Remarks on the Sanskrit Passive Jan Gonda

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7

REMARKS ON THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

7



ORIENTALIARHENO- TRAIECTIN A

EDIDERUNT

J . GONDA er H. W. OBBINK

VOLUMEN QUARTUM

J . GONDA


LEIDEN

E. J . BRILL

1951



. . . .

REMARKS ON

THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

BY

J. GONDA

UTRECHT

LEIDEN

E. J. BRILL

1951

. . . .



Copyright 1951 by E. 1. Brill , Leiden, Holland

All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce

this book or parts thereof in any form

PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS



CONTENTS

I-INTRODUCTION I

II-TEXTS 9

Satapathabrahrnalfa and other brahrnanas 9

I-The verbal adjectives . 9II-The gerundives . 2I

III-The present-system, formed with -J:a- 22

IV-Other forms and Jaiminiyabrahmana . 27

Aitareya-Aranyaka . 29

Brhadaranyakopanisad 3I

The story of Pa.usya (Mbh. I, 3), the stanzas excepted. 34

Sakuntala by Kalidasa, acts I and VI, prose 37

Dasakumaracarita by Dandin, ch. 8 . 39

Paficatantr a, Hi topadesa, prose Vetala-tales, etc. 41

Vetalapaficavimsatika by Sivadasa 46

Rgveda 47Atharvaveda . 53

Kathopanisad 54

Mahabharata . 55

The story of Nala I-19 (=Mbh. 3, a. 52-70) 56

Rarnayana : the texts in Boehtlingk, Chr.3 and 3, II-IS. 60

Saundarananda of Asvaghosa, c. 1-6, 10, (14, IS) 62

Meghaduta of Kalidasa . 65

Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa, c. 1,3,5, 15, I6, 19 . 66

Krratar-junjya of Bharavi, c. 7-9 68

Kathasaritsagara 75, 21 sqq.; 76; 77; 83; 87; 88; 98; 9, I-4I

(=Vefalapaficavirnsatika, Tntrod., rsr, 2d, 3d, 9th, 12th,

13th, 14th, 24th, 25th story) . 70

III-CONCLUSIONS AND ADDITIONAL REMARKS. 73

7





I-INTRODGCTION

Although the use of the passive voice in Sanskrit is, in the main,

known to the students of this language, it would not appear superfluous

to examine the history and development of this verbal category and to

make research into some questions connected with it. To begin with,

two important questions arise: what is the function of the so-called

Sanskrit passive, and how often is it found?

After Whitney in his Sanskrit Grammar1

had formulated the rulethat the forms of the present-stem, 'which is characterized by an

accented - y a - added to the root, are used "only in a passive sense",

various scholars have repeated this statement in a less absolute and

apodictic manner. The sense of the Vedic -yd-forms is, according to

Delbriick 2, "iiberwiegend passivisch ": ":\ eutral oder medial sind

dhar- und mar-, und etwa noch dars- dhu- pare- lup- uac- uaiic-, Zwei-

felhaft bleiben tuj- und pan-no Speyer 3, who was guarded in his state-

ments, taught with good reason that the passive voice, which is much

used in Sanskrit both personally and impersonally, serves also to l !"!-

dicate such intransitive actions as the rice boils, the wood splits; "it is,

however, not allowed to use that 'intransitive passive' of all verbs".

In another paragraph 4 the same scholar remarked that Sanskrit has

a decided predilection for the passive voice; he added 5 that the use

of impersonal passives is highly common. In his later book 6 he goes

into some particulars: "Tm Vedischen herrscht der activische Ausdruck

bei weitem vor; das Skt. dagegen hat eine mit der Zeit zunehmende

Vorliebe fur das Passivum, auch von intransitiven Verben".

It would, however, appear to me that this could be expressed more

exactly. Renou 7 has already remarked: "Ie fait (viz. la faveur dont

jouit I'expression passive), en tant que generique ... va de pair avec Ie

progres du style nominal qui multiplie les adjectifs passifs en fonc-

tion de verbes". On one hand one has more systematically to distinguish

1W. D. \-"bitney, A sanskrit grammar, § 768.

2 B. Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, p. 268.

a J. S. Speyer, Sanskrit syntax, § 319.

4 Speyer, o.c., § 7.

5 Speyer, o.c., § 8.

e Speyer, Vedische und Sanskrit-Syntax, § 245.

7 L. Renou, Grammaire Sanscrite II, § 367.



2 I{DIARRS ON THE S_-\NSKRIT PASSIVE

tile various functions of the so-called passive verbal forms, on the

other hand one has to inquire into the frequency of each category. If

w e n eglect to make these distinctions it might lead to misunderstand-

ings. Reichelt 8, for instance, is not right in asserting without any

qualification that "im Indischen.,; die passivische Konstruktion die

aktivische immer rnehr verdrangt",

I need not dwell upon the misconception that a formal category, e.g.

th e Skt, -yci-cia5s m ust: of necessity han only one function. On the

contrary , plurality of function is a common occurrence; compare such

categories as the Latin verbs in -r and the French turns with se. Nor

is it necessary to dispute the erroneous conception that the so-called

passive is a 'passive' in e':ery sense that expression may have, that

the distinction between active and passive in the linguistic sense is

congruent with the distinction between phenomenal, bodily, mentalacti vity and passivity and the foolish, but almost ineradicable opinion

that any active turn may be substituted by or converted into a passive

construction 9. These mistaken opinions have now been sufficiently

discerned by other authors, so that my remarks may be confined to

these 10. In modern western languages the active turn does not only

occur in such sentences as the man kills the horse, where horse is the

'passive object', or the artist paints a portra it, where portrait is the

"resultative object', or he talks politics (,Inhaltsobjekt'), but also in Ise e

the dog. I hear the lcrh, the father loues his son) he feels the beauty

of the landscape, where the verb does not express an act resulting

from a decision of the subject and the relation between object and

subject is not the same as in the other examples 11_ The active turn may

occur without an object: it rains, the dog sleeps; the horse lies. VIe

see that events, states etc. are often expressed by other forms than

s H. Reichelt, Awestisches Elementarbuch, § 615.

9 This point has been in su ff ic ie ntly d is cu ss ed by Alice Berger, Der Ausdruck

der passivischen I de e ir n A ltfr an zo sis ch en (Berliner Beitrage zur rornanischen

Philologie - J . : I; Jens-Leipzig 193-0, p. L I- and by E. Wistrand, Dber das Passivum

(Goteborgs Kungl. Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets-Samhalles Handlingar, 6 AI;

Goteborg 194I), p. I2.

10 See e.g, H. Kallin, Etude syntactique sur l 'expression du rapport de l'agent

dans les langues rornanes (Diss, Uppsala ; Paris I923).

11 I refer to jinendrabuddhi's Nyiisa or Kasikiivivara!}apafij ika .r, 4, 49, who

distinguishes between three kinds of karman "transitive object": nirvartya "celui

quiresulte d'une transformation", ex. ka /a1 ]t ka ro t, j "faire une natte"; vikarya

"celui qui resulte d'une transformation", ex . ka~tlllini bhasmikaroti Hreduire du bois

en cendres"; prtif).·a "ce qu'on atteint (sans autre specification de I'acte)", ex.

aditya1Jt paJ)'ati "voir le scleil" (quoted from L. Renou, Terminologie grarnma-

ticale du Sanskrit I (1942), p, 123).



IXTRODUCTION 3

the so-called actin categories. By the side of it rains, Lat. pluit, which

expresses an event, we find Lat. itur -+ - "going' happens", diniicatur

"the (a) battle takes places", datu}' "there is an act of giving". By the

side of the Dutch hij zit, Germ. er sitst, we find in Frenchi/ est assis.The case may present itself that an eyent affects an object, that in

consequence of the occurrence of the event an object undergoes a

transformation: Dutch de man taordt boos, de lucht zuordt blauui,

Fr. if se [dche ; this idea and the state which corresponds to such an

event or accident, viz. the transformation brought about or resulting

from the event (Dutch de man is boos, Eng. the man is angry) are

often denoted by the same forms as are used to express the so-called

passive. To understand a passive category in other Indo-European

languages, it will be useful to remember these facts.

When a language possesses two or three verbal voices, as a rule oneof them is more frequent than the other. In English and other modern

Indo-European languages the so-called passive is only found in a

minority of cases 12. The choice of this voice is mainly due to one of

the following reasons: IO it is not possible or not easy to state the

active subj eet : now and then the agens is too indefinite to be expressly

stated (Fr. on, Dutch men, which may mean "people in general") ; then

again it is indifferent; at times the subject is known to everyone,

then again it is veiled by a mysterious haze or it remains in the back-

ground; sometimes, however, the subject is not known ("das passivum

tritt dann ein, wenn der urheber der tatigkeit nicht bekannt oder so

nebensachlich ist, dass er nicht genannt wird, vielleicht gar nicht zum

bewusstsein kommt" 13); 2° the active subject is self-evident from

the context; 3° there may be a special reason to make a person or a

thing that is the centre of the interest the subject of a passive sentence;

thus. the passive turn may be preferred, if the person speaking takes

a great interest in the patiens ; 4° the passive may be used when there

are special reasons (tact, sentiment etc.) to avoid the active subject 14;

12 As to Slavic. languages I refer to Fr. Miklosich, Vergleichende Gramrnatik

der slavischen Sprachen, IV (1868-1874), p. 26+.

13 ' v V . Meyer-Liibke, Vorn Passivum (Die neueren Sprachen, 6. Beiheft, 1925),

p. 169.

14 A good instance is the Swedish use of the passive instead of the pronoun Ni :,,1m Schwedischen, wo im allgemeinen der Hohergestellte nicht hoflicherweise

mit dem Pronomen Ni (2. Pers, Plur.) angeredet werden kann, sondern sein

Titel gebraucht werden muss, hat man oft Gelegenheit zu beobachten, wie der

schlichte Mann, falls er den Titel nicht kennt, oder dieser unbequem ist, seine

Zuflucht zu passivischen Wendungen nimmt, die hochst sonderbar ausfallen

konnen" (E. Wistrand, tiber das Passivum, p. 10).



4 RE:\B.RE:S ON THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

S C sometimes the passive turn facilitates the connection of the senten-

ces 15; 6° the pass. constr. may be used in order to produce a certain

tension, e.g. when the person speaking wishes to suggest the un-

expressed agens to his auditor 16; 7° at times it may, in certainlanguages, serve as a means to intensify the idea expressed by the

verb 17, to accentuate the verbal form; go it may be used to avoid

misunderstandings. - Yet, English has, like 'journalistic' German and

Scandinavian, a predilection for the passive turn 18,

It has more than once been pointed out 19 that it is the general rule

with the 'passive turn' in many languages that the agens is not

mentioned. The 'complete' construction Lat. Petrus amatur ab Anna,

Dutch de boom wordt door dien ouden man gepoot, is, comparatively

speaking, uncommon. According to \V. Nausester 20 the complete

passive turn is not found in German proverbs: "Jeden falls fand ich inSimrocks 13 Tausend Nurnrnern enthaltender Sammlung kein einziges

Beispiel". In many languages it is very rare: Ernout has pointed out

that in 6-7000 lines of the Roman poet Plautus there are only two

instances of the passive verb + a( b) + agens 21. As a result of

statistical investigations made by some pupils of Jespersen's we now

know that 70-94 % of the passive sentences in various English texts

contained no agens. Yet, English has it comparatively often. According

1;) See also O. Jespersen, The philosophy of language, p. 167 sqq.; J. Wacker-

nagel, Vorlesungen iiber Syntax 12

, p. 143 (with references); G. Overdiep,Stylistische grarnrnatica van het moderne Nederlandsch (19307), § 280.

16 E. g. Anc. Fr. Thomas, Tristan v. 208I f. Tristan i ztd reconeus, d'un suna mi a pe rc e1 lz. "Derjenige, der ihn wiedererkennt, wird zwar genannt, aber zur

Hebung der Spannung wird zunachst nur die erschiitternde Tatsache mitgeteilt :

"Tristan wurde erkannt"; dann erst kommen die Details" (Alice Berger, Der

Ausdruck der passivischen Idee im Altfranzosischen, Diss. Berlin I934, p. I2).

i7A. Berger, o.c., p. IS: "Es 1St durchaus moglich, dass etwas aktivisch

Gedachtes nur um der Betonung der Verb form willen passivisch ausgedriickt

wird", E. Gamillscheg (Historische franzosische Syntax) has emphasized this

point.

us See, e.g., M. Deutschbein, Grammatik der englisehen Sprache fiir hohere

Schuleni6 (I930), p. I37; E. Einenkel, Geschichte der engIischen Sprache II,

Hist. Syntax, 3. Aufl, (r916) p. 136 f.; d Wustmann, Allerhand Sprachdurnm-

heiten (Leipzig l892).19 See e.g, Jacob Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik IV, II; Th. Gartner, Ratoro-

manische Grammatik, § 131 and other authorities quoted by W. Meyer-Lubke,Vom Passivum, p. 170.

:20 W. N ausester, Das Kind und die Form der Sprache, Abh. aus dem Gebiete

der padagogischen Psyehologie und Physiologie, VII, 7 (1904), p, 30 ff.

~1 A. Emout, Memoires de la Societe de Linguistique, IS, p. 329 sqq.; see also

E. Wistrand, tJber das Passivum, GOteborgs kungl. Vetenskaps- oeh Vitterhets-

samh, Handl., sjatte Foljden, A, I, I, p. 8 (1941).



INTRODUCTION 5

to Ed. Schwyzer 22 there are only 5 cases of a personal agens in the

first six books of the Iliad (+5000 lines). "II n'y a que trois exemples

siirs dans la Chanson de Roland qui compte 4000 vers, et sur les

30 000 vers et plus dont se composent les cinq poernes de Chretiende Troyes que j'ai depouilles je n'en rel e v e qu'une trentaine" 23. In-

vestigations made by my assistant, Miss de Zwart, have brought to

light that in a part of a modern Dutch novel 24 there are found 339

active verbs, 23 reflexive constructions, IOI instances of the copula

sijn, I8 passive verbs without an agens and 3 passive sentences with

an agens; in another nove125 (50 pages) these figures are: 435, 24,

83, 27 and 8; in another part of the same work (So pages) : 476, 21,

I04, 20 and 3; in a part of a third Dutch novel 26 : 407, 2, 66, 3 and 0;

in another part of this 'work: 545, I4, 104, I and I, in a third part:

384, IO, 64, 4 and 0; in some ancient Dutch farces 27: 420, 2, 80, 7

and 3, and 226, 4, 65, I4 and 1. In two parts of a modern Frenchnovel 28 the figures are: 448, 48, 58, 8 and 3 and 473, 55, 75, 6 and 1.

In a German scientific book 29: 330, 49. 28, 77 and 9. "Es verhalt

sich namlich durchgchend so, dass besonders yon dem voll entwickelten

Passivum ausser in der artifiziellen Schriftsprache sehr wenig Ge-

branch gemacht wird" -, in this manner Wistrand 30 already tormu-

lated his view. According to Nausester 31 the turn der Schiiler 'loird

uom Lehrer gelobt is only "ganz vereinzelt" to be found in the works

of Schiller, Kleist, Hebbel (e.g. Agnes Bernauer I, 18: D ey H erzog

ist VOlL den Biirqern. so wa.nn empfohle« worden). "Wenn ich aber ...

die Aktenschreiber befrage, wenn ich die Bucher der Gelehrten und

Verkehrten aufsehlage, cia kann ich eine reiche Fiille von solchen

22 Ed. Schwyzer, Zum personlichen Agens beim Passiv, besonders im Griechi-

schen, Abh. d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., ph.-h. Kl., 1942, 10, p. 52.23 H. KalIin, quoted by Meyer-Liibke, ,D.C., p. 170.

24 M. ter Braak, Afscheid van domineesland,

25 Vestdiik, St. Sebastiaan.

26 Den Doolaard, De druivenplukkers.

27 Taken from P. H. van Moerkerken, Ret Nederlandsch Kluchtspel in de

17e eeuw I (r:800).

28 A. Malraux, La condition humaine.

29 Th. Stcherbatsky, Erkermtnistheorie und Logik nach der Lehre der spateren

Buddhisten, iibers, von O. Strauss, 1924.

30 Wistrand, D.C., p. 6. It would appear to me that "die Kraft, die machtig

genug ist, eine gam; neue grammatische Kategorie (viz. the passive) ins Leben

zu rufen ... " does not disappear in a mysterious way, as is Wistrand's view

("scheint auf eine hochst rnerkwiirdige Weise zu verschwinden, sobald ein passi-

ves Ausdrucksmittel da ist") , but only realizes itself to a certain extent.

31 N ausester, o.e., p. 33 ff.



6 RE1IARKS ON THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

Ausdriicken zusammentragen" 32. As has been explained by Ernout 33,

the complete passive turn, which in ancient Latin was highly infre-

quent, has in that language developed itself but slowly.

From these investigations we may conclude that in many languagesan agentless turn is more needed than a 'complete passive' construc-

tion 3 - : 1 . This fact agrees with the phenomenon to be found in some

languages (Mandingo, Yoruba etc. 35), viz. the so-called 'Man-Passiv'

by the side of the active voice. In those languages there only exists a

passive when the agens is not expressed or when it remains undeter-

mined. \Ve may also refer to the Old Irish passive, which occurs only

in the third person: bcrir bretb foir "judgment is passed upon him";

to express the other persons the third person singular is used with an

objective pronoun of the so-called logical subject, e.g., no-m-berar

"one carries me" = "I am carried" 36. Old Irish berair means "thereis a carrying", just like such Umbrian and Oscan forms as U. [erar,

O. sakrajir mean "let there be a carrying" and "let one consecrate, let

there be a consecration". \Vhen the evidence concerning these z-forrns

is taken as a whole, it would appear originally to have been an imper-

sonal of the third person. In this treatise we will reserve the term

passive sentence (without quotation-marks) only for those passive

turns that contain an agens. In other cases the \vord 'passive' win be

put between I•••',

Another point to be considered is the origin of the 'passive' forms

in various languages. Confining our remarks to Indo-European langu-

ages we can say first, that in original Indo-European there was, ap-

parently, no form especially appropriated to the expression of the

passive voice. No passive category met with in the historical period was

originally passive. As in Greek 37, Indo-Iranian, and Gothic the middle

32 I refer also to E. Lofstedt, Syntactics II, 367: "Der vollstandige passivi-

sche Ausdruckstypus laudor ab aliquo ist im grossen und ganzen sowohl der ein-

fachen, unbefangenen Umgangs- und Volkssprache als auch der dichterischen

Sprache fremd ... (Dieser) Typus hat in der Tat etwas Formelles, etwas Prosai-sches und Papiernes ... "; cf. also I, p. 71; J. Svennung, Untersuchungen zu Palla-

dins und zur lateinischen Fach- und Volkssprache (Uppsala, 1936), p, 460.:33 Ernout, o.c .

. 3 - 1 Cf, also Rita Schlaepfer, Die Ausdrucksformen fUr "man" im Italienischen,Diss., Bern 1933.

:35 See H. C. vo n der Gabe1entz, Uber das Passivum (Abh. sachs. Ges. d. Wiss.,

Phil.-Hist, KI. 1867), p. 467 .

.36 See also H. Pedersen, Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen,

II(19I3), § 624.

37 See also Ed. Schwyzer, ZU111 personliehen Agens beim Passiv ... , Abh,Preuss. Akad. 1942 , 10, p. 74.



INTRODUCTION 7

VOIcewas used also as a passive, we may conclude that already m

Indo-European times the middle forms, at least in the perfect tense,

were used for this purpose. Other languages, however, have chosen

reflexive forms to express the passive idea: the Balta-slavic familyof languages, Swedish and Danish and also Gothic. As regards Sanskrit,

everybody knovv.s the intimate connection between the - : y a - class and the

4th present-class, a very considerable part of which signifies a con-

dition of mind or body or a state of feeling. It is not even possible

precisely to define the limits of the two classes; in the older language

there are a number of cases in which the accent wavers and changes. As

this 'passive' in - y a - is found only in Indo-Iranian languages, it must

be relatively young. Mcreover, many a text has been interpreted and

translated as if the verb were a real passive, whereas it might have

been more reasonable to take it as an intransitive. But most 'passive'

sentences in Sanskrit literature are formed by means of a verbal

adjective in - t a - (or - tu i- ) . This category is not a young one. In original

Indo-European it must have been in frequent use as verbal and other

(especially possessive, relational and characterizing) adjectives. In

Greek the verbal adjectives in -1 '6- sene to denote a condition attained

to: "Die Adjektiva sind iiberwiegend aus dem allgemeinen Verbalstamm

gebildete Verbaladjektive aktiver und passiver Geltung zur Bezeichnung

eines erreichten Zustandes (wie die Partizipia des Perfekts), aber auch

der Fahigkeit, Moglichkeit (besonders negiert: t X v ( X 1 ' ) ' t " O t ; invictus ),

aber auch der passiven Notwendigkeit ... ; sie sind in altertiimlicher

Weise nicht ins Verbalparadigma einbezogen, wie z.B, lat. amatus

est.... In der altesten Zeit und noch spater herrscht das komponierte

Verbaladjektiv vor (kennzeichnend Q : x L 'l J 1 ') 't 'C G x C G l X S : X L V " IJ !L t VC G • •• Plat.

Soph. 249d). Doch sind auch manche Simplizia alt (bes. adjektivische

und substantivierte), wenn auch vielleicht erst zu den Komposita hin-

gebildet ( & c po c 't 'o ( 't 'e c p o c 't 'o £ 'tS, Pl'l1'o( 't" & P P " IJ 't 'O L 't " t Hes. E . 3f.) ... SoIche

Verbaladjektiva werden zu den meisten Verba nur gelegentHch, von

sehr vie1en iiberhaupt nicht gebildet" 38. In Latin and other languages

of this family the same category has become a part. perf. pass. By the

side of this the suffix -t6- is also a means of forming adjectives

signifying the idea of being provided with, being supplied with, beingfitted with: "Ie meme suffix donne des derives de noms, indiquant

la possession de telle au telle chose" 39: lat. barbaiws "(bearded)" " ;

as Ed. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik I (1939), p, 501 sq.

39 A. Meillet, Introduction a l'etude comparative des langues indo-europeennes,p. 268 sq.



8 RE:\IARKS 0);' THE SAXSKRIT PASSI\-E

d. also honesius "honoured" (honDs) ; and such adjectives of partici-

pial origin, but not felt as part of the verbal system as qratns "pleasing",

certus "sure" icerno) , But the direct relation of the so-called passive

participles (latus, lecius, potus etc.) to the verbal system developed

only in the course of time. These adjectives in -t6- represent a cate-

gory "which is also found in other families of languages 40.

Xow, the authors of Sanskrit grammars have neglected to make a

dear distinction between the 'passive construction' with a verbal ad-

jective and the 'passive construction' with a personal verbal form. In

bo.h cases the question whether the agens is expressed is of greater

moment than their works would have us believe. The construction with

the verbal adjective has to be studied in connection with the con-

struction of nominal sentences in general. Like their counterparts in

the sister languages the Indian verbal adjectives might be connectedwith personal forms (as- ezc.) and the use and development of this

personal 'participial' construction is "worth studying too.

In addition to the above I should like to remark that the grammars

dealing with the Indian verbal forms only inform us of the use of the

passive in general, but do not descend to particulars as to the use made

of it by individual authors. ::\or do they give us any insight into a num-

ber of svntactical and stvlistic details which will be discussed in- .this paper. Yet, some understanding of these and other questions in

relation to the use of the passive voice in Indian literature will no

doubt help to elucidate a number of difficulties concerning the diatheseis

of the Indo-European verb in general. The more so, as the rather

numerous syntactical studies in the sister languages may give occasion

to conclusions based upon recent and detailed examination of the

German, Latin and Greek facts and, at the same time, upon incomplete

and partly antiquated inquiries into the Indian material.

The present writer here undertakes to set forth what appeared to

him the most essential facts in connection with the use of the 50-

called personal 'passive' verbal forms in Vedic and Sanskrit and to

describe their meaning or function, their syntax and the stylistic

aspects of their use, in particular with reference to the question how

far the so-called 'passive' is a real or complete passive. With that aim

he has chosen a rather large number of texts and studied them

separately In order to bring into relief as well as possible the charac-

40 See J. Gonda, Een onbevredigend behandeld punt in de Maleise grammatica,

in: Bij dragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch- Indie 97,

p. 515 sqq., and: Indonesische werkwoordsvormen, ibidem rog, p. 333 sqq,



TEXTS 9

teristic features of the literary genre or species to which each text

belongs. There was, however, no necessity to mention all particulars

every' time and to establish the same facts again and again. In addition

to this the constructions with the verbal adjective have been attentivelyexamined and, in order to throw light upon the function of the agens

and the use of the verbal adjective as a predicate, reference has been

given to the (passages where these forms are used as attributes or

appositions. The formal categories which together constitute the Sans-

krit passive (participial constructions, -yc-present, the other personal

forms and the gerundive) have been treated separately, although in

discussing them together some repetition might have been avoided.

The forms without an agens and those with the agens expressed are

consistently kept distinct. Furthermore, the author has tried to make

a comparison between the partial results obtained in the said manner,

and in doing so he has given his best attention to the relative frequency

of the 'passive' forms and constructions and to someproblems relating

to the historical development of the 'passive construction' in Vedic

and Sanskrit. Lastly, a few remarks have been added concerning the

passive turn in Indo-European languages in general. There has beenno

repetition of many useful and correct remarks to be found in the

grammars and handbooks. Readers will be aware that the quotations

from these well-known books are but few.

II-TEXTS

Satapathabrahma1Ja and other brahmanas.I have examined a comparatively large part of the Satapathabrahma-

na, viz. I, I, I-I, 3, 4; 1,8, I-I, 8, 3; 2, I, 1-2, 1,4; 2, 2, 3-2, 3, I;

2, 4, 3-2, 6, 4, being 90 pages of Weber's edition. In this text five

groups of 'passive' forms are to be distinguished: the so-calledpassive

participles (verbal adjectives) in -ta- or -na-; the so-calledgerundives;

the forms of the present-system, the stern of which is formed with

the accented -ya-; middle forms used in a 'passive' sense the special

passive 3d sg. of the aorist, ending in -i.

I-THE VERBALADJECTIVES

The verbal adjectives in -na 41 are met with in a comparativelysmall number of cases, whereas those in -ta- are very frequent. They

are used in various ways:

41 As to their origin and early development see also J. Gonda, Zur Homo-

nyrnie im Altindischen, Acta Orientalia 14 (1936), esp, p. 188 ff.

GONDA, The Sanskrit Passive 2



IOREMARKS ON THE SANSKRlT J:'A::';:'l v e,

A. 1) as pure attri~~tive and. ~escr~ptiv~ _a?~~ctives. I, 2, .4,. IS

ned anena vajre1' }a sa 'l J 't sz tena P r thZV1 1 ' f 1 ' hznasan~h lest Ishould injure

the earth with this sharp thunderbolt"; 3, 4, IO. I noted only a few

instances, but some cases which Ilisted as 'appositions' may also beconsidered as attributives.

2) Occasionally the negative element (J,- or an - which may appear

before any adjective is prefixed to a verbal adjective: I, 2, I, 22

tasmad anirukteno ')'ajtt.fG grh1}Mi "therefore he takes it with an un-

defined formula".

3) A few instances of the construction 'ante Christum natum =

before the birth of Christ' are met with: 2, 3, I, 8 ya th i i . .. tiuasathe-

nopak/ptenopasita "as ...he would honour him by trimming his house".

4) Now and then the substantive has not been expressed: I, I, 3, 5

iiariin« Sa1rLSr. f . tam iva "with the other (water) some matter has be-

come mixed up"; 9, I, 18 atiriktam "what is in excess"; 3, 3, 16

skannam (viz. butter) ; 2, 2, 3, 1 7 kr tam; in fine compositi: I, 2, 5, 5

yaj i iaSa1!~1ni tam.

B. In this case these forms are occasionally equivalent to substanti-

ves: I, 1,4, 3 pi.f!am "flour"; 2, I, 2 pi.f! i ini; 9, I, 5 ptt.f!am "wealth";

8, 2, 13 yathayathena k/ptena "in complete and proper order"; 2, 6,

1,6 dugdha-"milk"; 20 parivrte "in an enclosed place"; in a compound:

I, 8, 3, IS subhutam "well-being"; 25 va.fa!krtam; 9, I, I suktava,ka-;

2, 6, I, 48 havirucchi§.tam; 6, 3, I sukr tam, etc.; 4, 4, 5 p~trohitalJ.

C . Apart from the attributive function the verbal adjectives, likeother nouns, serve as predicates in nominal sentences.

1) The so-called verbum substantivum is very often not subjoined.

a Many of the sentences of this Brahmans are moulded in this shape.

Ihave listed the following occurrences (mostly pure adj.): I, I, I, 20

eva1 fLhi mi th~ma1 ' fl - k lp tam "for in this way a copulation is regularly

accomplished" d. 2, 5, 2, 17; I, 2, 2, 9; 3, I, 25; 3, 2, 12; 3, 3, 16;

17; 9,2,20; 2, 1,4,2; 3, I, :20parabhutii vai ta ~ (viz. prajiJlb) "they

(the creatures that are not allowed to take part in the sacrifice) are

forlorn"; 4 3, 9 s ar va tr aiv a s vi~ !a kr d a n va bh a kta f:i, "Agni S. is always

allowed a share in it ... " ; 4, 3, 14; 5, I, 5 p ra ja pa tim e va ita d a bh ya nu k-

t " thi .d" 6 6 1 .m •.. 1S1Ssal ; 5, 2, : 2 ; I I, 20; 1 2, 7; 10; resu tative : 2, 5,

I, 17; (sambhutaf: i , after sambhavanti: IS); I, 9, 3, 6 y ad v iv r< ;lh am

' (what was torn"; 2, I, I, :2; etc. b Ihave found one instance of a

verb , adj. in fine compositi ; 2, 3, I, 17 caturdhavihita' l ' f1t .hid~'Yf£ payalJ·

c Now and then the verb. adj. is followed :by the particle iva: 1, 2, 3,

. 8, s arp ta tam iva hi m41 f£smn; 3, 3J 6; 2, I, 4, 27. d Here too we meet



TEXTS II

with verb. adj. to 'which the negative particle a- has been prefixed:

I, I, I, 13a niruk to va i p ra ja po tif:i,; 2, 1,4,27; 3, 1,20; 4,3,7; see

also I, 8, 2, 2. The suffix of the superlative is added: 2, 4, 4, 19 ...

p aya sy ava k!p ta ta ma b ha va ti. e The subject of the sentence is frequent-ly left unexpressed: a In a subordinated sentence: I, 2, 2, r6 'yada

srtaf:!.; = 2, 3, 8; 9, I, 29 yadartvijye pravrtaf:!. ("he becomes non-

human) when he is chosen for the office of sacrificial priest"; 5, I,

IS; see also I, I, I yatra yatrtiqncr 'ZI}'aktam. f3 in an apodosis : I, 9, 2,

30 yad dhy f ir d h 'l ,. '01 /Z sanl,i~ta) 'aju.Jo 'tiriktam; 2, 3 , I, 15 '}'an nu euai-

ta d agne re tas tena ns : eua srtam; ibid. y The verb. adj. may even do

duty for a substantive (see above) : (r, 9, I, 20 i . J . tO J I Z ca vitta1J~ ca

"what was searched for and found "); in a subordinate sentence: I,

6, 3, II yad i ... uddrsiam "when ... (the new moon) becomes visible".

f Beside the verb. adj. a noun-predicate is found: 2, 5, 4, IO vi.§vat]l va

etat. karma krtavn. "that sacred work was made complete". g An object

depending on a verb. adj. is rarely met with: 2, 5, I, 5 ta ayat.n

va yu J; ... {j/l!i~ ta f:i, "these (the quarters) the wind entered", the pre-

ceding quotation from RV 8, !OI, qd has a uiu es a ; compare in § 4

praja Ita tis ro at) 'a}'a1n i)'ztb, (RV. 8, !OI, I4a): ta d ya~'Lpar i ibhiUas

(author of the SBr.) "this is said regarding those who passed away"

and ny anya arkasn. a bh ito viv is re C R Y . 8, !OI, I4b): ta agni'm abhito

nivi.Jtilb "they settled down around the fire". In § I and 2, however,

where the facts are mentioned for the first time, the perfect is used:

... p ra ja f:i, ... p ara babh uvuf:i, etc., in § 3, which relates the thoughts

of the creator, the present: p ? 'a ja Z~ . .. p a ra bha 'v an ti. But when it issaid that Prajapati created beings that continued to exist because they

could resort to female breasts, the conclusion is given in the shape of a

nominal phrase with predicative verb. adj.: fa im a a pa rijb hu ta ~: "they

are these (creatures) which have not passed away" =":.,which are

free from the quality of passing away": now, it is neither a (quasi-)

historical fact nor an action that is related, but a state, a condition to

this day extant. So, whilst :interpreting (§ 4 and 5) the Rgvedic verses

the author does not use a pure historical tense to express a (quasi-)

historical fact or an action, but, taking up the substances within the

range of his argument he subjoins nominal predicates to them andthereby he transposes the contents of his communications from the

historical sphere into the timeless and therefore ever-present logical

sphere. S o, ta d ya f :i , pa rabh , iUa f :i , means "this is said r-egarding those

that are qualified as 'having passed away'", and ta agn im abh ito n i-

vifttiJ;. means "they (are those that) are quali fied (and that are meant



12 REMARKS ON THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

in the Rgvedic text) as settling down around the fire". h In a limited

number of cases an instrumental expressive of instrument or con-

comitancy has been added: I, I, I, 14 = 2, I, I, 4 adbhir ua ida1J L

saruom. 6.ptmn "all this is (qualified as being) pervaded (or obtained)

by water"; 2, I, 1 6 antarik~ e~ ta him e dyaviiP rthivi vi~ !abdhe "by

means of the atmospheric region the sky and the earth are (in the

state of being) firmly kept asunder"; 8, I, 36 eta bh yiim e va ita d t:tS ir-

bh ytil!l sa ruam a ptam "through ... everything is obtained" (et. aJ . is

clearly not the agens, but the instrument) ; 2, 3, 10 pap111ananu.Jakta(!

"affected with evil". In the two texts quoted in the first place the instr.

expresses the instrument when we connect the sentence with the fol-

lowing part of the argumentation (e.g. 2, I, I, 4 adbhir eva in am etad

a ptva ) , but the statement means also: "... pervaded by water" and

then adbhi(t has to be considered as an instr. agentis. 2, I, 2, 5. Aninstr. agentis is found 2, 5, I, 4 e tad r ,y i 'I Jabhyan 'Ltk tant .As for I, 2, 5,

8and 9 see p. 19. j Under a I listed only occurrences to transitive verbs;

here Iadd the verb. adj. derived from intransitive verbs, used in the

same way: I, 2, 4, 14 asy at,n h im e sarv e lok a~ p rati~ thita .~ "for on it

all these worlds rest" (result.); the same verb. adj.: 3, 3, IO; 8, 3. IS;

9, 2, I I p atni-f2 t va i y on au, reta ~ p-m "in the wines, in the womb the

seed has (is known to have) its place, it is a property of the seed to ...

in . .. " ; 29 he bestows plants on this world ta ima a sm i' Y f' tloka o~adhaya~

p-a~ "(and so as is well-known) have a firm place in ... " ; 9, 3, 1'2; 2,

I, I, 6 in a 'logical' conclusion which elucidates a well-known fact;2, 5, I, 4 parabhuta~. and nivi-f!ti~ (see above) ; 6, I, I I at the be-

ginning of an argumentation d eva ~. '" m an u~ ya n a bh yupa vrttiiJ : "the

gods came .. , to men" (it is a 'quality' of them) ; 6, 2, 9 ytl asya praja

jtita~ U. emphasizes the 'quality' not the historical fact). The negative

a(n)- has been prefixed: 2, 3, I, 13 anupasthita-; 5, I, 4 aparabhuta-;

5, 2, 3 ajtlta-.

2) a To a verbal adjective used as a predicate, the verbs asti or

bhavati are, however, not seldom added; asi is found only in quota-

tions from Vaj. S., among the other forms of the verb as conjunctives

and optatives are, comparatively speaking, more frequent than indica-

tives: I, 9, 3, 1 9, but here the verb. adj. does duty for a subst., natra

ti roh it am iv a sti ; 2, 3, I av~ thyutti stha "you have been spat upon";

2, 5, 4, 10 s ar vmp , j it af {L d ev anam t t s 1 . : t ; I, 9, I, 24 tat tad an ta rhita m

iv a man u-fy eb ha lisa (not antardadhe) and 25 tad va · 1§ i1Jam anusru tam

a . s a , . in a sense, these two sentences do not form part of the 'story' in

which perfects are used (v id aJ J t c ak ar a, aP iy ay a) , I should rather say



TEXTS I3

that the author not only relates 'historical' facts, but also his own

opinion "with regard to a position of affairs in the past; in the same

way I, 2, 1 5 uuiica '" upadhatta testim alpakcld e 'vagnir asamciia

tisa ' a tha houaca "that fire of theirs wanted but little to be completelybuilt up, - when he said"; 2, 2, 4, 3 (condition resultant on a pre-

ceding development) 1,3, I, 20 (thinking:) sarvo me yajiia a h G ' l . r a n z y e

srto 'sat; 2, 3, I, 4 srtam asad iti; I, I, 4, 23 (he says:) supratigrhitti

ason; 2, I, I3 ;21; 2, 5, I, 18; 2, 27 (always in a formula to be thought

or said, semi-nominal sentences) ; 20 j-liatibh},o h asy ai tad a hitQ l} 1 sy tit

"that will turn out in iurious to her relatives"; I. 3, 3, I6; 46 s) '6.tii!m;

6,2, 6 SYU~1 (3 X), the verb, adj. followed by ssat etc. are, too, pract-

ically adjectives: the prefixes a(n)- and S2{- are often met with, cp.

also 2, 6, 2, 6 abhinuinuko ha rudrah . pas'iln t sy tit; I, 9, 3, 19 sant«

(words to be said). Forms of the verb bhu- are more numerous, but Ihave met with no other forms than bhaua ti, b hauon ti and (once) bha-

' ( Jata~l these turns are in general expressive of an opinion or conclusion

of the author, of quality, result, state: I, I, 2, 21 p ariv rta m iv a va

clad ana bbauat! ta d a sy a ita c cak.Ju~l p tip nw grh ita m iv a b ha va ti ("find

itself in the position of being . .. "); I, 4, 24; 2, 3, 5 tatha i~a1J~ .§r ta1JL

bhauati "thus it becomes boiled (drinkable) for them" ; 8; 3, I, I; 8, 3,

:2j samsrouo hS eua khal« pQ1'isi~!o bhavat i "the residue ... is that which

remains"; 9, 2, 14; 2, 2, 3, 21 ; 5, I, I8 (expressive of state) 5, 2, 20;

5, 4, IO; I, 8, 3, 7 saroa 'l!ai ta t ta i~ta bhauanti "all (these deities) are

now characterized as being offered to" i.e. "to all offering has now

taken place"; 8, 3, IO; 25; 9, I, IO; 9, 2, 26; 2, 5, I, 18prasva upasaf! l-

nod dh a bhavant i lit. "... are tied"; 6, I, 5 dhanii api~!ii bhavanti H•••

remains unground", relation of a (negative) fact, but also a conclusion

of the author about a state of being, the sentence ta to ; rd h ti~ p i~ n s an ti

which precedes expresses only a fact; 8; 9; 2, 5, 3, 5; bhauatoh : 2, I,

2, 3. Besides, there is an instance of the verb stha- subjoined to a verb.

adj.: 2, I, 2, 6 p ra j{ j~ ... e ka ru pa ... tasthtc.~l It•••remained", cpo my

remark ad 2, 6 , I, 5.

2) b The verb. adj. forms the last part of a compound: I, I, 2, 21

(see above). - c The verb. adj. maybe followed by iva: e.g. I, I, 2, 21

(see above), d Now and then a(n)- has been prefixed: 2,6, I, 5 (see

above). e There are also a limited number of intransitives: I, I, 4, 14

t o smi« . .. vtik pravi~!t isa "into him had entered a... voice' (Eggeling),

it is not a 'historical' event, but a state of affairs resultant on a pre-

ceding event; 3a skin of a black antelope is used "in order that nothing

of the oblation m ay get spilt": askannw,n havi 'Y asad iti... , "if any



14 REitfARKS OX THE SAXSKRIT PASSIVE

grain ... should now be spilt on it ... ": ' J 'ad eoat ra ta~uj.~dab. . . skandat

(ask. h. asat : the oblation may continue to be askanna-); I, 2, IS

apasyati .. , y a d ' j ' aim ki1!1Cid aponnasn bhauati: ap. expresses a fact,

(fp. bh . a state. f There are a comparativ-ely large number of instancesof the same turn, an instrumental being added: an instr, expressive of

means or instrument: etc.: I, I, I, 15 tad euasycitena saruam (fPta'l!!

bhavati; I, 4, 5 abhinihitam eva sauyena P ani~ la bhauati "while it is

still being held down with his left hand -", but the author adds:

atha ." nhorati (action) "then he takes ... "; the same: 6; 2, 1,7: 8; 2, I,

22 c ta t ... y aju.fa iv a grh fta 1!l bh aua ti "it is customary to take ... " (con-

cluding and elucidating remark of the author) beside, in the same § ,

tad itarena yaju~ a grh~lati "he takes ... " (fact); 2, 2, 3, 13 rtitribkir

ky evantarhitaH bhauatah, the word r. , being opposed to agnibhyiim

in the preceding sentence has been emphasized and so occupies thefirst place, it is, however, not made the subject of the sentence:

parallelism, the subject need not be expressed, and a predicate expres-

sive of state is chosen; I, 4, 29 (2 X). g The predicate is attended by

a genitive; I, 2, 3, 5 tathai.§atJ'L i : r t a ' 1 J 1 ' bhauati "thus is become boiled

(drinkable) for them"; 3, I, I; 3, 1 8. Thus far the genitives express

the person on whose behalf the process is going on, or who is interested

by it; a genitive of agens presents itself I, 8, I, 39 ' Y ' ajamti1Z0 vai

dhnt' l fO tad yajam anasya prtiSita} !z bhavati; ibid., where the under-

lying possessive character seems to be apparent: "the dh. represents the

y.: hence this is the food of the y. (i.e. is eaten by him)"; comparealso 2, 5, 2, 46 J'C ... yajarniillayo'r utisas; parihite s:yii.fam "the gar-

ments, worn by the y. and his wife ... " 2, I, 4, 29 asya ." ilptam bha-

-uati, gen. of agens < gen. of concern; compare 4; 4, 18 saruae: he

va asya p rita tfZ b ha va ti s aru an : a P t M ! , Z )Ia~ ... ; I, I, I, IS; 2, 5, 4, 10

sarval? ' t j i t a ' r p , dcz/tj.nam a s i t • . . eiasya ... s. i. bhauaii , translated by

Eggeling: "to the gods ... all was conquered '" all is conquered by

bim"!; I, 9. I, 25 ta d 7 . 1 i i r~i,!am anusrutam asa may be translated: Hit

became known to the rsis", but the rsis are, anyhow, the agents of

the action of hearing; 2, 5 , 2, 3 it reads yiiS c aiv as ya p ra ja . jaw tiSan

H••• that were born to him" (cp. 22), gen. of concern, but, of course, he

is also the begetter of the children.

3) Over and above the use of the predicate verbal adjective hitherto

mentioned it is not infrequently expressive of 'actuality', i.e. it expres-

ses such acts as are simultaneous with other acts done or effects

reali:red: But at the very moment these acts are performed and the

formulas which con ta in the verb. adj. are recited, they come to belong



TEXTS I S

to the sphere of that which has come to an end, of the complete. So

we observe the transition to its being used as a category expressive of

the <actualpast', i.e. of such past acts as are so recent as not to have lost

their actuality at the time of their being related, of such past acts asbring about effects or results that are of moment to the person

speaking and his auditors. This is, however, not precisely the use in

the texts quoted below, This use is found only in quotations from the

Vaj, Sarphita, which are to be recited by a priest and in other formu-

las. They are directed to divine and other revered powers, metra,

animals, oblations, food etc. included. a There verb. adj. is not accom-

panied by the verbum subst.: I, I, 2, 2 (Vaj, S. I, 7a) praty'U§ta~!,/'

rak~a~t p ra ty uH 6. a ra ta ya ~ "he now heats (these objects) saying

'scorched is the raksas, scorched are the enemies'''; ibid. (Va]. S. I,

7b); 1,2, 15 (Vaj. S. I" ge) apahatcufLrak~a~~"repelled is the r."; I,

4,4 (Vaj. S. I, 14b) ; 21 (Vaj. S. I, I6d; e) ; 2, I, 14 (Vaj. S. I, 19);

I, 3, I, 4 (Vaj. S. I, 29); 9, 3, 10 tad u ta t Prthivya"Y f~v i§1J 'Urvya-

k ra1J t sta ga 'j 'a tr e~ l a chandasi i tato nirbhakto yo ~sm an d ve ~!i etc. "hence

(he strides thrice) with (the texts Va]. S. 2, 25 a-c) ; 'on the earth v.strode by means of the g.: excluded therefrom is he who hates us' "

(3 X); also 12 (3 X); in these cases the priest performs an act and

recites the appropriate words: by the act and the words the effect he

has in view has been realized 42; d. e.g. I, I, 4, 4 "he shakes it (the

black antelope skin) saying: 'shaken off 'is the raksas .. .', whereby

he repels from it the evil spirits, the raksas". An instructive text whichoccurs four times (1,8,3; 10;9, I, I; 2,5,2,42; 6, I, 45) i# ta d aiv ya

ho taro bhadravacy6 .ya pre~to pniimt~a~ suktavakaya "the divine hotars

are summoned for the proclamation of success, the human one is (by

these words) called upon for the song of praise": I, 8, 3, IO the

author adds "by these words he urges on the human h. to singing

praises": so, pre~itaJp means: "he is affected by the action of calling

upon (viz. 'by means of this formula) > he is called upon"; in another

formula (cp. TS 2, 6, 7, 1; 2) I, 8, I, 19 etc. upahuta-rp ,vamadevyam

etc. (3 X); 20; 21; 22; 23 (2 X); 24 (3 X) etc., cp, also 29 upahute

d y iiv a Pr th iv i ... ta d im e d. upahvayate "he thereby calls to him heaven

and earth". - An interesting text, which presents this turn in a nar-

rative section, is 2, 4, 4, 6 teno ha ta ta ije dak~ a~ ... im e 'py etarhi

dak.§aya' IJ i i ra jyam iv aiv a p ra ptii rajyam ih a va i prapnoti yalp... "D.

42 . As is well known the word of man has a magical and creative power; it isable to have the same effect as a rite; See, e.g, J. Gonda, Remarks on similesin S < U l $ k r i t literature (1939), § 4 2 .



1 6 RE}IARKS ox THE SAXSKRIT PASSIVE

performed that same sacrifice; and tYCl1 to this day these descendants

of his are possessed of the royal dignity; r.d. he, therefore, here ob-

tains, who ... " I am inclined to list this occurrence under C I (see

above), but some notion of the actual past may be present too: "thedescendants have obtained the r.d, and so they do in these days";

prapnoti, however, is expressive of the 'timeless present'. - An in-

stance of this use of the verb. adj. accompanied by a personal form is

found I, I, 3, 10 (Vaj. S. I, 13d) prokfitii stheti ... atha havib prok~ati .

A pronoun expressive of agens attends on the verb. adj. in the words

to be spoken by the ksatriya : I, 3, 2, IS z'aiiya 11La ) ' i ya t te pure n ih i-

ta n: ta d a ha ra " ... bring to me what you han stored away!"

4) The verbal adjective may be the predicate of an absolute locative

denoting the circumstances under which the main action comes to pass.

As is well known, this locative is closely connected with the locativesof time and circumstance: I, 8, 1,4; 5; 39 n ed a sa msth ite ' .yajfie

prasminit i ; 2, 5, 2, 30 Sa1!lm!~te 'tmai«; 5, 3, I7 etc. Not infrequently

only the predicative locative has been expressed: r , I, r , 3 samsthite

"after the completion of the sacrifice"; 6; 2, 5, 2, 31; 37 va~a.tkrte

,juh2da~l "on the 'va~a!, being uttered ... "; 3, 1 7 a th a p ra ta r h ute v ah u.,te

'uti "then, in the morning, either after or before the performance of the

agnihotra"; 3, I, 9 asiam ite. The loco abs. is, however, not often to be

met with.

5) Now and then the accusative of a verbal adjective is employed as

a predicate (r X p., 8 X th.): I, 2, 5, 16 j u~ t {im eoai na sn etad d eue-

bh) 'a~z karoti <lin this way he makes it pleasing to the gods" ; 2, I, 4, 4

ta t s7thital 'Jl kar tauai brf iydt; 3, 1, 9 u ic hl ns uin i a qn ih otram man)'t i -

mahe ; 13 (intrans.); the suffix of the comparative is added to the

verb. adj.: I, 3, 2, I2 e t ti irasn. euaitat p ar im ita ta ram ... karoti; the sub-

stantive has been left unexpressed: 2, 2, 14 irtm!! vedtini "I will ascer-

tain whether (it) has been baked" (= 2, 3, I, 16); 8, 2, 9 suhita· fJz

kuruta ; 2, 5, 26.

6) Occasionally impersonal forms are met with; I, 2, 5, 18 etasmin

devayajana i~ ! a 1! zbbcua ti " the sacrifice takes place, is performed" ;

19; 2, 4, 4, 17 te e ua ita d yaja ti ." asya dasapur ' t }amt is t i .bhyam

i~ !a 'r t b ha :v a ti ya euam etod veda "it is to these (two gods), that he

offers ... , and ... to the new and full moon offering takes place by the

influence of him who ... "; the same thought is first expressed by an

active sentence, then by an impersonal-intransitive turn of a comple-

mentary character which emphasizes the efficacy of the action and its

result; d. § 16 "whosoever ... prepares the s. at full moon, renders his



TEXTS 1 7

offering palatable (s 'Z~adayati ) to the gods, and his o. is p. (svadate)

to the g.".

D. As is well known the Sanskrit verbal adjectives are also used to

express attendant circumstances or other qualifications of the main

action, whether temporal or concessive, causal, conditional etc. As this

use of the mere participle (participium conjunctum) is far less known

in modern languages such as English or Dutch, various conjunctions

are to be added, when translating into a European language. In the

parts of the Sat. Br. dealt with in this survey this mode of employment

of the 'words in -ta- is often to be found.

1) A paratactically joined intransitive verbal adjective expresses

attendant circumstances or other qualifications of the main action: I,

I, 3, 2 SO 'ymfl p,uru-!e 'l1 ta~ z pravi-!ta~ l pran, ca pra ty mi ca "on entering

into man it becomes a forward and a backward one", = 8,3, 12; 2, I,I, 6; 6, 3, 6 pa}lo ha uc i praja jtita abhi sa ;!z jii,n ate " ... when they are

born"; 5, 3, 20 maruto Ita vai krit/ina vrtm 'i} 't hani~ ya ntam ind ram

a ga tam tam a bh ita l: p aric ik ri£ ju ~l; 3, I, 9 aqr uiu e va ib hy a etat pravi~te-

bh:yo jt thoti ; ibid. a pre te bh ya e va ib h'J 'a e ta j [uhot! ; 2, 4,4 ta sy a b htta sy a

su o mahimapacakrama "he (Prajapati) being terrified, his own great-

ness departed from him"; a noun-predicate is added: I, 8, 3, I4 vaya

ezainen: etad bhuiam.

2) The occurrences of transitive verbal adjectives employed in the

same ·wayare more numerous: I, I, I, 9 (quotation) sa yad evalitam

anasital'J l t a d a S 1 Z f: : > ,a d iti "let him therefore eat what, when eaten, counts

as not eaten"; 2, I, 22 ) lad va adi.fta1!L devatayai havir grhyate "now

whatever oblation, in being taken, is announced to a (particular) deity

... "; 2, 5, 19 hataJy puru.fo haio ' sva~l sete ; 3, I, 12 (thought); 8, I, 14;

8, 2, 8 (3 X); 2, 3, I, 3; 4, 3, 25; 5, 2, 20 nir2~kta'i} 't »a e na Iz k an iy o

bkaeati "when confessed the sin becomes less"; 5, 3,3 a na nn ev a p ra '1 1-a n

paridfr~la~~ HSj 'C; I, 3, 2, 6 a1nupna'i tv a ju~!a1'fL grh~Lami; I, 3, 3,I; 2; 3.

3) It is a well-known device in Sanskrit literature to begin a new

sentence with an absolutive derived from the same root as the verb

of the '.Precedingsentence and repeating in a succinct form the contents

of that sentence. By means of this anaphorical and recapitulating useof the absolutive which is only a special case of a mode of connecting

sentences often to 'be found in various languages, especially in primitive

and popular speech, the speaker or the author makes an opportunity

for himself and for his auditors or readers to pause to collect their

thoughts, to gain starting-points to which he may add a new link of his



I8 RDIARKS OX THE SAXSKRIT PASSIYE

argument. So the author of the Sat. Br. says, 2, 3, 3, 3 sa yat agni

ddhatte, ta d enam [an oy ati ; tam jG1w :y itz l{j bibharii "when he establishes

the two fires, he reproduces that (viz. Agni) ; and having reproducedhim, he maintains him". NO\v, the same device is used when the subject

of the subjoined sentence is not identical with the subject of the

preceding sentence, but with its object: then, however, it is not possible

to use the absolutive and the author has to resort to the participium

conjunctum. Thus used, the verbal adjective clearly expresses the state

of being effected by a preceding action. This use, which occurs fre-

quently, harmonizes with its character as a verb. adj. I, I, 3,5 tam indro

jag lzfma. sa hata~ 1 pl7ti(z saruata eZ !t ip o ' bh ip ra susriioa "him Indra

slew, He being slain flowed forth ... towards the water". In the same

manner, when the preceding sentence is subordinated: 2, 4, I indro ha

~1atra 'Ur tra ': yava jra1J2 prajahara, sa prahrtas caturdhabhavatJ translated

by Eggeling: "when 1. hurled the thunderbolt at V., that hurled one

became fourfold". See also I, 3, 4, 6 (2 X); 7 (2 X) ; 9, 2, 1,2,6; 3,

I, 32; 33; 5, 2, 30; 5, 3, 3; 6, I, 23· The verbal adjective used in this

way may be intransitive: 2, 4, 4, 20 ... tih1Ltihhyo 'dhijanaJ !ati; sa esa

ahutibh,} 'o j ata ~ L .. When the verbal adjective is intransitive and the

subject of the subjoined sentence is identical with the former subject

the same construction is possible: I, 4, 27 ... ta d asy{j;1?~ prati.jthaJ,Iam

pratiti.fthati; so 'Syti1Jt prati~thita adhatte ... The subject of the second

sentence is neither identical with the subject of the former sentence

nor with its object: 5,4, 7iya1!'L (p!thiv'i) haivaina1!,~ badhaya pratipra-dadav anaya haivaina1!z, pratiprat ta1JL jaghn~t~l; I, 9, 2, 26; after a

-JIll-form: 2, 4, 4, 22 retch. sicyate; tad rtavo retab siktarn ima~Lpraja(z

prajanayanti . Now and then the recapitulating verb. adj. forms part of

an absolute locative: 2, I, 2, 16 tam (a brick) abhipadyababarha;

fasyam ilbr¢hayam agnir vya'vasasi ida; 5, 2, 30. There is an example

of its being used without a substantive: I, 3, r; 3 ... nin}enekty evaina

e ton . n ir t} i kt iibh il :f p racart i1 ) it i "he in reality rinses them, thinking 'with

these that have been rinsed Iwill proceed"'. Only occasionally the

participle sent- is added to a verbal adjective: 1,8, I.17... samavadyati .

.samavattilm eva satiytt tad ent i1JL pratyak1arJ1 hotari srayati "he now

cuts off ... in the hand of the hotar. That which is cut up piece

hy piece he thus makes visibly enter the hotar"; here' the subject

remains the same and so the absolutive might have been used, but the

construction chosen lays stress on the patiens, not on the action, and

the addition of satim seems to point out that the action has taken

place and that the result is an accomplished fact. Now and then one or



TEXTS I 9

two other sentences are found between the personal form of the verb

and the verbal adjective: I, 2, 4, 7 sa:P!lsyaty euainani ... iti yad i ...

it i b ritJ ,'tlt te na s am site na natnianan: 'upasPrsati "he makes it sharp.

When he (further) says ... , let him ... say.... When it has beensharpened, he must not touch himself with it". From time to time

we meet with a verb. adj. used in this manner without a preceding

personal form of the same verb: then the meaning has to be concluded

from the context: I, I, - + , IS "'J\Ianu, we will sacrifice for thee ... with

this bull':: 'so be it'. On his (the bull's) being killed the voice went

from him": tosyalabdhasyc sii va g apacakriinui. As for the verb. adj.

being accompanied bv an oblique case, we may point out some in -

teresting cases: 2, 5, I, r sa praja asrjaia ; ttl asya praja}z sr§ta~ l

partibabhif, ' l 'U~Z. Now, Eggeling has translated this text as follows:

"he created living beings. The 1 . b. created by him passed away". But,§ 2, it reads sa dvitf,ya~ sasrjc ta asya p ara iv a babh iiv2 t~ ~ etc. and, § 3,

ana_~aJ1.atayti~rai me praja??' parabhavanti "my creatures pass away

from ",'ant of food".· In § 3 the word me may be most probably

considered as a possessive genitive, though a genitive of damage 43

would be possible too; in § 2, however, the words ta asya etc. taken as

a thing apart, Ishould like to give the ,preference to a genitive O T

damage, which would be also possible in § I.But § 3 it reads sa praja

asrjata ; ta asya pra ja [z s r§ !a~z. .. sambabhflvub, and here Eggeling's

translation seems to be correct: "the beings created by him .. , con-

tinued to exist". Soasya

in§Imay be considered too as a genitivus

agentis, but its connection with other employments of this case is

perfectly clear 44, 2, 5, 2, I only a gen. agentis is possible: prajab

sasrje ia asya praja};. suta 7)aru,J;lasya yavan jak §uh. The verb. adj.

is accompanied by an instr. of instrument: I, 2, 5, 8 (if we may take

this text as an instance of a nominativus pendens) so 'yatJL vi§1'}ur

gliina~z, chandobhir abhitaJ.~ par ig rh "ita ~ ... n apak rama1J .am { is a. Ihave

not met with an instance of an instrum. agentis, but 5, 2, 2 presents

a tatpurusa-compound of which the first member represents an in-

strum.: to, varU~20jagraha; t a varu"!-agrhitaJp paridir1Jii~ «... on being

seized by V., they became ... ". It is worth mentioning that there exists

also a nominal recapitulating construction: 2, I, 2, I6 agnir vyavasasfi-

dagnef' vyavasadam anv asura vyavasedt,~ H . . . and along with the

falling fire-altar the Asuras fell down".

43 See Speyer , Sanskrit Syntax. § 131.

44 See Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, § 106,



20 REMARKS O}I THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

4) Some of the peculiarities treated under 3 present themselves

also when the verbal adjective does not recapitulate the contents of

the preceding sentence. It is used without a substantive: I, I, I, 21

no anaP ttl~ I sadayet " ... nor should he put (the water) down beforereaching .. ."; 8, I, 16; 2, 4, 3, 9; 4, 4, 25 upah iUa upahvayasve ti ; 5,2,

29 - The verb. adj. is accompanied by an instr. of means or instrument:

2, 6, I, 6 duqdh« sakrd u.paniathiui eka,~alakaya H(being mixed) with

the milk. .. by stirring it once with a single splinter"; cpoa lso 5 , 2, 14-

karambhapatrani kurvanti yavanto grhya~ syus tiiuanii e ke na ti ri k -

ttini "... exceeded by one"; by a pure instr. agentis: I, 9, I, 2 ...yo

yajatc; etcna hy ukta rtv ijas tanuaic " ... since it is by his order that

the priests spread it".

5) The verbal adjectives used in this manner are more than once

compounded with a preceding adverbial element: thus with the negativea- or an-: I, I, I, 18; 8, 3, 24 yad v a a na di-!!a 'Y } 'b ev ata ya i h av ir g rh ya te

"when any sacrificial food is taken without being announced to anyone

deity"; 9, 2, 32; 2, I, 4, 26; 5, 3, 16; 17; I, 3, I, 6, which forms at

the same time a good instance of the employment of these adjectives as

equivalent to our adverbs: yathanuparato yajamanasya sapatnan kii-

~tuyat "that it may unceasingly destroy the enemies ... ".

6) The particle ,iva is added twice: I, 2, 2, 16 (thinking:) ned veva

ncqna iv a musita , iva sayata ' i.

Of these occurrences -;- 40 refer to a non-personal notion,s to an

animal, 6 to a god, 4 to a dragon, 6 to 'creatures' or 'beings', 13 to a

human person.

E. Rarely a verbal adjective serves as an adverb: perhaps I, 3, 3, 6

p ra k!p ta'fJ 'L h a iva sy a siri vija ya ta iti~ according to Eggeling p. means

"without a difficulty", according to Sayana, however, "a completely

formed (child)". Such cases as I, 9, 3, 3 SO /I!Ltata11L'vyavachinna1!L

ninayati are not to be considered as adverbs: cpo I, 3, 5, I3; I6 etc.

F. There are a good many instances of a verbal adjective forming

part of a compound.

1) The verb. adj. is the last member of the compound: I, I, I, I

pavitraputaJ:t; I, 2, 9 agnidagdham; 1 7 savitrprasutaJ:t; I, 3, 6; 2, 4,

4; 2, 5,4,5; 1,4, 19var~avrddham; 2, 1, 6 yaju~krtaJ:t; 2, 3, I caturdha-

vihitaJ:t; 2, 5 , 14pu,ru~asa~mita; 3, I, 24 ajyal iptabhyam; 8, I, 12 paii-

cauasta; 17 atma'J ' f lchrtaya; 9, 2, 35 sunirbhakta- (2 X); 2, 2, 4, 15

prathamadu,gdham; 3, I, 9 h't6tocchi.f!am~ 39 agnihotrocchif tam; 4,4, 5

purohita~; 5, 2, 2 varu1Jagrhf taJ:t; 47 devakrtam etc.; 6, I, 6 agni. fVat-

tebhya~; 4 8 havirucchi~!am.



TEXTS 2I

2) The verb. adj. forms the first member: I, 2, 3, 9 apalertinia»

medhti~!; 2, 5, 5 yaiiiasa1'!lmitam; 16 vimr1tantara,,!zSti; 9, 2, 12 etc.

sami1ta_\'aju~1; 2, I, 3, 4 anapahataPtipm{ina~z; 2, 3, 17 krtakarma; 3, I,

9 «ditchominam ; II hutocchistasya ; 5, 2, 48 utsannayaifia~; 6, I, 37tilzit{igili~l.

3) The verb. adj. appears in a longer compound: apart from 2, 5, 2,

42 sij,ktavtika-: 5, 3, I6 ha·virucchi1ttis{i~2. So, these compounds are,

on the whole, rather simple and not elaborated.

II-THE GERU)JDIVES

The gerundives, of which I have listed 14 cases (exclusive of the

occurrences entered under E), are used in various ways, but never as

pure attributives: A as predicates without the attendance of the ver-

bum substantivum (7 X): 2, 2, 3, 3 they said : kim, iha kartavyam

"what is to be done here?"; z, 4, 8 = 18 agnihotra'1J~hotavyam; I2

tasmsd efopaJivaniya (efti: the cow); 5, 2, 33 with an attending in-

strumental sa t k i 1 ! 1 ca vrlct i hariauyasn (instr. of accomp. circumst.) ;

with a personal subject. .. I, 9, 3, 2 prati tam osaio y a~ l p ra ty u1 YO 'ty

it tm!l srjete yo Jtisrj'j'a~z "they scorch him who vdeserves to be

scorched, and allow him to pass who deserves to pass"; also: martya-

"mortal" 2, I, 3, 9. B as predicates accompanied by the verb bhu-

(2 X): 2, 6, I, 12 harati )'ad d l u ' i r Y G I J ! L bhaucti "removes (the dust)

which has to be removed"; with a personal subject 2, 4, I2 1,tpajivaniyo

ha z, 'ai bhauati ya ... veda "he is affording a livelihood who knows ... ".The comparison of these two groups, A and B, seems to show that,

on the whole, the gerundive accompanied by bhavati emphasizes the

being in a state to be ... of a person or a thing 45, whereas the mere

gerundive in first line expresses what must happen. C the gerundive is

used as a !predicate, but the subject is not expressed: I, 2, 3, 9 tasmad

e te fi i1 f2 pa .sun ti 1! 1 ntisita'vyam "for this reason one should not eat of

these animals" (partitive genitive); the same impersonal (neutral)

construction, but with the attendance of an instrumental expressing

the agens: 9, 3, r6 (quotation from Yajfiavalkya) ta d dhy eva brtih-

1na1}enai1!avyCt1!t yad brahrnavarcasi syiid iti "for this the B. should

strive, that he be ... ". D the gerundive has been added as a predicate

to a noun or a pronoun which depends on a verb: 2, 2, 4, r6 (they

45 Compare Speyer, Sanskrit Syntax, -§ 3 Rem.: "bhrwati is the proper verb,

if there be laid some stress on the predicate, in other terms, if it be pointed out

that the subject is invested with the dignity or possesses the quality predicated

of it".




said:) sa yasmai na idm!z prathamo/j'a hotaz,'ya1!Z 'Z)ak~yati... "to

whichever of us he says it shall be offered first..."; the substantive

has not been expressed 2, 6, I, 33 (quotation from Asuri) prasita'vymJt

t",; e va v ay a' lJ ' t J1Lan:yamahai t i "but we think that some should be eaten" ;I, 2, 3, 2 the gerundive is subjoined to a genitive denoting the object

of the verb vid- "to know": iasya hoite 'pi b adh y as }' a v id ii :i ic a kr ttb

"they also knew of his going to be killed". E I the gerundive may be

used as a substantive: ha'Z}) 'am "oblation" I, I, 2, 23; adya- "which is

to be eaten, food" e.g. I, 3, 2, II (beside attar- "eater") ; 8, 2, 17; 8,

3, 6; anubandhya (viz. gau~r) term denoting a barren cow which "has

to be bound afterwards" 2, 4, 4, 14.; cp. also the term a/za'Z-ran"iya (e.g.

2, 3, I, 7) "the eastern of the three sacrificial fires" (litt. "which has

to accept the offerings"). 2 this substantive may appear as the second

(last) member of a compound: devayajya ="worship of the gods". -

So, there are 5 examples of a personal subject and one of an instru-

mentalis agentis.

III-THE PRESENT-SYSTEM, FORMED \VITH -YA-

Ihave-listed about I IO instances of personal forms of the present-

systein of this class, which belong, however, to a rather restricted num-

ber of roots, 'certain forms being used very frequently: kri 'jrate (-I - 30

times), g rh ya te , h uy ate , etc. Only a few instances are met with of

forms that are not indicatives: vyardh'jJanta, a ta py ata , a Siry ata .. dhriye-

n , n irm 2lc yeta , 1 nuc ytU ai. The forms of this present-system are hardly

;;qB. ed with a noun or a proper name expressing the agens and in

Plnol[s c:we never find a nominal case (e.g. an instrumental) deter-

- t f p . . t q vaa'ction expressed by the verb. But, although they serve to

~UISSdJdx; : )~tive actions, they are not restricted to the sphere of pure

(I~J+ndu) l'eriV,ordearness' sake the most striking modes of using

JO +'e;) lOU prll be severally treated.

P P ' l l U S 1 J l 6 '£ '~nsitives are found: I, 1,4, 22where an energetic form

s: ; :)A1"putU;)~~rb precedes esa va ida1Jt sarva'fJ'Lv·ivinakti yad idatr'

;;t.l;:)Ul dl{il SB~e <I(it is the wind) that separates everything here (on

; : ) l { + S;)Z!s-eq}dergoeseparation" ; 2, 4, I aSiryata (2X) : ta sm ac c ha ro

'f'elp. M. siryata "hence the designation arrow, because it was broken',:" ,2,2 ttt u hy etad ubhay yab sa-r p,P rc yan te , but in the same § the

rb saf!Zgacchante is used ('mingle, unite'), the samhita-text quoted

(Vaj. S. 1,21) has Prcyantam; 3,3,4 yo, prok~ar.; .yaJ; , pariSinante "the

sprinkiing~water which is left"; 9, I, 2, 18 atiricyate "it remains

(over),'; 2, It 3, I y a ev tip ury ate 'rd ha mi'isa J; . , .. y o 'p ak ~"iy ate "the



TEXTS 2 3

half-moon which increases ... that which decreases" ; 4, 4, 15; 18; I9;

I, 2, 2, 5 euani tt haisa aima y ajiia sy a sa -1 J Ld hiy ate "and thus this body

of the sacrifice forms itself into a unit". The action expressed by the

verb mav also refer to persons (gods, demons and other divine ornon-human beings of this kind included) ; the cases are the following:

2, 6 , 2, 12yo rtZrt'J, 'or n1'ltc'j}(ltai "who shall be detached (loose, severed)

from death", in the te-xt quoted from Vaj, S. (3, 60 a) in the same §

we find the middle aorist muk~iya without difference of meaning; 5,

2,25 i asnui t sa ruasnuit p ranzucyarnahe "from all that we rid ourselves";

1,2,4, IO mucyante (2 X) "escape"; 2, 3, I, 6 sa yathahis tvaco nir-

mucyeta, e'i )a~!t ratre~t ... nirmztcyate, ... saruasmiit pap1'lwno nirmu-

cyate yo ... "even as a snake frees itself from its skin, etc." (also 5,

2, 47); ibid. vi hi srjyante 'yath6rtham "they are free", The verb

dhriyate "maintains itself; turn the mind on, be determined to" is'passive' by its form, although it is not used in a 'passive' sense 2, 2, 3,

20 yadi pavamiZnaya dhri'),eran "if they determine upon (offering to)

Agni Pavamana": 23, The verb vyrdhyate may be dealt with under

this head: 3 , I, 7 ta d va asmai tad vyrdhyate "he fails in it", Of these

cases I4 refer to a non-personal 'patiens' ('subject of the passive sen-

tence') 8 ( + 2 X dhr-) to a personal 'patiens', three times the

'patiens' is an animal.

B. Facts or actions which suppose the activity of an actor or which,

at least, usually appear only resultant from the preceding activity of

an actor, may be stated in such a way that only their coming to pass,not the actors, the beings which effect the process, stands out. Whereas

the examples quoted under A are used without any reference to an

'agens', in the following cases, which are comparatively speaking nume-

rous, it is possible (perhaps Ishould rather say: it may, on occasion,

be possible) to mention the actor who has (or who had) a hand ill

the matter. Thus the form kriyate occurs very often to denote "take

place, come to pass, is brought about, is effected, is done", e.g, I, I, I,

18 "he (i.e. the Adhvaryu priest) pours out some water into the jug and

puts it down north of the Garhapatya fire. For water is female and

fire is male, and the Garhapatya is a house: hence a copulation pro-

ductive of offspring takes place thereby in this house": ta d grhe~

evai tan mi thuna1 fl - prajanana1JL k r iya te . It is not the Adhvaryu priest

who effects the copulation, but the two elements, the female water and

the male fire; the act, however, becomes only possible by the preceding

actions of the priest. Other examples are: 3, I, 1 8 the woman looks

down upon th e sacrificial butter, w hich represents seed: hence "a pro-



RE1IARKS ON THE SANSKRIT PASSIYE

ductive union is thereby brought about"; I, 2, 1, I; 2; 2, 5, IS; 9, 2,6;

etc.; 2, 2, 5 the Adhvaryu places the cake oyer the fire, the A.gn:dhra

puts the clari fied butter on: these two acts take place simultaneously:

tad va etad ubha} 'a1 ']'L saha kriyate ; 3, 3, 18 abhytidhtina:ya It}' evedhl1!;~l

kriyate "for the firewood is prepared for the purpose of being 'Put upon

the fire" (this firewood had been brought by the Agnldhra-priest,

but it 'has not been mentioned in the preceding part of the text) ; 3, I,

26 Yajfiavalkya said: ... kathaf!l s'LJa).'a'jL tuinuiihur yatra bhfi}'asj'a

iviisi~a~L k·ri:vante "and why do not they (the sacrificers) themselves

recite when far higher blessings are prayed for?" 46 ; 8, I, 36; 2, 5· 19

samqranio vai krff,ra',!i. samqriime hi krt1rar!L kriyate "the bloody one

is the battle, for in battle bloody deeds come to pass (are done)" : 9, 2,

14 prasfarasyaiva rz7,pWJl k.; 2, 4, 4, 25; I, 9, 3, - + Jad 'vai j'ajiias},a

mithya k. "where anything is done wrongly at the sacrifice"; more-

over: 2,4,4,20; 5, I, 14; 3,2,23; 6, 3,9·

There are some standing phrases: I, 2, I, 18 he (viz, the Adhvaryu)

pours the rice on the lower stone ... it}' u hi hat/ir grhyate "it is with

the intention ... that the rice-oblation is taken" (Eggeling); kg. also

22; 1, 4, 9; 8, 3, 24; 2, 4, 3, 9; t ij y6. :n i [J !!1 /: yan te I, 3, 2, 7; 16. 2, 2, 4·

6 "Prajapati was aware that it Vias his own (s '0 'a-) greatness that had

spoken (aha) to him. He offered it up with 'sl:<1httl' This is why

offerings complete themselves with S'L,tihti": sa svahetye'l.. 'aju,hot tasmad

u svtihet~ve'i.}a ht1yate; hfl}'ate 'without a subject' also 3, 1, 36; 3, I, 23

ahutir hilyate; 29. Another 'etymological figure' is 2, 5, 2, 23 asanamasyaie, I, 8, 2, 7; = 9, 2, 26 } 1[lh Jzy a e sa (=.y. d e' Z ..' atiib h} 'a ) ya ji' ia s

iayate "for whichever deities this sacrifice is performed' (Eggeling) ;

";-' 2 2 4 13 I 2 ~ ~ pasur ha 7..'ti esa alabhvate vat r-iJuroaasah- , , , " . , 'v' oJ ..... - ...

"now it is as an animal sacrifice that the sacrificial cake is an of fering"

(this cake being a substitute for the animal sacrifice); 2, 4, 4, 22

retch. sicyate "a discharge of semen takes place"; 5, 2, 46 siima giyate.

'Without a subject': 2, I, 2, 12 ya ichet pra 'me diyetc?ti "whosoever

should wish that (presents) should be offered him" (Eggeling) ... 'yad

dhasiena prad-ryate pra hacussmoi dfyate "for whatever is a present

with the hand, that indeed is a present to him"; compare such nominal

sentences as 2, 4, 4, 21 tasnuid estitra payasyti bhauati "therefore there

is an offering of curds". va~atkr·iyate: 2, 5, 2, 33; 8, 2, IS, where also

devatayai huyate. Personal 'subjects' are seldom found.

Now and then at the beginning of a certain part of the text the

~ J. Eggeling, The Satapatha-Brahmaqa translated I, p. 77 (and n. 2).



TEXTS 2 5

active verb and the noun which denotes the actor are found, but

further on the -ya-form is used and the actor remains in the back-

ground. Although the -)'a-form denotes an action effected by a person

who is known to the reader, the author does not take an interest inthis person, but intends to throw light upon the process which comes

to pass, Thus, I, I, I, 12ff., while discussing the preparation of the

offerings, the author informs us several times that the Adhvaryu

'brings forward the water': 12apaf;, pra~za}'ati; ibid.; 13; 14; r6; 17;

18; then, 20, he says: t a u ttare~ tahavan i'Ya1?z pra~layati "he then carries

it north of the A.-fire" ; in doing so, (21) the Adhvaryu is forbidden

to carry it beyond the north side of the fire, or to put it down before

reaching this side; for, if he were to put it down before gaining that

side, he would not obtain by it the fulfilment of the wish yasmai

ktima}'a pra~liyante "for which the bringing forward has taken place".

I, 8, 3, 1 ff. th e separation of the two spoons (juhii and upabhrt) is

dealt with: so , va i srucau vyuhati etc.; the reason why the priest

separates them is set forth in § 5 " ."behind the j. stands the eater . .

behind the u. the one to be eaten: thus he now brings the eater to the

east (to the front) and the one to be eaten he drives toward the west

(he drives back)"; then, § 6 , it runs: tad v a etat sa ma no , ev a k arnw I} 'I,

vytitikriyate "thus the separation comes to pass in one and the same

act", here stress is laid on the words sa ma na ev a k arm an which supply

the starting-point for the next link of the argument: "hence from

one and the same man spring both the 'eater' (enjoyer, husband),

and the one to be enjoyed (the wife)", and it is only the separationwhich has come to pass in one and the same act in which the author

feels interested, in § 6 the person who has brought it about is quite

immaterial. Cp. also I, 1,2,18-19 havir g ra hin an tam: g rh ya nte ; 8, II

38-39 n agn au juh va t'i: p ra 1J e;v ev a h uy ate ; 8, 2, 10. The 'subjects'

are non-personal.

C . In a restricted number of cases an instrumental attends a

-jd-form to denote the accompanying circumstances or the cause by

which the action happens to be. After having taught (2, I, 4, 5) that

three sticks of asvattha wood have to be !put on the fire with (:::::::while

muttering) a certain set of rg-verses ( . .. r gb hir a bh y iid a dh a ti) , theauthor deals (§ 6) with the fire unto which an oblation is made with

a rg-verse etc.: y a sm in n agn ii1 Jr ca • .. a h uti1 fl-v a j uh uya t, and § 10 he

quotes a question in which the same instrumental attends on a -yd-

form: yan narca agnir iidh iya te kenad hiyate "if the fire is not set

up with a rg-verse r wherewith then is it set up" (Eggeling); in the

GONDA, The Sanskrit Passive3




answer the author construes brahnw1.1adhiyate "with the brahman it is

set up" (E.) and satyenaivadhIyate; cp, also §§ II-I3; 3, 1,30 (2 X);

5, 2, 46 . 2, 6 , I, 3 yad ic ca ivasya tr6 .tm ano 'ceranena hanyate va 1 niyate

va tad u ca iv6 .sya itena punar apyayate "and whatever perishes orbecomes lost to him (whatever injury or loss he suffers) through his

own unrighteous conduct that becomes thereby complete (uninjured

etc.) to him". It is only once that I have found an instance of an

instrumental denoting the persons who exerted influence to bring about

a certain result, and in this case it still seems more correct to use

the term instrumental of means or influencing circumstances than

instrumental of agens: I, 8, I, 34 ,],'asJ 'a hi p raja bh a·v aty eka atman[i

bhavaty a thota daiadha pra jaya havi~ kriya te tasnuit praja blutyo

hav i~kara~1ant "for who possesses offspring, - though he, of his own

self, be one only, yet that offering comes to pass (is made) tenfold byinfluence of (by) his offspring: hence offspring means more abundant

offering" 47. Moreover, I have to deal with two texts: I, 9, 2, 8 tira

iva va i mithullena carya te "secretly, doubtless, union takes place":

cp, 5, 2, 1 5 ')Iatra ha iuam r tv ij a~1 sQ1}2v idana yajfiena caranti "where the

officiating priests thus with a perfect mutual understanding deal

with the sacrifice", 9, 2, 8 the construction is impersonal. 2, I, 2, 4

fa mi ih s inena. ' uya rdhyanta "they were deprived of intercourse": instru-

mental attending on words expressive of separation and disjunction.

So, in all cases, a thing, not a living person, is 'subject' of the -ya-form.

D. The idiom tapas tap'yate (a 'passive' with etymological object 48)

is met with 2, 2, 4, I; 5, I, 1. That many a '-ya-form-sentence' can be

translated by an active phrase is, of course, of no moment, d. 2, 5, 2,

47. There are several nominal constructions admitting of a 'passive'

translation, e.g. 2,3, I, 36 n as'J 'a sa p aric ak ~{ j, "here no offence is

committed" .

I have found only two imperatives of the -.:va-form, both of which

are in a quotation: I, 2, I, 13 (Vaj. S. I, 18) tapyadhvam; 2, 2, 2

(Vaj. S. I, 21) Prcyantam.

A small number of participles of the -ya-form are met with, of

which one forms part of an absolute construction; most of them are

used as attributes or 'appositions' expressing attendant circumstances:

2, 5.2, 1'9in a formula agnaye samidhyamaniiyanubruhi "recite to the

fire that is being kindled'"; I, I,. I, 20 n e« m ith u1W 'fl1' caryamti1;lam

47 cr. Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, § 91.

4:!! S ee Speyer, Sanskrit Syntax, § 3I9; R 2.

,.



TEX7~ 27

.. ", l' hicl 1 • 1 "aniarcna samcariin itt .... tne copulation \Y len IS taking pace ; 3, 2,

r esa ,.:ai tli),amallO ) ' i i~'t1}l era tllru~as Ui"l'Lin 'i)idhz:;.'ate "in being spread

:: (the sacri ii,ce) is made of exactly the same extent as the man"; 6;

2. 2, -t . Ii we find twice hzlyamiinasj'Q "the offered (miik)" without a-ubs.antive ; I. 2. 5, 20 sa z'O upary-upars eca prOk~'ai.li~ll dhc7ryamii-

~1J.S7} atha sphyam ud ycchati "while the sprinkling-water is being held

ciosc above the wooden sword ... ". The 'SUbject' is always a thing.

n--OTHER FOR::,rsA~D JAn!IXIYABR.~H::'L-\XA

There are only a fe"\v middle forms which ought to DC'mentioned:

T. 8. I, 6 "The flood swept away all these creatures" mama

~"z;aika~! parisisi~e "::\1. alone remained" (pure intrans.) : 2, -{.,4, 20

(the moon) / ) a s c a d dadrsc "is visible" (id.) ; 5, I, 13 "if (the Maruts)

destroy these (creatures), then nothing will be left" 1l G tatal: kifJl cane

pari se k~ya te .The a -0 r is t ending in -i is rare: I, I, I! 3 in a quotation from Vaj,

s . c, 28a tan me 'riidhUi "that has succeeded for me" (intr.) and taken

over into the text: I, 4, 8 esa hi :;:ajfiall!akhale i ';-atya:~thc7d csa hi

prtistiri "the sacrifice has now obtained a firm footing ... , it has be-

come diffused" (Eggeling); prasari, however, is rather, like the in-

transitive active forms, "has begun" ("in Gang kommen" Pet. Wtb.).

In the Jairniniya-brahmana the -yd-forms are rather often found:

in Caland's Auswahl there are about ISO instances. Most of them are

without any doubt intrans., at times we may render the Sanskrit form

by a reflexive construction. Other -)Ia-forms which occur beside theactive forms derived from the same root may be considered as 'agent-

less passives' etc., but it is very difficult, nay impossible, to draw a

hard and fast line between these groups; as a rule the meaning of the

verb, which is an insufficient criterion, turns the scale. Among the

-yc-forrns there are a large number of indicatives, imperf., however,

are not rare. The following are intrans.: I749 acchidyata "brach";

127 avacchid'yante + abl. Hsieh trennen von"; 168 (p. 221, 1 . 78)

G1 .Jacchidyamahai; 200 tad vyacchidyata "dadurch trat eine Unter-

brechung ein"; 15 asr jyanta "sie machten den Start"; 17; 203 "kamen

hervor" (2 X); 207 (passim); 23 paris i~yeta "iibrig bleiben"; II6;

144 .sa'f!Zse§al;samasi§yata; 88 ati-ric-"iibrig bleiben"; I47b atiricyante

"hinausreichen, iiberschiissig sein": ibid.; 136 ( 'P. I59) hiyate "bleibt

zuriick"; ibid.: I68 m a hiyadhvam; 177; 140 nirmucyeta "sich befreit";

ibid.: 150, 5 pacyate; I80 "wurde gar"; 164 pm siryate "get torn,

4.~ =Caland, Das jaiminiya-brahmana in Auswahl (I9I9), n" l7..




burst"; I76 paryadrsyata "wurde sichtbar? : ibid.; 184 pari.Su~J.!ate

"shrinks in"; I 16 avakiryate "forsakes"; 124 k~iyate "vergehen" 50;

70 sam asmai sa kama. rdhyat.:: "das geht ihm in Erfiillung" ; 78; 177;

180; 186; 192; 208 pravliyata "er knickte zusammen"; 179 paropyate

"geht verloren"; I68 (p. 221) nfiyate "abnehmt (an Lebenskraft)";

60; 45 akhyayate "heisst"; 47; 54 etc.; 47 'vyavrhyanta ( 2 > < ) "got

torn, burst"; 212 nirabhidyata; 169 procyate; go tidriyeta 51 "heed";

139· An 'agentJess pass.', Fr. on etc.: 23 p?'adi 'yate "wird hingegeben",

"on donne"; ibid. opt.; 149; 53 sfj,yate; 59 adhigamyate (2 X) "wird

gefunden"; 102 dak~i~lti nf,yante; !O7 pratidhi.yate "man legt"; 136

amlcyate "wird iiberliefert"; 199; I47b kr·iyate "findet statt"; 165;

168; 168 (p. 220) jiyate, hiyate; 167 upadhi'j!ate; 99 avrscyate "er wird

abgetrennt"; 101 yujyate "wird verwendet"; 253 liro 'cchidyata (2 X)

"es wurde ... abgetrennt"; 129 retob sicyate ; 164; 182 asriyanta(2 X) "kamen ins Dasein", oder "wurden entlassen, wurde erschaf-

fen" (Caland); 30; 44; 104; 106; 164 (stanza) upadhi)'ate. (The

agens remains in the background:) 103 vr~t i~z pradi)tate; 200. (The

agens is known, but not expressed:) 9 pra japatit~ pra ja asrja ta '"

agni~ ... asrjyata; d. also 63 ant~sasyate; 128 stuyate etc. (6 X);

171 kri).ate "wird angewandt"; 200; 206; 171 ii.j)·ata. At times the

-ya-form is attended by an accus., which, then, depends on the prae-

verbium : 5 lmnarmrtya atimucyate ; 106 ra t han ta ram te 'nvasrjyanta

(ibid. tad ami ... 'srjyanta) ; 99; 182; 206; adr·i)!ate + acc. 161. The

turn topo ' tapyata is found 143 52. -ya-form attended by an instr. separ. :

13 n{,pe~w '" vyrdhyante "sie verlieren die Schonheit" (2 X); +instr. relat.: 146 vilc{i, samrdhyante "sie gedeihen inbezug auf die

Rede"; ibid. ; + instr, instr. II teniismdl Lcluin nouacchidyote ; 144; 196

prti:;:tair u ) 'a j1 ia s Wya te ; ibid.; 23 p av am anc na .,. a nn ad ya 1'[t pradiyate;

60 etena punar ahriyate yat ... ; 62 ienaioa sa1J~dhiyate. There are no

, examples of an instr. agentis; 107Caland has proposed: tad yad e ' v a t p . . -

vida yajna.yajfii'jlam antataJ:b kriyate "wenn .also das Y. von einem

solches Wissenden am Ende gemacht wird", the 111SS. have e'Z.!G-tfwi-

dhi iJ?t ; perhaps evatyLvidha'l '! ' t ?

The part. praes, pass. is an attrib. or appos.: !O7 uaster bhidyamana-

.sya;: 164 an.utsrjyamanaJ:b; 168 (p. 222) ; 171; 176; 185 t.iditsyamanam:

207 (3 X); + man,..: 102 h'iyamt.inamanyata (2 X); adriyamana-

+ ace, 41; as a subst, II6; l o c o abs. 104 (2 X); 204. With an instr .

..ag.: ISo y a # 1 i 1 . mjfi.a brtlhm,a'1J.o'numantryamti1}a agacched evam .

.~~W. D . Whib,1ey. A Sanskrit Grammar, § 76I.Q.s e.Wh itBey ;'o .c : . . ,§. 1 7 3 - :

l U I : S e e . :1!~ 31i.88.



TEXTS

Other personal forms are rare: fut.: uicchetsyante (e conj.) "werden

zunichte g:ehen"; an aor. 200 (they said) 'L'),acchedi; per f.: 191 pari-

sisisc; dadhre 53 - + inf.: 205 uartitum dadhre.

The intrans, -yd-Iorms are used in the same way as the intrans.forms, which belong to the fourth class; cf., e.g., 76 cuapadyate "geht

verlustig" ; 86 (stanza) r atlu id G 'Z ;'Qpad }' atc "stiirzt hinab"; q6 1 1 1 ; t ! z : ; : a l 1 -

ti "gehen irre" etc.

A i f a rc_ \, a-A ra~l:>,aka

In the Aitareya-Aranyaka, of which I examined I, I-3, I (p. 75-

132 K.), the - t a - and -ycl-forms are the normal predicates of subjectless

(agentless) sentences. Cp., e.g., I, I, 2 nyallC uai retah sicyaie ...

l 1 } 'l i, ne 'nnc ' id ya1!! prat is th it am. The ppp. is used as a predicate: I, I, 2

pratisthitasn, 4 sad vai niskrtan: (quoted) tat samskrtani ; 2, 4 sam-

mitali ; 3, 2 sritti~l (ibid. sarue hasmi« ktima)l sra))ante, see also 2, I,

. . . j . ) ; 4 (after a quotation :::ato jafiia ~tgra~I... ) ato h y esc jata 2 t g r a / y ,

"for from it he was born who is terrible"; 3, 8 Vi.ft(J.~1; 2, I, I niv-i§!iiJ:t

(after 11i...iviire in a 'quotation) ; i i 'Z, ' i§ta~~;2, 4 tad vii i d a 1 J L brhe-

tisahasram S O ' 1 1 2 pannaan. "this 1 5 produced as... "; 2, 3, 6 mita:rn; 8

iigatam; 2, 5 sa1!ltaUi~,; 3, I, 2 {iyatta~'L. In the case of several verbs

the same form often recurs.

An instr. instrumenti etc. is added: 2, I, 6 namabhir dd1nabhi~1

sanTa,, !! s itam. (d. ibid. t an ti sa1 !l baddh ii~ ' /.) ; chandobhi« channa~'L; pra-

~len{lvrtam ;prii~lma ... uisiabdha-; 7 o a c a suta1 £ P rthiv i. An instr.

'agentis' is met with in the frequent turn 2, I, 4 etc. tad ... r§i~loktant"a f9i says, there is an utterance of an rsi"; we have to remember that

a r!?i is not the author of mantras, but only the 'mouth-piece'. At times

such an instr. may, in a sense, be conceived as an instr. ag.: 2, 3, 5

atml1 sarvata~L sarirai(l parivrta,~ "the self is surrounded on all sides

by members". See also 2, 3, 6 atta1!t vai bhftyasa kanrya~L An in-

teresting passage is z, 4, 3 yadi vacabhivy(lhrfarf'/.. 'J 'adi prli.~lentibhi~

prti~litam etc. (8 X) atha ko 'ham "if speech pronounces words"

(Keith), but a more accurate rendering is: "if pronouncing takes

place by (means of) speech ... "; it is open to question who is the

real author. So these predicative ppp. denote a result, a condition, a

state; their adjectival character is obvious, cf. also 2, 3, 6 where

riktam and pur~lam."empty" and "full" are used by the side of ricyate.

There are neither instances of ppp. denoting actions nor of real instr.

ago added to them. Their adjectival character is also apparent from the

53 C f. W hitn ey . o,c., § 773.



30 RE~IARKS ON THE SANSKRIT PASSJVE

considerable number of negative forms (r, 2, 2 aniruhtah "undefined";

5, 2, ananusaktti ; 2, 3, 6 amuasn, etc.) and compounds (1, I, 3 r 'itpa-

sinnrddhani ; 2, 4, 2 sukrtam), from such turns as 2, I, 5 ... it y etat

ta d uletam. bhauati "this is the meaning", "thus it is said", d. also 3.I, 3 instr. ·nbha; /wJL v Ja pta '1 J1 b hc ua ti (instr. instr.), and I, 2, 3

m ad h.y ata u d bh rte s},cUd'lit "let them be raised in the middle", 3, 4 with

an instr., from the neutral use (e.g. I, I, I ekam iti tv eoa sthitani

"but the established rule is one").

Gerundives. The turn ta t tan 1 1agrij'a m occurs several times (e.g.

I ? 3) 54. . . . . , .

The personal forms in -ya- are, in the complete text, rather numerous.

The -)'a- present is either intrans.: I, 2, 3 dr s:yete "seem", 2, 3, 2

"is visible"; 3, 2, 4 "appear, seem to be"; I, 3, 5 pras!j:yante "spring

from"; 2, I, 4 tad astryata "it was decayed" (asarity "{men said) ithad decayed" is the actual past: aor.); I, 7 jir_vate "decay"; 2, 4, I

nirabhidyata "burst forth"; perhaps I, 4, I pratyacyante 55; 2, 3, 3

adhigamyantc ; 6 ricyate ; I, 2, 4 ucchidyai "to lose his hold". The agens

is quite immaterial or 'general': I, I, 2 retal) 'sicyaie "the seed is poured

out" ; 4 kriyatc "is done, takes place"; 5, I apyante; saJ!~skr iya1! te; 2

i ipyate "is gained"; ibid. '; )tig udya te ; I, 3, 7.: 2, 3, I samopyaie ; 5, I

pratidhi)latc "is appointed". The subj ect may be expressed by "people,

man", Fr. "on" I, 2, 4 kriyatc ; (there is no subject) 4, 3 rfi,pm!l

kri ':yate "the form is given'"; 5, 3; 2, 3, 4 Qll1t,~asyallte: 4, 2 hauir

grhyate. The subject has been mentioned or mar be inferred from the

context, but is left unexpressed in the sentence I, 4, 8 a-P}'ate "is per-

vaded" ; 2, I, 5 pyatayata. The -} ,o- form is attended by an inst. instr. :

I, 3, 3 vacti hi nanuuiheynn! dhiyantc "for by speech names are made"

(= 6). An instr. ago is found 2, 7, 4 sa (= Indra, the subject of the

preceding sentences) tcna bandhuna ... hU } ,a te . Cf. also 3, I, I sasn-

dhtyate prajaya. "he gets children"; 2. A part. .pr. pass. occurs 3, 2, 3

(sa 'Y! t-dha-) ; 2, 3, 5 asyamanalJ and vyajyamana + instr. instr.

(appos.).

Other personal forms are rare: 2, I. 4 asari; 5 pratayi "he is

stretched out"; 2, 2, padi "he went". These aorists are intrans.: padi

appear in the narrative 56, where the style is vivid. Perfect: 2, I, 3

dadrse ragentIess pass.') "he is seen"; 8.

. 5 < 1 < See Keith. The Aitareya Ar .. p. 176 1 1 . 2 .

tili Keith, ibid., p, 189, 11, 11.

5G See Keith, p. 213. n, g.



TEXTS 31

E (hadtira~1 yako p an is ad .

It 1 5 not possible to understand the use of the passive verbal forms

thoroughly without studying the active forms at the same time. It is

no; tiil one has acquired a sufficient insight into the use an author

makes of the latter, that the peculiarities of the passive stand out. For

this reason I studied all the verbal forms in a number of texts.

In t:1e narrative parts of BArep., 3d adhy., there are 93 forms of

the peri. act. or meet: ' l i 'ZN1Ci1 introducing an or. dir. occurs 58 X,

i 'aj1J'a.;clw 9 > < ) u parariinui at the end of an episode 8 X, babhauo

inot preceded by a verb. adj.) 2 X; moreover, there are 16 other

forms. The perfect represents the narrative past: 3. I, 2 till! houaca ...

i, ha briihl:la~lil n a d ad lz T {u .~ t ... f a h o d ac a hc ra . te ha brahnuuuis cukru-

dhuh etc. The indic. pro occurs only once. There are two 'passive'

forms: 3, I, I tairc hi ... brahnul1J-a abhisametii babhuv·u~1and ...p C Id u . . . libaddlu'i bablutcul), semi-nominal sentences, expressing a

condition in the past. In the dialogues (or. dir.), however, we find

the following forms: indic. pro act. or med.: I21, nom. sent. + as-

(not preceded by a v. adj.) : 4, imperf'.: 25, imper.: 23, conj.: I, opt.:

23, fut.: 10, aor.: 6, inj. aor. 3, indo perf.: 53, opt. perf.: 8. But of the

25 forms of the imperf. I4 are found in 3, 3, I and 2 and 10 in 3, 7, I ;

both times one of the seekers for wisdom who takes part in the discus-

sion tells of an event which has happened formerly and which he has

witnessed himself: madres« caraktib paryavrajc1ma. te ... grhall aima

etc.; moreover; 3, 9, 9 3 'M asminn idafJ~saruam adhyiirdhnot, feniidhyar-dha iti (etymological explanation). The aorist expresses the actual

past: 3. 7, 2 l,)flrll~aJJ!p re ta ·m tih u» vJlasra1!lsi-fatasyti1igiinUi; 8, 2 tva ...

upodasthtim "je me dresse devant toi" (Senart); 5; 9, 18; I9; 26. Of

the perfect forms 40 are veda and vettha, I I aha and tittha ;moreover,

3, 3, 2 ttV(lca introducing a quotation and ibid. prasasanisa. There are

9 indic, pr. pass. and I optat., which, in general, are intrans.: 3, I, 5

kcna ... aiimucyate "par quoi echappe-t-il" ; 2, II atraiva samavaniyante

"ils se rassemblent"; 13 nidMyate "se depose"; 8, 12 mucyedhvam.

"acquit yourselves" ; 9, Iucyante "it says"; 26 na hi grhyate "for it is

not to be laid hold of", in the same § siryate, sajyate, and vyathate,ri.fYati, which are not passives; besides, 8, 10 tapas tap'),ate. Itmust be

noted that 8, 8 where a passive verb might have been used, the author

prefers two active constructions, which form a parallelism: na tad

a sn ati k i1 '} zc on a, n a tad a.mati kaJ cana "il ne mange ni ne se mange"

(Senart). The v. adj. without as- or bhu- occurs 75 times, but the num-

ber of repetitions is extremely high: 3, 6, Ithe expression ota- co prota-




ca is found 12times, d. 9,26 etc.; this form being the predicate of a

nominal sentence, expresses a condition, a quality etc.: 3, 9, 26 kastnin

n 'u pra~la~~p1'at i~!hi ta~~may be translated by: "where is the location of

the p.?" ; 7, 23 ato 'nyad tirtan» "whatever is different from it is suffer-

ing", here the v. adj. is almost an adject. The verbs as- or bhu- are

added 9 times: 3, 7, Ietc. yas1ninn aya'J'f tca loka~L paras ca lo kah . ... SG1fl-

d rb dh an i b ha ua nti, semi-nominal sentence. 3, 9, 26 p ra ti! th ita u s th a~~ the

verb as - is necessary to indicate the gramm. person; 20 only the last

of a number of parallel answers has bhouanti: kasmi» nu rfijti0

p rat i: ~ th itan it i : : hrdayc ... hrdayena h i rupti/J:.zianati , hrda3 'e hy eua

?'fj,Pti~li pra ti :f it h it an i bhaucn ti , which forms a rather ponderous con-

cluding statement; d. also 21; 22; 23. With stha- (3 X) a durative

is formed: 8, 9 suryacandramasau uidhrtaw ti~!hata~~ "ant leur exis-

tence propre" (Senart). 3, I tasyasid duJzittl gandltarvagrhita., t. ...

ilsit means "he had" and gandh. is an apposition; d. 2, II. 2, 2 sqq.

an instr. determines the v. adj. sa gandh en titig rahe~ za grh ita ~ l.

The gerundive preceded by a- occurs three times: 9, 26.

In the prose narrative of another section of the same Upanisad r s .I, 1-6, 2, IS) there are 112 forms of the perf. act. or med. (35 uac-,

II ah-, 35 vid-) : narrative past, -I- 75 of the indic, pr., 13 of the opt.

pr.,2 conj., 5 semi-nom. sentences with bha-, 1X bha- + part. fut., 1

imperf, (5 , 5 , 1 asrjanta). The indic. pro pass. which occurs 5 times,

is an intransitivum : 5,9, I (annam) yad id am a dy ate "which serves as

food, which is eaten"; II, I eiad 'vai p ara l1W 1!t ta po 'yad v),ahitastapyate "the greatest pain surely is that, which one endures from

disease"; 13, 2 yuj:yante (2 X), cf. 3 where, in parallel sentences,

sam:ya-i"ici "turned against each other" is used; 9, 1 an instr. ago is

added: ' J . 'enedmn anna1'(L pacyate. A perf. 'pass.' is met with 5, 14, 3

did .. dad" 1 h " , 't"arsata'1?t pa am iii, rs a su a tZ Y e~a. ... parce qu on y VOl ...

(Senart). The sentences wherein the v: adj. is predicate (8) denote a

condition etc.: 5, 2, 2, (2 X) ; 14,4 (5 X) ; 6, 1,4; d. 14. Gerundives:

5, I, I; 14, 6 (+ a g o instr.). - In the or. dir. there are 40 indic, pr.,

I conj. pr., 4 opt. pr., 13 imper., :2 semi-nom. sent.; 2 imperf. (hist.

past j 5, 14, 8; 6, 2, 5), 26 aor, (ad. past; 5, 12vyafiitiS'/,fta "vous avezeompris?": 4 inj. aor.; 13 perf, (9 veda, vettha; 3 tittha); 3 fut. The

indo pro pass., being an intransitivum, occurs: 6, 2, 2 no, sa1 ftpuryate

" •.. ne se remplisse pas"; 7 vijfiiiyate "it is known"; aor. + mit 5,

14. 7. The v. adj. is . predicate 5, I2, I (adj., in nom. sent.); 6 , 2, 2

api. ls i M~er v ac al], irutam; ... iti Hwe have heard)' (almost the act.

J,)ast); .$ (var~ ... d a d 1 1 U J J J : : ) .sa houaco: p ra tijiia to m a c -j a v a ra ~ .



TEXTS 33

which in an emotional and vivid manner answers to our "I accept the

boon which you have promised me" ('fait-accompli-Darstellung'); 6, 2,

1 and instr. ago is added and the verb. adj. almost expresses the act.

past: a nu si.f!o n » a si p itra "are you (an) instructed (one) by (the in-fluence of) your father?". In the stanza 5, I, 1 two intr. -yc-forms are

found udacyate and auasisyatc.

In the other parts of this text the so-called passive forms have the

same functions. They form some clearly defined categories. The - y a -forms are intrans.: 1, 2, 1 samahanyata "se solidifia"; 5 adhriyata

"turned the mind to"; 3, 12 sqq. at} 'amucyata; 17 a nn am . a dy ate "se

mange" (d. 5, 2), ibid. a nenaiua tad ad .ya te "c'est grace a lui qu'elle

se mange" (d. § 18 yad aneruinnani atti) ; 27 giyate; 4, 7 ta n nlf,-

marii ,pabhyam eva vyilkri 'yate "that determined itself by name-

and-form" (instr, of means) ; IS k~iyate "s'epuise": 5, 14 {j, ca pu rya te ,a pa ca k {i) 'a te "he becomes full and wanes"; 2, I, 3; I, 5, IS sarvajya-

ni1?t jiyate "he suffers the loss of all" ; 2, I, II nasm nd ga'l}Q S chidyate

"his followers never part from him"; 4, 1, 6 manasa ... striyam abhi-

haryate "by the mind one feels attracted towards a woman"; 3, 5

sva~ pa~l· i r 1W, vinirf l iayate; d. I, 2 ' v aC { i ... b andhu ,l ~ p ra jiia ya te ; 3, 8

ptipnwbhib Sa1 !l sr j} ,a te " ' ... se charge de maux" (Senart) ; 19 sa'fJ 'tla'jla-

'J 'aiva dhri) 'ate "be determined to go to" or "se porte vers"; 23 etc.

z'idyate; 35 pramucyate + abl. "se detache de"; 4, 23 (stanza) na

l ip y ate k a rma~ lti "he does not stain himself by ... " (d. 1 . 2 na kar-

ma'l)a vardhate "he is not increased by ... "). As regards the v. adj. I

wish to point out the following instances: I, 2, I mrtyunaivedam

WtJrtam asit, here the patiens finds itself in the condition of being

enveloped (like our wrapped in darkness etc.) (d. 6, 3 amrta1]'t

satyena channam) ; 3, 23 ; 2, 4, 5; 7 s ab do g rh ita lJ . "on se saisit du son"

(Senart); 4, 3, 33 sa y o man tf ,~ yt l1 J, art t raddhalJ samrddho bhava ti

(semi-nom.) ; 1,4,7 avyakrtam tisit; 5, 17 yat ... anaktam use recite";

4, 2, 4 abhayaffi ... prapto 'si and 4, 23 ena1Jt prapito 'si express the

actual past. Instances of the part. pro pass. are I, 4, 10 ekasminn eva

palav ( i(Jiyamane (the ago remains in the background); 5, I (stanza)

adyamanani; 2, 4, 7 dundubher hanyamtinasya; 4, 5, 8 (id.). Perf.

(intr.) I, 5, 22 dodhre ; 3, I, 2 prOffu1'f1-dadhre.I add some instances taken from the Chan dog y a - U pan i~d.

Indic, pro in -,ya-: I. I. 6 sa"lfLSrjyate; 6, 6 etc. drJyate; 10,2vidyante

"il y a"; 2, 10, 3 ak. ,aram at~yate "une syUabe en sumombre" (Se-

nart); 4; II, 2ktiyanfe; 16, 3 hiyate "perishes. is lost"; 5, 3, 3

sampuryate; 24. 3 papmanaJ :t du yan te "the sins burn to ashes" ; 6, 5 . I



34 RE.:'IARKS 0::'- THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

tredha vidhij!ate "se repartit en trois"; 16, Isa d ah ya te "il se brule";

7, ro, I 'uytidhiyante pri i~la~z "all animals would become wretched"

("tout ce qui vit s'inquiete" Senart); 8, I, 4 atisi-!yate "remains". An

instr. ago is added: 8, I, 5 where a parallel sentence containing an

intrans. verb precedes: na sya j araya ita j jiryati, na vadh ena sj 1a hanyaie,

d. 10, I; 6, 16, I; 10, 10 pa}mana lipya te. I, 6, 2 siim a g iy ate means

" h . "." 1 1 "A d h di Tt e S. 1S .sung, tr. on chant e s.. s regar s t e v. a J. J. note I,

10, 3 ucchisiam va i me pUal}t s}'tlt , this sentence, forming part of a

dialogue consisting of short sentences, is an ellipse: "(were Ito take

that) I would have drunk the remnant of another's drink": emotional

fait-accompli-Darstellung; 6 , 12, I bhinddhi :: bhinnani the fait ace.

is a reality; 7, I, 3 srHta1Jl h : y e:..'a, me + ab1. (actual past).

The story of Pattfya (Mbh. 1, 3), the stanzas excepted 57.

I-·The Verbal adjectives are very numerous. The pure attributives

are rather rare (9 instances, including some beginning with a-; 58, 1 8

prabhiUataram) . The predicative use is very common. When the v.

adj. is used as predicate in a nominal sentence, it is transitive 26 times

and intransitive 14 times. Nearly always the verb forms part of a

dialogue, the exceptions are 56 , 14 sa toya k r' Ud d ha ya ta tro kta ~ (in the

alternative construction : 63, 26 tam upadhyaya~ pratyuvaca, which is

very usual, the subject is always a subst. or a proper noun, and this

is never attended by an apposition like kruddha-) ; 59, 29 sa ...

°s trib hi~ l ... ~tkta(L (narrative ~past);63, 14

ttibhir ntiga lok a up ad hl1 -

pita(~ (here other I. Eur. languages prefer the passive constr.: Dutch

"daardoor werd de ... uitgerookt"); 62, 7 tasya ... tisanna~ (drama-

tically, fait accompli). The v. adj. is in most cases very clearly expres-

sive of actuality: 56 , IS ... k im artha m abhiha ta~ z; see also 59 , 4; 5;

6 0, 22; 6 4, I, where an historical event serves as an argument to

persuade a person: tivtibhya?Jz purastad ... apupo dattalJ (viz. to your

guru) ; upa},u,ktalJ sa tena ... (dramatically). Now and then, however,

it expresses a state or a temporary quality: 58, 25 sa 1 Z ' iy a t a _ ' Y J ' tk u p i t a l J ;

60, 3I na hi ... k~atriya sa'rtznihitd; 60, 32 niyata;!~ bhavan ~tcch i~!a~~;

an 'active construction' is not possible here. In most cases (5:' I)

the agens has been expressed, cpo e.g. 57, 24 yasmiic co tvaya madva-

canam an~ !h ita1J t tosmnd (a wordy and dignified turn). Its usual

place is either at the very beginning of the sentence: 57, 4 mayaya1 .n

v r ta up ad hy dy aJ ;; 15; 63, 27; 32; 33 etc., Or 'Preceded only by an

anaphoric:al word; 63, 28 taira ca maya dr-§!e ... ; 30, cp. also 64. I

57 Quoted from Boehtlingk's Chrest~mathie 3, p. 56 f f.



TEXTS 3 5

tatas iasva 7 1GcG11Iln maya 11pa}'l . lktam; at times another 'word is

iound at the beginning 63, 3I puru.fas c a p i ma:::: il d j '. f ta~l C / ) . is broughtinto prominence) ; the agens is put after the v. adj. 59, 2 (inversion);

5 tram ap! ta thaiua kurusua yatha krtam upddh)'11} 'e}2Q (u . has beenemphasized). An instr, expressing the cause is met with 6 0, 2. There

are 6 instances of a rst pers. sg., 3 of zd pers., +- 28 of a 3d pers.

and some 'impersonal constructions' such as 6 0, 30 na )'uktam + inf.;

6 1 , 20; neutral constr. 6r, 33 prak te 'bhihitain; 6 3, 27; 59, 5. The

personal sak ias -;- inf.: 6r, II; 27; 31 . - There are 18 instances of a

Y. adj. being used with as- or bha-, mostly transitives, They always

form part of a dialogue and are either expressive of a state or quality:

58,7 lubdho 'si; 59, 7 pritau suah ; 61, II sunirurtii bhaua ; 6I, I3;

63, I I, or of actuality (I I X). In 8 instances the agens has been

expressed; it is placed at the beginning, 63, 25 ['VWji ma1ll1g as i mayan a sa pta l) , however, we find it elsewhere; an instr. expressing the

cause is put at the beginning 64, 8, at the end 63, r r. There are 8 in-

stances of a rst pers, sg., 2 of a rst pers, du., 7 of a ad pers. sg.,

I of a 3d pers. sg. In most (10) cases the copula is placed immediately

after the v. adj. 56, II ...bhratrbhir abhihato Jsmi; d. also 1 7 sam-

bhninto 'lIi~a~1~laS ciisit ; the exceptions are: 56, 9 kenas ' j ' abhihata~~

(interrogation); II ) !ena a.a . (relative phrase); 60, 1 3 Hpadhyaye-

nasl12S anuj1iato grha1Jl gantum (v. adj. + info seem to form a group) ;

63, 33 teniistn i sopa ciira ni u kiai: (adverb determines the v. adj.);

28 tenasm i naqalokam gata{t (accus. is dependent on the v. adj.; 6r, 2

asti "there is", Hi! y a" is placed at the beginning (according to the

rule); 63, 25 l 'Va,fJ1.nW llag asi ma)'G na saPta~1 . Neutral constr. 6r, I; 3.

The formula s 'V agata1!t te occurs thrice.

The v. adj. which expresses attendant circumstances etc. of the

main action is mostly transitive (+- 3 : I). In IS cases (-I- 30 %)

the agens has been added: 57, 2 tellaivam ukto i-s tm!l pratyuvaca,

once (6I, 8) an instr. of cause is subjoined .. The v. adj. has to be

connected with the subject of the active sentence of which it forms

part (56, 8 sa ... abhihato ... upagacchat) , it precedes the verbal form

which serves as the principal verb. The v. adj. is used as an apposition

to the subject: 6r, 26 J J W m a p i tu s a p o na bhaved bhavata. dat ta~~; to

the object: 58, 12; 6 0, 1 6 ... kU~l¢al ( ! b hik §itz ~r fZ ta sy a k ~ atr iy ay ii

pinaddhe; 6I, 7 (in these instances the v. adj. follows the verb);

61, 22 there is no verb; the v, adj. precedes the verb: 6 4, 3 (in all

these instances the agens is expressed); to an instrumental of cause

58, 22; to an instr. expressing the subject of a passive sentence:



RDfARKS O~ THE SA);,SKRIT PASSIVE

56, 14; 59, 4 (+ ag.); 6I, 1 (always preceding the verb); lastly

60, 20 .., apasyad r§abham .,. tam adh in7 .gha1! ! ca puru§"am. 4 X th-e

v. adj. forms the zd part of a compound: 56, 26 (app. to subj.,

preceding the verb, 2 X); 63, IS . Four times a 10c. abs., preceding

the verb, and having a 'thing' as subject, is met with: 56, I9; 58, 23;

61, 3I ; 62, I. - V. adj. are rarely used as adverbs, Ihave found only

niyata1'n (60, 32), drif.hant (57, 31; 62, 7). - The v. adj. forms part

of a compound in a restricted number of cases: first member of a

bah.: 6I, 4; IS; 22; 26, 5; 7 grhita1ntitra~; last member of a tatp.:

61, 16; 62, 14.

II-A gerundive (12 cases) acts as an attributive 63, 2 pUrU~Q1!L

capasyad aSvQ1?2 ca darsaniyam (emphasized), cp. 57, 20; as a pre-

dicate without a copula: 58, 26 (pers.); 61, 8 (p.); 57, 32 (thing);

59. 32 (2 X th.); id . with an instr. expressing the agens: 57, 5 (th.);constr. su.frtt§u'f}ft ca bhavitavyam 59, IS; na sakya, + info 60, 33;

as a subst.: 59,32 (2 X).

III-There are only 3 personal forms of the indic. pres. in -ya-:

intrans, 59, 26 parihiyate (th.); without an agens 61, 14 piitram

i isadyate; with an agens 61, 28 k i~ ca itad bhavattt na jnayate ya thii

(± Dutch His het u niet bekend ?"). There are 9 (usually some-what

courteous) imperatives: gamyatam (3 X), u~yatti1n, asyatam, kriya-

tam (n. 59, 30; tho 61, IS; fig. et. karma k. 59, 22), yacyatam (p.60,

29). 9 forms of the part, in -ya- are found,s are used as attributives

or 'appositions', attending on a 'person': (preceding the verb)57,II

s o, k lisy am iin o 'p as ya d u pa yam; 62, IO tam -am apas'yat ... ; (following

the verb) 59, 17; 62, 3 (2 X); id., attending on a 'thing' 63, I + ag.,

an animal, 63, 14. The ace. + part. constr, occurs twice: 59, 26 (th. +ag.); 61, 16 (th. + ag.).

As regards the frequence of the active and middle verbal forms:

in the narrative parts of this text there are 6 indic. pr., which are

durative and 'historical', besides, 2 indic, pro + sma (dur, past); the

imperf. (ppp. + imperf. excepted) occurs 46 times (41act., 5 med.),

the perfect lIS times (101 act., 14 med.) 58), it is often found at

58 The imperfects are: gam- (6 X), icch-, kr-, uas-, prati-pad-, pas- (13 X),

yam- (2 X). grk-, pra-dru-, prcch- (2 X), rak~ - (5 X), d ham» , c in t- X , bhaks-

X. vad- X (3 X), dr- X, ni-vid- X, labh» (med.), sthti-, pra-sthti- (med.,2 X),

bhii.$-. The perfects are; vee- (24 X ), prati-va,c- (41 X); pra-'l 'Gc-; bhu- (3 X).

kr- (5 X), khan-, gam- (7 X), stu-, grah- (2 X ), vis- (4 X), diS-, pat- (2 X).

ah- (8 X) , a-cakh u pc ,-s th a-, d ha -, u pa -k ra m- (2 X), vr- ("choose"), perf.

periphr.9.



TEXTS 37

the end of a pericope,but also in other places. There are only 5 in-

stances of an aor. (uc) asakat (2 X), auocat, al1vagat, abhat ; one

-tauant- form.

In the oratio recta there are 68 cases of an indic. pr., of which±25 are durat.; the other cases indicative of the present time or

timeless : besides, 7 indic. are modal; the fut. occurs 18 X, the optat.

9 X, the impel'. 42 X ; the perf. 2 X (historical) + I X a h u , b

(introd.).

Sakuntala by Kalidiisa, acts Iand VI, prose.

I-The verba! adjectives are very numerous. The attributive use

is extremely rare: twoforms ifc. Predicative use: trans. 93; intrans. 34·

Generally, the v. adj. expresses actuality; there are, however, excep-

tions and special cases: 6 , I I + ; 12 + p os ca d ima~ n 1 nu dr a1 '!~ ta de n-gulau nive.sayata maya pratyabhihita; ... ; tac ca ... maya mahan na-

1jtt~!hitam" a historical event is actualized; ibid. .., p ar ib hr a~ !am ;

the Y. adj. expressesa state and an actuality at the same time: 6, II +mamap i k autuha le na ·k iir it a e ~ a~ "he has been inspired with the same

curiosity as mine"; I4 + ; I, 13 + api smrmihito 'tra kulapatib-, + instr.

of cause 6, 30 + ; 6 , 23 + pratihatam ama"igalam "may evil be

averted", periphr. I, 2I +: 22 + ; 28 +; (state or quality) I, 14 + ;6, 15 +; 6, 18 + cakitaca,~iteva sthita; I, 22 + neutral ucitam, etc.;

the pp. attended by l J i J , r v a r n or pura is expressive of the narrative

preterit: I, 22 + ... pttra kila ... devair m en aka ... pre~ita; 6, 8 +.10 trans. and 5 intrans. v. adj. are attended by the copula (12 X pers.

subj.) : indie. 6 , I+ am£grhUo 'smi; 29 + ; id . yadartham asmi hari1Jti

b ho ua ts ck aiom p re ~ita ~ ; I, 17 +; 27 +: + instr. causae I, 30 +;6, 27+ simile niraso 'smi jivite Sa'fJ'Lvrttab; I, 22+ k i1 fLnu khalu ...

assn! sa1JLvr tta (emotionaldeliberation), etc.: indic. 9, opt. 3, impf. I,

imp. I, fut. I; rst p. sg. 8, ad p. sg. I, 3d p. sg. 5, ad p.pl. I; 9 X

the copula follows immediately; 3 X the ago is expressed; besides,

I. 1 9 + ena1!t vismrtasi (object), When there is no copula, the agens

has been expressed±50 X (all trans.) ; -I- 10 X an instr. rei (causae

etc.) has been added; usually the ag o precedes the V. adj. (13 excep-

tions: 6, 22 + s ar va tha p ramar jita tj 't tv a ya p ra ty iit le la d ut; ,k ha1p sakun -

talaya~J exclamation; cp , 6 , I + nirvartita'fj't maya; 7 + krta1f1- bha-

v ata n in na kfik am ; 12 + etc.). Trans.: 42 X pel's. subj., 37 th.,

1 4 neutral; intr. 23 p., 10 th., I n.

The v. adj. is rather rarely used to express att. eire. etc.: 6, 8 +;



RE~f:A.RKS ON THE SA:";-SKRIT P.\SSIVE

19 +; if c. 6, 6 +, 8 +, usually preceding the verb.: appos, to the

subj. + iva: 6, I4 + ; the same but the v. adj. is put twice: 6, 18 -:-;

to obj .: I, 16 +, 6, II +; if c. 8 + (2 X) ; to a gen.: 6 , - + ~ .

Aloe. abs. Occurs 6, 2 + (impers., preceding the verb.) : 3 - i-

deucna pratisiddhe °utsave '" kim arcbhase.

A v. adj. acts as an adverb: I, 1 7 + vi irabdham.

A v. adj. forms the first member of a compound in a rather

high number (-I- 10) of cases, -I - 14 X it serves as second member

(appos., attr., praed., subst.).

II-The gerundive is used in various ways: as an attr.: 2 X e.g.

I, 19 + (th.); attr. ife. 6, I +; constr. kti f-va'lfzv is ra~ !av} 'a s' Ya rod -

dhavyasya oa (r, 27 +) = visarjanasya rodhanasya ca (-tavya- bhs-

ve) ; as a pred., without cop. and ago : thing 5 X : 6, I+ ; 4 + : 9 + ;10 + ; 16 + ; the same, if.c. 4 X : anatikrama~lf ) 'a 6, 31 +; I, 21 +rajarak.fitavyani; 22 + samavayon1Parama~1iyam; 6, 13 +; pel's. ifc.

6, I + ; animal I, 9 + n a h an ta vy a~ ~ ; neutral: 4 X : I, 21 + IW bhe-

tavyam; 6, 23 + ; 26 + ; the same, with ag.: tho I. 14 + uinttauesena

p ra ve fta vy an i ta po va na ni; neutr. 6, 4 + ; bhavitav}'am + instr. 4 + :+ double instr. I +; 22 + ; with a copula without an ag.: fut. pers.

6, 7 + c ik its ita vy o b ha vi~ y ati; opt. neutr. II +; with asti "il y a"

I, 23 + a s ti n a f:; .,.. . p ra ~ 'i! av ya 1 n; pred. ie. I, 7 +.III-There are 35 pers. forms in -.'ya-: 22 indic. pr., r fut., 12

imper. lndic.: the ago is added 4 X; 5 X the subject is a person ..

10 X a thing, 7 ncutr. The form expresses an intrans. (5 X) e.g.

I, 22 + ... p?'abhiivavc1n iv a lak .fya te .. is intrans. without a subj.

(7 X) e.g. 6, I+ y'J; , jyate; agentless pass. or fro "on": 6, 7 + tLcyate

"they say"; 22 + srfiyate;= we: I, 12 + drsyate "we see" or "you

see"; 13 + a ka th ito 'p i jiia ya te ; modesty: ta d a p' i k ath :y ate "we will

explain that too"; courteousness: I, 22 + ka tama arye '~ la ra jar .f -i va1 J1 s0

'la1ftkriyate; emotion, the patiens is emphasized: 6 , 25 + mam.iipi

sattvair abhibMlyante grh{j~t; the pat. is thema 6, 29 + .:v ena ... so

'neno ... abhinandyate. Fut.: 6 , 22 + intr. Imper, (2 X p., 7 X th.,

3 X n., r X animal) the ag. is expressed once: 6, 7 + t irye~zadiya-

tam; rather frequently neutr. sruyatam etc.; this imper, is more orless courteous, but not infrequently a lower on the social ladder is

addressed with it, e.g. I, 7 + (king to charioteer) m·ucyantti1n ... The

part. praes. in -ya- occurs only; expressing att. eire. + instr, ago I,

22 + ; as app. to the obj, + ago It 21 +; id. without ago 9+ p a S y a i -

na'l ' f tvyapadyamanam.



TEXTS 39

DasakuHuiracari ta by Da~u;l in , ch, 859.

I-The verbal adjectives are numerous. Their use as attributives is,

comparatively speaking, rather rare: II instances (259, 17 with agens),

moreover 14 instances of a v. adj. acting as the zd member of a cornp.

(ifc.) (259, I4 YU - lma tt as cauryar ji ta rr t dhanam ; 277, 3 tuadupadistena

nayena etc.). Used as pred. in a nom. sent.: ±2S X trans., besides,

2 X ifc.: 270, II kumara)~z sa rdu labhak .f it a~ l (exclamation); 272, 3;

13 X intrans. In -I- 24 cases the V. adj. expresses actuality, 8 X a

state or condition (260, 6 pur~1(' ini + instr.; 8 kim idam aparya j~ tam ... ;

261,6 spa1ta1Jz,; 271, IS sa ... darakatvenaiva kalpita, etc.); -+ - 9 times

the v. adj. expresses an historical event, a narrative preterit: 250, 3

maya ... pa rib hra nza ta ... ko Jpi kum tira '~L ... dr.fta~l; 269, 4 idmJ1 tu

jiititvti dev'}'aham aijiapta~~ ... ; at times the Y. adj., when employed

in this manner, seems to express a sudden or unexpected event: 269,

20 ... ity acintayam. tnuad apatitau ca... duau mrgalt ... a ua dh is an i ...

a pa tai ; 250, 3; elsewhere a tendency towards variation seems to be the

only motive 60: 272, 9 abravit ... mayoktcni ... abrata ; 269; 265, I3;

in a sentence beginning with prag eua "(already) before now" maya

krtam means "I had made": 274, 9, here the V. adj. signifies the

remote past 61. Sixteen times (±40 %) the agens has been expressed ;

it may he found anywhere; seldom at the beginning of the sentence

(or phrase) 259, 16; 269, 16 vrddhenoktmn; often in the second place,

sometimes near the end, e.g. 269, II; at the end: 265, 13 (variation);

275, 13; the v. adj. is put at the end in most cases, 259, 17 at the

beginning of the zd member of a disjunctive interrogation; 265, 13

(variation). There are 3 'instances of a rst pers., Iof a zd pers.; the

v. adj. is neutral (ukta'm) in 3 'cases; a thing is "subj. of the pass.

sent." in 21, a person in 16 cases, an animal once. na sakta~r + inf. 1 S

found once. - There are only 4 instances of a v. adj. + as- etc.

(trans.) 252, 8 the v. adj. expresses the historical past sa ... natyadrto

'bhut (state of being, condition); the periph. form is a narrative

preterit: 269, I; 271, 17 arthas ca ... an'U,~!hitoJbhut; the v. adj. is

attended by an imper.: 271, 16 atirahasya1'}1- YUf11ZtiSV eva gu pta "i!~

ti~tha.tu.2 X a pers., 2 X t h o subj ect : agens 2691 I mitrai~z ... bhra-ire .•. aev1 , darsitabft,ut.

The v, adj. expressing attendant circumstances etc. of the main

$9 Ed. Godbole-PaIJ$ikar IO. p. 250-278.

6(J See A. Beth, Variatieverschiinselen in het Oud-Indisch, Diss, Utrecht 1943.

P·94£.

Gt Compare Speyer, Sanskrit Syntax, § 339.



REMARKS O~.- THE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

action (2 4 instances; 5 trans., 6 intrans., 1 3 ifc.: 1 9 X a person subj.,

3 X a thing, 2 X an animal) always precedes the princ, verb, 269, 6

(after an initial imper.) excepted. Only once an instr, ago has been

added 269, 2 n ir bh ar ts ita s c a toya, twice an other instr. (252, 8; 254,7 te na h in a]; ). The V. adj. acts as an apposition: to the subj. 258, IS

(+ instr, ag.), 253, I (+ gen. ag.); to the obj. 276, I, matprahitani

261, 15, + instr. soc.; 255, 3 (+ instr. ag.) ; to an instr. ago 268, II;

256 ,18 to a gen. 257, 8; 269, IO (comp.) (7 X a person, 3 X a thing).

Ace. + part. construction: 272, 6; pred. app. 274, 14. Locat. abs.:

10 instances (4 p., 3 th., 3 neutral, of which 2 + instr. ag., 3 intr.,

I X 2nd m, of cornp.), always preceding the verb. - V. adj. are rather

rarely employed as adverbs (a.o. 6 X ifc.). - They forrnpart of a

compound in a very high number of cases.

II-A gerundive (2 5 cases) does not serve as an attributive (theRome cap ta constr.: 255, II excepted); it is used 22 X without a

copula, 2 X with a copula: 259, 6 d ttr iir ak~ ya1 tt bhcue i ; 277, I asmi

bodhya~! (apodosis); 16 X without an expressed agens, 6 X with an

agens, once without a subject (neutral); 271, 6 sa1Jzde.syam; twice it

forms the 2nd member of a compound; n a sa ky am + info occurs once.

p. 256 ff. it serves as a means to vary the style; it is often used in

or. dir.

III-There are 20 pers. forms in -ya-, of which 8 are indic, pr., 5

imperf., 2 opt. The agens is added twice ; 7 X the subject is a person,

6 X a thing; 2 X the form is neutral. The 'passive form' expresses

an intrans. notion: 253, 3 lak§3'ate; . : 1 - prativisi.Jyate; 274, 3 drsyate;

265, 5 v_yasir}!anta; 266 , 2 adahyanta (v imanitab- ... manenad.) ; 275,

15 apriyanta; 'agentless passive' 252, 6 aga~lyatii1nare§u; the form is

neutral: 255, 2 tatka krisate "let it be done ... "; the agens is known:

? 256, 6 acaryate (viz. tena, acaratlty artha~z Comm.); 276, 13 kim

'udgirycta g ra sy eta v a (patiens is the thema of the sentence) ; fro "on":

260, 8; this constr. is probably chosen in order to keep the subject

254, I; there seems to 'b e no reason why the passive is used: 259. 1 5

fair ... dhanam ... bhujyate; 26 5, 1 3 . There are 5 irnper. in -ya-:

250, 4 kriyatiim; II sruyati im; 258, 13 kr iyantam; 259, 10anubhuyan-

tam; 272, 8 anugrh'yatam; 3 are courteous forms, 2 express fro <ton",once a person is subj., 3 X a thing, Iform has no subj. I have found

I I forms of the part. in -ya~: 4 express attendant circumstances 254, 1

. pers, subj. without ag.; 261 , 3 id. + ag.; 272, 1 7 id., following the

verb, expressing the notion of fro "on" in a nominal sentence: 25 6,

II (thing subj.) (in these instances the passive form is due to the



TEXTS 4I

cr:ll:s:ruct:on of the Sentence in general, 'which is determined by the

C:,:1text, the thcrna etc.); the part. acts as an app. to the obj. 258, II

i :>.:ng): 261. I . . J . (th., + ag.); it is predicative : 239, 18 (th. + ag.,

the patiens is therna) ; ace, + part. constr. instr. ago 253, 7 (pers.) ; 261,12 {th.) ; twice i: forms the 1st member of a compound: 237, 5; 262, 2.

Paiicatantra, Hitopadcsa, prose Vetnlo-talcs, etc.

70 get an insight into the use of the passive forms in contradistinc-

tion to tile active forms in the rather easy and artless prose of later

;;:mes, I studied a number of tales, fables etc. appertaining to the cycles

oi the Pan cat ant r a, the Hit 0 pad e s a, the prose Vet a 1a-

tales etc. \Yith regard to the fourth part (tantra) of the Pafica-

tantra 6~ I found the following facts. In the dialogue the functions

of the indic. pro act. (or med.) and the verb. adj., 'which are equally

frequent, are clearly distinct. The indic, is either a durativum : 2, 4

sa ... phalan! prayacchati 1lfityam a form expressing facts present or

represented as such: 4..31namtisti ... nama udnaral], or a modal tense:

.f , 20 iasnuit kathayam: nijtibh: priiymjl (volunt.); 3, 13 ki1!l karomi

i. dubit.) 8, 4 (possibility) etc., which may also denote a near future:

6. I ... tad bhayo 'pi 'Diiviisayami. In subordinate sentences the indo

pro act. (or med.) is often consecutive or final: 4, I3 tasn ... tinaya

v en a ta sy a{ z pra~lQm_\'ti.firvtida;?l grh~lt imi. We find it in exclamatory

sentences beginning with katham : 9, 6 kathani ahm!L taira gacchti:mi.

The verb adj., on the other hand, expresses the actual past: 4, 2 ta d

a /zm!l ta y aiu am proktas tava sakasani tlgata~l. Occasionally such a verb.adj. is also met with in a sentence beginning with yathti and paraphra-

sing the object of the verb "to say" etc. 18, 5 .. , acatu» yatha gaja1]t

d!§!v.ti durato 'pi 1Za~!a~l.Moreover, it is used in 'fait accompli'-expres-

sions : 4, 16 ... ki'fJ'tuilambyate. tvaryatiim ahani lava Pu!ham arzt4ha~t

"I am already sitting on your back". In a story or tale related by one

of the persons of the fable the use of the v. adj. may bring about a

dramatic effect; 16, I2 where the person speaking relates a fact that

had happened to himself: atha hodsci: ... nirgataJ: ; pradhavan karparo-

p ar i p atita b etc. (the after-effect of the stumbling has not yet lost its

actuality). When a v, adj. is the predicate of several sentences in

succession that part of the text is 'dramatic': 14, 5-8. Now <lindthen it

1:;) a pure adjective and expresses a quality or a condition: 12, 23

madbhu ja pa rir ak #ta /:L s a d e.s alJ ; .221 19 bhakttisi me roam; more than

62 Paficatantra, p. III of Buhler's edition, p, h.J.4 (Bombay 1868).

Go.N'lM., The Sanskrit Passive 4



42 RE:\L\RKS ON THE SANSKRIT PASSIYE

once it expresses an actuality and a condition etc. (resulting from a

preceding action) at the same time: IO, 12. In the narrative parts, on

the other hand, the indo act. or med. is either a praesens historicum:

I, 1 8 eoam uktvli tasy a "p halani prayacchaii, or a durativum : 10. 2

n it y am , e ha ila sm adisati; cf. especially such groups as I, 2I nayantau ...

ti.J!hata~tJ which are also found in oratio directa (e.g. II, 6). This

form is often historical and durative at the same time: 12, 7. Xlore

than once such words as nityam. "continually" precede the verb. On

the other hand we often see that sentences in which the following

words occur, kadnci t "once", atha kadacit, anyadt: "at another time",

athanyatarne d ivase "some day or other", a ny ed yu ~ l, Q l1 'jla dil1 e "one

day", atrnntore "meantime" and sentences beginning with atha, which

serves to introduce some new person, thing or fact, tatah, which com-

monly subjoins an event which is subsequent in time, that "therefore,now" contain a v. adj.: I, 9; 33, 9; 2, I athanyatame divase taya sa

pr.J ta~"; 10, 6; 26, 4 atrtiniare ... bhaniaw patit(!; 6, IS atha iena cinii-

tam; 12, 13 ta ta s c a ... te na bh ih ita ~~ ; 37, I I etc. The same may be said

of sentences beginning with the locoabs. ta th{jnu~~thite "haying done in

this way": 13, 12 t. srgalena saha si:; 'Y!lhijntikagata~; 38, 7 etc., after

the absolutive constructions euom uktva: 28, IS; ity abhidhaya: 37 ,

r6; ta c chrutva: 29, 13, cf. 42, 5, after other absolutives : 29, 18; 33,

19 etc. After the expressions kadacit etc. (atha not included) another

verbal form is only rarely found: 30, 9 atha sa dubkhtibhibhufti tam ...

~'ik~it 'U:}J'L 11 0

saknoti; 33,20

a th a ... c in ta ya :m asa ; 37, 8 atha ... apal:y at:34, 10 atriin tare ... kham utpapata . After an absolutive, however, an

imperfect is nat rare: 6, I9 ta'fJ1'dr~t"V{i bhuyo 'p y a cin ta ya t; 8, II ; 9,

9; 22, 7; 36, I; 1 7, 1 7 ity uktva tam api s va stanak.J ir e~ 1a pU .J#m anaya t;

21, 20 .•• annam ... akarot ; 22, I •.. katha1J1cit tat!Zdivasam atyavahayat;

33, 1 8 upadravat; in these cases the verbs ex-press ideas the realization

of which extends over a certain space of time; cf. also 35, 6 iti

v ic intya .,. aprcchat; but 24, 12 is an exception: ... pti§iittakha~!¢a1!z

prak.Jipat. Elsewhere the abs. is followed by a perfect: 32, I ta d

akar' l: !- yavanara~ l"prahasya provaca, by a form in -tavat-; 37, 1 5 abhi-

hitavan, by an aor. I, 19 agtU; 5, 8; 13, 5 auocai . It would appear tome that one verb has a predilection for the imperf, (or perf. etc.),

another (gamJ pat- X, drs- X, prada-J prasthtt-) for the v. adj. The

same difference between the personal active verb and the V. adj. can

be studied when both forms occur in the same syntactical unit. A

frequent construction is yavat ... tavat ... "during which time ... in



TEXTS 4 :>

the meanwhile". Speyer has already remarked 63 that :)'a~'at in these

sentences is construed with the present, even when it denotes past

facts. But he failed to notice that in the apodosis the v. adj. is very

common. This form expresses a new fact and, as a rule, the action

is either brought about in a moment or ingressive: 30, 3I "when she

was finding herself ... , a thief entered (pravi#azt) the house"; 13, 13

... pa ltiy itum ara bd ha~ l; 14, 2 dr.fta~t; 40, I9 gat{i~1; 2I sthstal); 2:)

iucrital: ; 17, 19 ... ttiuat iena Srgalasuienabhihitmn. Now, in the tiivat-

apodosis an aorist is also possible: 34, 7 sapi ... nadUire yi l 'ZJad upa-

't.~istaisthati tiiuat tatrtintore .., tatriiqamat, Elsewhere we find an im-

p~;f.: 3 ' 7 , 10 _vciz . 'ad udakae: n itv ag ac ch ati t(iv at ta1'}1 Jnrtiiin apa.\':vaf ,

an iridic. pro 10 srnoti, a perf. 38, 12 dadarsa. The v. adj., however,

is more frequently used. Next, a v. adj. is found in sentences con-

tinuing sentences introduced by atha etc. or a lac. abs., followed by av, adj.: 38, 7 sqq. ta thaml~ !hite .. , brahma~ la~ L taya ... l.:apantab· pati-

tah. siipi ... naqare pra'l.li~tti. iatra ca ... ra} i'£ o >gre nita; 18 sqq.: 8,

22 sqq.; perhaps it may be said that these parts of the text are

'dramatized' .

As regards the perfect, babhuua in semi-nominal sentences is found

16, 2; 22, 13; also 26, 6 ti(,1'~2t1!Z b.; as an introductory verb before an

or. dir it is frequent: aha 3,16; 4,15; uuoca 10, 22; 27,13 etc.:

c in tayamaso 4, 19; 33, 20; papraccha 27, 2; sometimes, however, the

author uses the aorist: avocat 12,8; 2I, 17; avtidU 3I, 6; to introduce

stanzas the perfect is not often used (aha II, 8). This long and often

pompous or cumbrous form serves also to conclude a pericope, to mark

ideas which stand out a little above other verbal notions in the same

context: 10, 8 ... katha'Jl(lcit na · vir ar ama ; IO, I3 euam. uktva. sa ta.1!t

visarjayamasa; 23, IS babhrama ; 24, 13 1tipaptUa; 26, 5 papata; 34, 2

t"7.'am ukt'lla tasmii asefa~2 uittam arpayamasa; 36, 9 babhoiija ; 39, 19

it expresses a result and a condition(?): sa garbha1!l dadhara . atha

prasaz·asamaye prasutti. In or. dir, the only instance is the introductory

u c u ? z 13, 2. Aorists are (in narrative parts): 3, 14 iti vicintayan ...

agamat; r6, 22 ajijanat; 27. I2 ayat.

So there is not much room for the supposition that the use of the

verbal form which at first sight seems to be capricious and disorderly,is highly a matter of arbitrariness. But we must not preclude the

possibility that the tendency to . vary the style (as well as the rhythmical

and euphonical motives) had influence too. Perhaps the use of the

63 Speyer. Sanskrit Syntax, § 475 r.



4 4 RE~IARKS ON TIlE SANSKRIT PASSIVE

-taucnt- forms which do not occur in the or. dir. is to a certain degree

due to these influences: as a voluminous form it may easily serve toconclude a pericope etc.: 44, 20 before the concluding stanza of a

fable... s ua sr ay a n: s uk h en (i dh i~ t hi ta v an ; 12, 12 ...qra ma m iisiid ito -

van (this form also 5, 9); IS, 8 bhaks i toua«; 23, 14 smnaropitavan

(with an 'aoristic' sense?); 17, 4 sasnerpiiaotu«; 30, 22 aliligitavati

('aor.' sense?) ; when introducing an or. dir. it may have been chosen

for the sake of variation: 5, 22; 7, 4; 22, 2; 37, 15·

As regards the iridic. pro :pass., in dialogues it is either intr. (or

neutr.) 2, 9 n o, s ak ya te ; 4, II; 21, 2 etc. na ... ) Iujyate; 28, 20 na

jiiayate; 29, 4 dhr i~varnahe ; or a form expressing fr. on 36 , 17 ... 'I'W

tn itrabandhavadayo ." samudre prak~ipyante; 44, 10 yatra ... sthiyate;

29, IO; sometimes this form is less to the point than an act. verb: 27,

I7 ta t kasm ai ... prad iya te ('\ve"); 4, 15 bhadran: yady eu asn ta t k i1Jl

vila1t 'Lbyate; 29, 8 tat ki1?~ kathyate. In the narrative parts there is no

difference: intr. I, I athedam arabhyctc ... ; 5 ta d yathanusruj!ate;

(intr. or Fr. on:) 19, 16 niyate ("may be" or "we") 40, 3; 44, IS;

44. 10 v'idar:yate «when he was about to be rent in pieces ... ". As in-

troductory formula we find ucyaie (Fr. on) by side of 2 . t k t a 1 ! l ca .

From the first tantra of the same text 64 we may gather similar

information: the v. adj. expresses (among the notions mentioned

above) the 'remote actual past': I2, 7 akar-~l i tQ.1JL ' ma ya n itis ar a1 J L PitU~l

pfwvam uisangaiJl, h i n i' ve fa tii ; it actualizes: 29, I (cf. 28, 12) ; it relates

a fact in a 'dramatic' (vivid) style of writing: 30, 15 (in th e same

way the -tavant-form: 33. 18); durative : 27, 12 duribhlUas tifthati;

the indo pro p. is intr.: 18, 3 yujyate; 21, 8 dr.syate; 30, 2 prasasyate;

an intr, aor. 18, 12samajani (narr. past) ; Fr. on: 26, 17 sa"iJ1-bhtivyate;

37, 19 vadhyate; modal and emotional in or. dir. 28, 13 k i1J ' l kriyate;

20, 2 k im ... vij1iapyate.

In the Hitopadesaw the indo 'Pr. act. (med.) is either a duratrve

form: 172, 23 pra tyaha1?Z khada ti , a narrative historical ;present: 168,

22 mrgak ak au . 1 ti' va sa ta ~ , a timeless present: 171, 6 a sti ... ° vrk §a l) , or

expressive of a present fact: 171, I4 arye tvam abhivande; 184, 22

(formulas), modal etc.: 16g , 33 katham eta.n dantail} sPrsami; 168,24; 178,I (often in a subordinate sentence: 170,27; 186, 6; 187, 29;

de conatu: 176, 15). That there can exist a striking difference between

this indic. and the v, adj. becomes especially dear from texts like 188,

64 Edited by Parab and Pans ikar6 (Bombay 1925).6Q Book I and ! th e fables from the other books in Boehtlingk's Chrestornathie'',

to which the pages and titles refer.



lE:X.T3 45

15-17: ., .,-'adlla}) ... sarradti raniate, athaikada samudradattenalo-

kit6.. The Y. adj. is often preceded by an adv, indicating a fixed mo-

ment: r69, 18 l"rL7.ta~l; 17°,25 p ra bhiiie ; 171, 10 kadacit ; 173, 2 ekada .

It may also be expressive of an action happening in the space of time,. .denoted by a preceding part. pr.: 168, 22 suecchayti bh ram :ya n ...

kcnacit ... aualokitah, etc. In dialogues the v. adj. chiefly denotes the

ac.. pas: : 163. 27 idiinim ." pravi~to 'stni ; 170, 8 uktan: et.a I1WJ{i pfi.r-

, ;: xa ;' ; I7I, 12 lU I hato 'smi ; a more or less remote past in subord. sent.:

182, 10 j'ad etc sasakii]: ... t 'i.!ayct lli):Zs{i.rit{i~!. .. ; without an instr, ago

the Y. adj. is actual-resultative : 172, 23 YC.Jarn apatyani khaditan i ....

The v. adj. -:- asti or tisthati (durat.) is \"ery rarely met with: d.

169, 32 drdhobandhanabaddho 'sf! ta t/ad ayaijL mrga~l; the abso1. +sthital: is dur.-narr. 170, 2; 163, IO; sa ca pracchanno bhtUva sthitah ;

1 8 3 - , I!. Imperfects express the dUL and narr. past: 159, 20 iisit ;

163. 3 etc. opas} 'at; 173, IS akaro t ; 163, 3 etc. acintcqat ; 185, 26 we

find n"ijfiti. cintitcni, a short introductory formula, acintayat, however,

forms part of more extensive sentences: 168, 23 tGiJI d N 1 ' Z J { f srg i i 1 0

'cintayat, so instr, + cintitam (d. e.g. tadt: tenoktasn etc.) are indi-

cative of a brief and vivid style. The perf. is used in the same way

as in the Pafic.: 173, 5 ... krt'l:a sa v )la dh a{ z ... liatas chinnadruma iv a

papata (but 175,23 patito ' ham) , after this lJapata the author pauses

a moment and adds a stanza; d. also 17..{.,30 survapa ("he slept"),

but the ingressive prasuap- (176, 12) appears as prasu.pta~ (after

ekada), supta~L 182, 22; 186, 32 is ingressive too. I74, 19 va~zikpu.tra'f!'b

sa _" seuaham cakiira, but in the next sentence tato rsau, tena ...

niyojita~, more dramatic; 190, IS the first communication has to

impress the hearer, the second is said 'en passanr', d. 168, 18; 185,

29 marks the end of a pericope in a sentence which adds no new

information to that given above, but 30 new events are expressed by

dr!t{i PNta ca; 187, 7; before a stanza 159, ':::1 ekadt; .... .Hokadva' jJa1Jt

,f ltSra'Z'a; 27 cintayi1masa; 186, 19, etc. The perf. babhuva is often

found in semi-nominal sentences (as the verbal member of the predi-

cate): 170, 30 sayatno babhaoa ; at the end of a fable or of a pericope:

177, 17; 178, 3 phaia sa kU i b abh fl -v u iy ,; 165, 26; the forms are durative.

The perf. periphr. is met with at the end of a fable: 177, 2.As regards the indic. pro pass., it is intrans.: 183, 18 vidaryate; 184,

28 pa ric iy a te ; 187. 2 vidyatc; 168, 4 yujyate; 162, 27 prastuy ate; 1 77,

24 iruyate "one could hear'"; it is courteous, at times it is a way of

avoiding addressing somebody right out: 27 deva yad i k iyad dhanopa-

k !( 1 )' a /J k r iy a te ta dii ... ; 179, 14; 186, 28; I89, 26; 160, 31 ucyate "it



RE:,IARKS 0::1' THE SAXSKRIT PASSIVE

says" and 177, 8 eVa1 !L ,~rit 'Yate introduce stanzas; d. r83, 27; with an

instr. ag o 162, 7 tan maya nUit!l graha :y it u1 J l s a k' j! an te ; 188, 8 in an

emotional exclamation, when the patiens is the therna of the sentence:

aha mahad li.icaryam. pak~ ibhy{i} !z kftnna(~ samuhyate ; atha '" dadhi

'Z/{ira1!L vara1Jl tena k ak en o kh ad 'y ate (here this form seems to bring

out the condition of the sour milk).

The pass. imper, is often courteous: 171, 16 etc.; it may include

the person speaking: "we": 180, 7; it is more 'general': 187, 29; it

occurs in formulas: 181, 2 , ~ ri l/ j' a tam ; one may use it when speaking to

an inferior: 185, 25: an imp. act. is, on the contrary, addressed to a

king: I75, 5 (dN!i/)yasadar]l huru, stereotype formula); 24. With an

instr. ag o the imper. pass. seems to sound dignified or official: 175, 20;

st. I91 +. A mere tendency to vary the style without any other motive

for using this form and not another, is rarely to be found. It wouldappear to me that the use of the gerundive, e.g., is sometimes rather

due to emotional motives than to the above tendency: 180, 9 kim aham

n ir ba la li, mama grhti'Z)Qsthittiny a~l(Jani samlldre1J6.palzartav:yani; 188, 6

kim ah os» a jiia ~z! na k in ~ a pi 11wya vaktm.J 'yam. It is only in the intro-

ductory formulas that the author has freely chosen various verbal

forms on a large scale: briUe, uhiarn + ag., azadat, aha} abraott etc.

Vetaiapancavil!lsatik6 b'y Sivadasa.

The prose recension of the Vetalapaficavimsatika by Sivadasa 66 is,

from the point of view of the verbal forms, an interesting text. Theauthor of it has a decided !predilection for the verbal adjective. In

the introduction and the first story (.p. 5, 1-12, 12, the stanzas left out

of account) the v. adj. is used 128 X in the narrative (55 X without

an instr. ag o and without as-, r X with as-, 25 X with an instr. ag.,

moreover, 8 X neutral; 1 1 ,k ta 'J ? 1 c a etc., 39 X neutral + instr. ag.:

f'iijiioktam etc.) and 45 X in the dialogues (or. dir.: 1 9 X without an

instr. ag.; 16 X with an instr. ag., IX with as-, I X neutr, with as-,

3 X neutr. without as- or instr. ag., 5 X neutr. with instr. ag.). In

the narrative 'there are no other passive forms, in the dialogues we

find: iridic. pro 6; imper. 2, gerund. II (3 without ag., 6

+instr. ag.,

I+ gen. ag., 1 : + vartate) =19. In the narrative parts there are 15

active forms: indic, pr. 7, perf. 4, -tauant- 3, aor. I; in the dialogues

53: indic, pro 24, imper, 14. fut. 15. In the or. dir, the v. adj. is as

goo4..asalways expressive of th e actual past; sastre kathitam asti 5,

. t ' I i J Vetaap. $i, H. Uhle,. Abh. K. Morgen! . 8, I. (1881).



TEXTS 47

, ". . " "8 8 - hit ". .3-1-.iowever means 111 tne S. It says ; ,I murc I 0 Sl. 15 a semi-nom.

sentcnce : 9, :28; IO, 40 ... anurakt« s a are nom. sent. This form is also

used when the person speaking relates events that have taken place in

the immediate past: 8, 20; 36; II, 20 adva ... tacan maj'ti dr.Jttl~...

9;'!:iti.'Ci pradho.'vito 'ham ... iasaJ!t m adh'j'e '" e kti tr isul ena tii4ita

. . , uast rebharon tini patit(Mi, tada ma'jI( i grhWini. In the other parts

of the text the v, adj. either expresses the narrative past or serves as

a n in tr od uc to ry formula before a stanza etc. In the second member

of a Jt17.!at + in dic. p r. , tiiuat ... sentence the v. adj. is constantly

round: 8, 9; IO; IO, 36. The active forms, to be found in the narrative

parts, are: asti 5 . 9 and 7, 30 at the beginning of a story (timeless

present) ; 5. 28 prafyalzaJ!i darSanGJ!1 karoti (durative and periphrasti-

cal, at the end of a pericope, before ekasmin divase) ; asti "finds him-

self" in a series of short, dramatic sentences 8, I9 "... idanf rJ2 gaccha"sa l l i~kiisit(i. c1gatti s ii dunnukhi, ya tn» ' l' aj ak zmzii ro 1ti ; moreover, 3

i n d o pr, after yiivat (see above), The aorist aqamat, occurring in the

same context, 9, 20 is narrative. The perfect jagama 9, 40 is placed at

the end of a pericope dadrsatc 7. 33 before a stanza; babMiva 5, 32 in

a semi-nom. sent.: 9, 45 the same form seems to serve as a means

to yary the style: ... d ars an am sa 1!zjiia tam; ... kUj(a la pr as na ,~ c a b ab hfl,-

1. 'a . Like the above dattauan 5, 26; the other -tcuont-icsxm are also

narrative, In the or. dir. the indic, pro is either duro or mod.-fut., some-

times (6 , 9 kim abhila?osi) it is a real 'present'. Ind. pro pass. 9, 6; 22;

30 vid~vate (intrans.); 9, JZ; 33 ko 's'J'a da1:uj.a~krisate is 'general' andmodal, "what punishment ought she to receive?"; d. 9, 29. The imper.

pass. is courteous 5, 34; 7, 29 srf i) 'ata1'1t (to a king), but the act. imper.

is also used when a king is addressed (e.g. 6, 35). Friends use the

latter form.

f l , g Z ' i . . ' d a .

From the Rgveda I collected the present-forms in ~ya- 'pass.' men-

tioned in Delbriick's Syntax 6'7, Grassmann's Worterbuch and Avery's

Contributions 68, There are 191 in dic, fo rm s (I pers . sg. I, 2 sg. 38,

3 sg. 1 .3 9,3 du o I, I pl. I, 3 pl, II 69).They ar e often intrans.: 5,54,12 sam a cy an ta "crumble down"; 6, 2, 8 ajyase "lasst du treiben dich"

(Grassmann, R.-V. iibers.) : 5,21, 2 i d h - : y a s e "flare up"; d. 8, 6, 30;

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