e.g., n. sg. inst. यशसा, हविषा, आयुषा (2.101:), etc. The masculine and feminine are nearly all adjectival compounds as well as proper names like अङ्गिरस्; those in अस् lengthen the अ in m.f. sg. nom.
3.7:Changeable stems. They also take the normal case-endings. The stems exhibit a strong, a weak and sometimes a third form, called middle. The stems having been usually accented in the strong cases preserved their full form, but were shortened in the weak cases by the accent often falling on the terminations. Similarly, if the strong stem has a long vowel within it, that long vowel is regularly shortened (i.e., weakened) in sg. vocative because of the accent shifting in that case to the first syllable.
The consonant-ending changeable stems are generally listed with their middle (or weak) form (the form before the pada terminations), which is the form normally employed in compounds (6.29:) and listed in dictionaries. Whereas, the unchangeable consonant-ending stems as well as the vowel-ending stems, introduced later in this chapter, show their प्रतिपादिक form (3.2:) in dictionary and in compounds.
1. The vowel of the suffix is lengthened in the strong m. sg. nom., except in the stems अत् and अच्.
2. The changeable stems that originally end in न् drop it in m. sg. nom. The other changeable stems insert a न् in their strong stem, but in m. sg. nom. via rule 2.23: that inserted न् remains as the final.
3. All changeable stems which lengthen their vowel in the strong m. sg. nom. or because of 3.8.1:, in vocative keep it short and always retain the न् of that strong stem.
In other changeable stems, the vocative differs from the nominative only in having the accent always on the first syllable.
3.9:Feminines of changeable stems are formed by adding ई to the weakest form of the stem retaining the final consonant, and are declined like the polysyllabic नदी (3.36:).
For example, ददती dad-at-ī, श्रेयसी śre-yas-ī, धनिनी dhan-in-ī (strong), विदुषी vid-uṣ-ī, राज्ञी rāj-ñ-ī, नाम्नि nām-n-ī, प्रतीची prat-īc-ī.
Also, the feminines of the uncommon unchangeable consonant adjectival stems, except of bare roots (6.24:) and stems in स् (3.6.i:) (e.g., the adjectives ॰मथ् and सुमनस् in 3.6:), are formed by adding ई, and are declined like the polysyllabic नदी.
a. The feminine of pr. pt. active, and usually the simple fut. pt. active, (stems in अत् see 6.4:) differ when formed from first conj. roots (5.2:), where they add the ई to the strong form of the stem, i.e., अन्ती.
b. The few adjectives in ॰वन् (3.22:) form their feminine in ॰वरी. The feminine of the irreg. युवन् “young” (3.23:) is युवति or युवती.
3.10:Two-Form Stems with the Normal Case Terminations. The strong cases are dark-shaded; the rest are weak, and have the same terminations as in 3.2:.
Forming an exception to this are the stems in ॰इन्, ॰मिन्, and ॰विन् (3.15:). There, all the cases are strong, except those of the weak pada terms. and the n. sg. nom. acc. and optionally the voc.
भवत् (bha̍v-at), as pr. pt. of √भू (i.e., the root भू), meaning “being” is declined like ॰अत् (3.12:). As a pronoun meaning “your honor,” it declines like ॰वत् (cf. 4.18:), i.e., m. sg. nom. भवान्, du. भवन्तौ, etc.
3.17:Three-Form Stems with the Normal Case Terminations. The strong cases are dark-shaded; the middle (before pada terms. and n. sg. nom. voc. acc.) are light-shaded; the rest are weak.
Some words with the stem ॰अच् only have two forms – a strong and weak, the weak taking the form of ॰अच्. Like with the two-form stems, in these words the weak form is taken by all cases that are not strong (see 3.25:).
Certain of these participles insert a connecting vowel इ before the suffix ॰वस्. In the weak form, where the stem turns to ॰उष्, instead of a further confusion of the original by application of vowel sandhi between इ and उ (→यु), the preceding इ is dropped, e.g., तस्थिवस् (tasth-i-va̍s) “that which has stood” in the weak cases would be तस्थुष्॰ (tasth-uṣ) plus the weak vowel terminations.
Rule 2.87:, in the weak forms of राजन्, the preceding palatal ज् converts the weak न् to palatal ञ्, both written with the conjunct ज्ञ्. If the original अन् was accented (a̍n), then the lost accent in weak form is thrown forward onto the termination (3.3.3:)
अहन् has the normal distribution of three-form stems in neuter (3.17:), hence the middle forms would be sg. nom. voc. acc. अहः, pl. inst. अहोभिः (2.24: & 2.33:) etc., and pl. loc. अहःसु (2.24:). This middle stem अहस् indicates that अहन् is actually a defective stem, needing to borrow that form from another word, अहर्/अहस् which also means “day,” to complete its full declension. As a prior member of a compound, where the middle stem is normally employed (6.29:), this ॰अस् is almost always treated as ॰अर्, e.g., अहरहः (ahar-ahaḥ 2.34:) “day by day.”
Rule 3.8.2: applies to the m. sg. nom. of this and the following two irregular stems where final न् is dropped. For पन्थन्, after dropping final न्, the sg. nom. and the sg. voc. then add स् to form पन्थाः. Only the strong form retains the medial nasal.
हन् is a root used at the end of a cmpd. (6.24:), but is declined similar to a stem in ॰अनु. It also takes long vowel in sg. nom. only (॰हा) and allows the optional stem हन् h-an in weak sg. loc.
Similar to 3.20.c:, In weak m.n. sg. loc, in weak n. du. nom. voc. acc., and in middle n. sg. voc. the optional stem ॰मन्/॰वन् may be applied. The rest of the weak forms do not take the optional stem ॰मन्/॰वन् unless required by 3.22.c: below.
The weak forms of ॰मन्/॰वन्, when preceded by a consonant, as in the example here (आत्-मन्), do not drop the stem vowel, thus here avoiding the conjunction of three consonants, here of त् t with म्न् mn. So they necessarily take the optional stem ॰मन्/॰वन्}.
The vowel before the ॰वन् becomes involved in the declension, so I have included it in the paradigm. Rule 3.8.2:, in sg. nom. न् is dropped for these irregular stems ending in न्.
These adjectives normally have a य् (=इ) or a व् (=उ) before ॰अच्. In this example the first member is the preposition प्रति “back.” This इ or उ becomes involved in the declension, so it has been included in the paradigm. For those with उ b/4 ॰अच्, m. sg. nom. would be ॰वङ्, etc.
The middle stem final च् is changed to permitted final क् before pada term., then is softened to ग् by 2.43: before soft cons. or combined with hard cons. सु term. to क्षु by 2.101:.
The unusual weak form is actually closer to the original first member of the cmpd., तिरस् “trans-,” the स् becoming palatal श् due to palatal च् (2.24: and .27:).
3.27:Vowel-ending noun stems. Nouns (including adjectives) ending in vowels are the most common words in Saṃskṛta. They do not take the full set of normal case terminations (3.2:), but rather a modified subset of these terminations. Even within the various vowel-ending stems, there is as much deviation as there is affinity between them. The deviation is so much that it is hardly worth trying to remember each of the termination sets in isolation, apart from the vowel stem to which they attach. Therefore I have chosen to present the full (sandhi applied) final form of the declensions with both the final stem vowel and the terminations as a unit. In this way it is a bit easier to remember and much easier to apply to their intended stems. Another device I have used to simplify the charts is to show just those forms in neuter and feminine that differ (noted with the mathematical symbol ∆, called “delta” – meaning “difference”) from the masculine (or polysyllabic from mono- in 3.36:), and therefore need to be remembered. For example, ॰अ ending n. voc. sg. would be ॰अ, the same as m. voc. sg.; ॰आ ending f. nom. pl. would be ॰आः, the same as m. nom. pl.
These terminations are for nouns and adjectives. There are other sets of terms. (ch. 4) for numerals and pronouns, including pronominal adjs. (4.16:) – many of which also end in अ or आ.
The f. voc. of अम्बा “mother” is the simpler अम्ब (the first word a child learns), instead of अम्बे (perhaps an indication that Saṃskṛta was once a natural language of the people).
These terms. are based on the common pronominal terms. (4.4:). M.n. pl. inst. ॰ऐः term. is from m.n. of the pronoun तद् (4.6:), and f. pl nom. voc. ॰आः is from fem. of तद् (4.6:).
Neuter adjectives (not substantives) in ॰इ, ॰उ or ॰तृ (3.40:) may be declined like masculine throughout (ex. sg. du. pl. nom. voc. acc.) (–neut. ॰तृ declining like masc. ॰तृ, not masc. ॰इ). But neuter adjs. and subst. in ॰इ, ॰उ also may be declined like masculine in rare sg. voc.
Feminine adjectives and substantives in ॰इ or ॰उ may be declined like masculine in sg. dat. abl./gen. loc., in place of the common feminine terminations.
3.31: There are several irregular declensions of certain common words in short ॰इ and ॰उ.
3.32:पति (pa̍t-i) m., when it means “husband” (not “lord”) and is not at the end of a cmpd., declines irregularly in sg. inst. dat. abl. gen. loc. as follows. Otherwise, like हरि.
m. पत्॰
ए॰ Singular
पुं॰ m.
तृ॰ I.
॰या
च॰ D.
॰ये
प॰ Ab.
॰युः
ष॰ G.
स॰ L.
॰यौ
3.33:सखि (sa̍kh-i) m., “friend” when not at the end of a cmpd., declines irregularly like पति in sg. inst. dat. abl. gen. loc. Also, like the changeable stems, it has a strong stem formed with vṛddhi – सखाय् (sa̍kh-āy). When at the end of a cmpd. it is irregular only in exhibiting this strong stem, the rest is like हरि. Feminine is सखी, declined like नदी.
m. सख्॰
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
पुं॰ m.
पुं॰ m.
प्र॰ N.
॰आ
॰आयौ
॰आयः
सं॰ V.
॰ए
द्वि॰ A.
॰आयम्
. . .
तृ॰ I.
॰या
. . .
. . .
च॰ D.
॰ये
. . .
प॰ Ab.
॰युः
ष॰ G.
. . .
. . .
स॰ L.
॰यौ
. . .
3.34: The neuter words अक्षि (a̍kṣ-i) “eye,” अस्थि (a̍sth-i) “bone,” दधि (da̍dh-i) “curd” and सक्थि (sa̍kth-i) “thigh” are irregular in the weak cases (vowel initial terms) for inst. through loc., in which they decline similar to the weak form of the three-form stem ॰अन् (3.20:), the इ of the stem being replaced with the below, e.g., sg. inst. अक्ष्णा a akṣ-ṇā. Shown are just the irregular forms.
3.35:द्यु (dy-u̍) m., “sky,” is irregular in that it takes vṛddhi in sg. nom. voc. and takes the normal case terminations in the rest, assuming the stem दिव् before an initial vowel term.
m. द्यु॰ / दिव्॰
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
पुं॰ m.
पुं॰ m.
प्र॰ N.
द्यौः
Dual does not occur in the literature
दिवः
सं॰ V.
द्वि॰ A.
दिवम्
तृ॰ I.
दिवा
द्युभिः
च॰ D.
दिवे
द्युभ्यः
प॰ Ab.
दिवः
ष॰ G.
दिवाम्
स॰ L.
दिवि
द्युषु
3.36:Vowel Stems – ॰ई/॰ऊ Feminine nouns and adjectives – including adj. cmpds. in any gender (mono/polysyllabic distinction pertaining only to the final cmpd. member only)
monosyll.
धी (dh-ī̍) f. “thought” भू (bh-u̍) f. “earth”
polysyll.
नदी (nad-ī̍) f. “river” वधू (vadh-ū̍) f. “woman”
Stems in ॰ई and ॰ऊ are similarly declined, but differ between monosyllabic and polysyllabic stems, except in the pada terminations.
Monosyllabic stems before vowel terms. change ई/ऊ to इय्/उव् (2.67:).
Polysyllabic stems before vowel terms. change ई/ऊ to य्/व् (2.11:).
All take the normal case terminations, with a few exceptions in bold.
The monosyllabic stems may optionally take the common feminine term. (but note the resulting identity between the pl. gen. and the optional sg. loc.), the polysyllabic must.
The polysyllabic ॰ई in sg. nom. drops the normal case term. स्, however it is retained in sg. nom. लक्ष्मीः “goddess Lakṣmī” and तन्त्रीः “string,” and optionally retained in तन्द्री a. “sloth.”
3.37:स्त्री (str-ī̍) f., “woman” is irregularly declined in that, although it takes the monosyllabic stem ॰इय् before vowel terms. (opt. in sg. pl. acc.), it otherwise takes the polysyllabic नदी terms., naturally taking only (not optionally) the three feminine terms. The pl. gen. form does not take ॰इय् before the inserted न्, and by sandhi (2.92:) converts it to ण्.
Decline like n. वारि (3.29:), replacing the vowel इ with ऋ, e.g., दातृ “giver” in n. sg. nom. is दातृ, sg. inst. is दातृणा. See also3.29.a:, where it optionally declines like masc. ॰तृ in the inst. through loc. cases.
Feminine form of agent stems in ॰तृ
Add feminine suffix ई (cf. 3.9:), e.g., दातृ “giver” in f. sg. nom. is दात्री (2.11:) and declines like नदी (3.36:).
3.41:Vowel Stems – ॰ऐ/॰ओ/॰औ. Only four common words end in diphthongs.
All are single syllables and take the normal case terminations, except sg. voc. declines like sg. nom.
4.1:Pronouns. Pronouns function as a substitue for other nouns, denoting a person or thing previously specified or understood in the context. Like in English, they can be classified as personal, demonstrative, relative, and interrogative. They are declined in संस्कृत differently from other nouns and adjectives.
Additionally, there are reflexive, possesive, and adjectival pronouns, where some decline like pronouns, others like regular nouns or adjectives, while a few are indeclinables. For the syntax of pronouns see 7.6:.
4.2Personal pronouns.अहम् (1st person, “I”) and त्वम् (2nd person, “you”). The 3rd person (personal) pronoun, “he, she, it,” is not often expressed (7.6.B:), but, if expressed, it is represented by the demonstrative pronouns (4.6:-.10:).
As 1st member in cmpd.
Three basic stem forms in declension
Sg.
Pl.
Sg.
Du.
Pl.
अहम्
“I, we, us, mine”
मद्
अस्मद्
म
आव
अस्म
त्वम्
“you, yours”
त्वद्
युष्मद्
त्व
युव
युष्म
अहम् and त्वम् have no gender distinctions.
Both personal pronouns commonly are also represented by what are called defective (not declined in all cases), enclitic (unaccented, 4.3:) forms, i.e., मा, त्वा, etc., only in acc., dat., and gen. (the even numbered – although there are scattered instances, prior to Panini, of their use in all the oblique cases (all cases except nom. and voc.).
As with all pronouns, there is no vocative case and the sg. abl. and gen. differ. For just the personal pronouns, the pl. dat. and abl. also differ.
Those in bold below differ significantly from their matching stem (म, त्व, etc.)
After vocatives, which are unaccented, except as first word in sentence – in which case, since vocatives are treated as not part of the sentence, an enclitic could not follow, as it would then violate 4.3.1: above.
Before unaccented particles च “and,” वा “or,” and ह (an exclamation), or the accented particle एव “only” – which all give emphasis to a preceding word.
4.4:Common Pronominal Terminations (except for the personal pronouns) (cf. 3.2:).
The case endings leftblanktend to vary for the following pronouns, and for adjectives which decline like pronouns.
The initial vowel of these terminations replaces the pronominal stem’s final अ vowel, but otherwise is replaced by the stem’s vowel with the stem employing its long vowel form before long term. initial vowels.
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
प्र॰ N.
औ
ए
ए
आनि
आस्
द्वि॰ A.
अम्
आम्
आन्
तृ॰ I.
एन
या
आभ्याम्
आभिस्
च॰ D.
स्मै
स्यै
एभ्यस्
आभ्यस्
प॰ Ab.
स्मात्
स्यास्
ष॰ G.
स्य
योस्
एषाम्
आसाम्
स॰ L.
स्मिन्
स्याम्
एषु
आसु
4.5:Relative proximity may be contrasted or contextually expressed by demonstrative pronouns:
एतद्
“this”
Immediate
(समीपतरम्)
इदम् / एनद्
“this” (sometimes, relatively, “that”)
Near
(सन्निकृष्टम्)
अदस्
“that”
Remote
(विप्रकृष्टम्)
तद्
“that”
Out of sight
(परोक्षम्)
4.6:Demonstrative Pronoun – तद् (ta̍-d) “that, those” (also the personal pronouns “he, him, his, it, its, she, her, hers, they, them” 4.2:). Has stem in त॰. This and the rest of the following pronouns as 1st member in cmpd. take the neuter sg. nom. form, e.g., तद्॰. The forms in bold are those for which no pronominal termination is common.
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
प्र॰ N.
सः
तद्
सा
तौ
ते
ते
तानि
ताः
द्वि॰ A.
तम्
ताम्
तान्
तृ॰ I.
तेन
तया
ताभ्याम्
तैः
ताभिः
च॰ D.
तस्मै
तस्यै
तेभ्यः
ताभ्यः
प॰ Ab.
तस्मात्
तस्याः
ष॰ G.
तस्य
तयोः
तेषाम्
तासाम्
स॰ L.
तस्मिन्
तस्याम्
तेषु
तासु
4.7:Demonstrative Pronoun – एतद् (e-ta̍-d) “this, these” (“he,” etc.). Has stem in एत॰. Forms by compounding ए॰ to the pronoun stem त॰. Declines exactly like तद् above, e.g., m. n. f. sg. nom. एषः एतद् एषाः…एतेषु एतासु.
4.8:Demonstrative Pronoun – इदम् (i-d-a̍m) “this/that, these/those” (“he,” etc.) refers to what immediately preceded, or is obvious, in the context. It has stems in अ॰, अन॰, इ॰, and इम॰, with the stem final अ or इ disappearing before आ॰ ए॰ initial terminations.
Both अ॰ and इ॰ stems for इदम्, showing only in singular forms below, are considered stem forms due to their appearance in the sense of “this” before adverbial suffixes common to other pronoun stems (6.19:).
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
प्र॰ N.
अयम्
इदम्
इयम्
इमौ
इमे
इमे
इमानि
इमाः
द्वि॰ A.
इमम्
इमाम्
इमान्
तृ॰ I.
अनेन
अनया
आभ्याम्
एभ्यः
आभिः
च॰ D.
अस्मै
अस्यै
एभ्यः
आभ्यः
प॰ Ab.
अस्मात्
अस्याः
ष॰ G.
अस्य
अनयोः
एषाम्
आसाम्
स॰ L.
अस्मिन्
अस्याम्
एषु
आसु
4.9:Demonstrative Pronoun – अदस् (a-da̍-s) “that, those” (“he,” etc.). Has stems in अमु॰ अमू॰ अमी॰. The forms in bold either have no common pronominal terminations or, mostly because stem final ऊ replaces inital term. आ॰, differ from those teminations. Note that अस्मै is unusually the same for both masc. and fem. sg. nom., and that अमू is unusually the same in dual nom./acc. for all genders.
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
प्र॰ N.
असौ
अदः
असौ
अमू
अमी
अमूनि
अमूः
द्वि॰ A.
अमुम्
अमूम्
अमून्
तृ॰ I.
अमुना
अमुया
अमूभ्याम्
अमीभिः
अमूभिः
च॰ D.
अमुष्मै
अमुष्यै
अमीभ्यः
अमूभ्यः
प॰ Ab.
अमुष्मात्
मुष्याः
ष॰ G.
अमुष्य
अमुयोः
अमीषाम्
अमूषाम्
स॰ L.
अमुष्मिन्
अमुष्याम्
अमीषु
अमूषु
4.10:Demonstrative Pronoun – एनद् (ena-d) is unaccented enclitic (4.3), and defective “this, these” (“him,” etc.). Forms stem in एन॰. These pronoun forms are considered optional forms for एनद् and इदम् above, and are substituted for them especially in the sense of “the afore mentioned” (rendered by the personal pronouns “him, her, it,” etc.). Declines only in the following oblique (4.14:) cases acc. inst. gen. loc. as shown. The rest do not occur and are leftblank.
4.11:Relative Pronoun – यद् (ya̍-d) “which.” Has stem in य॰. Declines like तद् (त॰). Only top five cases shown; the rest are similar.
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
प्र॰ N.
यः
यद्
या
यौ
ये
ये
यानि
याः
द्वि॰ A.
यम्
याम्
यान्
तृ॰ I.
येन
यया
याभ्याम्
यैः
याभिः
च॰ D.
यस्मै
यस्यै
येभ्यः
याभ्यः
प॰ Ab.
. . .
. . .
. . .
4.12:Interrogative Pronoun – किम् (ki̍-m) “who, which, what?” Has stem in क॰. Declines like तद् (त॰), except in n. sg. nom. acc. किम्.
ए॰ Singular
द्वि॰ Dual
ब॰ Plural
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
पुं॰ m.
नपुं॰ n.
स्त्री॰ f.
प्र॰ N.
कः
किम्
का
कौ
के
के
कानि
काः
द्वि॰ A.
कम्
काम्
कान्
तृ॰ I.
केन
कया
काभ्याम्
कैः
काभिः
च॰ D.
कस्मै
कस्यै
केभ्यः
काभ्यः
प॰ Ab.
. . .
. . .
. . .
4.13:In word derivation (6.19: & .22:–.27:) the interrogative pronominal stems क॰ कि॰ कु॰ are used.
For example, कदा ka-dā̍ “when?”, कियत् ki̍-yat “how great?”, कुत्र ku̍-tra “where?”
In compound (6.29:) the stem किम्॰ or sometimes कु॰ is used.
For example, किमाचार kim-ācāra “of what conduct?”, sometimes having a negative connotation – किंरूप kiṃ-rūpa “of what form?” or “ugly,” कुकर्मन् ku-karman “wrong deed.”
4.14:Reflexive pronouns, even though in the singular, may express any person in any number, e.g., “myself,” “himself,” “yourselves.” When used as such, if and when declined, they are in the singular oblique cases (all cases except nom. and voc.).
Words that can take on the sense of a reflexive pronoun
4.16:Pronominal adjectives, some of which are derived from pronominal stems, follow pronominal declensions aत॰ (सः तद् सा, etc.) in total or in part, e.g., m. n. f. sg. nom. अन्यः अन्यद् अन्या. Unlike pronouns, they may take voc., which differs from nom. only in the sg. (as adj. stems ending in ॰अ/॰आ 3.28:) – m. n. voc. सर्व (॰—) f. सर्वे (॰ए), except as noted.
Follow pron. decl. (त॰), like सर्व taking ॰म् in n. sg. nom. acc., and also may follow nominal decl. ॰अ/॰आ (3.28:) in m. n. sg. abl. loc. and in m. pl nom. (thus making their decl. identical to ॰अ/॰आ throughout in m./n./f. sg./du./pl. nom./voc./acc.).
Any of these pronominal adjectives at the end of a bahuvrīhi (adjectival) compound (6.39:), e.g., अदृष्ट-पूर्व adj. “not seen before” (lit. “whose prior was not seen”), decline like ordinary adjectives.
दृश – Feminine is formed with आ. Decline like राम/सीता (3.28:)
तादृक्ष
m.n. “like that”
तादृक्षा
f.
यादृक्ष
m.n. “like which”
यादृक्षा
f.
ईदृक्ष
m.n. “like this”
ईदृक्षा
f.
कीदृक्ष
m.n. “like what?”
कीदृक्षा
f.
4.18:Pronominal stems + ॰वत् or ॰यत् (“much”), decline like ॰वत् (3.13:), the fem. forms with ई.
तावात्
m.n. “that much”
तावती
f.
एतावात्
m.n. “this much”
एतावती
f.
यावात्
m.n. “as much”
यावती
f.
इयत्
m.n. “this much”
इयती
f.
कीयत्
m.n. “how much?”
कियती
f.
4.19:Pronominal stems + ॰ति, decline only in pl. oblique cases like stems in ॰इ (3.29:).
तति
m.f.n. “that many”
कति
m.f.n. “how many?”
यति
m.f.n. “as many”
4.20:Pronominal stem क + ॰चिद्, ॰चन or ॰अपि make indefinite pronouns “someone, some.” With negative particle न they means “no one, none.” The pron. stem can be declined in any gender, number or case before adding the particles (चिद्, etc.).
1-4 are adjectives taking all three genders; 5-19 are adjectives in neuter only; 20-99 are fem. substantives; and 100 onward are substantives of various genders (mostly neuter).
त्रयो॰ is from त्रि in m. pl. nom., त्रयः (4.25:). But षोडशन् shows phonetic changes similar to 2.100: & 2.109:, except there is no lost aspiration that would transfer to the following dental.
200, etc. differ from 102, etc. only by accent. शत śata̍ in compound is accented if 200, otherwise the added number (द्वि॰ dvi̍-) is accented for 102 (the same as for 11–99).
ऊनविंशतिः “twenty less (an understood one)” = 19 त्र्यूनत्रिंशत् “thirty less three (त्रि)”= 27
॰अधिक a. “plus”
एकाधिकं शतम् “hundred plus one” = 101 द्व्यधिकशतम् = 102
Addition w/wo च
नव नवतिश्च or नवतिर् नव “ninety and nine” = 99
Multiplication by prefixed cardinal
त्रिदशन् tri-daśa̍n “three times ten” = 30, the accent moving to the 2nd member of cmpd – but in unaccented texts this is in some cases ambiguous with the simple addition of the two members, e.g., अष्टशत may mean 108 (aṣṭa̍-śata) (4.23.f:) or 800 (aṣṭa-śata̍). An alternative to doubling or tripling a number is to use the dual or plural form of the number.
त्रि mn. तिसृ f. adj. “three” चतुर् mn. चतुसृ f adj. “four”
Plural only, see declension below. Feminine चतुसृ declines like fem. तिसृ.
पञ्चन् “5” – नवदशन् “19” n. adj.
Except in gen., those ending in न् decline like नामन् (3.22:) and षष् “six” decline like cerebral stems (3.6:), and are all plural neuter only, except sg. (in form only) in nom. voc. acc. See declensions below. The alternative form अष्टौ “8” is also as below. These cardinals are employed like adjectives taking the same case as the numbered noun, although retain the neuter gender.
विंशति “20” and above
Singular substantives, occasionally in plural as if used adjectively, e.g., शतानि “hundreds of __.” Their numbered noun in a sentence is in plural and takes the same case as this cardinal; or the numbered noun is in the genitive, as in the expression “a hundred of __ (gen.).” These cardinals decline regularly like other nouns of their same gender ending in the same respective consonant (3.5:) or vowel.
4.26:Ordinals are generally adjs. from cardinals having the sense of “__parts,” “__fold,” “containing__.” They are mostly derived from a small set of suffixes given below and declined in all genders like nominal stems in अ/आ. Feminine is formed with ई, except 1st through 4th in आ. Fractions may be distinguished from ordinals only by their accent shifting to the first syllable, e.g., तृतीय tṛtī̍ya “third” means “one-third” by moving the accent to first syllable tṛ̍tīya.
1st
प्रथम or आद्य
These are not true ordinals, but have same meaning.
Same form as cardinal, except dropping the final न् (hence declined different) and accent moving to last syllable.
20th, 99th
विंश, त्रिंश, षष्ट, etc.
Same as cardinal, shortening the cardinal until it ends in final अ (20-59) or replacing final इ with अ (60-99).
or त्रिंशत्तम–नवतितम
Or simply by adding ॰तम to the full form of the cardinal.
100th, 1000th
शततम, सहस्रतम
॰तम.
101st, etc.
एकशत, etc.
The in-between ordinals (101st, 102nd, etc.) take same form as cardinal, with accent moving to last syllable. Hence, the pronunciation and declension of 200 (4.23.f:) and 102nd, etc. would be identical, apart from the cardinal being a neuter substantive while the ordinal an adjective in any gender.
Three persons (पुरुष-s): third (“he, she, it”), second (“you”), first (“I”) (In the order recited they are called प्रथम “prior,” मध्यम “middle,” उत्तम “last” respectively, abbrev. as प्र॰ म॰ उ॰).
Two categories of verbal terminations: परस्मैपद (ति तस् अन्ति…) and आत्मनेपद (ते ईते अन्ते…), abbreviated as पर॰ आ॰. These signify transitive (or active, lit. “for another”) and reflexive (or middle, lit. “for oneself”) terminations, respectively – adhered to less in the later literature. However, causal verb forms still nearly always respect this distinction.
5.2:Roots. Roots are called धातु-s. They are the assumed basic unit of all verbs and participles, and most nominal stems. There is a listing of 2,200 roots, of which less than 500 are commonly used as verbs and participles. A root may be first made into a derivative form (5.39:–.43:), then that form is treated as a root taking one of the ten tenses or moods.
Terminations (5.5:–.6:). When a root, or a root derivative, takes one of the आर्धधातुक-लकार-s (the root tenses and moods) it undergoes a transformation unique to that tense or mood, and then takes a verbal termination. Except for the Perfect tense, which has its own set of terminations, the other tenses and moods generally take one or the other of the Present or Imperfect set of terminations from either the 1st or the 2nd conjugation. For this reason, in order to give them a generic name not tied to the Present or Imperfect tense, the Present tense terminations are also called the primary terminations (light shaded in 5.5:–6:), while those of the Imperfect are called the secondary terminations.
Verbal base (5.3:). When a root, but not a root derivative, takes one of the सार्वधातुक-लकार-s the four common verbal base tenses and moods) it is made into a stem – called a verbal base (अङ्ग) consisting of a root plus a sign. Most roots form their base in only one of ten different ways.
Conjugational groups. To help distinguish which ways these bases are formed, all the roots have been grouped into ten different classes (गण-s). Some roots have more than one base configuration, and therefore are placed in more than one class. These ten classes are arranged into two groups, the 1st conjugation (comprising the 1st, 4th, 6th and 10th class), otherwise known as the “अ” गण-s or those classes whose base ends in अ, and the 2nd conjugation (comprising the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th class) or those classes whose base does not end in अ. The first group’s base is unchangeable when the terminations are applied; the second group’s bases are changeable into strong and weak forms, similar to nominal stems in declension.
Verbal constructions. The roots in the commonly used in active (कर्तरि) construction take one or the other of the two categories of terminations, परस्मैपद or आत्मनेपद, although परस्मैपद is the more common. Because of this, these roots are also called परस्मैपद or आत्मनेपद roots. Certain of these roots normally take only one of the categories of terminations, but may in composition take a termination from the other category due to meaning (5.1.3:), and occasionally due to meter or due to exceptional usage. Some roots take either of these sets of terminations and are therefore called उभयपद (lit. “word for both”) roots. The other two constructions (7.28:), in passive (कर्मणि) and in impersonal (भावे), force the root, no matter what its natural tendencies in active construction, to form a unique stem called a passive base which then takes the आत्मनेपद terminations of the 1st conjugation.
Verbal conjugation is a difficult part in learning the संस्कृत language. We will greatly simplify this process, however, because in this grammar we are just learning how to read the संस्कृत language. Our general assumption is that whoever wrote the text knows how to correctly construct the verb. We simply need to recognize which construction it is. Thankfully, these constructions follow a few recognizable patterns, so our job is not nearly as hard as it would seem. Your task, like it was in nominal declensions, is to grasp the patterns in the following charts. Take as much time as you wish to go through this – depending on whether you just want to get the general idea, memorize the most general features, or memorize most of it. So relax and let’s begin.
The accent may fall on the root, the class sign, or the termination. When it falls on the root or class sign, there is often strengthening or lengthening of the vowel therein. Accent is the only difference between the 4th class verbal base and a passive stem (5.37:), and between a 10th class verbal base and some denominative stems (5.43:).
A light medial vowel refers to a metrically light syllable, where the vowel must be short and the following consonant within the root is a single (non-conjunct) consonant (see 1.22:).
The examples take the namesake root of each class in present tense 3rd person sg. and, for the 2nd conjugation roots to show both the strong & weak form, also the 3rd person pl. (5.6:).
5.4:सार्वधातुक-लकार-s – The Four Verbal Base Tenses and Moods. The below terminations and their footnotes (5.5:–.6:) apply also to the आत्धधातुक-लकर-s and to derivative stems.
5.5:Terminations taken by the 1st Conjugation Classes of Roots.Final अ of verbal base joined to termination is shown in bold, followed by the actual termination. A mid-dot (·) is used to separate the visual components of these terminations, for pattern recognition.
An accented augment अ is put (after any prefix and) before the root, see 6.2:, in all forms of imperfect, aorist, and the conditional. This augment causes root initial छ्॰ to double (2.61:).This augment with an initial vowel takes वृद्धि, instead of गुण (2.20:). The augment is dropped in imperfect and aorist (both then taking an imperative meaning instead) after the negative particle मा “not” (7.22.4:).
5.6:Terminations taken by the 2nd Conjugation Classes of Roots. The few terminations that differ from those of the 1st conjugation classes of roots are in bold. The dark shaded inflections are strong, the rest are weak, and take strong/weak form bases per 5.3:.
पर॰ Potential terms. are essentially the same as या + 2nd conj. Imperfect terms. (cf. Benedictive 5.32:), in the 3rd pl. the या is reduced to य् before ॰उस्.
Stem final vowels before all vowel initial terms. follow General Vowel Sandhi rules, except:
2nd class weak stem final इ ई, उ ऊ before vowel initial terms. become इय् उव् (2.67:).
3rd class weak stem final इ ई, उ ऊ of polysyllabic reduplicated stem after conj. cons. (e.g., ह्री “be ashamed”) and before vowel initial terms. become इय् उव् (2.67:).
A dental mute final of root may drop before imperfect 2nd sg. term. ॰स् instead of the term. per 2.24:, thus preserving the term. in the final verb form. Often, though, the preservation is by inserting a vowel between them, e.g., 5.19.4: & .19.6:.
5.7:Reduplication is taken by five different verbal formations, all take the General Rules.
5.8:General Rules of Reduplication. There are exceptions to both General and Specials Rules. The resulting first syllable of the reduplicated stem is below called the reduplicating syllable.
Reduplicating vowel is lengthened if the syllable is metrically light. The resulting metrical syllables of a redup. aorist are thus light-heavy-light (U–U) 1.22:.
अस् drops initial अ in pot. and weak of pr. & impv., drops final स् b/4 pr. 2nd sg. ॰सि; substitutes ए in impv. 2nd sg.; inserts ई b/4 स् त् of पर॰ impf. 2nd 3rd sg. (5.6.h:).
आर्धधातुक-लकार-s The Non-conjugational Tenses and Moods
5.24: For the आर्धधातुक-लकार-s (5.1.4.b:), the special verbal base (5.3:) of the 1st and 2nd conjugational classes of roots is not formed. Because of this, there is then no distinction here of the 10th classes of roots. Instead, the roots undergo general modifications unique to each one of these tenses and moods.
5.25: The Perfect tense (परोक्ष-भूते लिट्) expresses an action of the remote past, not witnessed by the speaker. As 2nd & 1st person are thus rarely found, then, in the following, the 3rd person is in bold.
5.27:Reduplicative Perfect. The Perfect terminations, with dark shaded strong, are as follow. Accent is on root in strong; and on terminations in weak.
Most roots in which अ is preceded and followed by a sing. cons. and the reduplicating syllable is the same as the root syllable, then contract the two into one syllable replacing अ with ए, e.g., पत् “fall” → अपत् pa-pa-t → weak stem पेत् pe-t.
This change also occurs in strong form 2nd sg., only when इ is inserted, e.g., पेति·थ or पपत्थ.
The medial अ roots – खन् “dig,” गम् “go,” घंस् “eat,” जन् “be born,” हन् “destroy” weaken by dropping the vowel, e.g., गम् → जगम् → weak stem जग्म्. Roots in व्॰ followed by single cons. and यज् “worship,” which replicate with उ इ further weaken the following radical व य by samprasāraṇa to उ इ, contracting to a long vowel, e.g., वच् “speak” → उवच् → weak stem ऊच्.
Roots with final आ or diphthong (5.8.8:) drop the vowel in the weak forms,
e.g., गै “sing” → strong जगा, weak जग् (cf. in 2nd sg. 5.27.2.d:).
अंश् “reach” reduplicates with आन् (5.10.4:), and drops radical nasal in weak.
अंश्
“reach”
→ strong आनंश् → weak आनश्
भू “be” reduplicates with अ; and ऊ is unchanged, inserting व् b/4 vowels, वि (v·i) b/4 cons. (5.27.1:).
भू
“be”
→ 3rd pl. बभूवुः ba·bhū·v·u̍ḥ → 1st pl. बभूविम ba·bhū·v·i·ma̍
अह् “say” is defective, taking only 3rd sg. du. pl. & 2nd sg. du. (where ह् becomes त् before थ term.); often retains present tense meaning.
अह्
“say”
→ 3rd pl. आहुः a·ah·u̍ḥ → 2nd sg. आत्थ a·a̍t·tha
विद् “know” does not reduplicate; retains present meaning.
विद्
“know”
→ st. वेद्, wk. विद्; वेद ve̍d·a “he/she/it knows”
5.29:Periphrastic Perfect is formed generally from a verbal stem that does not lend itself to reduplication, such as derivatives ending in अय/य (10th class stems, causatives and denominatives), the already reduplicated desideratives and intensives, and a few primary roots noted below.
Verbal stem made by गुण of fin. or short med. vowel is made into an abstract feminine noun in accusative with ॰आम् ā·m.
+
Reduplicated Perfect form of अस् “be” (3rd sg. आस, etc.) or, exceptionally, भू “be” (3rd sg. बभूव, etc.) or कृ “do” (3rd sg. चकार, etc.) – taking पर॰/आ॰ per the verbal stem.
E.g., दृश् “see” → दर्शय causal stem →
Par. 3rd sg. दर्शयामास darś·aya·ām·a·a̍s·a Par. 3rd pl. दर्शयामासुः darś·aya·ām·a·as·u̍ḥ
The original form of the Periphrastic Perf. was with transitive verb कृ, hence the acc. in formation even for the intransitive अस् and भू.
The primary roots taking Periphrastic Perfect, instead of Reduplicated Perfect are the following (shown in 3rd sg.). To show formation, the components are hypenated as if compounded words, but they should be written as a single word retaining the accent only of the abstract fem. noun:
Metrically heavy initial vowel
आस्
“sit”
आसां·चक्रे
ईक्ष्
“see”
ईक्षां·चक्रे
उज्झ्
“forsake”
उज्झां·चकार
एध्
“thrive”
एधां·बभूव
Already reduplicated
चकास्
“shine”
चकासां·चकार
जागृ
“awake”
जागराम्·आस
Optionally a few other roots, e.g.
नी
“lead”
नयाम्·आस, or redup. perf. निनाय
भृ
“bear”
बिभरां·बभूव (3rd class roots redup. b/4 ॰आम्), or redup. perf. बभार
5.30:Aorist (अद्यतन-भूते लुङ्) takes 7 Forms in two types (sibilant & simple). Grammarians differ in their numbering so will use their description (स-Aorist, etc.). All forms take the accented augment अ a̍ (5.5.c:) causing वृद्धि to initial vow. (2.20:), but is dropped when used in imperative sense with मा “not.” The terminations are based on the Imperfect (Secondary) terminations.
Sibilant Aorist inserts a sibilant between the root and before 2nd conj. Impf. terms. Before आ॰ 2nd pl. ॰ध्वम्, the final sibilant (॰स् or ॰ष्) of suffix converts ध् to ढ् (2.88:), then the sibilant drops.
Redulplcated-Aorist is taken by 10th class roots and the primary roots द्रु “run” श्रि “resort to,” and may give causal meaning to Aorist verb (e.g., नी “lead” → अनीनयत् a̍·nī·nay·a·t “caused to lead”).
Medial vowel अ of the roots ending in र् and ल् (e.g. चर् and चल्), as well as the roots मद् “be exhilarated,” वद् “speak,” and व्रज् “move” takes वृद्धि in पर॰, e.g.,
व्यध् “pierce” takes saṃprasāraṇa (य to इ) to maintain the prevailing U–U (light-heavy-light) rhythm, e.g.,
3rd sg. अवीविधत् a̍·vī·vidh·at.
Roots राध् “succeed” shortens radical syllable to produce the prevailing U–U rhythm, e.g.,
3rd sg. अरीरधत् a̍·rī·radh·at.
However, roots दीप् “shine,” मील् “blink” do not maintain the prevailing rhythm (5.11.2:), keeping the reduplicating syllable short and the radical vowel long, e.g.,
5.32:Benedictive mood (आशीर् लिङ्) inflects only in परस्मैपद. It is essentially formed by inserting स् between the या and the unique personal endings of the 2nd conj. Pot. terms. (5.6.e:).
Unmodified root
+ या yā̍ accented
+ स् s
+ 2nd Conj. Imperfect terms. The 3rd pl. being यासुस्, also the स् drops before 2nd 3rd sg. terms. स् त् (cf. 5.30.1.c:), being then identical with the 2nd conj. Potential.
+ (इ)तृ in masc. nom. (even if the agent is fem. or neut.), i.e., (इ)ता (i)tā̍ accented
+ in 3rd person: sg. du. pl. nom. of agent noun ॰तृ (3.38:). or in 2nd or 1st person: 2nd Conj. पर॰ Pr. tense of अस् “be” (5.19.4:), the agent noun ॰तृ remains in sg. even with du. and pl. अस्.
5.36:Passive formations. In passive (कर्मणि) and impersonal (भावे) construction, the verb takes the passive formation. The passive is formed generally in one of two ways:
a. For the six आर्धधातुक-लकार root tenses and moods, the आत्मनेपद terminations are able to assume a passive sense, as well as an active sense. For those forms that are only in परस्मैपद (e.g., Benedictive), they may also contextually assume the sense of the passive. The 3rd sg. Aorist, however, assumes a special form explained later. b. For the four सार्वधातुक-लकार verbal base tenses and moods, instead of the roots taking the usual verbal base (5.3:) when forming the सार्वधातुक-लकार-s, a special passive base, no matter what the class of the root, is formed as follows.
पॄ “fill” strengthens ॠ after labial to ऊर् (as per 5.37.4:), i.e.,
अपूरि a̍·pūr·i
Roots गम् “seize” रच् “fashion” वध् “slay” do not lengthen their अ, e.g.,
अगमि a̍·gam·i
Derivative Formations
5.39:Derivative formations. The prior verbal stem formations we have seen were for the most part unique for either the ten classes of roots in the सार्वधातुक-लकार-s, or for each one of the आर्धधातुक-लकार-s – though the 10th class root stem also appears in some of those latter tenses and moods, and thus arguably similar to the following derivative stems. Now the following secondary verbal stem formations, also called derivatives, differ in that the same stem formation with its own meaning attached can then be used in any of these tenses and moods, and even for forming nouns and adjectives.
1.वृद्धि of final vow. (2.71:) 2.गुण of light medial vow. (अ usually lenthens)
+ अय a̍-ya accented (Most roots ending in आ insert प् b/4 अय)
+ सार्वधातुक-लकार-s 1st Conj. पर॰ or आ॰ terms., regardless of natural tendencies of the root.
or
For आर्धधातुक-लकार-s, the strengthened ॰अय stem is treated as a root by the Paraphrastic Perfect, and in the other tenses and moods replacing अय with अयि, (the Benedictive पर॰ dropping the अय). However, the Reduplicated-Aorist itself can provide the causal sense for Aorist.
The passive accepts the strengthened causal stem, but drops the causal suffix अय.
Verbal nouns and adjectives may also be formed from the strengthened causal stem, with अय (usually अयि) or without.
Examples
कृ “do”
→ कारय॰ “make”
→ cs. pr. 3rdsg. कारयति kār·a̍ya·ti
→ cs. ps. 3rdsg. कार्यते kār·[aya]·ya̍·te
Reduplicated root (5.8: & .12:), the reduplicating (1st) syllable is accented
+ (इ)स sa or i-ṣa
+ 1st Conj. terms. for सार्वधातुक-लकार-s tenses and moods in पर॰ or आ॰, appropriate to the root. Otherwise, the stem drops its final अ and is treated as a root for:
Periphrastic Perfect इष् Aorist
Both Futures & Conditional, with (इ) Passive Causative Adjective and noun formation
Before redup. and adding स, final इ उ are lengthened, final ऋ ॠ become ईर्, and after labials ऊर्.
The connecting vowel इ is added as in Simple Future स्य (5.33:), except:
Roots ending in short ऋ and long ऊ ॠ mostly do not take इ.
Roots ऋ “go,” दृ “hold,” पू “purify,” do take इ.
Adjectives are formed with उ, e.g.,
ज्ञा → जिज्ञासु ji̍·jñā·s[a]·u “desiring to know” (5.8.4: & .12.1:).
Nouns are formed with feminine आ, e.g.,
ज्ञा → जिज्ञासा ji̍·jñā·s[a]·ā “the desire to know”.
5.42:Intensives (or Frequentives). This rare form is taken by 60 monosyllabic roots, only a few beginning with a vowel.
First Form: (mostly Vedic) Reduplicated root (5.8: & .13:)
+ ई opt. inserted before cons. init. strong terms.
+ 2nd Conj. पर॰ terms. and accenting like 3rd class roots w/गुण in strong form (5.3:), ex. accent on 1st syllable in strong and no गुण of medial root vowel before vowel ini. terms. or before the opt. ई.
+ य ya̍ accented (a final vowel of root treated like before the passive ॰य)
+ 1st Conj. आ॰ terms. only.
or
For आर्धधातुक-लकार-s, the reduplicated ॰य stem is treated as a root, with connecting vowel इ as per the simple root’s conjugation. No instance of a Perfect is found, but likely Periphrastic Perfect would be used.
6.1:Parts of Speech. As verbs are formed from roots, similarly most other words in संस्कृत are formed from roots. Built clearly from verbal roots and maintaining the verbal meaning of those roots, are participles and infinitives. To these may be added prepositions, either prefixed or unattached. These prepositions, not derived from roots, may also be added to verbs, as well as to many other words. Those prepositions that can remain unattached make up a small portion of a larger group of words called indeclinables. Indeclinables include some participles, infinitives, and other words used as particles, connectives, and adverbs, which are also not usually derived from roots. Even certain declined forms of nouns and adjectives used adverbially are considered indeclinables. A few indeclinables are also employed more like as adjectives (e.g., मिथ्या “apparent”) or even as substantives (e.g., स्वर् “heaven”). Finally most nouns and adjectives are considered to be derived from roots often preceded by prefixes – some of these roots being obvious from the meaning of the word, some not so obvious. In forming many of these words, a set of suffixes (roughly distinguished into primary and secondary, see 6.22:) have been identified, and many are presented in the following pages. Proper names are nouns that are mostly adjectives employed as names, hence most names in संस्कृत are descriptive.
Paninian grammar provides a vast set of rules and a number of technical signs attached to the suffixes and the roots for developing a word formation mechanism. This was important for protecting the integrity of the language and it regulated the bounds of its usage for future generations of authors and speakers. Being beginners to this language, though, we will learn more like the way children learn the language. We will work on identifying the suffixes as they are seen in actual usage. Like the child, our job here is to recognize these suffixes as forming a pattern of usage when joined with words in a sentence. Recognizing the suffix helps us identify the part of speech and some of the meaning of these words, then our accumulated vocabulary and grasp of syntax and context need to take over to provide the complete meaning to the sentences.
6.2:Formation of verbs. Optional components in normal print, necessary components in bold.
Present Participle (active) (pr. pt.) (“…ing” for meaning see 7.16:).
Strong stem formed by Pr. पर॰ 3rd pl. ॰अन्ति term. dropping इ → strong अन्त् suffix. 3rd class and some other reduplicated roots (5.19.10:) 3rd pl. ॰अति term. (5.6.c:) → strong अत् suffix.
Future Participle (active) (fut. pt.) (“will be …ing”).
Weak stem for both is formed by dropping, if there, the न् → weak अत् suffix.
For declension see 3.12:. Those with strong stem in अत् decline like dental ॰त् (3.5:) with inserted n. pl. nasal (3.5.d:) opt. dropping. For feminine see 3.9: & .9.a:.
Examples
Root
Present
Future
3rd pl.
pr. pt. strong
3rd pl.
fut. pt. strong
भू 1st “be”
भवन्ति bha̍v·anti
भवन्त्॰ bha̍v·ant
भविष्यन्ति bhav·i·ṣy[a]·a̍nti
भविष्यन्त्॰ bhav·i·ṣy[a]·a̍nt
अस् 2nd “be”
सन्त् s·a̍nti
सन्त्॰ s·a̍nt
(substitutes भू in आर्धधातुक-लकार)
हु 3rd “offer”
जुह्वति ju̍hv·ati
जुह्वत्॰ ju̍hv·at
होष्यन्ति ho·ṣy[a]·a̍nti
होष्यन्त्॰ ho·ṣy[a]·a̍nt
ज्ञा 9th “know”
जानन्ति jān·a̍nti
जानन्त्॰ jān·a̍nt
ज्ञास्यन्ति jñā·sy[a]·a̍nti
ज्ञास्यन्त्॰ jñā·sy[a]·a̍nt
॰वस्
Reduplicated Perfect Participle (active) (redup. perf. pt.) (“has… or had…” 7.17: & .22:) is rare.
Weak stem formed from Redup. Perf. पर॰ 3rd pl. (5.27.3:), ॰उस् term. replaced with accented उष् u̍ṣ suffix (3.19.a:).
Middle & strong stems from weak by dropping उष्. Final vowel of root, if any, is restored from semivowel (due to उष्), if resulting stem is monosyllabic, insert इ. Then:
Roots ending in अन् or अम्, which drop the nasal before pp. (इ)त, may opt. drop the nasal and take ॰त्य below, instead of ॰य.
Derivative suffix अय is retained as अय् if derivative stem vowel remains short (i.e., if the derivative strengthening is not noticable), otherwise अय is dropped.
Examples of य ya
अधि+स्था “wield”
→ अधिष्ठाय
adhi·ṣṭhā·ya
आ+पॄ “fill”
→ आपूर्य
ā·p[ūr]·ya
प्रति+स्था cs. “set up”
→ cs. प्रतिष्ठाप्य
prati·ṣṭhā·p·[aya]·ya
॰त्य
Unaccented त्य tya (6.26.a:) added to prefixed roots (like य above), if root ends in a short vowel.
Examples of त्य tya
उप+आ+श्रि “follow”
→ उपाश्रित्य
upa·ā·śri·tya
उद्+आ+ह्र् “say”
→ उदाहत्य
ud·ā·hṛ·tya
प्र+इ “die”
→ प्रेत्य
pra·i·tya
॰अम्
A rare indeclinable participle.
Formed by replacing the unaugmented Aorist Passive 3rd sg. term. इ (5.38:) with अम्.
Example of अम् am
श्रु “hear”
→ Aorist ps. 3rd sg. अश्रावि
a̍·śrāv·i
→ श्रावम् [a̍]·śrāv·am
6.10:Infinitive (inf.) is another indeclinable participle (“to …” 7.20:).
॰(इ)तुम्
Formed like तव्य 6.8: by replacing Periphrastic Fut. 5.34: stem suffix ता with तुम् (originally an old sg. acc. of a verbal noun in तु). Occasionally derivative suffix अय is dropped.
The old acc. term. (म्) drops when the infinitive, as an initial word, is formed in a adjectival cmpd. (6.39:) with काम “desire” or मनस् “mind,” e.g., योद्धुकाम yoddhu[m]·kāma “having a desire to fight.”
Verbal Compounds, Prepositions, Adverbs and Particles
6.11:Verbal Compounds. A root can combine with prepositions (which are then called prefixes, when so attached), adjectives, substantives and a few adverbs. These modify (“color in various ways”) the meaning of the root. The compounded root may be conjugated like a simple verb, or joined with a primary suffix to form a nominal stem that may be declined. The accents of these compound components shown in the following lists are as found un-compounded in Veda, but, when they are compounded, then their own accent may shift elsewhere in the compound.
6.12:Prefixes. The following are a few of the senses these prefixes may add to or modify a root’s meaning. Depending on the root and even on the contextual usage of the verbal compound, sometimes the prefix does not add to or modify the roots meaning. Often, a dictionary will never include enough prefixes joined with a root that you are looking for. In such cases, look for the prefix with a synonymous root, or see how the prefix(es) affect the two types of verbs: गम् “move” for motion or भू “be” for states of being. Roots of movement may also indicate knowing – thought “reaches” it object.
अति
a̍ti
“beyond, over”
अधि
a̍dhi
“upon, above, over”
अनु
a̍nu
“after; towards; along; over”
अन्तर्
anta̍r
“between, within, amidst, out of”
अप
a̍pa
“away, off”
अपि
a̍pi
“on, close, by, to, within, before”
अभि
abhi̍
“against, towards, unto; near, into; for the sake of, concerning; over, above”
अव
a̍va
“down, off”
आ
ā̍
“near; back; a little, slightly, scarcely; till, as far as; from; towards”
उद्
u̍d
“up, upwards; forth, out, beyond”
उप
u̍pa
“up to, to, near, within”; also expressing inferiority
नि
ni̍
“down; in, within; back”
निस्
ni̍s
“out of, away from”
परा
pa̍rā
“away, off, forth; backward”
परि
pa̍ri
“around, about; against, opposite to; beyond, above, more than”
There are seven independent prepositions in use since the Vedas. These are noninflected particles. They are nearly all used as postpositions, placed in prose sentence order after words in the below specific case-endings, that is, they govern the case of those other words. Most of these are also used as prefixes 6.12:.
There are some adverbs used as prepositions, which also govern the following case of other words made into a phrase with them. These cannot be used as verbal prefixes. The meanings given bring together the meaning of the adverb and the governing (Govns) case sense. Same meanings are carried down unless specified.
Govns
Preposition
Meaning
Acc.
अन्तरा
antarā̍
“between, without”
अन्तरेन
a̍ntarena (also “regarding”)
अभितस्
abhi̍·tas
“around”
परितस्
pari̍·tas
समन्ततस्
sam·anta·tas
सर्वतस्
sarva̍·tas
उभयतस्
ubhaya̍·tas
“on both sides of”
निकषा
ni·kāṣā̍
“near”
समया
sam·a̍yā
परेण
pa̍reṇa
“beyond”
यावत्
yā̍·vat (also with abl.)
“during, up to, till”
Instr.
विना
vinā (also with acc., rarely abl.)
“without, except”
समम्
sama̍m
“(together) with”
सह
saha̍
साकम्
sa·aka̍m
सार्धम्
sa·artham
Abl.
अनन्तरम्
an·antaram
“after [of time]”
ऊर्ध्वम्
ūrdhva̍m
परतस्
para·tas
परम्
param
परेण
pa̍reṇa
प्रभृति
pra·bhṛ̍ti
अन्यत्र
anya̍·tra
“apart from”
ऋते
ṛte (also with acc.)
अर्वाक्
arvā̍k
“before [of time]”
पुरा
purā̍
पूर्वम्
pū̍rvam
प्राक्
pra·a̍k
बहिस्
bahi̍s
“outside, out of”
Gen.
अग्रे
a̍gre
“before, in presence of”
अग्रतस्
agra·ta̍s
पुरतस्
pura·tas
पुरस्तात्
pura̍s·tāt
प्रत्यक्षम्
party·akṣam
समक्षम्
sam·akṣa̍m
अधस्
adha̍s
“below”
अधस्तात्
adha̍s·tāt
उपरि
upa̍ri (also with acc.) (also “with regard to”)
“above, over, upon”
उपरिष्टात्
upa̍riṣ·ṭāt
कृते
kṛte
“for the sake of”
परतस्
para·tas
“beyond”
परस्तात्
para̍s·tāt
पश्चात्
paś·cā̍t
“after, in the rear of”
6.17:Indeclinable participles used as prepositions accompany/govern the following cases.
Nouns meaning “proximity” accompany/govern the genitive, and, when declined in the following cases, take the following prepositional meanings.
Govns
Nouns meaning “proximity,” e.g.,
Declined in
Meaning
Gen.
अन्तिक
anti·ka̍
Accusative
“towards, to , near”
उपकण्ठ
upa·kaṇṭha
निकट
ni·kaṭa
Ablative
“from”
पार्श्व
pārśva̍
सकाश
sa·kāśa
सन्निधि
san·ni·dhi
Locative
“near, in the presence of”
समीप
sam·īpa
6.19:Adverbs formed with suffixes that have a sense generally related to the following cases. These are considered secondary suffixes (6.27:) because they are not directly added to roots (धातु-s).
Sense of
Suffix
Adverb
Instr.
॰था (॰थ, ॰थम्)
Adverbs of manner, especially from pronominal stems.
अथ
a̍·tha
“then, thereupon”
अन्यथा
anya̍·thā
“in another way”
इत्था
i·t·thā̍
“thus”
ऋतुथा
ṛtu·thā̍
“regularly”
कथम्
ka·tha̍m
“in what way?”
तथा
ta̍·thā
“in that way”
पूर्वथा
pūrva̍·thā
“formerly”
यथा
ya̍·thā
“in which way”
विश्वथा
viśva̍·thā
“in every way”
Inst. (cont.)
॰धा (॰ध, ॰ह)
Adverbs of manner (see also 4.28:) from nouns, adverbs, pronouns.
एकधा
eka·dhā̍
“singly”
कतिधा
kati·dhā̍
“how many times?”
द्विधा
dvi·dhā̍
“in two ways”
बहुधा
bahu·dhā̍
“in many ways”
सध
sa·dha
“in one way, together”
सह
sa·ha̍
“with”
इह
i·ha̍
“here”
Inst. (cont.)
॰व (॰वम्)
Adverb expressing similarity of manner.
इव
i·va
“like, as”
एव e·va̍ or एवम् e·va̍m
“thus, like this”
Inst. (cont.)
॰वत्
Adverb meaning “like” from subst. and adj., e.g.,
आश्चर्यवत्
āścarya·vat
“like a wonder”
कृत्स्नवत्
kṛtsna·vat
“as though complete”
Inst. (cont.)
॰शस्
Adverb of manner with distributive sense (see also 4.29:), e.g.,
6.20:Conjunctive and Adverbial Particles with their common meanings in various idioms. See dictionary for a fuller treatment of some of these. All are indeclinable; several of these are indeclinable forms of the pronominal adjectives found in 4.16: & .18:.
अङ्ग
aṅga̍
“Just,” “only,” an expletive; an exhortative “please.”
अथ
a̍·tha
“Now,” often introducing something new at the beginning of a sentence, section, chapter or book, or introducing an immediate succession meaning “thereafter.” Can connect clauses in a sentence in sense of “and” or “if.” अथ वा “or else.”
अथो
a̍tho
“Then.”
अन्यञ्च
anyañ ca
“And besides.”
अपरम्
aparam
“Moreover.”
अपि
a̍pi
“And,” “also,” “even,” “only.” Connects (like च) parts of a sentence. Always follows the word to which it belongs. But at beginning of sentence is used as an interrogative particle.
अलम्
a̍lam
“Enough (with).” Used with instrumental, indeclinable participle or infinitive to express prohibition.
आहो
ā̍ho
“Or.”
इति
i̍ti
Used at the end of a direct or indirect quotation either spoken, or thought but not uttered – “thus” (= end quote).
इव
iva
Enclitic, following the word it modifies – “like, as if, almost.”
“And”; expletive at end of a line; प्रत्युत prati-uta “on the contrary,” किमुत kim-uta “how much more/less.”
एव
eva̍
“Only,” “just,” “exactly,” a restrictive particle following the word to which it belongs, or sometimes merely for stress or to fill meter; constituent of तथैव tatha-eva “likewise,” नैव na-eva “not at all.”
“At will,” “gladly”; or concessive particle “certainly,” “granted.”
किम्
ki̍·m
“How?” “why?”, or simply rendered as “?”; किञ्च kim-ca “moreover”; किन्तु kim-tu “but”; किमिति kim-iti, किमिव kim-iva “wherefore?”; किंवा kim-vā “perhaps?”; किंस्विद् kim-svid “why, pray?”; किमपि kim-api “very”; किमु kim u, किमुत kim-uta, किम्पुनः kim-punaḥ “how much less/more.”
किल
ki̍la
“Indeed,” following the word it emphasizes; stress only; “they say,” “we are told.”
कृतम्
kṛ·ta·m
“Have done with,” like अलम् is used with instrumental.
केवलम्
kevala·m
“Only.”
क्व
ku̍·a
“Where?”; expresses incompatibility if repeated with another question.
खलु
kha̍lu
“Indeed,” or simply stresses preceding word, “please,” with in. pt. “enough of.”
च
ca
Enclitic, “and,” placed after each connected word or phrase or placed only after the last in the list, with connected phrases it is more often placed after the first word of each phrase or only once with the last phrase; च…च “both…and.”
चेद्
ce̍d
“If,” never begins a sentence or pāda (like enclitic), unlike यदि; अथ चेद् “but if”; न चेद्, नो चेद् “if not, otherwise”; इति चेन्न iti ced na “if you say then no.”
“Thus,” “also,” “yes”; तथा च “similarly,” तथापि “nevertheless,” तथा हि “in that way indeed,” “so for instance”; तथेति tathā iti “yes.”
तद्
ta̍·d
(Neut. pronoun of “that” used as an adverb) “then,” “therefore.”
तावत्
tā̍·vat
“So long” (with correlative यावत्} “how long, till”); “in the first place,” “merely,” “at least,” “indeed” (concessively), “quite,” or simply add stress. An indeclinable form of the pronominal adjective given in 4.18:.
तु
tu̍
Never begins a sentence or pāda (like enclitic), “but,” “whereas”; परन्तु “however.”
न
na̍
“Not,” “no”; if repeated the double negative amounts to an emphatic positive; नापि na api “not even”; नैव na eva “not at all.”
ननु
na·nu̍
“Not?” in questions expecting an affirmative answer; with interrogative pronouns and imperatives = “pray”; in argumentation = “is it not the case that?”, “it may be objected that.”
नाम
nā̍ma
“By name,” “indeed,” “perhaps”; with imperatives = “granted”; अपि नाम at beginning of a sentence with a potential = “perhaps”; ननु नाम “surely.”
नु
nu̍
“Now”; नु…नु “either…or.”
नूनम्
nū·na̍·m
“Undoubtedly,” usually the first word in the sentence.
नो
na̍·u
“Not.”
परम्
pa̍ra·m
“Entirely,” “very,” “only”; “but.”
पुनर्
pu̍nar
“Again,” “on the other hand,” “but”; by itself or repeated “again and again.”
प्रायस्
prā̍y·as
“For the most part,” “generally,” “as a rule.”
प्रायशस्
prāya·śas
प्रायेण
prāyeṇa
बाढम्
bāḍha̍·m
“Certainly, very well, yes.”
मा
mā̍
“Not”; with an unaugmented aorist or impf. as a prohibitive impv.; मा स्म “not.”
मुहुर्
mu̍h·ur
“Every moment,” “repeatedly” (often as मुहुर्मुहुः); “on the contrary.”
यतस्
ya̍·tas
“From which,” “because.”
यत्र
ya̍·tra
“Where,” “if,” “when,” “since.”
यथा
ya̍·thā
“As,” “like,” “in order that”; तद्यथा “thus for instance.”
यद्
ya̍·d
“That” introducing a direct assertion; “in order that,” “because,” “if.”
यदि
ya̍d·i
“If”; यदि वा “or rather,” “or”; यद्यपि “even if,” “although.”
यावत्
yā̍·vat
“While,” “as long as,” “as soon as” (with correlative तावत्); “meanwhile.” An indeclinable form of the pronominal adjective given in 4.18:.
येन
ye̍na
“In which manner,” “as” (with correlative तेन); “by which,” “because.”
वरम् न
vara·m na
“The better thing [is]…[and] not,” “better…than.”
वा
vā
Enclitic following the word to which it belongs. “Or”; sometimes “as it were” (=इव); वा…वा “either…or.”
वै
va̍i
Expletive.
सत्यम्
satya·m
“Truly, rightly, true, it is so.”
ह
ha
Enclitic, a slight expletive.
हि
hi̍
Never begins a sentence or pāda (like enclitic); conjunctive “because”; expletive “indeed,” often employed to avoid a hiatus or obtain a long vowel for meter.
Exclamation of exhortation – “come,” “look”; expresses grief “alas!”, or joy “ah!”.
हा
hā
“Ah!”, “alas!”
हे
he
“O” generally before vocative.
Nominal Stem Formation
6.22:Nominal stem formation. Declinable stems may consist of bare roots, but mostly (including some indeclinable stems) are formed by means of suffixes added to a root or stem. The suffix is primary (कृद्-अन्त) if it is added directly to roots (or to their derivative forms, and sometimes to their conjugational form), which may be strengthened or weakened as we have seen in the participial primary suffixes, or secondary (तद्-धित) if it is added to stems already formed with a suffix (even pronomial stems and some indeclinables), which stems may be strengthened usually on the first syllable. The distinction is not always clear. As mentioned before, we will just concern ourselves with the final form of the suffix. For example, ॰अ will be shown as a primary and a secondary suffix, yet the grammar of Pāṇini will have about 17 different suffixes for the final form ॰अ. This is because roots and stems before अ undergo a wide variety of (17 or more) modifications, variations in meaning, variation in accent, and so on. The suffixes here are only the still visible forms of the suffixes after they have been joined to roots or stems, not the multiple suffixes found in the grammar of Pāṇini.
Only a few suffixes govern definite modifications and meanings – these are mostly the suffixes forming participles, etc. that we have already seen, a few primary suffixes that make agent nouns and adjectives, and several of the secondary suffixes. Often, after a grammarian shows the root and suffix, just how the actual meaning of the word is derived from either remains quite in doubt, especially to the beginner. The final form and meaning of any word in संस्कृत is derived from how it is spoken and employed in the literature, i.e., its conventional usage, not solely because of grammar rules, i.e., its etymological form and meaning. Grammar is descriptive of language; it only appears prescriptive for beginners. With this in mind we will present just the general modifications a root or stem may undergo and the general shades of meaning it may assume, when joined with the more common of these suffixes. For example, in presenting the meanings of the primary suffixes, there are three possible applications of the root action.
Active sense as the कर्तृ/agent of action (and/or equally as the करण/instrument by which is done the action, in passive 7.7:), i.e., the nom. or inst. case relation. E.g., धर्म is “that which supports” or “that by which (a person or the world) is supported.”
The भाव/action itself, i.e., the abstract or concrete noun of that action. E.g., ज्योतिस् is “shining” or “light” from a root meaning “shine.”
Passive sense as the कर्म/object acted upon (or sometimes unto/from/in which object is done the action), i.e., the acc., dat., abl. or loc. case relation. E.g., श्रुति is “that which is listened to,” समाधि is “that in which (everything) is resolved.”
Overview. Some primary suffixes display one (usually the agent sense is ever the only sense of a suffix) or two, or sometimes all three of these senses when joined with different roots and the resulting words used in different literary contexts. Exceptions to the below generalizations will abound.
6.23:Overview of a few common suffixes. Those in bold have just the one sense, in red have two senses, in blue have three (or more) senses. These counts for primary suffix senses are separate from the secondary suffix counts.
Primary Suffixes:
Form concrete agent/instrument nouns used as adjectives or substantives, e.g.,
अअन्अनअस् इइन्इस् उ उन उस् ऊति तुतृ त्र त्रान ना नि नु ममन्मि मी युर रु व वन्
Form abstract or concrete action nouns, e.g.,
अअनअस् इस् इ उन उस्ति तुथ थान ना नि नु ममन्मि मी यु
Form concrete object nouns used as adjectives or substantives, e.g.,
अअनउ ऊति तुन ना नि नु ममि मी यु
Secondary Suffixes:
Mean related or connected to, e.g.,
अय
Mean modification or part of, e.g.,
मय
Mean possessing, e.g.,
इन् मत्मय वत्वन् विन्
Mean comparative or superlative, e.g.,
तम तरम र
Mean diminutive, e.g.,
क ल
Form patronymic, e.g.,
आयन इय
Form abstract substantive, e.g.,
ता त्वय
Form an adverb, e.g.,
अस् तस् तात् त्र त्रा था दा धा ववत् शस् स्
Form an adjective, e.g.,
ईन ईयकतनत्यथमयर ल
Form a noun, e.g.,
त्यभ
Form the feminine, e.g.,
आ आनी ई
6.24:Bare Roots.
As a declinable stem, these words usually remain unchanged, e.g., द्विष् m. “enemy” (lit. “hater”) from the root √द्विष्. The stems often have the sense of the agent of the root’s action, or sometimes the sense of the action itself.
Many of the stems are used only as the last member of a compound. Where final:
6.25:Primary and secondary suffixes forming degrees of comparison.
Comparative and superlative pairs are formed with either primary or secondary adjectival suffixes.
The primary suffixes – ॰(ई)यस् and ॰इष्ठ – generally cause गुण of the stem, which is accented.
The stem, per Paninian grammar being derived from adjectives called the comparison’s “positive,” is formed by reducing the positive to one syllable through dropping its suffixes then adding either of these comparison suffixes as the primary suffix. Sometimes there appeared to be no positive form matching a comparative and superlative pair in use, so a synonym is chosen as the assumed positive.
Comparatives and superlatives were more common in Vedic literature, and were frequently derived there from accented and often गुण strengthened verbal roots. Not being able to derive some of these forms, which survived into the classical language, from existing adjectives in the classical language, Paninian grammarians resorted to describing them as having assumed positives from synonyms.
The secondary suffixes – ॰तर and ॰तम – are added to the weak or middle stem of the positive adjective or substantive. See also the secondary suffixes ॰र and ॰म (6.27:). E.g.,
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
(or Root)
(“-er, more”)
(“-est, most”)
Primary suffix
॰(ई)यस्
॰इष्ठ
अणु “subtle”
अणीयस्
a̍ṇ·ī·yas
अणिष्ठ
a̍ṇ·iṣṭha
(or √अण् “breathe”)
“subtler, smaller”
“subtlest, smallest”
गुरु “honorable”
गरीयस्
ga̍r·ī·yas
गरिष्ठ
ga̍r·iṣṭha
(or √गॄ “invoke”)
“greater”
“greatest”
बहुल “abundant”
बंहीयस्
ba̍ṃh·ī·yas
बंहिष्ठ
ba̍ṃh·iṣṭha
(or √बंह् “increase”)
“more abundant”
“most abundant”
वृद्ध “old”
ज्यायस्
jyā̍·yas
ज्येष्ठ
jyā̍·iṣṭha
(or √ज्या “overpower”)
“elder, superior”
“most superior”
प्रिय “pleasant”
प्रेयस्
pre̍·yas
प्रेष्ठ
pre̍·[i]ṣṭha
(or √प्री “please”)
“more pleasing”
“most pleasing”
वृद्ध “old”
वर्षीयस्
va̍rṣ·ī·yas
वर्षिष्ठ
va̍rṣ·iṣṭha
(or √वृष् Ā. “be virile”)
“older”
“oldest”
प्रशस्य “praiseworthy”
श्रेयस्
śre̍·yas
श्रेष्ठ
śre̍·[i]ṣṭha
(or √श्रि “seek”)
“better”
“best”
Secondary suffix
॰तर
॰तम
शुचि “bright”
शुचितर
śuci·tara
शुचितम
śuci·tama
“brighter”
“brightest”
प्राच् “forward”
प्राक्तर
prāk·tara
प्राक्तम
prāk·tama
“more forward”
“most forward”
6.26:Primary suffixes कृदन्त-s (some important and useful suffixes).
The participial suffixes we have already seen (6.4:–.10:); also the degrees of comparison (6.25:)
॰अत्
Pr. and Fut. Participles (active).
॰वस्
Redup. Perf. Participle (active).
॰मान
Pr. and Fut. Mid. Participles, Pr. Ps. Participle.
॰आन
Pr. (2nd conj.) Participles and (Vedic) Perf. Mid. Participle.
Forms fem. of adjectives, whose m. n. stem end in अ, e.g.,
स्वा
sv[a]·ā
f. “one’s own”
॰आनी
Forms fem. of names of deities ending in अ, e.g.,
इन्द्राणी
indr[a]·āṇī̍
f. “wife of Lord इन्द्र”
॰आयन
Forms masc. patronymics with initial वृद्धि, e.g.,
आश्वलायन
āśval[a]·āyana
m. “descendent of अश्वल”
॰इ
Forms masc. patronymics with initial वृद्धि, e.g.,
सौसदत्ति
sauma·datt[a]·i
m. “son of सोमदत्त”
॰इन्
Forms adj. in sense of “possessing” from subst. ending in अ (cf. मत् below), e.g.,
त्यादिन्
tyāg[a]·in
a. “renouncing” (त्याग m. “renunciation”)
॰ई
Forms fem. of m. stems (adj. or noun) ending in cons., तृ, उ, and sometimes अ (always when m. stem is formed with initial वृद्धि), e.g.,
योगिनी
yog[a]·in·ī
f. “a woman who follows a dedicated life of योग”
पृथ्वी
pṛthv·ī
f. “earth” (पृथु a. “broad”)
राजसी
rājas[a]·ī
f. adj. “predominately of the रजस् mental disposition”
॰ईन
Forms adj. chiefly expressive of direction, and from stems in अच् (3.24:), e.g.,
प्राचीन
prāc·ī̍na
a. “eastern” (प्राच् a. “eastward”)
॰क
Forms adj. and diminutives; added to adj. and nouns often without changing meaning (in this sense also are accounted the pri. suff. ॰अक ॰उक and sec. suff. ॰अक ॰इक in the grammar of Pāṇini, see also 6.39:); fem. derivatives often in ॰इका, e.g.,
अधिक
adhi·ka
a. “better”
अहैतुक
a·haitu·ka
a. “illogical”
नायक
nāy·a·ka
m. “leader”
पुत्रक
putra·ka
m. “little son”; पुत्रिका putr[a]·ikā f. “little daughter”
॰तन
Forms adj. with temporal meaning, e.g.,
पुरातन
purā·tana
a. “ancient” (lit. “continuing as before”)
॰तम
Besides superlatives; forms ordinals (4.26:), e.g.,
शततम
śata·tama̍
a. “hundredth”
॰ता ॰त्व
Forms abstract subst. in the sense of “-ness”, ॰ता being grammatically fem., ॰त्व being neut., e.g.,
देवता
deva̍·tā
f. “deity”
अमृतत्व
a·mṛta·tva̍
n. “immortality”
॰त्य
Forms adj. and m. or n. nouns from prepositions and adverbs, e.g.,
नित्य
ni̍·tya
a. “eternal”
अपत्य
a̍pa·tya
n. “offspring”
॰थ
Besides adverbs; forms some ordinals from cardinals (4.26:), e.g.,
Forms adj. in sense of “possessing” from subst. not ending in अ (cf. इन् above), e.g.,
दीप्तिमत्
dīpti·mat
a. “possessing brilliance, brilliant”
॰मय ॰मयी
Forms adj. in senses of “preceding from, preponderance of, consisting of”, e.g.,
तेजोमय
tejo·maya
a. “mostly of brilliance, brilliant” (तेजस् n. “brilliance”)
॰य
Orig. in many cases “ia,” forms adj. in the sense of “relating to,” m. patronymics, n. abstracts – all with वृद्धि; and ordinary adj. without वृद्धि; (in these senses also are accounted the sec. suff. ॰इय ॰ईय ॰एय in the grammar of Pāṇini), e.g.,
ऐश्वर्य
aiśvar[a]·ya
a. “relating to the Lord” (ईश्वर m. “Lord”)
कार्पण्य
kārpaṇ[a]·ya
n. “miserliness” (कृपण m. “miser”)
मुख्य
mu̍kh[a]·ya
a. “foremost” (मुख n. “face”)
इन्द्रिय
indr[a]·i·ya̍
a. “belonging to Lord Indra”; n. “a sense organ”
॰अर्थीय
ar·th[a]·ī·ya
a. in cmpd. –॰ “intended for”
अस्मदीय
asmad·ī·ya
a. “our”
कौन्तेय
kaunt[ī]·e·ya
m. “son of कुन्ती”
॰र
Forms some comparatives from prepositions (cf. ॰म above); and forms adj., e.g.,
अवर
a̍va·ra
a. “lower”
धीर
dhī̍·ra
a. “discerning” (धी f. “thought”)
॰ल
Forms adj. (sometimes interchangeable with र above); and a few m. diminutives, e.g.,
मधुल
madhu·la̍
(and मधुर madhu·ra) a. “sweet”
बहुल
bahu·la̍
a. “abundant”
वृषल
vṛṣa·la̍
m. “little man” (वृष m. “[potent] male”)
॰वत्
Besides adverbial sense of “like” (6.19:); forms adj. in sense of “possessing,” e.g.,
ज्ञानवत्
jñāna·vat
a. “having knowledge”
॰वन्
Forms adj. and subst. in the sense of “possessing,” e.g.,
Before secondary suffixes beginning with a vowel or य् (equivalent to इ), final अ/आ इ/ई of stem are regularly dropped and final उ/ऊ of stem usually takes guṇa becoming अव् (2.71:).
Before secondary suffixes, final न् of stem is treated variously: retained, dropped, dropped along with preceding अ, or retained with preceding अ dropped.
Occassionally either of the above two rules (a. & b.) may also occur with some primary suffixes.
6.28:Gender for many nouns was pointed out in 6.26:–.27:, but may be summarized as follows. Any adj. or m. n. cons. ending stem turns fem. by final addition of fem. primary suffix ॰आ or ॰ई.
Generally, the stems with primary or secondary suffixes ending in:
6.29:Nominal Compounds. Two or more words can combine into a single word called a compound (समास), lit. “thrown together.” In a समास all the members generally, except the last, show their uninflected stem (some Vedic compounds retain their prior member’s inflection). The stem normally is as before the pāda terminations (भ्याम्, etc. 3.2.a:), i.e., either the weak or the middle. Additionally, in a sentence, adjectives as 1st member in compound do not take on a feminine suffix (॰आ ॰ई). Only the final member, as an adjective or as an adjectival compound final, would take on a feminine suffix. Between the members in a compound, with a few Vedic exceptions, general sandhi rules apply (2.4:). Some words as 1st or last member of a cmpd. take on a special meaning or form – experience and a dictionary are helpful. For example, sometimes at the end of a compound a stem final न् will drop, an इ or उ will change to अ, or an अ will be added to the end of some consonant ending finals, a final ऊ (→उव) or diphthong (→अव, etc.).
The संस्कृत analysis of the meaning of a समास is called a विग्रह-वाक्य. This analysis will break out each member of the compound separately showing its inflected form (or, in commentaries, shows the nominative form of the member with a well known synonym or an explanation followed by a demonstrative pronoun that restates that member in the appropriate case and number), and the order of the breakout of the individual members is generally from left to right, as it is in keeping with संस्कृत prose order (7.2:). The analysis usually proceeds by relating two members of the समास at a time, then taking that pair and relating it to a third member, and so on. For English speakers just starting to learn संस्कृत, since संस्कृत prose order is still new to him or her, it is often helpful to initially start at the back of the compound and work through the pairs from right to left, as this generally yields the resulting English prose order of the most common form of समास, called तत्पुरुष-समास. The final member also has the case termination for the whole compound which helps place its meaning within the context of the sentence.
Depending on the relationship between these member pairs, समास-s have been categorized by grammarians into three main types and several sub-types, with a forth type distinguished by how the whole समास is employed in a sentence. Several of the names for these समास-s given by grammarians are in fact examples of the समास being categorized. Within a single compound made up of three or more members, different compound types of pair-relationships may be exhibited; the whole compound, however, is categorized by the compound type of its last member pair, i.e., normally the last word or self-contained compound word with the rest of the compound. Often which type of compounding is being employed cannot be determined apart from the context within a sentence. The isolated examples given here assume the most obvious relationship for the pairing.
Mostly because in compounding there is loss of inflection and therefore loss of important syntactical information, which then has to be easily filled in by the listener, compounding is not freely allowed between just any two words in any order in a sentence. There is a pattern of which words and how the words can be joined in the literature, so the grammarians have set down specific rules for forming each of the types of compounds, and even for forming compounds with specific words. Again, since we are here concerned with reading skills, only those compositional rules for compounds which assist recognizing the समास-s or assist in understanding their meanings, are given.
6.30:Types of समास based on 1st & 2nd members’ relationship.
तत्पुरुष – Onequalifies the other, and final noun usually determinesgender.
विभक्ति-तत्पुरुष – 1st is in oblique case relationship with2nd.
नञ्-तत्पुरुष (often pronounced “nañj-tatpuruṣa”) – Negative as 1st member.
कर्मधारय – Both are in apposition (=समानाधिकरण “reference the same object”).
द्विगु – Numeral as 1st and cmpd. is not used in naming something.
प्रादि – Preposition as 1st, noun or non-verbal adj. is 2nd.
गति – Verbal indeclinable as 2nd.
उपपद – Stem formation of 2nd depends on the 1st.
बहुव्रीहि – Substantive तत्पुरुष employed as an adjective in a sentence.
द्वन्द्व – List of nouns that could be separated with च “and”, sometimes वा “or”.
अव्ययीभाव – Indeclinable 1st and the pair treated “like-an-indeclinable”.
6.31:Accent in समास-s. Accent varies a great deal, even for cmpds. of the same type. Here are some general rules starting with the most numerous accent occurrences.
1.1st member retains its accent (the 2nd member’s accent drops), especially:
There are six sub-types for the six oblique cases (2nd through 7th).
Sometimes the 1st member retains its case term., e.g., परस्मैपद parasmai-pada “word for another.”
At the end of a cmpd. ॰अर्थ m. “goal” often in the acc. (sometimes in dat. or loc.) is employed adverbially meaning “for the sake of, on account of,” e.g., अनुकम्पार्थम् “out of compassion.”
In these examples the cmpd. is given and then converted (→) into its analysis (विग्रह-वाक्य), a phrase that expresses the meaning of the cmpd.
2nd
The 2nd member is often an adj. of a verbal nature, like a participle, e.g., गुणातीतः → गुणान् अतीतः “transcending the constituents of the universe (गुणान्).”
3rd
मासपूर्वः → मासेन पूर्वः “earlier by a month (मासेन).”
4th
पादोदकम् → पादाभ्याम् उदकम् “water for the feet (पादाभ्याम्).”
5th
उभयविब्रष्टः → उभाभ्यां विभ्रष्टः “fallen from both (उभाभ्यां).”
6th
By far the most common type. तत्पुरुषः → तस्य पुरुषः “his (तस्य) man.”
7th
मनोगतः → मनसि गतः “arisen in the mind (मनसि).”
6.33:नञ्-तत्पुरुष-समास [nañ(j)-tatpuruṣa-samāsa] or नञ्-समास Negative compound.
The 1st member is the negative particle अ before consonants or अन् before vowels, and rarely न, e.g.,
अन्योन्य and परस्पर both adj. meaning “one another” are irregular in that the 1st member (अन्यस्, परस्) is a frozen masc. nom. so that the cmpd. in fem. would still be अन्योन्या.
महत् “great” as 1st member becomes महा, e.g., महाशङ्खः “huge conch.”
At the end of a cmpd.:
राजन् “king,” अहन् “day” become राज, अह, resp.;
सखि “friend,” रात्रि f. “night” become सख, रात्र n., resp.
1st member is a noun:
राजर्षि → राजा च स ऋषिश्च “royal sage (ऋषिः),” lit. “He is a king and a sage.”
कर्मबन्धः → कर्म एव बन्धः “bondage which is but कर्म.”
In comparisons
जलदस्याम adj. → जलदः इव श्याम “dark as a cloud (जलदः).” (2nd member is adj.)
When 2nd member is also a noun, the उपमेय (the thing compared) is put before the उपमान (the comparison), e.g.,
ज्ञानदीपः → दीपः इव ज्ञानम् “knowledge which is like a lamp (दीपः).”
Quasi-adjectival
राजविद्या → विद्यानां राजन् “kingly knowledge” or “king of (all) knowledge.”
Assumed middle
शाकपार्थिवः → शाकप्रियः पार्थिवः “a king (पार्थिवः) (liking/प्रियः) vegetables (शाकानि),”where there is an assumed word, here प्रियः, to connect the 1st & 2nd member. This dropping of the middle word is called मध्यम-पद-लोप (“middle-word-dropping”).
द्विगु, lit. “two-cow(s),” is a sub-type of कर्मधारय-समाद where the 1st member is a numeral and the cmpd. is not used in naming (which then restricts it to a कर्मधारय above).
They are generally neuters or feminines in ई expressing well known aggregates (समाहार-s) and therefore are singular.
Hence they are exceptions to the general rule that the final noun of a तत्पुरुष-समास determines the gender of the compound, e.g.,
त्रिलोकम् → त्रयाणां लोकानां समाहारः “[All] the three worlds (लोकाः m.).”
Where a preposition or an indeclinable कु, दुस्, निस् or सु is the 1st member and the 2nd member is a noun or non-verbal adjective (e.g., प्रतिकृत, since कृत is a pp. adj. from √कृ, is not a प्रादि).
When analyzed the preposition is replaced with an appropriate adverb or adjective and the noun may be in any of the cases.
When the 2nd member noun is analyzed in one of the oblique cases to the adjective replacing the preposition, then the cmpd. naturally becomes an adjective.
Some of these adjectival compounds are thus considered to be बहुव्रीहि-s (6.39:) by grammarians for technical reasons, nevertheless the classification of these compounds is trivial for our purposes since the adjectival meanings of these compounds, no matter which classification, are obviously identical.
Many of the compounded prepositions have gained specific meanings within प्रादि-समास-s, in addition to their normal meanings.
अति
“excess”
परि
“excess”
अधि
“superiority, primary”
प्रति
“opposition”
अभि
“intensive”
वि
“variation, absence”
आ
“somewhat or up to”
सम्
“completeness”
उप
“accessory or secondary”
प्राचार्यः
m.
→ प्रगतः आचार्यः “eminent teacher (आचार्यः).”
विगुणः
a.
→ गुणेन रहित “without virtue (गुणेन).”
पर्यध्ययनः
a.
→ अध्ययनाय परिग्लानः “too tired to study (अध्ययनाय).”
Verbal indeclinable as 2nd member. Mostly certain particles, adverbs (6.13:), onomatopoeias (sound-effect words), and a few nouns (6.14:) compounded with indeclinable participles ॰कृत्य, ॰भूय, etc., e.g.,
When the 2nd member’s stem formation only exists when at the end of a cmpd. or compounded only after a certain word (that 1st word thus being called the उपपद, lit. “adjoining word”) and is not found independently. Mostly these are the bare roots (6.24:) at end of cmpd., in which case the conjugated or participial form of the root is used in the analysis.
Any of the above varieties of तत्पुरुष-समास-s, including the द्वन्द, with a substantive (or having a substantive sense) as the 2nd member, when employed as an adjective in a sentence and inflected in agreement with a separate word expressed or understood, is called a बहुव्रीहि, lit. “having much rice.”
These compounds often have the sixth case sense of “having or possessing” whatever is the meaning of the तत्पुरुष-समास or द्वन्द्व, although the other oblique case senses are also found.
When analyzed this sense is usually expressed by the relative pronoun यद् in the appropriate case of the cmpd.
One clue that a cmpd. is a बहुव्रीहि is that the gender of the cmpd. is not the gender of its final subst. (e.g., final fem. ॰आ becomes m.n. ॰अ in cmpd.), otherwise the context has to yield the fact of it being used as an adjective.
Like most other compounds, a बहुव्रीहि cmpd. may also be placed in the beginning, middle or end inside of another compound, although these placements are not common. E.g.,
विभक्ति-तत्पुरुष-s used as a बहुव्रीहि are usually of 6th or 7th case, and sometimes the word order is reversed (i.e., 2nd member is in case relationship to the 1st member, cf. 6.30:).
दीप्तानलार्कद्युतिः → दीप्तालार्कौ तयोः इव यस्य सः “whose (यस्य सः) brilliance (द्युतिः f. nom.) is (like that) of a blazing fire or the sun.”
शस्त्रपाणिः → शस्त्रं पाणौ यस्य सः “having (यस्य सः) a sword (neut. nom.) in hand (पाणौ 3.29:).”
नञ्-तत्पुरुष-s used as a बहुव्रीहि
अनन्तः → न अस्ति अन्तः यस्य सः “having no end (अन्तः).”
Some compounds by their own structure and meaning can only be बहुव्रीहि.
सयज्ञः → यज्ञेन सह यः वर्तते सः “who is (यः सः) with ritual (यज्ञेन),” i.e., “whose duty it is to do ritual.”
Peculiarities of the बहुव्रीहि.
A बहुव्रीहि adjective may come to be used as a substantive or a proper name, e.g.,
सुहृद् su-hṛd “good-hearted” becomes m. subst. “friend.”
धृतराष्ट्र dṛta-rāṣṭra “by whom the kingdom is seized” becomes the name of a person.
A बहुव्रीहि with past participle 1st member is often used like an in. pt. or a loc. absolute (7.14.1:), e.g.,
त्यक्तनगरः lit. “having the city left” can mean:
नगरं त्यक्त्वा “having left the city (the person…),” or
नगरे त्यक्ते “the city being left (thereafter…).”
A बहुव्रीहि with a कर्मधारय of nouns in comparison reverses the order of the उपमेय – उपमान (6.34:), e.g.,
कमलपात्राक्षः “whose two eyes (अक्ष-s) are (like) lotus petals (कमल-पत्र-s).” The कर्मधारय would be अक्ष-कमलपत्रौ “eyes (like) lotus petals”; the बहुव्रीहि reverses the member order “(like) having lotus petal eyes.”
At the end of a बहुव्रीहि.
The words कल्प “manner,” प्राय “chief part” mean “like”, “almost” resp., e.g.,
अमृतकल्प a. “ambrosia-like”; समाप्तप्राय a. “mostly finished.”
The words पर or परम adj. “highest” used as subst. “the chief thing” mean “engrossed in,” e.g.,
स्वर्गपर a. “engrossed in (getting into) heaven,” lit. “having heaven as the ultimate.”
The word मात्रा f. “measure” is used in the sense of “only,” e.g.,
निमित्तमात्र a. “as merely an instrument.”
The words आदि n. and प्रभृति f. “beginning” mean “and the rest” or “etcetera,” e.g.,
शब्दादयः a. pl. “(sense elements starting with) sound, etc.”; इत्यादि iti-ādi a. “…etc.”
The possessive suffixes ॰इन् and ॰(इ)क are sometimes redundantly added to the end of a बहुव्रीहि for clarity of meaning or for meter, the later suffix is added especially to unusual finals not easily taking different gender or number as an adjective, e.g.,
अतपस्क a. a-tapas-ka̍ “who has no prayerful discipline.”
Listing of two or more nouns (rarely adj. or adverbs) connected in sense by “and,” sometimes “or.”
When expressive of individuals, it takes the number of the sum of its members, du. or pl., and gender of the last member, e.g.,
सिद्ध्यसिद्धी du. → सिद्धिश्च असिद्धिश्च “success and failure,” “success or failure.”
When expressive of an aggregate of which some or all members are listed or described, it takes singular neuter, e.g.,
पुत्रपौत्रम् → पुत्राश्च पौत्राश्च “children and grandchildren,” i.e., “(all) offspring.”
Vedic द्वन्द्व-s retained in later literature may consist of names of deities where the 1st member is a frozen nom. dual and separately accented, e.g.,
द्यावापृथिव्यौ dyā̍vā-pṛthivyau̍ du. nom./voc./acc. → द्यौश्च पृथिवी च “Heaven (द्यावा Vedic du.) and Earth.”
द्यावापृथिव्योः du. gen./loc. → द्यौश्च पृथिवी च तयोः “of Heaven (usually remaining du. nom.) and Earth.”
इन्द्रावरुणौ du. nom./voc./acc. → इन्द्रश्च वरुणश्च “Lord इन्द्र (॰आ is Vedic du. nom./voc./acc. terms.) and Lord वरुण.”
मातृ “mother” and पितृ “father” as 1st member of relationship द्वन्द्व assume sg. nom. form, e.g.,
पितापुत्रौ → पिता च पुत्रश्च “father and son.”
The masc. of relation pair may be used in dual to include the female, e.g.,
पितरौ “parents,” भ्रातरौ “brother (भ्रातृ) and sister” – these forms are analyzed like द्वन्द्व-समास-s.
Listing of two or more nouns (rarely adj. or adverbs) connected in sense by “and,” sometimes “or.”
When expressive of individuals, it takes the number of the sum of its members, du. or pl., and gender of the last member, e.g.,
सिद्ध्यसिद्धी du. → सिद्धिश्च असिद्धिश्च “success and failure,” “success or failure.”
When expressive of an aggregate of which some or all members are listed or described, it takes singular neuter, e.g.,
पुत्रपौत्रम् → पुत्राश्च पौत्राश्च “children and grandchildren,” i.e., “(all) offspring.”
Vedic द्वन्द्व-s retained in later literature may consist of names of deities where the 1st member is a frozen nom. dual and separately accented, e.g.,
द्यावापृथिव्यौ dyā̍vā-pṛthivyau̍ du. nom./voc./acc. → द्यौश्च पृथिवी च “Heaven (द्यावा Vedic du.) and Earth.”
द्यावापृथिव्योः du. gen./loc. → द्यौश्च पृथिवी च तयोः “of Heaven (usually remaining du. nom.) and Earth.”
इन्द्रावरुणौ du. nom./voc./acc. → इन्द्रश्च वरुणश्च “Lord इन्द्र (॰आ is Vedic du. nom./voc./acc. terms.) and Lord वरुण.”
मातृ “mother” and पितृ “father” as 1st member of relationship द्वन्द्व assume sg. nom. form, e.g.,
पितापुत्रौ → पिता च पुत्रश्च “father and son.”
The masc. of relation pair may be used in dual to include the female, e.g.,
पितरौ “parents,” भ्रातरौ “brother (भ्रातृ) and sister” – these forms are analyzed like द्वन्द्व-समास-s.
Where the 1st member is usually an indeclinable (अव्यय), the 2nd member is a noun, and the cmpd. is in the neuter sg. nom. and treated “like an indeclinable” (अव्ययीभाव 6.14:), e.g.,
7.1:Forming words into sentences. Due in large part to the medium of oral transmission and the importance placed on memorizing texts, the संस्कृत literature is often in verse form. This brings the charm to the language, as well as the challenge to the student of the language. As much of the syntax is built into the sense of the inflections of the words themselves, a comparatively great freedom is allowed the author to arrange the order of the words to best fit the harmony of the sounds and meter of a verse. Additionally, there is a rich store of vocabulary and technical expressions—developed over thousands of years and addressed to a very savvy audience able to understand the author’s nuances and allusions. So understanding these texts requires a methodical approach, of which not just vocabulary but also syntax plays a crucial role.
To properly understand a verse, the student should reorder the words into written संस्कृत prose order, called अन्वय. The following is the typical अन्वय of a संस्कृत prose sentence.
1.Vocatives – The first vocative, or another word, heading a sentence should be accented (4.3:).
2.Relative clause – A correlative word heads the clause, which follows the same order as a main clause below.
3.Connective to previous sentence – If enclitic, it follows first non-enclitic word of the sentence or clause.
A word or phrase the author wishes to emphasize is often placed at the beginning of the sentence, or in a long sentence even at the end. The above order is only the most prevalent in occurrence. An author’s style, harmony of sounds, and word emphasis will vary this order. In giving the अन्वय of verses in the Aruna Coursebook, the above order is generally followed, unless the meaning is better brought out in a modified order.
If the subject is a pronoun it may not be employed since its indication of 1st 2nd or 3rd person and the number, is inherent and understood in the finite verb form.
The copula अस्ति “is,” unless the tense or mood has to be expressed, is generally omitted. When omitted, the predicate adjective or noun often precedes the subject, e.g., “cold [is] the night.” If what is being predicated bears any emphasis, then the verb भवति “is” is actually used, instead of an omitted अस्ति.
A common complaint from native English language students is why not directly reorder the संस्कृत words into English prose order, since that is the end result they want and the संस्कृत prose order seems too foreign to be of much help at this struggling time. The answer is—what first looks like a shortcut now, will severely stunt one’s progress from now on. Progress comes when the student can glimpse the meaning of the verse as one reads it.
Even संस्कृत verse is often close to संस्कृत prose order. Usually there is also a संस्कृत commentary available that will help tremendously. But that commentary will be in prose order, so one will have to struggle reordering each of its sentences to eventually understand the original verse.
The lesson, then, is to bear with it. संस्कृत अन्वय will pay-off in short order. It is also the order of all my lesson sentences in the Aruna Coursebook, so the student is going to get beat up with it anyway. As we work our way through those lessons, think of the master Star WarsTM character Yoda (the संस्कृत word for warrior is योध, in our case, a Sanskrit warrior) whispering, “Backwards talking I now am.”
There is no indefinite article “a” or definite article “the” in संकृत. When translating, these may be freely added to render a flow to the English sentence.
In संकृत the sense of the indefinite article “a” may be rendered by एक “one” or कश्चिद् “some one” in some contexts. Similarly a demonstrative pronoun, when used with its referent may be rendered by the definite article “the,” e.g., “the sound (सः शब्दः)”
Collective words have a plural meaning whether inflected in sg. or pl., e.g., लोकः sg. and लोकाः pl. can both mean either “the world (of people)” or “people.”
Plural is sometimes applied to a single person (or even his/her two feet) as a mark of respect, e.g., “Thus says the revered teacher Śaṃkara (इति श्रीशंकराचार्याः m. pl.).”
Plural is sometimes applied to the speaker, like the English royal “we,” e.g., “We (= I or we) do not know (न विद्मः 1st pl.) which of the two is better for us.”
The name of a country or state within India is inflected in plural, being really the name of its people. In the singular, the name of the people often denotes the king of the country.
Some nouns, or specific senses of nouns, are used only in the plural, e.g., आपः f. “water” (3.16:), वर्षाः f. “the rainy season,” दाराः m. “wife,” पितारः m. (lit. “fathers”) when it means “ancestors.”
Adjectives and pronouns take the same gender, number and case as their expressed or understood referent substantive. The rules of agreement for all declined and conjugated words in person, gender, number and case are in general the same as in English, except for the following:
When a du. or pl. verb refers to two or more different persons (1st 2nd 3rd), the 1st person verb is preferred to the 2nd or 3rd, and the 2nd person to the 3rd, e.g., “You and I go (गच्छावः 1st du.).”
When a du. or pl. adjective refers to two or more different genders, the masc. is preferred with m. and f. substantives, and neut. is preferred with n. and either m. or f. substantives (sometimes this neuter is in singular in this situation).
Occasionally an adj. or predicate takes the actual gender of the members that the adj. or predicate indicates, instead of the grammatical gender of the substantive word, e.g., “Thinking (m.) of you, the subjects (grammatically fem, but actually mostly the men) have taken to fasting.”
A participle used in place of a finite verb, which should agree with the subject, instead may take the gender of its object if in close proximity with it within the Saṃskṛta sentence, e.g., “You (m. subj.) have become (जातम् n. pt.) my friend (मित्रम् n. object)” (where जातम् agrees with मित्रम्).
A collective noun in sg. (like “people/लोकः”) takes a verb in sg. When there are multiple subjects, occasionally the verb only agrees in number (sg. or du.) with the nearest subject.
Similarly, the verb may agree by proximity to a predicate noun, instead of the subject, e.g., “These seven constituent parts (pl. subj.) are said (उच्यते sg.) to form the entire kingdom (समस्तं रायम् sg. pred. noun)” (where उच्यते follows समस्तं राज्यम्).
An adj. by construction or by meaning can and is frequently employed as a substantive – especially as neuter abstracts and collectives. Some of these words or compounds have only a substantive application, e.g., रथोत्तम “the best of chariots” (where the final member is an adj.) becomes, in this case, a masc. gender noun appropriate to the masc. gender “chariot/रथ.”
भवान् “your Honor,” the polite form of त्वम् “you,” takes the verb in 3rd person. The plural form भवन्तः (fem. भवत्यः) frequently has a singular sense (7.4.3:).
Like for personal pronouns, the demonstrative pronouns are often not employed as the subject of a sentence, unless required for clarity, emphasis, or meter.
एतद् and इदम् refer to what is near or present (= “this”) (4.4:), एतद् being more emphatic than the other. Both may be employed agreeing with a subject and a verb in 1st or 3rd sg. in the sense of “here,” e.g., “here (एषः m. nom.) a devotee stands (तिष्ठामि or तिष्ठति).”
As the correlative in a variety of case relationships to an preceding correlative, e.g., यद्…तद्… “which…, that one…,” यद्…तस्य… “which…,of that one…” These pronouns in neut. sg. nom. may also be used adverbially and as conjunctions, e.g., “Because (यद्) were it not for Me, then (तद्) there would be no moveable or immovable being.” Either of the correlatives may be assumed in the context.
तद्, along with the relative pronoun यद्, (and even nouns, adjectives and particles) when repeated refers to an indefinite variety of referents or has a distributive sense, e.g., “By various (तैः तैः) desires,” “whoever (यः यः) be the devotee,” “the objects of each of the senses (इन्द्रियस्य इन्द्रियस्य).”
These (4.15:) are not often used, since the genitive of the personal pronouns is more often employed or is understood from the context, e.g., “with [my] mind overcome by miserliness.”
In active construction, the agent of the verbal action usually is in nom.
In passive construction, the agent is commonly in inst., and the object of the action in nom., e.g.,
“The constituents of nature (गुणैः inst.) perform action (कर्म nom.)” lit. “by the constituents of nature is performed action.”
The passive is employed so frequently in संस्कृत that the translator usually must convert it to active for the translation to have the proper flow in the English of today, given its current aversion for the passive.
The nom. also denotes the predicate adjective/noun with verbs expressing equation, such as “is, becomes, seems, appears,” and with the passive of verbs of calling, considering, making, etc., e.g.,
“He is called one whose conduct is useless (मिथ्या-आचारः).”
Verbs of going may be used with an abstract substantive in acc. expressed in English by either an intransitive verbal expression or “to become” the corresponding adj., e.g.,
Transitive verbs expressing an object (usually a person) “indirectly” affected by the action of the verb, such as those expressing calling, considering, knowing, choosing, speaking, asking, instructing, winning, bringing, leading, etc., e.g.,
“Who thinks this (एनम् indirect obj.) (to be) a killer (हन्तारम् direct obj.).”
“He spoke these words (इदं वाक्यम् direct obj.) to him (तम् indirect obj.).”
“Having won the kingdom (राज्यम् direct obj.) from Nala (नलम् indirect obj. of √जि win/defeat).”
When the causative sense of a verbal form has faded, the dat. or gen. of the (primative’s) agent (the direct object) is used instead of the acc. This is generally the case with दर्शय॰ “show” (lit. “cause to see”) and श्रावय॰ “tell” (lit. “cause to hear”), and always with वेदय॰ “make known or tell” (lit. “cause to know”), e.g.,
“Please show yourself (आत्मानम् acc.) to me (मे dat./gen.).”
Denotes the agent (in passive construction – verbal and participial), the instrument or means, or the concomitant – “by” or “with” which an action is performed, e.g.,
“Like fire (अग्निः nom.) is covered by smoke (धूमेन inst.)” (i.e., “like smoke covers fire”).
“How will I fight with arrows (इषुभिः).”
“He who converses with a friend (मित्रेण).”
Way, vehicle, or part of the body by which motion is effected, e.g.,
“In what direction (कतमेन मार्गेण) have the crows disappeared?”
“You will cross over by the raft that is knowledge (ज्ञान-प्लवेन).”
“He carried the dog on his shoulder (स्कन्धेन).”
“of” or “with” with words meaning need or use – अर्थ or प्रयोजन as interragative or negative, or with pronoun किम् meaning “what is (the use of, gained by)?”, e.g.,
“What (किम्) is (the use of) wealth (धनेन).”
Similarly is the use of कृतम् “done” (= “away with”) and अलम् “enough of,” e.g.,
“Away (कृतम्) with rising (उत्थानेन)” (i.e., “please do not rise”).
Certain intransitive verbs govern the inst. with the sense of “with, at, of, by,” such as verbs of rejoicing, laughing, being pleased, satisfied, astonished, ashamed, disgusted, boasting, swearing oath, and √यज् “offer,” e.g.,
“A person is satisfied even with very little (स्वल्तेन).”
“He laughed at it (तेन).”
“I swear by Bharata (भरतेन) and myself (आत्मना).”
“They sacrifice with rituals that are in name only (नाम-यज्ञैः).”
The concomitant in inst. is often followed by the adverb सह, साकम्, सार्धम् or समम् meaning “with” (even when separation or antagonism is implied), e.g.,
“Sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra along with the host of world rulers (अवनि-पाल-सङ्घैः सह) enter into You.”
“With whom (कैः सह) I should fight.”
Some adj. and nouns in sg. inst. take adverbial sense, e.g.,
“That in brief (समासेन) listen to Me.”
7.10:Dative Case
Denotes the indirect object (generally a person) or the purpose of an action – “to” or “for.” A. The dative of the indirect object is used:
With certain transitive verbs (besides acc. 7.8.A:), w/wo a direct object, such as those verbs expressing giving, telling, promising, showing, sending, casting, etc., e.g.,
“I give to you (ते dat.) an extraordinary vision.” “I taught this to Vivasvān (विवस्वते).”
With the adverb अलम् “sufficient” it is used in the sense of “be able to cope with, be a match for,” e.g.,
“Hari is a match for the demons (दैत्येभ्यः अलम्).”
7.11:Ablative Case
Denotes the starting point (in terms of place, direction or time) or source, from which anything proceeds or is separated – “from,” e.g.,
“[The bow] slips from (my) hand (हस्तात्).”
“The mountain [is to the] east of the village (ग्रामात्).”
“Who is able to withstand the force born of [binding] desire and anger before (प्राक् 6.16:) release from the body (शरीर-विमोक्षात्).”
“From [thwarted] desire (कामात्) arises anger.”
“One is freed from bondage (बन्धात्).”
Cause, reason or motive (masc. & neut. only) rendered by the phrase “on account of, because of, through, by or from,” e.g.,
“A person does not gain actionlessness by not undertaking (अनारम्भात्) action.”
The inst. is also employed in this sense 7.9.1:, which allows the fem.
This use of the abl. with abstract neuter nouns in ॰त्व (whereas, ॰ता, being fem., takes inst.) is especially common as statement of logic – often with the possessor, agent or object that the logical statement is about in genitive (7.12:), e.g.,
“Since [it (अस्य) is] beginningless (अनादित्वात्) and since [it is] without attributes (निर्गुणत्वात्), this (अयम्) changeless, limitless I, though obtaining in the body, does not do action.”
“When the seer sees accordingly [to the teaching] that there is not a doer other than the constituents of nature (गुणेभ्यः) and knows [oneself] as beyond the constituents of nature (गुणेभ्यः), then that one attains My nature [called मोक्ष].”
7.12:Genitive Case Qualifies (like a quasi-adjective) another substantive as belonging to or connected with it, and is generally expressed by the preposition “of” or “for.” A substantive in gen. thus can indicate the possessor, the agent or even the object of another substantive, as well as indicate a partitive sense, e.g.,
“Leaders of my army (मम सैन्यस्य).”
“Those who do not follow this teaching of Mine (मे i.e., by Me).”
“By supposing (it was) she (तस्य).”
“I am the letter अ among letters of the alphabet (अक्षराणाम्).”
In the objective sense with the intransitive sense of certain verbs such as “have power over, have mercy on, remember about, have trust in, speak of,” etc., e.g.,
In the sense of “connected with” with adj. meaning “dependent on, belonging or attached to, dear to, acquainted with, like or equal to,” etc., e.g.,
“Because I am totally beloved to the one who knows [Me] (ज्ञानिनः) and that one is beloved to Me (मम).”
“What is to be known is about [enjoined] action (कर्मणः), about prohibited action (वि-कर्मणः) and about inaction (अ-कर्मणः).”
“Similar to that brilliance (तस्य भासः, gen. of भास्).”
With multiplicatives (4.27:) or other numerals similarly used, expressing how often anything is repeated within a stated period, e.g.,
“He should offer the funeral rite three times a year (त्रिर्-अब्धस्य).”
“A Brāhmaṇa should perform at least one (एकम्) severe penance a year (संवत्सरस्य).”
Two genitives may express an option or a difference between them, e.g.,
“I want to know distinctly the truth of sannyāsa and tyāga (सन्न्यासस्य त्यागस्य च).” “This is the only difference (between) the long-lived [you] and Indra (आयुष्मतः शतक्रतोश्च).”
7.13:Locative Case
Denotes the place where an action occurs, expressed by “in, at, on, among, by, with, near,” or, with verbs of motion, (similar to acc. & dat.) the place where an action is directed, expressed by “into” and “upon,” e.g.,
“How will I fight in battle (सङ्ख्ये).”
“Like a collection of gems on a thread (सूत्रे).”
“Why do You compel me into [this] gruesome action (घोरे कर्मणि).”
To express “abides by” or “complies with” when used with verbs meaning “stands” or “lives,” e.g.,
“For the one who has not [mastered] oneself, oneself alone would remain as an enemy (शत्रुत्वे वर्तेत lit. ‘would abide by the nature of an enemy’).”
“Remains firm in [one’s] vow of seeking brahman (ब्रह्म-चारि-व्रते).”
The time or circumstance an action takes place, e.g.,
“Being firm in this, even just at the moment of death (अन्त-काले), one attains liberation called brahman.”
“I appear in every yuga (cyclic age) (युगे युगे).”
“In [such] a crisis (विषमे) from where did this despair come.”
“There being clarity (प्रसादे), there comes the destruction of all one’s sorrows.”
In the last example, if the substantive in loc. were accompanied by a predicate participle in loc., it would be a locative absolute (7.14.1.a:).
In objective sense (cf. gen. 7.12.2.b:) with nouns expressing desire, devotion, regard, friendship, confidence, compassion, etc. and their opposites, e.g.,
“A commitment towards acts of worship, prayerful discipline and charity (यज्ञे तपसि दाने च).”
“Unswerving devotion in Me (मयि) through a yoga (vision of identity) in which there is no other.”
Some adj. and nouns in sg. loc. take adverbial sense, e.g.,
“They stand before (प्रमुखे) [us].”
7.14:Absolute Construction
In संस्कृत, an absolute construction is a clause syntactically independent of the main clause of a sentence, where both the subject and the predicate of the clause are put usually in loc. or sometimes in gen. case. Those participial phrases in loc. or gen. are considered absolute constructions only when they do not express a normal locative or genitive relationship with any substantive or adjective in the main clause or its verb, and the subject (in loc. or gen.) of the participial clause is different from the main clause’s subject. The predicate is normally a past or present participle, although it may be an adj. or even a predicatively used substantive.
7.14.1:Locative Absolute
The locative absolute expresses (like in 7.13.1.h:) the time or circumstance when the action of the main clause takes place, plus it may express a contextual causal, conditional or concessive sense rendered by “since, if, although, in spite of,” etc. e.g.,
“The [self] is not destroyed when the body is being destroyed (शरीरे हन्यमाने).”
“Having enjoyed that vast world [called] heaven, when [their] karma merit is spent (पुण्ये क्षीणे), they [re]enter the world of mortals.”
The pr. pt. सत् “being” is frequently omitted (i.e., is to be understood). Whether considered an absolute construction or simply falling under 7.13.1.h:, it has no effect on the meaning either way, e.g.,
“When there is clarity (प्रसादे), there comes the destruction of all one’s sorrows.”
The subject is sometimes omitted, and always omitted, when the participle is used impersonally (in ps. neut. sg.). It is also omitted when the pt. is accompanied by indeclinable words like एवम् तथा इत्थम् इति, e.g.,
“While there is seen [some part] of the sun (आदित्यस्य दृश्यमाने).”
“[This] being so (एवं इति).”
The particle एव and the ॰मात्र (at end of a cmpd. with the predicate participle) may be used after the absolute pt. to express “no sooner…than…,” “scarcely…when…,” e.g.,
“Scarcely had it dawned (प्रभातायाम् एव रजन्याम्), when…”
“No sooner had his Honor entered there (प्रतिष्टमात्रे एव तत्र भवति), than…”
7.14.2:Genitive Absolute
Genitive absolute is much less common than the loc. and is restricted to a contemporaneous action, with the subject being a person and the predicate a present pt. in form or sense rendered by “while, as,” and often in expressing an action to which the main clause is indifferent by “though or despite,” e.g.,
“Wandering about, though I was looking on (पश्यतः मे).”
“While he was speaking thus (एवं वदतः तस्य), the hunter remained concealed.”
“Though a discerning person puts forth effort (विपश्चितः पुरुषस्य यततः अपि), the powerful senses forcefully capture the mind.”
7.15:Participles are used as adjectives, as qualifiers to the main action, and as the equivalent of subordinate clauses. They may express a relative, temporal, causal, concessive or hypothetical sense. This last sense is also expressed by the future participle ॰(इ)स्यत्/॰(इ)स्यमान. In the case of the concessive, the particle अपि is usually added to bring out this meaning. E.g.,
“Like the waters that enter the ocean [that] is full (आपूर्यमाणम्) and unmoved (अचल-प्रतिष्ठम्).”
“(If) not tellin (अ-जल्पतः), (though) knowing (जानतः), your head will be shattered.”
Any adjective, including a बहुव्रीहि cmpd. (6.39:), may be employed as if it were a participle, where the pt. सत् “being” may be added, but is often, especially with the बहुव्रीहि, omitted, e.g.,
“(Being) free from the opposites (निर्-द्वन्द्वः), one is effortlessly freed from bondage.”
Additionally, each of the participles have the following peculiar usages:
7.16:Present Participles (॰अत् ॰मान ॰आन) e.g., “going,” “doing.”
The present participles, and the past participle with a present sense, are used with the finite verb forms of √अस् or √भू “be,” √आस् “sit,” √स्था “stand,” √वृत् “go on,” in the appropriate person, tense or mood to express continuous action, e.g.,
“This is the very forest in which we formerly dwelt (अभूम वसन्तः) for a long time.”
“This pot is filled (परिपूर्णः वर्तते) with porridge.”
With verbs expressing an emotion such as “to be ashamed,” “to endure” the pr. pt. may indicate the cause of the emotion, e.g.,
“Are you not ashamed [of] speaking (ब्रुवाणः) thus?”
7.17:Past Participles (॰त ॰इत, ॰(इ)तवत्, ॰वस्) e.g., “going,” “doing.”
The passive and active forms of the past participle (but rarely the past act. pt. in ॰वस्) are often used as finite verbs where they express a completed action, not necessarily in the past, e.g.,
“These bodies of the timeless, embodied one are said (उक्ताः) to be subject to death.”
“This conclusion regarding these [the unreal and real] is seen (or, is discerned) (दृष्टः) by the seers of the truth.”
7.18:Potential Passive Participles (॰(इ)तव्य ॰य ॰अनीय) e.g., “must do,” “is to be done.”
These express necessity, obligation, capability or probability. The construction is the same as with the pp., e.g.,
“I (मया) must go (गन्तव्यम्) to another country.”
“One with a mind not indifferent (अ-निर्विण्ण-चेतसा) should pursue (योक्तव्यः) that yoga with resolve.”
भवितव्यम् and भाव्यम् are used impersonally (in ps. neut. sg.) to express necessity or high probability. The predicate adj. or subst. agrees with the agent in the inst., e.g.,
“The strength (बलेन inst.) of that animal must be (भवितव्यम्) very great (सु-महता inst.).”
7.19:Indeclinable Participles (॰(इ)त्वा ॰य ॰त्य ॰अम्) e.g., “having gone.” Expresses an action completed (like a past active pt.) before another begins (rarely simultaneous). The action done is by the grammatical or the virtual subject of the main action, which usually is in the nom., or in the passive construction in the inst., but occasionally in other cases also. The in. pt. governs its object in the acc., e.g.,
“These allies of Dṛtarāṣṭra, after slaying (हत्वा) whom (यान्) we would not want to live.”
“Then he (तेन) throwing (प्रक्षिप्य) himself upon him lost his life.”
“His (तस्य) love [upon] seeing (दृष्ट्वा) the sweetly smiling maiden.”
Like inflected participles, it may express the various logical relations (7.15:) of the latter, and similarly with finite verbal forms of √आस् “sit,” √स्था “stand” or √वृत् “go on” to express continuous action (7.16:), e.g.,
“[On] getting (प्राप्य) anything pleasant or unpleasnt, he neither rejoices nor hates.”
“He is the foremost (अतीत्य वर्तते) of all the townsmen.”
The original inst. nature of the indeclinable participle is preserved in its employment with किम् or अलम् (7.9.7:), and also with accepting a general subject expressed in an impersonal passive construction, e.g.,
“What [gain accrues] (किम्) to you by concealing (गोपायित्वा)?”
“Have done (अलम्) with going (गत्वा) to the forest” (i.e., “do not go to the forest”).
“By killing (हत्वा) animals, if thus one goes (गम्यते) to heaven, how does one go to hell?”
7.20:Infinitive (॰(इ)तुम्) e.g., “to go.” Expresses the purpose or aim of an action, similar to the dative of purpose (7.10.B:). It differs from the dative or locative of an ordinary verbal noun with similar meaning (7.10.B: & .13.2.a:) only in governing its object in the acc., instead of gen., e.g.,
“He strives to conquer him (तं जेतुम्),” instead of “He strives for the conquering of him (तस्य जयाय).”
It has the character of an adverb (as per its origin as an action noun in neut. sg. acc.), rather than a noun or adjective, and thus is never used as the grammatical subject, predicate or object of a sentence.
The infinitive may be used to qualify a subst., adj. or verb, e.g.,
“This is not the time (कालः) to delay (विलम्बितुम्).”
“Who [is] able (समर्थः) to escape (प्रोज्झितुम्) from what is written on his forehead [by destiny]?”
“He is able (शक्नोति) to tell (कथयितुम्).”
युक्त “fitting,” नाय्य “suitable” and शक्य “possible,” when employed with an infinitive, may either agree with the subject or be put in the neut. sg., e.g.,
“By a devotion in which there is no other [outside of Me] am I in such a form possible (शक्यः) in truth to know (ज्ञातुम्), to see (दृष्टुम्) and to enter into (प्रवेष्टुम्).”
“She cannot (न शक्यम् neut.) be ignored (उपेक्षितुम्) when angry.”
Tenses and Moods
7.21:Present Tense
The use of this tense is much the same as in English, with the following differences:
The present is used in narrative to express the historical present, and especially to express the durative sense of an “on going” action (which the Saṃskṛta imperfect lacks), e.g.,
“If out of jest you have been (असि lit. ‘are’) slighted.”
“Hiraṇyaka, having taken [his] food, (used to) sleep (स्वपिति lit. ‘sleeps’) in [his] hole.”
पुरा “formerly” is sometimes added, and the particle स्म (which in the older language accompanied पुरा, and thus acquired the latter’s meaning when alone) is more frequently added, to this historical present usage, especially to start off a narration, e.g.,
“I formerly (used to) live (पुरा वसामि) in a certain tree.”
“In a certain place a weaver named Somilaka (used to) live (वसति स्म).”
7.22:Past Tense All three past tenses – the imperfect, perfect, and aorist, and the past participles (as well as the above historical present), are used loosely (in later literature) to express the historical or remote past (expressed by “did…or had done…”), applying equally to facts which happened only once, or were repeated or continuous. In addition:
The perfect, either simple or periphrastic, is properly restricted to the statement of facts of the remote past (i.e., not witnessed by the speaker). The 1st and 2nd sg. are therefore rare.
The aorist (and the past participles), has the special sense of action completed at the present time “have…or has done…,” e.g.,
“My desire has obtained (अभूत्) sweet fulfillment.”
“I have seen (दृष्टवान् अस्मि) him.”
“I (मया) have bestowed (अदायि 5.38.2: aorist passive) the sovereignty on you.”
With the negative particle मा (cf. 7.24.5:), the aorist normally without the augment (and rarely the impf.) is mostly used imperatively, occasionally as a pot., e.g.,
“Do not yield (मा गमः lit. “do not go”) to unmanliness.”
Since there is no pluperfect (expressing action completed prior to a stated or implied past time, such as “he had gone by the time we got there”) in Saṃskṛta, then its sense (to be inferred from the context) has to be expressed by the other past tenses or mostly by in. pt., or occasionally by a pp. with an auxiliary verb (√अस् or √भू “is”) in past tense, e.g.,
“Vimardaka indeed (already) had departed (प्रातिष्ठत impf.) that very day.”
7.23:Future Tense
The simple future (and the future participles) is a general tense, referring to any future action, as well as implicating an intention, will, promise or threat of a future action. The periphrastic future, less frequently employed, is restricted to the remote future.
It may express possibility or doubt, especially with interrogatives, e.g.,
“Whether there be (भवतु) poison or not (मा अस्तु), the swelling of a serpent’s hood is terrifying.”
“Who on earth would believe (प्रत्येतु) it?”
“What should we do (करवाम) now?”
The negative imperative is expressed with the prohibitive particle मा, instead of न, but it is somewhat rare; it is commonly expressed instead by the unaugmented aorist (7.22.4:), by the potential with न, or by अलम् “enough” and कृतम् “done with” with the inst. (7.9.7:).
7.25:Potential Mood (or Optative) Besides expressing wish or possibility, this mood also expresses the various shades of meaning appropriate to the subjunctive (i.e., contingency, doubt or supposition – not reality), which had become obsolete in later Saṃskṛta.
“Perhaps he may be awakened (बुध्येत) by the lowing of cows,”
“The arrow shot by an archer may hit (हन्यात्) an individual, or may not hit (न हन्यात्).”
In the condition (and the consequence) of hypothetical clauses, with the sense of a possible or impossible condition, e.g.,
“If I were not to perform (न कुर्याम्) action, these people would perish (उत्सीदेयुः).”
7.26:Benedictive Mood
This rare form expresses blessings, or, in the 1st person, the speaker’s wish, e.g.,
“May you (भूयाः) give birth to a warrior.” “May I become (भूयासम्) successful.”
Sometimes also used like an imperative or an ordinary potential, e.g.,
“I do not see what would remove (अपनुद्यात् 3rd sg. 5.32:) my sorrow.”
7.27:Conditional Mood
The conditional, by construction an indicative past of the future, expresses a past condition, the unreality of which is implied, employed in both condition and consequence of hypotheticals, e.g.,
“If there had been (अभविष्यत्) abundant rains, there would have been no (न अभविष्यत्) famine.”
If the condition is present, instead of past, then the potential is used in the condition clause.
7.28:Passive and Impersonal Construction
The employment of the passive has been discussed throughout the previous sections, namely 7.7:, 7.8.A.2.c:, 7.9:, 7.9.11:, 7.12.3:, 7.14.1.c:, 7.17:, 7.18:, 7.19.4:, 7.20.3: and 7.24.2:. Including the following: Intransitive verbs in passive often have an active sense. Impersonal construction (भाव-प्रयोग) is when the verb is intransitive (i.e., there is no object of the action) and in 3rd sg. passive form and the agent is in instrumental. These cannot be properly expressed in English in the passive voice. For example,
अश्वाभिः धाव्यते “The horses run” (lit. “running is done by the horses”). In active form: अश्वाः धावन्ति. मया कैः सह योद्धव्यम् “With whom I should fight” (lit. “with whom by me fighting is to be done”).
Derivatives
7.29:Causatives
Apart from the causative, derivatives are not widely used in later Saṃskṛta literature. The causative, alone among the derivatives, has retained the ability to be formed from any root.
For transitive verbs, in active construction the agent is put in acc. or inst.; in passive construction the agent is put in nom. or inst. – see 7.8.A.2.a:–.c:.
The causative regularly takes the आत्मनेपद terminations to indicate that the fruit of the action is for the subject (i.e., the nom. in active voice), e.g.,
“He gets the mat made (कारयते) (for himself).”
The परस्मैपद terms. would then be used to show that it, e.g., the mat, is meant for another.
Occasionally the causative is used without the causative meaning, e.g.,
“He lived in (आवासयामास periphrastic perf. 5.29:) the town.”
7.30:Desideratives Desiderative are an optional form that are often paraphrased in other words, and so are not frequently found in the literature. Desiderative are expressive of the “wish to do” an action. Sometimes they simply denote “about to do” an action (i.e., future), e.g.,
“The fruit is about to fall (पिपतिषति).”
7.31:Intensives (or Frequentives) Desiderative are an optional form that are often paraphrased in other words, and so are not frequently found in the literature. Desiderative are expressive of the “wish to do” an action. Sometimes they simply denote “about to do” an action (i.e., future), e.g.,
“The fruit is about to fall (पिपतिषति).”
7.32:Denominatives
The denominatives are not uncommon. Per 5.43:, they express various contextual relations to the noun so formed, e.g.,
To express that I am the one who is just now bowing (नमस्) – “I pay reverence (नमस्यामि).”
The definitions of the following phonetic and grammar terms are generally from the prospective of the English language. Hence, expressions like “a following,” etc. refer to English prose order. They define the grammatical terms used by Western grammarians to describe the attributes of language in general, and in particular English, sometimes Latin or Greek. The variation from these attributes as pertaining to the description of the Sanskrit language is to be understood instead from the preceding grammar, as there is often not a perfect fit of these terms to this language.
Ablative – A grammatical case that denotes separation, direction away from, and sometimes manner or agency.
Absolute – Designating a sentence construction that is syntactically independent of the main clause, e.g., “all things considered” in “All things considered, that’s the best idea yet”.
Abstract noun – A noun referring to anything which you cannot perceive through your five physical senses. (cf. concrete noun)
Accusative – A grammatical case that denotes the direct or indirect object, the objective complement, or the object of certain prepositions.
Active – Designating a verb form or voice that indicates the subject of the sentence is performing or causing the action of the verb. (cf. passive)
Aorist – A verb tense denoting past action without indicating its completion or continuation. (cf. imperfect, perfect)
Appositive – A construction in which one noun or noun phrase is placed after another to explain it, both having the same syntactical relation to the rest of the sentence. For example in the sentence “Sammy, the cat, sat on the mat”, here “Sammy” and “the cat” are in apposition.
Aspirate – To follow a stop consonant with an audible puff of breath before the next sound begins, e.g., the first “p” in “peep”.
Benedictive – Bestowing blessing.
Cardinal number – A number such as 7, used to indicate quantity but not order. (cf. ordinal number)
Case – A syntactical relationship of a noun, pronoun or adjective to the other words in a phrase, clause or sentence, usually indicated in inflected languages by terminations and in noninflected languages by word order or prepositions.
Comparative – Expressing the intermediate degree of comparison. (see comparison)
Comparison – A modification or inflection of an adjective or adverb to denote the positive, comparative or superlative degree, e.g., “big”, “bigger”, or “biggest”.
Complement – The word or words used after a verb to complete a predicate construction, e.g., “their president” acts as the complement in the sentence “They elected him their president”.
Concrete noun – A noun referring to anything which you can perceive through your five physical senses, as opposed to a quality or abstract idea. (cf. abstract noun)
Conjugation – The inflection of verbs to express person, number, voice, and tense or mood.
Connective – A word, e.g., a conjunction, that connects words, phrases, clauses or sentences.
Copula – A verb, such as “become”, “seem” or any form of “be”, that identifies the predicate nominative or adjective of a sentence with the subject.
Correlative – A complementary word to another word, e.g., the conjunctions “either” and “or”, or the pronouns “he” and “who” in the sentence “He who laughs, lasts”.
Dative – A grammatical case that denotes the indirect object of a verb or the object of certain verbs and prepositions.
Declension – The inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives to express case, number, and gender.
Demonstrative Pronoun – A pronoun, such as “this” or “that”, that directly points out a person or thing. (cf. interrogative, relative)
Denominative – A word, especially a verb, that is derived from a noun or adjective.
Derivative – A word derived from another usually by addition of affixes to a root, stem or a word. (cf. primitive)
Desiderative – A verb form expressing a wish to perform the action denoted by the verb.
Diminutive – Designating any of certain affixes that denote youth, smallness, contempt, and familiarity or affection, such as -“ish” in “yellowish”.
Diphthong – A speech sound beginning with one vowel sound and moving smoothly to a different vowel or semivowel sound within the same syllable, e.g., “oi” in the word “coin”.
Direct object – The word or words denoting the person or thing directly affected by the action of a transitive verb and required to complete its syntactic function. (cf. indirect object)
Distributive – Referring to each member of a set or group individually and separately rather than collectively, e.g., “every” in the sentence “Every good boy deserves a favor”.
Enclitic – Designating a word losing its independent accent in a sentence due to joining with an accented word preceding it. From the Greek enklitikos, “leaning (on the preceding word for accent).”
Final clause – An adverbial clause indicating the purpose, answering the question “what for” or “why”.
Finite – Designating a verb limited by person, number, and tense or mood.
Frequentive – Expressing repeated action.
Genitive – A grammatical case that denotes possession, partitive or source, usually expressed in English by a prepositional phrase with “of”.
Gerund – In English, a noun formed from a verb by affixing “-ing”, e.g., “creating” in the sentence “In creating, the only hard thing is to begin”.
Hiatus – The use of two consecutive vowels belonging to adjacent syllables.
Historical present – The present tense used in the narration of events in the past.
Imperfect – The verb tense that shows, usually in the past, an action or condition as on-going. (cf. perfect, aorist)
Impersonal – Designating a verb or construction used in the third person singular with an indeterminate subject, commonly, in English, with the impersonal pronoun “it” (as “rained” in “It rained”).
Indicative – A verb mood used to indicate that the denoted act or state is an objective fact. (cf. subjunctive)
Indirect object – A grammatical object designating the recipient or beneficiary of the action of the verb, e.g., “me” in “Give me an answer”. (cf. direct object)
Infinitive – A verb form that is not limited (hence “infinite”) by person, number, tense or mood, usually expressed in English with a preceding “to”, e.g., “to go” in the sentence “He needs to go”.
Inflection – The change in the form of a word, usually by affixes, to indicate a change in grammatical or syntactical relation, such as the declension of nouns or the conjugation of verbs.
Instrumental – A grammatical case in certain languages used to express means, agency or accompaniment.
Interjection – A word, phrase or other sound that expresses an emotion, e.g., “Ouch!”
Interrogative – Designating a word or construction used in asking a question.
Intransitive – Designating a verb or verb construction that does not require a direct object to complete its meaning. (cf. transitive)
Locative – A grammatical case or construction in certain languages that denotes the place or time of the action or state denoted by the verb.
Main clause – A clause, also called an independent clause, in a complex sentence that syntactically can stand alone as a compete sentence. (cf. subordinate clause)
Mute – A stop in phonetics. (see stop)
Nominal – Of or relating to a noun or to word group that functions as a noun.
Nominative – A grammatical case that denotes the subject of a finite, active verb (as “I” in “I wrote this”) and the words identified with the subject, such as “glad” in “I am glad”.
Noun – A word used to denote a person, place, thing, idea, quality or act.
Oblique – Any grammatical case except the nominative or vocative.
Onomatopoeia – The formation of a word, such as “buzz” or “thud”, that imitates the sound of what it denotes. (Onomatopoeic adj.)
Ordinal number – A number indicating position in a series or order, e.g., first or 1st. (cf. cardinal number)
Participle – A non-finite form of a verb that is used with an auxiliary verb to indicate certain tenses, e.g., “baked” in “The beans were baked”, or used independently as an adjective, e.g., “baked” in “baked beans”.
Particle – Any of a class of words, such as a preposition or conjunction, that has no inflection.
Partitive – Indicating a part of a whole.
Passive – Designating a verb voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject is the recipient or effect of the action of the verb. (cf. active)
Patronymic – A name derived by suffix or prefix from the first name of one’s father or a paternal ancestor, e.g., “Jackson” as “the descendent of Jack”, or “Macdonell” as “the descendent of Donell”. Called a metronymic if derived from the name of one’s mother or a female ancestor.
Perfect – A verb tense expressing action completed prior to a fixed point of reference in time (past, present or future). In English there are three perfect tenses: present (or simple) perfect, pluperfect (or past perfect), and future perfect. (cf. imperfect, aorist)
Periphrastic – Constructed with a roundabout expression, called a periphrasis, by using an auxiliary word rather than an inflected form, e.g., “it did ring” instead of the inflected “it rang”.
Positive – Expressing the uncompared degree of comparison of adjectives or adverbs. (see comparison)
Predicate – The part of a sentence or clause that expresses something about the subject and usually consists of a verb with or without objects, compliments or adverbial modifiers.
Predicate adjective – An adjective used in the predicate that describes the grammatical subject.
Predicate nominative – A noun or a pronoun used with a copula in a predicate that is inflected in the nominative case and is identified with the grammatical subject.
Preposition – A word in a construction that indicates the relation of its object to some other part of the sentence, e.g., “at”, “by”, “in”, “to”, “from”, “with”, and “with regard to” or “concerning”.
Primitive – A root, stem or word from which another word or inflected form is derived. (cf. derivative)
Radical – A word stem or root with no affixes.
Reflexive – (1) Designating a verb, denoting action upon the subject, having an identical subject and direct object, e.g., “saw” in the sentence “He saw himself in the mirror”. (2) Designating a personal pronoun compounded with “-self” that can be used as the direct object of a reflexive verb.
Relative pronoun – A pronoun that introduces a relative clause and agrees in number and gender with its antecedent, a usually preceding noun or a demonstrative pronoun or clause, while its grammatical case comes from its use in its own clause.
Relative clause – A dependent clause introduced by a relative pronoun, e.g., “who laughs” in the sentence “He who laughs, lasts”.
Root – A word stem or base from which other words are formed by prefixes and suffixes.
Sibilant – A consonant characterized by a hissing sound (like “s” or “sh”).
Stem – The part of an inflected word to which an affix has been added.
Stop – A consonant produced with a complete obstruction at some point and then sudden release of the passage of breath. In English, these are “p”, “b”, “t”, “d”, “k” and “g”.
Subject – A noun or noun phrase in a sentence that denotes the doer of the action or the receiver of the action in passive constructions, and usually is the topic that is described or identified.
Subjective complement – A noun, noun phrase, or adjective used in the predicate with an intransitive verb that qualifies the subject, e.g., “sick” in “He had fallen sick”.
Subjunctive – A verb mood used to express a contingent or possible action or state, as one that is not a fact but is feared, desired or doubted. (cf. indicative)
Subordinate clause – A clause, also called a dependent clause, that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence as it depends on the meaning of the main clause and that functions as a noun, adjective or adverb within the complex sentence. (cf. main clause)
Substantive – A word or group of words acting as a noun (used to denote or name a person, place, thing, quality or act).
Superlative – The extreme degree of comparison of adjectives and adverbs. (see comparison)
Transitive – Designating a verb or verb construction that carries the action from the subject to a direct object required to complete its meaning. (cf. intransitive)
Vocative – A grammatical case that denotes the person or thing being addressed.
Voice – The grammatical relation (active or passive) between the subject and the action expressed by the verb.
This bibiography is for the entire Aruna Sanskrit Language Series.
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Apte, V. S. 1973. The Student’s English-Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
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Aruna, A.K. (2012). The Aruna Sanskrit Grammar Reference. Palm Desert, CA: Upasana Yoga Press.
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Bhattacharya, T. 1967. Sabdastoma-Mahanidhi: A Sanskrit Dictionary. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office.
Danino, M. 2000. The Invasion That Never Was. Mysore: Mira Aditi.
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Lucus, G. (Director) 1977. Star Wars. United States: 20th Century Fox.
MacDonnell, A. A. 1966. A Vedic Grammar for Students. Bombay: Oxford University Press, Indian branch.
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Ramasubba Sastri, Pandit S. 1966. Kridantarupamala. Madras: The Samskrit Education Society.
Sankaracarya 1983. Srimad Bhagavad Gita Bhasya of Sri Samkaracarya: With Text in Devanagiri & English Rendering, Translated by Dr. A.G. Krishna Warrier. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math.
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Speijer, J. S. 1973. Sanskrit Syntax. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Srivatsankacharya, Sri. Pt. V. 1971. Avyaya Kosa. Madras: The Samskrit Education Society.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati 2006. Bhagavadgītā: Home Study Course. Coimbatore: Arsha Vidya Gurukulam.
Vishor, K. 1992. Gītā Prakāśa. Kalakatta: Sritrilocana Jnana-Vijnana Samstha.
Whitney, W. D. 1973. Sanskrit Grammar. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
The index first covers Sanskrit terminology. These are grammatical terminologies, as well as the vocabulary of exceptionally formed words and of commonly used indeclinables and other word lists in this book. The English terminologies cover the grammatical forms in this book. Terminologies are noted with the rule number in which they are cited.
Apposition in same case compounds, 6.30:, 6.34: Article ‘a’ and ‘the,’ 7.3: Articulation of alphabet, 1.4: Aspiration, in alphabet, 1.5:, 1.5.b:, 1.5.f:, 1.9:
common pronominal terminations, 4.4: endings retained in compound, 6.29:, 6.40: normal case terminations, 3.2: strong, middle and weak, 3.7:, 3.10:, 3.17: syntax, 7.7:–.14:
benedictive mood in sense of, 7.26: imperfect and aorist with mā in sense of, 5.5.c: present indicative with infinitive in sense of, 7.20.1: syntax, 7.23:, 7.24:
