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Lesson 1

Sounds | Words

The sounds

Sanskrit sounds have been classified as a syllabary. They can be written through many alternative

scripts: at present, the most popular is devanāgarī, also used for Hindī or Nepālī. Other important

scripts like rañjanā are still in use, although, for the most, only regionally. In the beginning, we will be

using roman script, introducing devanāgarī through a gradual approach.

a ā i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ e ai o au | svarāḥ | vowels

aṁ | anusvāraḥ | aḥ | visargaḥ |

ka kha ga gha ṅa | kāṇṭhyāḥ | gutturals

ca cha ja jha ña | tālavyāḥ | palatals

ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa | mūrdhanyāḥ | retroflex

ta tha da dha na | dantyāḥ | dentals

pa pha ba bha ma | oṣṭhyāḥ | labials

ya ra la va | antaḥsthāḥ | semivowels

śa ṣa sa ha | ūṣmāṇaḥ | sibilants

kṣa jña

The syllables are ordered according to certain characteristics of their pronunciation. The first line ( a ā

i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ e ai o au ) includes all vowels, and the two possible modifications of anusvāra (aṁ)

and visarga (aḥ). The second line (ka kha ga gha ṅa) includes all the sounds produced by stopping the

air at the level of the throat; the stops in the third line (ca cha ja jha ña) are produced in the soft palate;

those in the fourth (ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa) are pronounced by stopping the air with the tip of the tongue

touching the hard palate, pointing towards the brain; the next line (ta tha da dha na) are dentals, while

the last groups of stops (pa pha ba bha ma) employs the lips. The semivowels (ya ra la va) are similar to

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the main vowel sounds (i ṛ ḷ u respectively). Aspirates follow, and then come the two conjunct

consonants kṣa and jña (whose pronunciation differs according to region).

Sanskrit words

Sanskrit classifies words according to their endings. These can indicate either nouns or verbs. Other

parts of speech, as long as they do not end as nouns or verbs, are not considered words.

The nouns’ endings are called sup, the verbal endings are called tiṅ: a word is whatever ends in sup or

tiṅ (sup-tiṅ-antaṁ padam).

The following are all examples of nouns (words ending in sup):

buddhaḥ | the Buddha

rāmeṇa | by Rāma

bhagavān | the Blessed One

saṅghena | by the assembly, with the assembly

bodhisattvasya | of the Bodhisattva

etat | this

mahatā | by the great…

samāsāt | in brief

samāpannaḥ | reached

The actual translation could change according to context, since the endings express the function of the

word only in relation to other elements in the sentence: in particular, nouns gain their function in

relation to the word expressing an action. ‘Nouns’ here covers adjectives (like mahatā) pronouns (like

etat) and past participles (like samāpannaḥ) as well.

These are verbal forms (words ending in tiṅ):

viharati | (someone) dwells

avocat | (someone) said

kathayiṣyāmi | (I) will tell

yāti | (someone)goes, reaches

gacchanti | (they) go

agacchat | (someone) went

The verbal endings tell us the person (she, you, I), number (you vs. you two or you plural, I vs. we two

or we plural, she vs. the two of them or they plural) and tense (present, past, etc.) or mood (indicative,

subjunctive, etc.). They do not depend on nouns and can express a full sentence, since in Sanskrit there

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is no need to express the personal pronouns (you, she, we, they) in order to understand the person and

number: a verbal form can be considered a full sentence.

Nouns and verbs must concord. If the verbal ending indicates plural, the noun that expresses the agent

will be in the plural:

rāmāḥ gacchanti | Many Rāmas go

rāmaḥ gacchati | Rāma goes

bhagavantaḥ viharanti | The Blessed Ones dwell

bhagavān viharati | The Blessed One dwells

If the verbal ending indicates first person (called ‘best person’ in Sanskrit) the agent must be a pronoun

in the first person, and so on for the second (‘middle person’) and third (‘first person’):

aham kathayiṣyāmi | I will tell

sā kathayiṣyati | she will tell

Dharmasaṅgraha study

Dharma-saṅgraha means a ‘Compendium of Dharma’; it is a short text, attributed to Nāgārjuna, and

constituting a sort of small dictionary of terms related to Buddhism. In particular, the work lists

dharmas within the framework of Vaibhāṣika Abhidharma, adding lists from Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna

categories as well. It is a list of lists.

We will study the Dharmasaṅgraha only selectively, concentrating on certain basic lists, and

occasionally not following the order in which they are found in the actual text.

namo ratnatrayāya | ratnatrayaṁ namaskṛtya sarvasattvahitodayam | kathyate mohanāśāya dharmasārasamuccayaḥ ||

namo ratnatrayāya means ‘Homage to the Three Jewels’. The rest is a verse of praise, of the type

usually placed at the beginning of a work:

Having bowed (namaskṛtya) to the Three Jewels (ratna-trayaṁ), which are the source (udaya) of

benefit (hita) for all living beings (sarva-sattva),

A compendium (samuccayaḥ) about the essence of Dharma (dharma-sāra) is told (kathyate) in order to

destroy delusion (moha-nāśāya).

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At this stage, obsviously, we have not studied enough grammar to understand why the words in the

verse acquire specific meanings within the sentence; hence, for the time being, just try to remember the

overall sense of this verse (and memorize it).

tatra prathamaṁ tāvat trīṇi ratnāni | tadyathā 1. buddhaḥ 2. dharmaḥ 3. saṅghaś ceti |

tatra | in that context || prathamam | first || tāvat | then || trīṇi ratnāni | the Three Jewels || tadyathā | It (is)

as follows: || buddhaḥ | the Buddha || dharmaḥ | the Dharma || saṅghaḥ | the Saṅgha || ca | and || iti | this

particle has a function similar to the inverted commas; it indicates a quotation ||

In that context, first, the Three Jewels: ‘The Buddha, the Dharma and the Saṅgha’.

I translated ratna as ‘jewel’, but only by approximation; rather, it should means more precisely any

precious substance, as gold, or silver too, can be called ratna.

The Three Jewels are also the refuge (śaraṇa) for Buddhist practitioners, as in the formula:

buddhaṁ śaraṇaṁ gacchāmi | dharmaṁ śaraṇaṁ gacchāmi | saṅghaṁ śaraṇaṁ gacchāmi ||

I go for refuge in the Buddha,

I go for refuge in the dharma,

I go for reguge in he Saṅgha.

Heart Sūtra study

During the first 10 lessons, we will be studying the shorter version of the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtram,

the Heart Sūtra on the Perfection of Wisdom. The shorter version is the basis for the Chinese version

mostly in use, while the longer version is especially popular in the Tibetan tradition. The difference

between the two is mainly in the fact that the longer version includes the context of the teaching,

explaining where the Buddha was residing, and so forth, while the shorter version only contains the

core teaching.

Start by memorizing the first two sentences:

namaḥ sarvajñāya | āryāvalokiteśvarabodhisattvo gambhīrāyāṁ prajñāpāramitāyāṁ caryāṁ caramāṇo vyavalokayati sma |

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In these two sentences, all the words are nouns, except for vyavalokayati sma. If we were to translate very literally the first sentence, it would sound similar to ‘Bowing to the Omniscient One’; it would not sound like a complete sentence; namaḥ means ‘bowing’ and sarvajñāya means ‘to the Omniscient One’. It seems like no action is expressed, hence, it does not look like a complete sentence. In Sanskrit, though, the action is often left unexpressed, whenever it is easy to understand from the context. In this case, we can assume an implied verb like ‘let there be’ (astu, bhavatu). Hence the sentence: Let there be bowing to the Omniscient One. In the second sentence, as it often happens, the main action is expressed by a verb (a tiṅanta word): vyavalokayati sma. When analysing Sanskrit sentences, it is useful to first identify the main action, since all the other elements can be understood as further causes and conditions to help the accomplishment of the main action. Vyavalokayati sma means that someone ‘observed’. The overall meaning of the second sentence would be: The Noble Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva, while practicing the conduct within the profound Perfection of Wisdom, observed (…)

Exercises

i. memorize the syllabary

ii. learn the devanāgarī for: a ā i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ e ai o au aṁ aḥ

अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ॠ ऌ ॡ ए ऐ ओ औ

अं अः iii. memorize: rāmaḥ rāmau rāmāḥ; he rāma he rāmau he rāmāḥ; rāmam rāmau rāmān

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Lesson 2

Nouns | Vibhakti | The word ‘Rāma’ | Concordance between nouns

Nouns

We have seen that the category ‘nouns’ includes substantives, adjectives, pronouns and past participles.

We must remember, though, that these distinctions come from English grammar, and may not apply so

well to Sanskrit. In Sanskrit, the basic distinction is between nouns, whose grammatical gender is fixed

(niyataliṅga) and those who can change their gender (aniyata), the latter often working as qualifiers.

The grammatical gender is to be understood as not necessarily representative of actual gender.

‘Mitram’ is grammatically neuter, but it could refer to a male friend. Many words referring to insentient

objects are grammatically masculine or feminine. Therefore, although there is often a match between

grammatical gender and actual gender, this should not be taken as a rule.

Sanskrit nouns can be masculine, feminine or neuter. They are further classified according to the

ending of their stem. With stem, we mean the basic group of sounds, which is further modified but

common to all the forms a given noun can take. For example, in all the inflected forms: rāmaḥ, rāmeṇa,

rāmāḥ, rāmaiḥ, the stem form would be ‘rāma’. Therefore, the word is said to end in short ‘a’.

Subdivisions by gender and ending give rise to the following table of possibilities (which is not

completely exhaustive, but contains a fairly representative sample):

Masculine Feminine Neuter Ending in Vowel

Ending in Consonant

Ending in Vowel

Ending in Consonant

Ending in Vowel

Ending in Consonant

a rāma c jalamuc ā ramā c vāc a phala C suvāc

i hari t marut i mati j sraj i vāri J asṛj

u guru t pacat ī nadī t sarit u madhu T jagat

ṛ dātṛ t dhīmat u dhenu d sampad ṛ dātṛ T pacat

ai rai n rājan ū vadhū D hṛd

o go ṛ svasṛ N nāman

au glau ai rai N karman

o go

au nau

Moreover, pronouns (sarvanāma, names applicable to all, like ‘I, you, he, one’, etc.) follow a different

set of inflexions, while they can still be divided following the six-fold scheme just given.

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The word ‘Rāma’

The word Rāma is masculine and ends in the short vowel a, the first in the Sanskrit syllabary. What

follows is a model for the possible forms in which all other masculine words ending in short a may be

found.

a-kāra-antaḥ | ending in short a

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

rāma-śabdaḥ | the word ‘rāma’ (Rāma)

Singular Dual Plural

1st Vibhakti rāmaḥ rāmau rāmāḥ

Vocative he rāma he rāmau he rāmāḥ

2nd Vibhakti rāmam rāmau rāmān

3rd Vibhakti rāmeṇa rāmābhyām rāmaiḥ

4th Vibhakti rāmāya rāmābhyām rāmebhyaḥ

5th Vibhakti rāmāt rāmābhyām rāmebhyaḥ

6th Vibhakti rāmasya rāmayoḥ rāmāṇām

7th Vibhakti rāme rāmayoḥ rāmeṣu

In rāmeṇa and rāmāṇāṁ we have ṇa instead of na because of the occurrence of the letter r in the

beginning. This is due to a sandhi rule: I will generally mark when the change of na to ṇa should apply

and when it should not.

Vibhaktis

Vibhaktis are sometimes translated as ‘cases’, in analogy to Latin grammatical terminology (thus:

nominative case, vocative case, accusative case, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive and locative).

Nevertheless, different vibhaktis can indicate the same function, and the same vibhakti can indicate

different functions in different contexts: Sanskrit grammarians make this clearer by employing an

explanatory system, which is not conflated with the names of the vibhaktis. The main functions can be

summarized as follows:

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1

st

: agent of an active sentence; object of a passive sentence

vṛkṣaḥ tiṣṭhati kānane | The tree stands in the forest

2

nd

: object of an active sentence

kusumitā latā vṛkṣaṁ saṁśritā | The flowered creeper hangs on the tree

3

rd

: instrument; agent of a passive sentence

vṛkṣeṇa abhihataḥ gajaḥ nipatitaḥ | The elephant struck by the tree has fallen

4

th

: recipient

vṛkṣāya deyam jalam | Water is to be given to the tree

5

th

: the point of departure; the origin or cause

vṛkṣāt ānaya mañjarīm abhinavām | Bring the new sprout from the tree

6

th

: connection between two substantives

vṛkṣasya śākhā unnatā | The branch of the tree is tall

7

th

: the substratum of the action, the place or time

vṛkṣe nīḍam idam kṛtam śakuninā | On the tree, this nest was made by the bird

Vocative: this is considered a subdivision of the first, not a vibhakti of its own. It serves to address

someone

he vṛkṣa kiṁ kampase | Oh tree, why do you shake?

Please remember that the usage of a certain preposition in English (like by, to, in, and so forth) is a

matter of idiom and cannot be taken as a regular one-to-one correspondence with the seven Vibhaktis;

we cannot always translate the 3

rd

Vibhakti with ‘by…’, or the 7

th

with ‘in…’: we must be attentive to

the context.

Concordance between nouns

Nouns often qualify other nouns, either as adjectives, participles, appositions or predicates. In all these

cases, they must concord in gender, number and vibhakti. This is especially important in Sanskrit, since

often the copula ‘is’ (bhavati), or even other verbs are left unexpressed:

rāmaḥ āgataḥ | rāma (has) arrived

vṛkṣasya śākhā unnatā | the branch of the tree (is) tall

rāmāḥ unnatāḥ | Rāmas (are) tall

vṛkṣau unnatau | the two trees (are) tall

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gajau āgatau | the two elephants (have) arrived

rāmasya sundare gṛhe tuṣṭā sītā | in Rāma’s beautiful house Sītā (is) happy

None of these sentences contains a verbal form, yet a verb must be provided in translation.

Study the following examples 1a. The 1st Vibhakti representing the agent (active contruction) rāmaḥ phalaṁ khādati || Rāma eats the fruit. Here, the word rāmaḥ is in the 1st Vibhakti singular. It represents the agent, the one who performs the action of eating (khādati). bhagavān buddhaḥ rājagṛhe viharati sma || The Buddha, the Blessed One, was dwelling in Rājgir. Here, the word buddhaḥ and the word bhagavān are both in the 1st Vibhakti singular. Their ending is not the same, because they belong to different types of paradigms, but they are both in the same Vibhakti, number, and gender. They both refer to the same person, who is described as both ‘Awakened’ (buddhaḥ) and ‘Blessed’ (bhagavān). The ‘Buddha, Blessed One’ is the agent, the one who performs the action of dwelling (viharati sma). rāmaḥ gṛhaṁ gacchati || Rāma goes to the house. Here the word rāmaḥ is in the 1st Vibhakti, representing the agent, the one who performs the action of going (gacchati). āryāvalokiteśvaraḥ bodhisattvaḥ etad avocat ||

Noble Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva, said this(…)

āryāvalokiteśvaraḥ and bodhisattvaḥ are both in the 1

st

Vibhakti singular, and they refer to the same

person, who is the Noble Āvalokiteśvara (āryāvalokiteśvaraḥ) and a Bodhisattva (bodhisattvaḥ). This

person is the agent, the one who performs the action of saying (avocat).

rāmaḥ kṛṣṇam paśyati ||

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Rāma sees Kṛṣṇa.

Rāma is in the 1

st

Vibhakti, and represents the agent of the action of seeing (paśyati).

rāmam kṛṣṇaḥ paśyati ||

Kṛṣṇa sees Rāma.

Kṛṣṇa is in the 1

st

Vibhakti, and represents the agent of the action of seeing (paśyati). Please notice

how the order of the words has not changed in the last two sentences; changing the Vibhakti endings is

enough to change the meaning.

devadattaḥ pacati ||

Devadatta cooks.

devadattaḥ is in the 1

st

Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of cooking (pacati).

āryāvalokiteśvarabodhisattvaḥ vyavalokayati sma ||

Noble Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva, observed.

Here āryāvalokiteśvarabodhisattvaḥ is in the 1

st

Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of

observing (vyavalokayati sma).

1b. The 1

st

Vibhakti representing the object of the action (passive construction)

rāmeṇa phalaṁ khādyate || The fruit is eaten by Rāma. Here phalam is in the 1st Vibhakti singular (phalam, being a neuter gender word, has the same ending for the 1st and 2nd Vibhakti). It represents the object of the action of eating (khādyate), the thing which is being eaten by Rāma. bhagavān buddhaḥ praṇamyate ||

The Buddha, the Blessed One, is being bowed to.

Here, both bhagavān and buddhaḥ are in the 1

st

Vibhakti singular, and refer to the same person (the

Buddha, the Blessed One). This person is the object of the action of bowing to (praṇamyate).

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rāmeṇa gṛham gamyate ||

The house is being gone to by Rāma.

Here gṛham (the house) is in the 1

st

Vibhakti singular, representing the object of the action of going to

(gamyate).

devadattena odanam pacyate ||

The rice is being cooked by Devadatta.

Here odanam (rice) is in the 1

st

Vibhakti, representing the object of the action of cooking (pacyate).

2. The 2

nd

Vibhakti as the object of the action (active construction)

Rāmaḥ phalam khādati ||

Rāma eats the fruit.

Here phalam is in the 2

nd

Vibhakti, representing the object of the action of eating (khādati). Because

phalam is a neuter word, the 1

st

and 2

nd

Vibhakti look the same.

Rāmaḥ gṛham gacchati ||

Rāma goes to the house.

gṛham is 2

nd

Vibhakti singular, and is the object of the action of going to (gacchati).

rāmaḥ kṛṣṇam paśyati ||

Rāma sees Kṛṣṇa.

Here kṛṣṇam is in the 2

nd

Vibhakti and represents the object of the action of seeing (paśyati).

rāmam kṛṣṇaḥ paśyati ||

Kṛṣṇa sees Rāma.

Here rāmam is in the the 2

nd

Vibhakti and represents the object of the action of seeing (paśyati). The

meaning does not depend on the order of the words, but on the Vibhakti endings.

devadattaḥ odanam pacati ||

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Devadatta cooks the rice.

Here odanam is in the 2

nd

Vibhakti, representing the object of the action of cooking (pacati). Since

odanam is a neuter word, the 1

st

and 2

nd

Vibhakti look identical. caryām caramāṇaḥ (…)

Practicing the conduct (…)

Here caryām is in the 2

nd

Vibhakti, representing the object of the action of practicing (caramāṇaḥ). The

action of practicing in this case is expressed by a noun and not by a verb (caramāṇaḥ, a present active

participle meaning ‘someone who is practicing’).

Dharrmasaṅgraha study

trīṇi yānāni | tadyathā 1. śrāvakayānam 2. pratyekabuddhayānam 3. mahāyānaṁ ceti |

trīṇi yānāni | Three Vehicles || śrāvaka-yānam | Hearers’ Vehicle || pratyeka-buddha-yānam || Solitary

Buddha Vehicle || mahā-yānam | Great Vehicle || ca | and || iti | marking quotaion ||

The Three Vehicles: ‘Hearers’ Vehicle, Solitary Buddha Vehicle and Great Vehicle’.

Yāna is a means of conveyance, and here it refers to a path to liberation. There are three possible paths

for a Buddhist practitioner, the first two aiming at liberation, and the third at both liberation and

omniscience (an exclusive quality of complete Buddhas). Pratyeka is a word made by the particle prati, which has the sense of ‘severally’ and eka meaning ‘one’; hence, approximatively, it is translated as

‘solitary’ (pratyekabuddhas, unlike śrāvakas, do not need to hear the Dharma from others). An

alternative name for the Mahāyāna is Bodhisattvayāna.

pañca skandhāḥ | 1. rūpam 2. vedanā 3. saṁjñā 4. saṁskāraḥ 5. vijñānaṁ ceti |

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pañca skandhāḥ | The five aggregates || rūpam | form || vedanā | sensation || saṁjñā | notion || saṁskāraḥ

| formation || vijñānam | consciousness || ca | and || iti | marking quotation ||

The five aggregates: ‘form, sensation, notion, formation, and consciousness.’

The five aggregates are a very common way in which Buddhist thought categorises all existing things

(all the dharmas).

Heart Sūtra study

pañca skandhāṁs tāṁś ca svabhāvaśūnyān paśyati sma ||

Here only paśyati sma is a verb. It means that someone ‘saw’. The one who saw is the same as the

agent of the previous sentences, the Noble Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva.

pañca, skandhān, tān, svabhāvaśūnyān, are all in the 2

nd

Vibhakti plural, and all refer to the same

thing, being the object of the action of seeing: the five aggregates (pañca skandhān), and them (tān ca)

as being empty of essence (svabhāvaśūnyān). The words look different when they are written one after

another, hence at this stage you need (a teacher’s) help to recognize their original forms. The overall

meaning of the sentence would be:

He saw the five aggregates, and those as empy of essence.

Exercises

i. learn the devanāgarī for ka kha ga gha ṅa, ca cha ja jha ña

क ख ग घ ङ च छ ज झ ञ

ii. memorize the word rāma, and the sections of Dharmasaṅgraha and Heart Sūtra

iii. write the declension of: buddha (without change of n), saṅgha, avalokiteśvara (n changes to

ṇ)

iv. translate: to the Buddha | of Avalokiteśvara | by Rāma | by two Rāmas | to the Buddhas |

from two Rāmas | to Avalokiteśvara | of the tall trees | on the trees | to the saṅgha | from

the saṅghas |

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Lesson 3

The verb | Bhavati | Concordance of verb and noun | 10 lakāras | Sandhi

The verb

Verbs are words ending in verbal suffixes (tiṅ).

Sanskrit grammarians abstracted certain recurrent elements in all the verbal formations, and called

these dhātus (verbal roots). For example, in

bhavati, abhavat, abhūt, bhavet

the recurrent element would be bhū, which constitutes the root, from which all the actual forms can be

derived. Often the root undergoes phonetic changes before the endings are added. In the case of bhū, it

turns to bho, then bho+a=bhava. The endings are then added to bhava:

bhava + ti = bhavati, bhava + si = bhavasi, and so forth.

Because of these changes, the root may not be immediately recognizable, if we look at the actual forms.

Verbal endings can specify three persons and three numbers:

prathamapuruṣa means ‘first person’ and corresponds to the English third person ‘He, she, it’;

madhyamapuruṣa means ‘middle person’ and corresponds to the English second person ‘You’;

uttamapuruṣa means ‘best person’ and corresponds to the English first person ‘I, we’.

The three numbers are, like for the nouns, singular, dual and plural.

Bhavati (laṭ)

If we take the present tense of the verb bhū (to be, to exist, to become), we have the following table:

Ekavacana (singular) dvivacana (dual) bahuvacana (plural)

prathamapuruṣa bhavati bhavataḥ bhavanti

madhyamapuruṣa bhavasi bhavathaḥ bhavatha

uttamapuruṣa bhavāmi bhavāvaḥ bhavāmaḥ

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Concordance of verb and noun

Since the endings themselves specify the person and number, there is no need to express the subject

through a pronoun. Sanskrit grammarians consider that, in the active construction, the verbal ending

itself expresses the agent: when we add a noun, this expands upon what the ending expresses, and must

accord with it in person and number. For example, in rāmaḥ bhavati (Rāma is) both rāmaḥ and bhavati

are singular and prathamapuruṣa. In rāmāḥ bhavanti (Rāmas are) both the words are plural. In ahaṁ

bhavāmi (I am) both the terms are singular and uttamapuruṣa (‘best person’, the same as the English

‘first person’).

This agreement of verb and noun allows identifying the agent of an active sentence irrespective of the

actual word order. This is an important feature of Sanskrit in general: since word-endings tell us a lot

about the function of a word in a sentence, word order is extremely flexible. Whether I say

i. rāmaḥ phalam khādati | ii. phalaṁ khādati rāmaḥ | iii. khādati phalaṁ rāmaḥ |

or any other option, the meaning remains ‘Rāma eats the fruit’. This is because the ending of rāmaḥ and

the ending of khādati concord. Despite this flexibility, (i.) represents the favored word order.

10 lakāras

Besides specifying person and number, verbal endings can express different tenses and moods: Sanskrit

grammarians call the endings by the technical term lakāra (meaning, the letter ‘la’) and name 10

different groups of lakāras ( plus leṭ occurring only in the Veda), as follows:

lakāra and function English name example(3rdsingular)

laṭ (vartamānaḥ | present) present bhavati

liṭ (parokṣabhūtaḥ | past events not witnessed) perfect babhūva

luṭ (anadyatanabhaviṣyan | future beyond today) first future bhavitā

lṛṭ (bhaviṣyan | future) second future bhaviṣyati

leṭ (vede | for the Veda) (only in the Veda)

loṭ (ājñā | orders) imperative bhavatu

laṅ (anadyatanabhūtaḥ | past beyond today) imperfect abhavat

vidhiliṅ (vidhiḥ | injunctions) potential bhavet

āśīrliṅ (āśīḥ | benedictions) benedictive bhūyāt

luṅ (bhūtaḥ | past) aorist abhūt

lṛṅ (kriyāniṣpattau | unaccomplished action) conditional abhaviṣyat

A traditional verse summarizes the main uses of the various lakāras:

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laṭ vartamāne leṭ vede bhūte luṅ-laṅ-liṭas tathā |

vidhyāśiṣos tu liṅ-loṭau luṭ-lṛṭ-lṛṅ ca bhaviṣyati ||

laṭ is used for the present;

leṭ in the Veda;

luṅ, laṅ and liṭ are used for the past;

liṅ and loṭ are used for injunction and benediction;

luṭ, lṛt and lṛṅ are used for the future.

Sandhi

Sandhi means a juncture, and it refers to the joining together of two sounds: when two letters come in

succession, one or both may change. The changes make the sounds more similar to each other, making

them easier to pronounce together. This is a common feature of most spoken languages, but these

changes are not necessarily represented in writing: written English, for example, does not express

sandhi. Sanskrit grammarians regularized the possible changes through a set of rules, and the written

language records the changes quite precisely.

What this means, though, is that the same word may appear in different forms, according to the sounds

that follow and precede it. For example, the sentence vṛkṣaḥ tiṣṭhati kānane (the tree stands in the

forest) would actually appear as vṛkṣas tiṣṭhati kānane. This is because aḥ, followed by t, changes into

as. In the beginning, not being familiar with the way in which word-endings may change, this can make

it more difficult to recognize the words. Therefore, I will introduce sandhi gradually.

Many phonetic changes depend upon vowel gradation. In brief, each vowel has three degrees: basic,

guṇa, and vṛddhi. Guṇa and vṛddhi are obtained by adding short a to the vowel, which modifies the

sound:

Basic: a i u ṛ ḷ

Guṇa: a e o a(r) a(l)

Vṛddhi: ā ai au ā(r) ā(l)

If we look at the second sentence of the Heart Sūtra, we can identify some changes due to sandhi:

āryāvalokiteśvarabodhisattvo gambhīrāyāṁ prajñāpāramitāyāṁ caryāṁ caramāṇo vyavalokayati sma | Without these changes due to sandhi, the same sentence would look as follows: āryāvalokiteśvarabodhisattvaḥ gambhīrāyām prajñāpāramitāyām caryām caramāṇaḥ vyavalokayati sma |

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Study the following examples 3a. The 3rd Vibhakti as the instrument rāmaḥ hastena phalam khādati ||

Rāma eats the fruit with his hand.

Here hastena is in the 3rd Vibhakti singular, representing the instrument, which helps Rāma in the action of eating (khādati).

rāmeṇa hastena phalam khādyate ||

The fruit is eaten by Rāma, with his hand.

Here hastena is in the 3rd Vibhakti singular, representing the instrument, which helps Rāma in the action of eating (khādyate). The first sentence was in active construction, while the second is passive,

but the Vibhakti representing the instrument does not change (it remains the 3

rd

). There is one more

noun in the 3

rd

Vibhakti, rāmeṇa, but it does not represent the instrument. It represents the agent, because the sentence is passive. In this case, we understand which one is the agent and which one is the

instrument by relying upon the meaning of the words, not just thanks to their Vibhakti: Rāma is more

suitable to be the agent of eating, while his hand makes more sense as the instrument.

devadattaḥ agninā odanam pacati ||

Devadatta cooks the rice with fire.

Here agninā is 3

rd

Vibhakti, representing the instrument that helps Devadatta in accomplishing the

action of cooking (pacati).

3b. The 3

rd

Vibhakti as the agent (passive construction).

rāmeṇa phalam khādyate ||

The fruit is eaten by Rāma.

Here rāmeṇa is in the 3

rd

Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of eating (khādyate).

rāmeṇa gṛham gamyate ||

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The house is gone to by Rāma.

Here rāmeṇa is in the 3

rd

Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of going to (gamyate).

bhagavān buddhaḥ praṇamyate janaiḥ || The Buddha, the Blessed One, is bowed to by the people. Here janaiḥ is in the 3

rd

Vibhakti plural, representing the agent of the action of bowing to

(praṇamyate).

rāmeṇa kṛṣṇaḥ dṛśyate ||

Krṣṇa is seen by Rāma.

Here rāmeṇa is in the 3

rd

Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of seeing (dṛśyate).

rāmaḥ kṛṣṇeṇa dṛśyate ||

Rāma is seen by Kṛṣṇa.

Here kṛṣṇeṇa is in the 3

rd

Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of seeing (dṛśyate). Again, the

meaning changes due to change in Vibhakti, not due to any modification in the order of the words.

devadattena odanam pacyate ||

The rice is being cooked by Devadatta.

Here devadattena is in the 3

rd

Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of cooking (pacyate).

4. The 4

th

Vibhakti as the recipient of the object of actions of giving

rāmaḥ kṛṣṇāya phalam dadāti ||

Rāma gives a fruit to Kṛṣṇa,

Here kṛṣṇāya is in the 4

th

Vibhakti, representing the recipient, the one who receives the object of the

action of giving (dadāti).

rāmāya kṛṣṇaḥ phalam dadāti ||

Kṛṣṇa gives the fruit to Rāma.

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Here rāmāya is in the 4

th

Vibhakti, representing the recipient, the one who receives the object of the

action of giving (dadāti). The change in meaning, once again, depends upon the change in the Vibhakti,

not on word-order.

rāmeṇa kṛṣnāya phalam dattam ||

The fruit has been given to Kṛṣna by Rāma.

Here kṛṣṇāya is in the 4

th

Vibhakti, representing the recipient, the one who receives the object of the

action of giving (dattam). Dattam is actually a noun (i.e. a subanta), but since it is a past participle it is

sufficient to indicate the main action. Since the sentence is in the passive construction, the agent is

represented by the 3

rd

Vibhakti (rāmeṇa); but the 4

th

Vibhakti is still used for the recipient.

Dharmasaṁgraha study

dvādaśāyatanāni | 1. cakṣuḥ 2. śrotram 3. ghrāṇam 4. jihvā 5. kāyaḥ 6. manaāyatanam 7. rūpam 8. śabdaḥ 9. gandhaḥ 10. rasaḥ 11. sparśaḥ 12. dharmāyatanaṁ ceti |

dvādaśa-āyatanāni | Twelve entrances || cakṣuḥ | eye || śrotram | ear || ghrāṇam | smell || jihvā | tongue ||

kāyaḥ | body || manaāyatanam | the mind-entrance || rūpam | form || śabdaḥ | sound || gandhaḥ | smell ||

rasaḥ | flavor || sparśaḥ | touch || dharma- āyatanam | the dharma-entrance || ca | and || iti | marking

quotaion ||

The twelve entrances: ‘Eye, ear, sense of smell, tongue, body, mind-entrance, form, sound, smell, flavor, touch, and the dharma-entrance’. The twelve entrances are an alternative way to classify all the dharmas; while the classification

according to five aggregates emphasizes the analysis of nāma (lit. ‘name’, referring to mind and mental

derivatives), the twelve entrances focus on the analysis of rūpa (form). When the word rūpa appears in

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the list of five aggregates it has a broader meaning of anything, which is an object of mind (hence,

visible form, sound, smell, flavor and touch is also rūpa) and also, the organs of sense apart from mind

itself (the eye, the ear, the sense of smell, the tongue, the body, are all types of sensitive or ‘clear’ form,

rūpaprasāda). When rūpa appears in the list of twelve entrances, it has the more restricted meaning of

visible form, being the object of the eye-sense. The twelve entrances are divided into internal (the six

sense-organs) and external (their objects). The mind orgain can take any dharma as its object.

Heart Sūtra study

iha śāriputra rūpaṁ śūnyatā śūnyataiva rūpam | rūpān na pṛthak śūnyatā śūnyatāyā na pṛthag rūpam | yad rūpaṁ sā śūnyatā yā śūnyatā tad rūpam ||

iha, śāriputra, rūpam, śūnyatā, śūnyatā, eva, rūpam | rūpāt, na, pṛthak, śūnyatā, śūnyatāyāḥ, na, pṛthak,

rūpam | yat, rūpam, sā, śūnyatā, yā, śūnyatā, tat, rūpam ||

Here, Śāriputra, form is emptiness and emptiness is itself form. Emptiness is not apart from form, and form is not apart from emptiness. What is form, that is emptiness, what is emptiness, that is form. iha, śāriputra, rūpam, śūnyatā The first sentence has a very simple structure: rūpam is in the 1

st

Vibhakti, and so is śūnyatā, hence all

the sentence does is to identify the two (form is emptiness, although the verb is not expressed in

Sanskrit). Iha means ‘here’ or ‘in this context’.

śūnyatā, eva, rūpam | The eva is a particle indicating either emphasis, or delimiting something; rāma eva, could mean ‘Rāma

only’, or ‘Rāma himself’.

rūpāt, na, pṛthak, śūnyatā, śūnyatāyāḥ, na, pṛthak, rūpam |

Pṛthak is an indeclinable, meaning ‘separate’ or ‘apart from’ and always takes the 5

th

Vibhakti; hence,

rūpāt (5th

Vibhakti) and śūnyātāyāḥ (5

th

Vibhakti).

yat, rūpam, sā, śūnyatā, yā, śūnyatā, tat, rūpam || yat and sā, and also, yā and tat, are used to make relative clauses, a construction that we will discuss in

greater detail later in this grammar.

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Exercises

i. Learn the devanāgarī for ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa, ta tha da dha na, pa pha ba bha ma

ट ठ ड ढ ण | त थ द ध न | प फ ब भ म

ii. Memorize bhavati (present).

iii. Complete with the appropriate forms of bhū/bhavati and translate: rāmāḥ … | vṛkṣau … |

buddhaḥ ... | rāmaḥ … | avalokiteśvarau … | bodhisattvāḥ … | aham … ||

iv. Translate: The tree exists. | (You two) exist. | (We) exist. | (He) exists. | Two Rāmas exist. |

(I) exist. | The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara exists. ||

v. Memorize: laṭ vartamāne leṭ vede bhūte luṅ-laṅ-liṭas tathā |

vidhyāśiṣos tu liṅ-loṭau luṭ-lṛṭ-lṛṅ ca bhaviṣyati ||

vi. translate the following (examples of concordance of verb and noun)

rāmaḥ phalam khādati || rāmau phalam khādataḥ || rāmāḥ phalam khādanti || bhagavān buddhaḥ rājagṛhe viharati sma || bhagavantau buddhau rājagṛhe viharataḥ sma || bhagavantaḥ buddhāḥ rājagṛhe viharanti sma || rāmaḥ gṛhaṁ gacchati || rāmau gṛhaṁ gacchataḥ || rāmāḥ gṛhaṁ gacchanti || rāmaḥ kṛṣṇam paśyati || rāmau kṛṣṇam paśyataḥ || rāmāḥ kṛṣṇam paśyanti || rāmam kṛṣṇaḥ paśyati || rāmam

kṛṣṇau paśyataḥ || rāmam kṛṣṇāḥ paśyanti ||

Vocabulary: khād (khādati) | to eat || vihṛ (viharati) | to dwell, to reside || gam (gacchati) | to go to, to

reach || dṛś (paśyati) | to see, to look at ||

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Lesson 4

Phala | Compounds: summary of types | Dvanda type | Bhaviṣyati | Vowel sandhi: iko yaṇ aci

Phala

Neuter nouns ending in short a (like phala, ‘fruit’) resemble closely the declension of masculine nouns

with the same ending (like rāma). Thus, we have:

a-kāra-antaḥ | ending in short a

napuṁsakaliṅgaḥ | neuter gender

phala-śabdaḥ | the word ‘phala’ (fruit)

phalam phale phalāni

he phala he phale he phalāni

phalam phale phalāni

phalena phalābhyām phalaiḥ

phalāya phalābhyām phalebhyaḥ

phalāt phalābhyām phalebhyaḥ

phalasya phalayoḥ phalānām

phale phalayoḥ phaleṣu

The only differences from the masculine forms occur in the first and the second vibhaktis – which

happen to be identical in form.

Compounds

Compounds (samāsa) are a salient feature of Sanskrit: they occur very often and can be several pages

long. When two words join together doing away with their case and number endings, this is called a compound. Even this general description does not cover all compounds: in some of them, frozen case

endings are retained.

A third word may again join, to form a new compound where one of the members is the previous

compound. The sense of the compound depends on how we understand the relationship between its

members. For example, let us take the (hypothetical) English compound ‘Big-Spotted-Cow’; is it a cow

with big spots or is it a big cow with spots? In Sanskrit, the chief difficulty in understanding

compounds is in the interpretation of unexpressed vibhaktis. To help analyzing compounds, Sanskrit

grammarians have classified them into several types: the classification rests on the idea that a

compound is the coming together of two and only two elements.

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tatpuruṣa the second word is the main referent

karmadhāraya subdivision of tatpuruṣa: all members have the same vibhakti

bahuvrīhi a word outside the compound is the main referent

dvigu subdivision of karmadhāraya, the first member being a number

dvandva both words are equally important

avyayībhāva the first word is either an indeclinable, or a name

Dvandva type

Dvandva compounds are the simplest, in the sense that the two words compounded have the same

function and are merely listed: one is neither qualifying nor subordinate to the other. For example

rāmakṛṣṇau | Rāma and Kṛṣṇa

Here there is an equal wish to refer to Rāma and to Kṛṣṇa. It corresponds to the expression

rāmaḥ ca kṛṣṇaḥ ca |

Dvandvas can be subdivided into two types: itaretaradvanda and samāhāradvandva. In the first type

(itaretara), both members are considered in their individual sense, and therefore the compound takes

either the dual or the plural ending, according to the number of things intended by the members:

dhavakam ca khadiram ca chindi | dhavakakhadirau chindhi | cut the dhavaka and khadira trees

vedanā ca saṁjñā ca saṁskārāḥ ca vijñānaṁ ca | vedanāsaṁjñāsaṁskāravijñānāni | feeling, notions,

compositional factors and consciousness |

In the cumulative type (samāhāra) the compound signifies something more specific than the mere

members, and as it conveys a new overall idea, it takes the neuter gender and is singular

(napuṁsakaliṅga, ekavacana):

āhāranidrābhayam | food (āhāra) sleeping (nidrā) and fear (bhayam): this actually refers to animal life.

Bhaviṣyati (lṛṭ) | Future

bhaviṣyati bhaviṣyataḥ bhaviṣyanti

bhaviṣyasi bhaviṣyathaḥ bhaviṣyatha

bhaviṣyāmi bhaviṣyāvaḥ bhaviṣyāmaḥ

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Example:

apriyā na bhaviṣyanti priyo me na bhaviṣyati |

ahaṁ ca na bhaviṣyāmi sarvaṁ ca na bhaviṣyati ||

apriyāḥ | those not dear

na bhaviṣyanti | will not be there

priyaḥ me | my dear one

na bhaviṣyati | will not be there

aham ca | I also

na bhaviṣyāmi | will not be there

sarvaṁ ca | and everything

na bhaviṣyati | will not be there

Vowel sandhi: iko yaṇ aci

iko yaṇ aci || is a sūtra, an aphorism in Pāṇini’s grammar. Here it will be used as a mnemonic device to

remember a type of vowel sandhi.

This is the sense of the sūtra:

ikaḥ | in place of the vowels i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ

yaṇ | we get the semivowels y v r l

aci | when any vowel follows.

We get this meaning because:

ik | is a technical term for i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ

yaṇ | refers to ya ra la va, and

ac | to all the vowels.

If we take the example of sudhī + upāsyaḥ, we have to ascertain the sandhi modifications happening

when the final ī of sudhī and the initial u of upāsyaḥ join together. ī is one of the letters referred to by

the term ik; u is a vowel (ac). Therefore, we have a case where ik is followed by ac. According to iko

yaṇ aci || ik will be substituted with yaṇ. In this case, ī must be substituted by y. Thus

sudhī + upāsyaḥ = sudhy upāsyaḥ

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Study the following examples:

5. The 5

th

Vibhakti as the point of departure

kṛṣṇasya gṛhāt rāmasya gṛham gacchāmi ||

I go from Kṛṣṇa’s house to Rāma’s house.

Here gṛhāt is in the 5

th

Vibhakti, representing the point of departure for the action of going (gacchāmi).

kṛṣṇasya gṛham rāmasya gṛhāt gacchāmi |

I go from Rāma’s house to Kṛṣṇa’s house.

Here gṛhāt is in the 5

th

Vibhakti, representing the point of departure for the action of going (gacchāmi). 6. The 6th Vibhakti, connecting two nouns kṛṣṇasya gṛhāt rāmasya gṛham gacchāmi || I go from Kṛṣṇa’s house to Rāma’s house. Here kṛṣṇasya and rāmasya are in the 6th Vibhakti, representing a connection to gṛhāt and gṛham respectively. As it often happens, this connection is in terms of ownership, possession. rāmasya gṛhāt kṛṣṇasya gṛham gacchāmi || I go from Rāma’s house to Kṛṣṇa’s house. Here rāmasya and kṛṣṇasya are in the 6th Vibhakti, representing a connection to gṛhāt and gṛham respectively. Since the 6th Vibhakti represents a connection between nouns, rather than to the main action, its position can be important. In this case, the meaning of the last two sentences changed due to the order of the words. vṛkṣasya phalam khādāmi ||

I eat the fruit of the tree.

Here vṛkṣasya is in the 6

th

Vibhakti, representing a connection to the fruit (phalam).

bhagavān āryāvalokiteśvarasya bodhisattvasya sādhukāram adāt ||

The Blessed One gave out a praise of Noble Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva.

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Here āryāvalokiteśvarasya and bodhisattvasya are both in the 6

th

Vibhakti, representing a connection to

the praise (sādhukāram). In other words, they tell us whose praise it is.

Heart Sūtra study

evam eva vedanāsaṁjñāsaṁskāravijñānāni ||

vedanā-saṁjñā-saṁskāra-vijñānāni is an itaretaradvanda. Since vijñānam is a neuter word, the

compound is in the neuter: and since the sum of the members is plural, it is plural. This is a list of the

four remaining aggregates (skandha) following form (rūpa).

evam means ‘in the same way’, and eva is in this case emphatic; eva can have a more precise sense of

circumscribing, which may be relevant in cases like the senteces we studied in lesson 3 (rūpaṁ śūnyatā

śūnyatā eva rupam), but not so crucial in the present case. It is not always easy to decide the precise

emphasis of certain particles, because their sense often depends from usage and idiom. It is therefore

important to be sensitive to the context.

Overall, the sentence could be translated:

It is just in the same way for feeling, notion, formations and consciousness.

This means that the equation between form and emptiness should extend to the other aggregates as

well. In the translation we had to once more provide a verb, not corresponding to any specific word in

the Sanskrit original.

Dharmasaṅgraha study

aṣṭādaśa dhātavaḥ | 1. cakṣuḥ 2. śrotram 3. ghrāṇam 4. jihvā 5. kāyaḥ 6. manaḥ 7. rūpam 8. śabdaḥ 9. gandhaḥ 10. rasaḥ 11. sparśaḥ 12. dharmadhātuḥ

27

13. cakṣurvijñānam 14. śrotravijñānam 15. ghrāṇavijñānam 16. jihvāvijñānam 17. kāyavijñānam 18. manovijñānadhātuś ceti |

aṣṭādaśa dhātavaḥ | Eighteen Bases || cakṣuḥ | eye || śrotram | ear || ghrāṇam | sense of smell || jihvā | tongue || kāyaḥ | body || manaḥ | mind || rūpam | form || śabdaḥ | sound || gandhaḥ | smell || rasaḥ | flavor ||

sparśaḥ | touch || dharmadhātuḥ | the dharma-base || cakṣurvijñānam | eye-consciousness |

śrotravijñānam | ear-consciousness || ghrāṇavijñānam | smell-consciousness || jihvāvijñānam | tongue-

consciousness || kāyavijñānam | body-consciousness || manovijñānadhātuḥ | the base of mind-

consciousness || ca | and || iti | quotation mark ||

The eighteen bases: ‘Eye, ear, smell, tongue, body, mind, form, sound, smell, flavor, touch, dharma-base, eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, smell-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and the base of mind-consciousness’. Again, all the dharmas are included within the eighteen dhātus; in this case, the analysis regards both

rūpa and nāma.

Exercises:

i. learn the devanāgarī for ya ra la va, śa ṣa sa ha, kṣa, jña

य र ल व श ष स ह

ii. memorize the word phala, memorize bhaviṣyati

iii. memorize iko yaṇ aci and rewrite with sandhi: sādhu + āstheyam | nadī + ante | dātṛ + ālaya |

dadhi + atra | madhu + atra ||

iv. translate: rāmakṛṣṇau bhavataḥ | rūpavedanāsaṁjñāsaṁskāravijñānāni na bhaviṣyanti |

duḥkhasamudayanirodhamārgāḥ bhavanti | bodhisattvaḥ bhaviṣyati | buddhaḥ bhavati |

bodhisattvasya mārgaḥ ||

Vocabulary: rūpa | form || vedanā | sensation || saṁjñā | notion || saṁskāra | compositional factor ||

vijñāna | consciousness || duḥkha | suffering || samudaya | arising || nirodha | cessation || mārga | path ||

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Lesson 5

Ramā | Compounds: tatpuruṣa and karmadhāraya | Abhavat

Ramā

ā-kāra-antaḥ | ending in ā

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

ramā-śabdaḥ | the word ‘ramā’ (Lakṣmī)

ramā rame ramāḥ

he rame he rame he ramāḥ

ramām rame ramāḥ

ramayā ramābhyāṁ ramābhiḥ

ramāyai ramābhyāṁ ramābhyaḥ

ramāyāḥ ramābhyāṁ ramābhyaḥ

ramāyāḥ ramayoḥ ramāṇām

ramāyām ramayoḥ ramāsu

Compounds: tatpuruṣa

In tatpuruṣa compounds the second word is more important, while the first stands in some subordinate

relationship by means of implied vibhakti. The first member modifies the sense of the second member,

which is the focus of the expression. For example:

kulaputraḥ | a son (putra) of noble family (kula)

This can be analyzed as kulasya putraḥ by taking kula as being in the 6

th

vibhakti (genitive).

corabhayam | fear because of a thief

This is analyzed as corāt bhayam with cora as a 5

th

vibhakti (indicating the reason).

Other instances:

duḥkham atītaḥ | gone beyong (atīta) suffering (duḥkha) | duḥkhātītaḥ ||

dhanyena arthaḥ | wealth (artha) by means of crops (dhanya) | dhanyārthaḥ ||

rājñaḥ puruṣaḥ | king’s (rājan) man (puruṣa) | rājapuruṣaḥ ||

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Compounds: karmadhāraya

Karmadhāraya compounds are a subtype of tatpuruṣa. The difference is that in the karmadhāraya both

words have the same vibhakti, and therefore the first member qualifies the second as an adjective, or an

apposition. Pāṇini explains karmadhāraya as samānādhikaraṇaḥ tatpuruṣaḥ, i.e. a tatpuruṣa where the

two members refer to the same substratum. For example:

mahāsattvaḥ | Great (mahān) Being (sattva)

Here this could be analysed as

mahān ca sattvaḥ ca | Great and Being

where both mahān and sattvaḥ are in the first vibhakti.

Other examples:

nīlaṁ ca tadutpalam | blue (nīlam) and the same being a lotus (utpalam) | nīlotpalam ||

ghanaḥ iva śyāmaḥ | dark blue (śyāma) like (iva) a cloud (ghana) | ghanaśyāmaḥ ||

In the last example, the first member is the term of comparison for a simile (upamā).

Abhavat (laṅ) | Imperfect

abhavat abhavatāṁ abhavan

abhavaḥ abhavataṁ abhavata

abhavaṁ abhavāva abhavāma

The imperfect is used for events witnessed by the speaker (although the distinction between the various

past tenses is not so strong in classical Sanskrit). An alternative way of forming the imperfect is by

adding sma to the present tense:

abhavat = bhavati sma

The latter, though, can have the sense of habitual action.

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Study the following examples 7. The 7th Vibhakti as the basis for the action bhagavān rājagṛhe viharati sma || The Blessed One was dwelling in Rājgir. Here rājagṛhe is in the 7th Vibhakti, representing the basis, in terms of a location in space, for the action of dwelling (viharati sma). ekasmin samaye bhagavān rājagṛhe viharati sma || At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in Rājgir. Here ekasmin samaye is in the 7th Vibhakti, representing the basis, in terms of time, for the action of dwelling (viharati sma). devadattaḥ sthālyām odanam pacati || Devadatta cooks the rice in a pot. Here sthālyām is in the 7th Vibhakti, representing the basis, in terms of a location in space, for Devadatta to accomplish the action of cooking (pacati). gambhīrāyām prajñāpāramitāyām caryām caramāṇaḥ (…)

Practicing the conduct within the profound Perfection of Wisdom (…) Here gambhīrāyām and prajñāpāramitāyām are both in the 7

th

Vibhakti, representing the basis, in

terms of a (figurative) place, for the action of practicing (caramāṇaḥ) to take place. 8. The Vocative prajñe devi namaḥ astu te || Oh Wisdom, Goddess, let there be bowing to you! Here both prajñe (wisdom) and devi (goddess) are in the Vocative, and they represent the element which is being called upon directly. lokātīta namaḥ tubhyam ||

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Oh One Gone Beyond the World, let there be bowing to you! Here lokātīta is in the Vocative, representing the One who is being addressed directly. yaḥ kaścit śāriputra kulaputraḥ vā kuladuhitā vā (…) Oh Śāriputra, any Son of Noble Family or Daughter of Noble Family (…) Here śāriputra is in the Vocative, representing someone being addressed.

Heart Sūtra study

iha śāriputra sarvadharmāḥ śūnyatālakṣaṇā anutpannā aniruddhā amalā na vimalā nonā na paripūrṇāḥ |

iha, śāriputra, sarva-dharmāḥ, śūnyatā, alakṣaṇāḥ, anutpannāḥ, aniruddhāḥ, amalāḥ, na, vimalāḥ, na, ūnāḥ, na, paripūrṇāḥ |

This is a relatively simple sentence, where all the dharmas (sarva-dharmāḥ) are described as:

śūnyatā, emptiness; this term is niyataliṅga, fixed gender; therefore, although it describes

sarvadharmāḥ, it concords only in vibhakti (not in gender or number);

a-lakṣaṇāḥ, no-characteristics; it can be understood either to mean that they are not characteristics, or,

perhaps more plausibly, that they do not have characteristics; this is a compound qualifying

sarvadharmāḥ, and therefore it concords in gender and number as well; the same is true for the next

expressions;

an-utpannāḥ, unarisen; utpanna is a past participle, coming from a verb that means ‘to come up, to

arise’; an negates the same;

a-niruddhāḥ, not ceased; niruddha is also a past participle;

a-malāḥ, not stains; mala means a stain, and the negation might either mean that they are not stains, or

that they do not have stains; the word mala in itself has a fixed gender (neuter), but because it is found

in compound functioning as a qualifier, its gender concords with sarvadharmāḥ;

na vi-malāḥ, not without stains; more literally, not without their stains gone; vi-malāḥ can be expanded

as vigata-malāḥ, with the stains completely (vi) gone (gata); gata is the past participle of gam, meaning

to go;

na ūnāḥ, not defective; ūna is aniyataliṅga (of no fixed gender);

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na paripūrṇāḥ, not fulfilled.

We may supply bhavanti as the verb - sarvadharmāḥ bhavanti (all dharmas are…).

sarva-dharmāḥ is itself a compound, a karmadhāraya, wherein the first term sarva (all) has the same

referent as the second term (dharma); what is referred to as ‘all’ is also referred to as ‘dharma’. If we

wished to write the same expression without a compound, it would be sarve dharmāḥ - both terms in

the same vibhakti, gender, and number.

iha is an idenclinable. It can mean most literally ‘here’, but often can have the sense of ‘in this world’,

or, ‘in these respect’ – perhaps the latter meaning is best suited to the context.

śāriputra is a vocative like (he) rāma.

Dharmasaṅgraha study

dvādaśāṅgapratītyasamutpādaḥ | 1. avidyā 2. saṁskārāḥ 3. vijñānam 4. nāmarūpam 5. ṣaḍāyatanam 6. sparśaḥ 7. vedanā 8. tṛṣṇā 9. upādānam 10. bhavaḥ 11. jātiḥ 12. jarāmaraṇaṁ, śokaparidevaduḥkhadaurmanasyopāyāsāś ceti |

dvādaśa-aṅga-pratītyasamutpādaḥ | Dependent arising in twelve parts || avidyā | ignorance || saṁskārāḥ

| factors || vijñānam | consciousness || nāma-rūpam | name and form || ṣaḍ-āyatanam | the six entrances ||

sparśaḥ | contact || vedanā | sensation || tṛṣṇā | craving || upādānam | clinging || bhavaḥ | becoming || jātiḥ

| birth || jarā-maraṇaṁ | decay and death || śoka-parideva-duḥkha-daurmanasya-upāyāsāḥ | grief,

lamentation, pain, depression, and secondary afflictions || ca | and || iti | quotation mark || Dependent arising in twelve parts: ‘Ignorance, factors, consciousness, name and form, six entrances, contact, sensation, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, decay and death, grief, lamentation, pain, depression, and secondary afflictions’.

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Exercises

i. learn the devanāgarī for

ka kā ki kī ku kū kṛ kṝ kḷ ke kai ko kau kaṁ kaḥ

क का क क कु कू कृ कॄ कॢ के कै को कौ कं कः kha khā … ख खा … ga gā … ग गा …

gha ghā… घ घा … ṅa ṅā … ङ ङा ...

ii. memorize the word ramā, memorize abhavat

iii. translate: kulaputrau abhavatām | vṛkṣe śakuniḥ abhavat | we two were in rājgir ||

iv. translate the section of the Heart Sūtra studied in this lesson

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Lesson 6

Hari | Compounds: bahuvrīhi | Bhavatu | Avyaya

Hari

i-kāra-antaḥ | ending in short i

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

hari-śabdaḥ | the word ‘hari’ (Viṣṇu)

hariḥ harī harayaḥ

he hare he harī he harayaḥ

harim harī harīn

hariṇā haribhyāṁ haribhiḥ

haraye haribhyāṁ haribhyaḥ

hareḥ haribhyāṁ haribhyaḥ

hareḥ haryoḥ harīṇām

harau haryoḥ hariṣu

Compounds: bahuvrīhi

Bahuvrīhi compounds refer to a word outside of themselves, which they usually qualify. For example

mañjughoṣaḥ | Soft (mañju) voice (ghoṣa)

refers to someone with a soft voice. It can be understood as

mañjughoṣaḥ puruṣaḥ | a person with a soft voice

and is an epithet (of Mañjuśrī).

Other examples:

mahān bāhuḥ yasya saḥ mahābāhuḥ | the one whose (yasya) arm (bāhuḥ) is great, that person (saḥ) is

called | mahābāhuḥ ||

pītam ambaraṁ yasya saḥ pītāmbaraḥ | the one whose (yasya) garment (ambaram) is yellow (pītam) is

called | pītāmbaraḥ ||

Bhavatu (loṭ) | Imperative

bhavatu (bhavatāt) bhavatām bhavantu

bhava (bhavatāt) bhavatam bhavata

bhavāni bhavāva bhavāma

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Imperative forms are used to express injunctions, advice and so on. The negative imperative is formed

using mā before the verb. The bracketed forms can be optionally used in the sense of a blessing.

Avyaya

Avyayas are parts of speech that are neither declined nor conjugated: except for reasons of sandhi, they

never change their form. As a traditional verse puts it:

sadṛśaṁ triṣu liṅgeṣu sarvāsu ca vibhaktiṣu |

vacaneṣu ca sarveṣu yan na vyeti tad avyayam ||

That which does not change (yat na vyeti), being the same (sadṛśam) in the three genders (triṣu liṅgeṣu)

and in all the vibhaktis (sarvāsu ca vibhaktiṣu) and in all the numbers (vacaneṣu ca sarveṣu), that (tat) is

the avyaya.

Thus, in English they are called indeclinables and correspond to prepositions, postpositions,

conjunctions, interjections, etc. These are some important and common avyayas:

atra | here adya | today adhunā | now api | also, even

katham | how ? kadā | when ? kutra | where ? ca | and (coming after the word)

tatra | there tadā | then punaḥ | again, moreover

prati | towards (with words in the 2

nd

vibhakti) sadā | always eva | only

iti | thus (marker for direct speech, thought, quotation)

Study the following examples

vijñānapratyayaṁ nāmarūpam

Name-and-form has consciousness as its condition.

This is a clear example of a bahuvrīhi compound. vijñāna-pratyayam means ‘something, whose

condition is consciousness’ (vijñānaṁ pratyayaḥ yasya tat); it is a 6

th

Vibhakti bahuvrīhi, indicating

possession. The word pratyaya would in itself be masculine, but since it appears in a compound

qualifying a neuter word (vijñānam) the whole expression becomes neuter.

buddhaḥ sarvajñaḥ bhavati |

The Buddha is omniscient

buddhaḥ eva sarvajñaḥ bhavati

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Only the Buddha is omniscient

āryāvalokiteśvaraḥ bodhisattvaḥ mahāsattvaḥ bhavati

Noble Avalokiteśvarra is a Bodhisattva, Great Being.

āryamaitreyaḥ api bodhisattvaḥ mahāsattvaḥ bhavati

Noble Maitreya is also a Bodhisattva, Great Being.

rūpaṁ ca vedanā ca saṁjñā ca saṁskārāḥ ca vijñānaṁ ca na bhaviṣyanti

Form, feeling, notion, factors, and consciousness will not be there.

rūpaṁ vedanā saṁjñā saṁskārāḥ vijñānaṁ ca na bhaviṣyanti

Form, feeling, notion, factors, and consciousness will not there.

There are two ways to make a list by using the avyaya ca. The first option is to add it to each of the

members in the list; the second option is to add only to the last member.

Heart Sūtra study

tasmāc chāriputra śūnyatāyāṁ na rūpaṁ na vedanā na saṁjñā na saṁskārā na vijñānāni | na cakṣuḥśrotraghrāṇajihvākāyamanāṁsi na rūpaśabdagandharasaspraṣṭavyadharmāḥ | na cakṣurdhātur yāvan na manodhātuḥ ||

tasmāt, śāriputra, śūnyatāyām, na, rūpam, na, vedanā, na, saṁjñā, na, saṁskārāḥ, na vijñānāni | na, cakṣuḥ-śrotra-ghrāṇa-jihvā-kāya-manāṁsi, na, rūpa-śabda-gandha-rasa-spraṣṭavya-dharmāḥ | na, cakṣuḥ-dhātuḥ, yāvat, na, manodhātuḥ ||

tasmāt | therefore || śāriputra | oh śāriputra || śūnyatāyām | within emptiness || na | no || rūpam | form || na

| no || vedanā | feeling || na | no || saṁjñā | notion || na | no || saṁskārāḥ | factors/formations || na | no ||

vijñānāni | consciousnesses || na | no || cakṣuḥ-śtrotra-ghrāṇa-jihvā-kāya-manāṁsi | eye, ear, sense of

smell (nose), tongue, body, mind || na | no || rūpa-śabda-gandha-rasa-spraṣṭavya-dharmāḥ | form,

sound, odour, flavour, touchables, dharmas || na | not | cakṣuḥ-dhātuḥ | base of the eye || yāvat | up to ||

na | no || manas-dhātuḥ | base of mind ||

These lists are the three ways of including all dharmas that we earlier studied from the

Dharmasaṅgraha:

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na rūpaṁ na vedanā na saṁjñā na saṁskārā na vijñānāni

refers to the five aggregates (skandha);

na cakṣuḥśrotraghrāṇajihvākāyamanāṁsi na rūpaśabdagandharasaspraṣṭavyadharmāḥ

refers to the twelve entrances (āyatana);

na cakṣurdhātur yāvan na manodhātuḥ

refers to the eighteen bases (dhātu), by listing only the first and 14

th

.

The general sense of the statement is that, within emptiness, none of these dharmas are to be found.

Dharmasaṅgraha study

catvāry āryasatyāni | tadyathā

1. duḥkham 2. samudayaḥ 3. nirodhaḥ 4. mārgaś ceti ||

The four Noble Truths (or rather, Truths of the Noble Ones); in this way:

1. suffering;

2. arising;

3. cessation;

4. and the path.

Exercises

i. learn the devanāgarī for the ca series and ṭa series with vowels

ii. memorize the word hari

iii. memorize bhavatu

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iv. translate: aham gṛham gacchāmi | buddhaḥ bhagavān tatra viharati sma | itaḥ śūrāḥ api

dhāvanti | he śatro dhāva | bhavatu sarvamaṅgalam | kutra gacchasi ? ||

Vocabulary: aham | I || gṛham | house, home || gam, gacchati | to go || bhagavān | blessed one || tatra |

there, in that place || vi hṛ, viharati | to dwell, to reside || sma | particle to form the past || itaḥ | from

here || śūraḥ | hero || api | even, also || dhāv, dhāvati | to run || śatruḥ | enemy || sarvamaṅgalam | all-

round (sarva) auspiciousness (maṅgala) ||

v. translate: avidyāpratyayāḥ saṁskārāḥ | saṁskārapratyayam vijñānaṁ | vijñānapratyayaṁ

nāmarūpam | nāmarūpapratyayaṁ ṣaḍāyatanam | ṣaḍāyatanapratyayaḥ sparśaḥ |

sparśapratyayā vedanā | vedanāpratyayā tṛṣṇā | tṛṣṇāpratyayam upādānam | upādānapratyayo

bhavaḥ | bhavapratyayā jātiḥ | jātipratyayaṁ jarāmaraṇam ||

Vocabulary: avidyā | ignorance || pratyaya | condition || saṁskāra | formation || vijñānam |

consciousness || nāma-rūpam | name and form || ṣaṭ | six || āyatanam | entrance || sparśa | contact ||

vedanā | sensation || tṛṣṇā | craving || upādānam | clinging || bhava | becoming || jāti | birth || jarā-

maraṇam | decay and death ||

vi. translate the section of the Heart Sūtra you learnt today

39

Lesson 7

Guru | Avyayībhāva | Bhavet | Nadī | Kta (past participle) | Past active participles

Guru

u-kāra-antaḥ | ending in short u

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

guru-śabdaḥ | the word ‘guru’ (teacher)

guruḥ gurū guravaḥ

he guro he gurū he guravaḥ

gurum gurū gurūn

guruṇā gurubhyāṁ gurubhiḥ

gurave gurubhyāṁ gurubhyaḥ

guroḥ gurubhyāṁ gurubhyaḥ

guroḥ gurvoḥ gurūṇām

gurau gurvoḥ guruṣu

The following verse exemplifies the usage of the seven vibhaktis in the singular:

gurur eva gatir gurum eva bhaje guruṇaiva sahāsmi namo gurave |

na guroḥ paramaṁ śiśur asmi guror matir asti gurau mama pāhi guro ||

guruḥ eva gatiḥ | only the Teacher is the way

gurum eva bhaje | I worship only the Teacher

guruṇā eva sahā asmi | I am only with the Teacher

namaḥ gurave | obeisance to the Teacher

na guroḥ paramam | (there is) nothing higher than the Teacher

śiśuḥ asmi guroḥ | I am the Teacher’s child

matiḥ asti gurau mama | my mind is on the Teacher

pāhi guro | protect (me), Teacher

Compounds: avyayībhāva

In this type of compounds, the first member is more important, and the compound itself becomes an

indeclinable (avyaya). The first member is most frequently an indeclinable preposition, but it can also

be a name. Thus

śaktim anatikramya | not exceeding one’s capacity | yathāśakti ||

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harau | in Hari | adhihari ||

ahany ahani | day after day (every day) | pratyaham ||

All these represent instances where the first word is an indeclinable. On the other hand

sūpasya leśaḥ | a small quantity (leśaḥ) of soup | sūpaprati ||

śākasya leśaḥ | a small quantity of vegetables | śākaprati ||

represent cases where the first member is a noun. What can be noticed in these compounds, compared

to the types analyzed so far, is that they cannot be explained merely by using the words that make them

up.

Bhavet (vidhiliṅ) | Potential

bhavet bhavetāṁ bhaveyuḥ

bhaveḥ bhavetaṁ bhaveta

bhaveyaṁ bhaveva bhavema

These forms correspond to the English usages ‘may’, ‘should’ and so on.

Nadī

ī-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ī

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

nadī-śabdaḥ | the word ‘nadī’ (river)

nadī nadyau nadyaḥ

he nadi he nadyau he nadyaḥ

nadīm nadyau nadīḥ

nadyā nadībhyāṁ nadībhiḥ

nadyai nadībhyāṁ nadībhyaḥ

nadyāḥ nadībhyāṁ nadībhyaḥ

nadyāḥ nadyoḥ nadīnām

nadyām nadyoḥ nadīṣu

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Kta (past participles)

In Sanskrit we can find three types of past participles, according to whether the focus of the expression

is on: the object of the action (karmaṇi) || the action itself (bhāve) || the agent (kartari).

The past participle is formed by adding the ending ta (technically called kta) to the verbal root, which is

often slightly modified:

gam + ta | gata smṛ + ta | smṛta bhāṣ + ta | bhāṣita

gata is a declined like rāma in the masculine, ramā in the feminine and phalam in the neuter. It has to

concord in gender, number and vibhakti with the noun it qualifies. Since participles often occur as

qualifiers, their gender is not fixed.

This type of participle is used either in reference to the object (karmaṇi) or in reference to the action

(bhāve):

rāmeṇa khāditam phalam | the fruit (was) eaten by Rāma

rāmeṇa gatam | going was done by Rāma

For certain verbs, this participle can also be used in an active sense (in reference to the agent, kartari).

This is the case for intransitive verbs, or transitive verbs used intransitively (without an object): rāmaḥ

gataḥ | Rāma went.

Past active participles

Usually, though, to form active participles, the ending tavat is used. This is identical to the kta forms,

except for the additional vat. Thus ‘one who went’ is expressed by gatavat, which can be either

masculine, feminine or neuter, taking the following paradigms:

puṁlingaḥ |

gatavān gatavantau gatavantaḥ

he gatavan he gatavantau he gatavantaḥ

gatavantam gatavantau gatavataḥ

gatavatā gatavadbhyām gatavadbhiḥ

gatavate gatavadbhyām gatavadbhyaḥ

gatavataḥ gatavadbhyām gatavadbhyaḥ

gatavataḥ gatavatoḥ gatavatām

gatavati gatavatoḥ gatavatsu

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napuṁsakaliṅgaḥ |

gatavat gatavatī gatavanti

he gatavat he gatavatī he gatavanti

gatavat gatavatī gatavanti

gatavatā gatavadbhyām gatavadbhiḥ

gatavate gatavadbhyām gatavadbhyaḥ

gatavataḥ gatavadbhyām gatavadbhyaḥ

gatavataḥ gatavatoḥ gatavatām

gatavati gatavatoḥ gatavatsu

Strīlingaḥ (feminine) is gatavatī, identical to nadī.

In brief, while kta participles like gata, bhāṣita and so forth can express object, action and only

occasionally the agent, past active participles always and only express the agent.

Active and passive constructions

In English, active construction is more idiomatic; in Sanskrit, on the other hand, passive sentences are

very common.

In an active sentence the action-word refers to the agent:

Rāma eats the fruit.

In a passive sentence the action-word refers to the object:

The fruit is eaten by Rāma.

In Sanskrit, active construction is called kartari prayogaḥ while passive construction is called karmaṇi prayogaḥ: the two names mean ‘usage in reference to the agent’ and ‘usage in reference to the object’

respectively.

There are various ways to form either kartari or karmaṇi prayogaḥ. A common way is to employ

verbal forms (tiṅanta); so far we only learnt active verbs, hence all the sentences made with those verbs

were kartari prayogaḥ (bhavati, gacchati, khādati, viharati, and so forth).

Another way is to employ nouns that express actions, like the participles we just studied. As we have

seen, participles can either refer to the object of the action (like, khāditam phalam, ‘the fruit was

eaten’) or to the agent (like, rāmaḥ khāditavān, ‘Rāma ate’).

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Study the following examples

patram patitam

The leaf (has) fallen

Here patita is used in an active sense. The root pat, meaning ‘to fall’, cannot take an object; this means

that it can never have a passive sense. Therefore, there would be little need to use the form ‘patitavat’,

since patitam itself can never have a passive sense.

evaṁ mayā śrutam

Thus by me (it was) heard.

śrutam is here used passively, in reference to the object (what was heard). The agent is expressed by

the 3

rd

Vibhakti (mayā).

bhagavān samādhiṁ samāpannaḥ The Blessed One entered into absorption.

Here samāpannaḥ is used in an active sense: it refers to the one who enters, and not to that, in which he

enters. A more literal sense of samāpannaḥ is to meet with or undertake, but since the object is

samādhi, it is here translated as ‘entered’.

rāmeṇa khāditam phalam

The fruit (was) eaten by Rāma.

rāmaḥ phalam khāditavān

Rāma ate the fruit.

These two sentences exemplify a clear passive participle (khāditam phalam) and an active one (rāmaḥ

khāditavān). Phalam is in fact the object of the action of eating, while rāmaḥ is the agent.

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Heart Sūtra study

na vidyā nāvidyā na vidyākṣayo nāvidyākṣayo yāvan na jarāmaraṇaṁ na jarāmaraṇakṣayo na duḥkhasamudayanirodhamārgā na jñānaṁ na prāptitvam ||

na, vidyā, na, avidyā, na, vidyā-kṣayaḥ, na, avidyā-kṣayaḥ, yāvat, na, jarā-maraṇam, na, jarā-maraṇa-kṣayaḥ, na, duḥkha-samudaya-nirodha-mārgāḥ, na, jñānam, na, prāptitvam || vidyā | knowledge || avidyā | the converse of vidyā || vidyā-kṣayaḥ | the destruction of vidyā || avidyā-

kṣayaḥ | the destruction of avidyā || yāvat | up to || jarā-maraṇam | decay and death || jarā-maraṇa-

kṣayaḥ | the destruction of decay and death || duḥkha-samudaya-nirodha-mārgāḥ | suffering, arising,

cessation, and the path || jñānam | knowledge, cognition || prāptitvam | obtainment, or, the quality of

obtaining ||

Dharmasaṅgraha study

āryāṣṭāṅgikamārgaḥ |

1. samyagdṛṣṭiḥ 2. samyaksaṁkalpaḥ 3. samyagvāk 4. samyakkarmāntaḥ 5. samyagājījvaḥ 6. samyagvyāyāmaḥ 7. samyaksmṛtiḥ 8. samyaksamādhiś ceti |

The Noble Eightfold Path:

Correct View,

Correct Thought,

Correct Speech,

Correct Action,

Correct Livelihood,

Correct Effort,

Correct Recollection and

Correct Meditation.

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Exercises

i. learn the devanāgarī for the ta series and pa series with vowels

ii. memorize guru, nadī, bhavet

iii. memorize gurur eva gatir…

iv. memorize the sections of the Heart Sūtra and Dharmasaṅgraha studies today

v. translate the section of the Heart Sūtra studied today

vi. translate: gṛhaṁ gatavatī sītā rāmeṇa dṛṣṭā | bhagavān samādhiṁ samāpannaḥ | rāmeṇa hataḥ

rāvaṇaḥ nipatitaḥ ||

Vocabulary: sītā |Sītā, Rāma’s wife || bhagavān | the Blessed One || samāpanna | entered, reached || hata |

struck, hit || rāvaṇa | Rāvaṇa, Rāma’s antagonist | nipatita | fallen ||

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Lesson 8

Dātṛ | Pitṛ | Pati | Babhūva | Ktvā and lyap

Dātṛ

ṛ-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ṛ

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

dātṛ-śabdaḥ | the word ‘dātṛ’ (giver)

dātā dātārau dātāraḥ

he dātaḥ he dātārau he dātāraḥ

dātāraṁ dātārau dātṝn

dātrā dātṛbhyāṁ dātṛbhiḥ

dātre dātṛbhyāṁ dātṛbhyaḥ

dātuḥ dātṛbhyāṁ dātṛbhyaḥ

dātuḥ dātroḥ dātṝṇām

dātari dātroḥ dātṛṣu

Most words ending in ṛ are declined as dātṛ. They often indicate someone who does a certain action:

dātṛ is a giver; kartṛ is a doer, and so on. Words of relation and kin, though, have a slightly different

declension, like pitṛ (that follows).

Pitṛ

ṛ-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ṛ

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

pitṛ-śabdaḥ | the word ‘pitṛ’ (father)

pitā pitarau pitaraḥ

he pitaḥ he pitarau he pitaraḥ

pitaram pitarau pitṝn

pitrā pitṛbhyāṁ pitṛbhiḥ

pitre pitṛbhyāṁ pitṛbhyaḥ

pituḥ pitṛbhyāṁ pitṛbhyaḥ

pituḥ pitroḥ pitṝṇām

pitari pitroḥ pitṛṣu

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Pati

i-kāra-antaḥ | ending in short i

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

pati-śabdaḥ | the word ‘pati’ (master; husband)

patiḥ patī patayaḥ

he pate he patī he patayaḥ

patim patī patīn

patyā patibhyāṁ patibhiḥ

patye patibhyāṁ patibhyaḥ

patyuḥ patibhyāṁ patibhyaḥ

patyuḥ patyoḥ patīnām

patyau patyoḥ patiṣu

The word pati does not follow the regular declension of hari, as some forms are more similar to pitṛ;

however, when coming at the end of a compound, pati is declined like hari.

Babhūva (liṭ) | Past Perfect

babhūva babhūvatuḥ babhūvuḥ

babhūvitha babhūvathuḥ babhūva

babhūva babhūviva babhūvima

This form refers technically to remote past events, not witnessed by the speaker.

Ktvā and lyap

The suffixes ktvā and lyap are used to form a non-finite verbal form sometimes called absolutive in

English. Ktvā (tvā) is used when the root is not preceded by any prefixes: gam + tvā = gatvā. If the root

is preceded by a prefix, lyap (ya) is employed: āgam + ya = āgamya.

These forms precede other verbs and indicate temporal anteriority: rāmaḥ gṛhaṁ gatvā punar atra

āgacchati | ‘Rāma, having gone home, comes here again’. In this sentence, the action which comes first

is ‘having gone home’, and therefore we have gatvā. More specifically, when two (or more) verbs refer

to the same agent, the ones, which indicate a prior action, take ktvā or lyap (they become absolutives).

bhagavān utthāya sādhukāram adāt | The Blessed One, having raised, bestowed praise.

pāpāni kṛtvā api mahābhayāni uttarati | Even having done sins, one crosses over great dangers.

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aśucipratimāṁ gṛhītvā jinaratnapratimāṁ karoti | Having taken an impure frame, it makes it the jewel-frame of a Jina.

Study the following examples

prajñāpāramitām āśritya viharati

Having resorted to the Perfection of Wisdom, he dwells.

Here āśritya is the lyabanta form. It comes from the root śri, and because the root is preceded by the

prefix ā we get ya (lyap) as opposed to tvā. If the root had been only śri, it would have become

śrayitvā.

Being a lyabanta, it refers to the same agent of the main action (viharati), but at a prior time. In other

words, before doing the action expressed by viharati (he dwells), the same agent performs the action

expressed by āśritya (having resorted to): he resorts to and then he dwells.

Heart Sūtra study

bodhisattvasya prajñāpāramitām āśritya viharati cittāvaraṇaḥ | cittāvaraṇanāstitvād atrasto viparyāsātikrānto niṣṭhanirvāṇaḥ | tryadhvavyavasthitāḥ sarvabuddhāḥ prajñāpāramitām āśrityānuttarāṁ samyaksaṁbodhim abhisaṁbuddhāḥ || bodhisattvasya | of the Bodhisattva || prajñāpāramitām | the Perfection of Wisdom || āśritya | having relied upon || viharati | one dwells || citta-āvaraṇaḥ | with mental obscurations ||| citta-āvaraṇa-nāstitvāt | due to the non-existence of mental obscurations || a-trastaḥ | un-afraid || viparyāsa-atikrāntaḥ | having

gone beyond mental distortions || niṣṭha-nirvāṇaḥ | someone with a sure nirvāṇa || tri-adhva-vyavasthitāḥ | placed in the three times || sarva-buddhāḥ | all the Buddhas || anuttarāṁ, samyak-saṁbodhim | unexcelled, perfect Awakening || abhisaṁbuddhāḥ | they realized || Dharmasaṅgraha study

aṣṭau lokadharmāḥ | 1. lābhaḥ 2. alābhaḥ 3. sukham 4. duḥkham 5. yaśaḥ 6. ayaśaḥ 7. nindā 8. praśaṁsā ceti |

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The eight wordly dharmas:

1. gain

2. no-gain

3. happiness

4. suffering

5. fame

6. bad fame

7. censure

8. and, praise.

Exercises

i. learn the devanāgarī for the ya series, śa series, kṣa and jña with vowels

ii. memorize dātṛ, pitṛ and pati, and the sections of the Dharmasaṅgraha and Heart Sūtra

iii. memorize babhūva

iv. translate the Heart Sūtra

v. translate: vṛkṣaṁ gatvā phalaṁ khādāmi | atra āgamya vada punaḥ | tatra babhūvatuḥ

mahāsattvau ||

Vocabulary: khād, khādati | to eat || ā + gam, āgacchati | to come || vad, vadati | to speak ||

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Lesson 9

Sarvanāma | Saḥ, sā, tat | Parasmaipada and ātmanepada | Edhate | Passive construction

Sarvanāma

Sarvanāma means ‘name for all’ and corresponds to the English pronouns. They are ‘names for all’

since according to context the same pronoun can be used to refer to virtually infinite objects. Everyone

can say ‘I’ or can be addressed as ‘you’, ‘he’ or ‘she’. In Sanskrit, sarvanāma words can be either

independently, or to qualify other nouns (as adjectives). Their gender is not fixed.

Saḥ, sā, tat

da-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘d’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

tad-śabdaḥ | the word ‘tad’ (he)

saḥ tau te

tam tau tān

tena tābhyāṁ taiḥ

tasmai tābhyāṁ tebhyaḥ

tasmāt tābhyāṁ tebhyaḥ

tasya tayoḥ teṣām

tasmin tayoḥ teṣu

da-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘d’

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

tad-śabdaḥ | the word ‘tad’ (she)

sā te tāḥ

tām te tāḥ

tayā tābhyāṁ tābhiḥ

tasyai tābhyāṁ tābhyaḥ

tasyāḥ tābhyāṁ tābhyaḥ

tasyāḥ tayoḥ tāsām

tasyām tayoḥ tāsu

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da-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘d’

napuṁsakaliṅgaḥ | neuter gender

tad-śabdaḥ | the ord ‘tad’ (it)

tat te tāni

tat te tāni

tena tābhyāṁ taiḥ

tasmai tābhyāṁ tebhyaḥ

tasmāt tābhyāṁ tebhyaḥ

tasya tayoḥ teṣām

tasmin tayoḥ teṣu

Parasmaipada and ātmanepada

Verbal endings can be of two types, parasmaipada and ātmanepada. Parasmaipada means ‘word for

another’, while ātmanepada means ‘word for oneself’. Originally, the sense of the distinction is that

parasmaipada endings are used when the fruit of the action accrues to someone other than the agent.

For example

pacati means ‘(he) cooks (for someone else)’, while

pacate means ‘(he) cooks (for himself).

In practice, though, the usage of parasmaipada and ātmanepada endings does not always imply this

difference in the meaning. Rather, some verbs take only parasmaipada endings, some only ātmanepada,

while others can take either. Moreover, ātmanepada endings are used to form the passive voice, with

the addition of the suffix ya:

rāmaḥ phalaṁ khādati | Rāma eats the fruit

rāmeṇa phalaṁ khādyate | The fruit is eaten by Rāma

rāmaḥ gṛhaṁ gacchati | Rāma goes to the house

rāmeṇa gṛhaṁ gamyate | The house is reached (‘is gone’) by R ma

Edhate (ātmanepada)

laṭ (present tense)

edhate edhete edhante

edhase edhethe edhadhve

edhe edhāvahe edhāmahe

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Passive construction

As mentioned earlier, the ātmanepada endings are also used to express the passive forms of those verbs,

which use parasmaipada terminations in the active, by adding ‘ya’ before the endings:

gam | gacchati | gam + ya + ātmanepada endings:

gamyate gamyete gamyante

gamyase gamyethe gamyadhve

gamye gamyāvahe gamyāmahe

Accordingly:

rāmaḥ gṛhaṁ gacchati | Rāma goes to the house

rāmeṇa gṛhaṁ gamyate | The house is gone to by Rāma

It can be noticed that now the verbal ending expresses the object of the action (karman), in this case the

house, with which it concords in person and number. For this reason, the passive voice is called in

Sanskrit ‘karmaṇi prayogaḥ’, which means usage in reference to the object of the action. In karmaṇi

prayoga, the agent is expressed by the third vibhakti (rāmeṇa).

If in the active voice the verb employs ātmanepada terminations, the passive is formed by adding ‘ya’:

labhate labhete labhante | becomes | labhyate labhyete labhyante |

vandate vandete vandante | becomes | vandyate vandyete vandyante |

Study the following examples

rāmaḥ phalaṁ khādati

Rāma eats the fruit

rāmeṇa phalaṁ khādyate

The fruit is eaten by Rāma

sītā pustakaṁ paṭhati

Sītā reads the book

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sītayā pustakaṁ paṭḥyate

The book is being read by Sītā

Heart Sūtra study

tasmāj jñātavyaḥ prajñāpāramitāmahāmantro mahāvidyāmantro’ nuttaramantro’ samasamamantraḥ sarvaduḥkhapraśamanaḥ satyam amithyatvāt prajñāpāramitāyām ukto mantraḥ | Therefore, the great Mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom should be known, the Mantra of great

knowledge, the unexcelled Mantra, the Mantra equal to no equal, the pacification of all suffering, truth

because of not being false, the mantra spoken in the Perfection of Wisdom.

Dharmasaṅgraha study

gatayaḥ ṣaṭ | tadyathā

1. narakaḥ 2. tiryak 3. pretaḥ 4. asuraḥ 5. manuṣyaḥ 6. devaś ceti |

There are six destinies:

1. hell

2. animal

3. hungry ghost

4. demigod

5. human

6. and, god.

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Exercises

i. write the word rāma in devanāgarī

ii. memorize saḥ, sā, tat, edhate, and the new sections of Heart Sūtra and Dharmasaṅgraha

iii. write the present tense active and passive of labh and vand

iv. translate: dṛśyante ratnāni atiśobhanāni | saṁskṛtaṁ paṭhyate śiṣyaiḥ | buddhimadbhiḥ

jñānaṁ labhyate ||

Vocabulary: dṛś | to see || ratnam | jewel || ati-śobhanam | very beautiful || paṭh | to study, to read ||

buddhimat | intelligent || jñānam | knowledge || labh | to get, to obtain ||

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Lesson 10

The verb: 10 gaṇas | Eṣaḥ, kaḥ, yaḥ | Aham, tvam

The verb: 10 gaṇas

Sanskrit grammarians classify verbal endings into sārvadhātuka and ārdhadhātuka. The first comprises

the present tense, imperfect, imperative and potential (laṭ, laṅ, loṭ, vidhiliṅ), while the second comprises

the other lakāras. Verbs are classified into 10 groups (gaṇa), where each group forms the sārvadhātuka

tenses and moods in a similar way, by adding the same conjugational sign.

We have so far seen bhavati and edhate: both of them are verbs of the 1

st

gaṇa (bhvādiḥ) and get

modified in a similar manner, by adding a conjugational sign, short a. (In addition, bhū takes guṇa

grade and is therefore transformed into bho).

bhū + a + ti || a is the conjugational sign, ti is the ending

bho + a + ti || bhū takes guṇa and becomes bho

bhav + a + ti || because short a follows, bho changes to bhav (due to eco’yavāyāvaḥ, a sandhi rule)

bhavati || this is the final form

Similarly:

edh + a + te

edhate

The main difference between the verbs of the 10 gaṇas is in the conjugational sign they take.

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Gaṇa Conjugational Sign Process Result

1

st

bhvādiḥ

a bhav + a + ti

edh + a + te

bhavati

edhate

2

nd

adādiḥ

- ad + ti

ās + te

atti

āste

3

rd

juhotyādiḥ

- juho + ti

jihī + te

juhoti

jihīte

4

th

divādiḥ

ya dīv + ya + ti

dīp + ya + te

dīvyati

dīpyate

5

th

svādiḥ

nu su + nu + ti

su + nu + te

sunoti

sunute

6

th

tudādiḥ

a tud + a + ti

tud + a + te

tudati

tudate

7

th

rudhādiḥ

na rudh + na + ti

rudh + na + te

ruṇaddhi

rundhe

8

th

tanādiḥ

u tan + u + ti

tan + u + te

tanoti

tanute

9

th

kryādiḥ

nā krī + nā + ti

krī + nā + te

krīṇāti

krīṇīte

10

th

curādiḥ

aya cor + aya + ti

cor + aya + te

corayati

corayate

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Eṣaḥ, kaḥ, yaḥ

da-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘d’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

etad-śabdaḥ | the word ‘etad’ (This)

eṣaḥ etau ete

etam (enam) etau (enau) etān (enān)

etena (enena) etābhyām etaiḥ

etasmai etābhyām etebhyaḥ

etasmāt etābhyām etebhyaḥ

etasya etayoḥ (enayoḥ) eteṣām

etasmin etayoḥ (enayoḥ) eteṣu

The forms between brackets are used to avoid repetition, when the standard equivalents have just been

used in the sentence.

ma-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘m’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

kim-śabdaḥ | the word ‘kim’ (Who?)

kaḥ kau ke

kam kau kān

kena kābhyām kaiḥ

kasmai kābhyām kebhyaḥ

kasmāt kābhyām kebhyaḥ

kasya kayoḥ keṣām

kasmin kayoḥ keṣu

By adding –cid –cana or api, the interrogative pronouns become indefinite pronouns: kaścid, kaścana =

someone, kenacit, kenapi = by somenone, etc.

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da-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘d’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

yad-śabdaḥ | the word ‘yad’ (Who | relative pronoun)

yaḥ yau ye

yam yau yān

yena yābhyām yaiḥ

yasmai yābhyām yebhyaḥ

yasmāt yābhyām yebhyaḥ

yasya yayoḥ yeṣām

yasmin yayoḥ yeṣu

Aham, tvam

da-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘d’

triṣu liṅgeṣu samānarūpaḥ | with the same form in the three genders

asmad-śabda | the word ‘asmad’ (I)

aham āvām vayam

mām (mā) āvām (nau) asmān (naḥ)

mayā āvābhyām asmābhiḥ

mahyam (me) āvābhyām (nau) asmabhyam (naḥ)

mat āvābhyām asmat

mama (me) āvayoḥ (nau) asmākam (naḥ)

mayi āvayoḥ asmāsu

da-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘d’

triṣu liṅgeṣu samānarūpaḥ | with the same form in the three genders

yuṣmad-śabdaḥ | the word ‘yuṣmad’ (You)

tvam yuvām yūyam

tvām (tvā) yuvām (vām) yuṣmān (vaḥ)

tvayā yuvābhyām yuṣmābhiḥ

tubhyam (te) yuvābhyām (vām) yuṣmabhyam (vaḥ)

tvat yuvābhyām yuṣmat

tava (te) yuvayoḥ (vām) yuṣmākam (vaḥ)

tvayi yuvayoḥ yuṣmāsu

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Heart Sūtra study

tadyathā gate gate pāragate pārasaṁgate bodhi svāhā || iti prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtraṁ samāptam || Dharmasaṅgraha study

katamāni catvāri samyakprahāṇāni | tadyathā

1. utpannānāṁ kuśalamūlānāṁ saṁrakṣaṇam 2. anutpannānāṁ samutpādaḥ 3. utpannānām akuśalānāṁ dharmāṇāṁ prahāṇam 4. anutpannānāṁ punaranutpādaś ceti |

What are the four perfect exertions? It is as follows:

1. guarding the roots of virtue that have already arisen;

2. causing the ones, which have not yet arisen, to arise;

3. abandoning the unvirtuous dharmas that have already arisen;

4. not causing to arise again those which have not yet arisen.

Exercises

i. write the present of bhū (bhavati) and the word phala in devanāgarī

ii. memorize eṣa, kaḥ, yaḥ

iii. memorize aham, tvam

iv. add adequate forms of saḥ, aham, tvam, eṣaḥ and translate:

…. gṛhaṁ gacchāmi | …. khāditaṁ phalam ? | …. nepāle bhavāvaḥ | …. unnatau bhavathaḥ | namaḥ

… bhagavate arhate samyaksaṁbuddhāya ||

Vocabulary: gṛham | house || gam | to go || khād | to eat || unnata | tall || samyak-sambuddha | perfectly

awakened, perfect Buddha ||

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Lesson 11

Yat - tat constructions |The kāraka system | Usages of the 1

st

Vibhakti | Sambodhanā | Jalamuc

Yat-tat constructions

Relative clauses are formed in Sanskrit by employing the relative pronoun yad (yaḥ, yā, yat) in

reference to the pronoun tad (saḥ, sā, tat). Both pronouns need to concord in gender and number, and

this means a great flexibility in their position (since it is not very difficult to understand that they refer

to each other). The vibhakti is not necessarily the same.

yaḥ pratītyasamutpādaṁ deśayāmāsa

taṁ saṁbuddhaṁ vande ||

Here the main sentence is taṁ sambuddhaṁ vande | I salute that perfect Buddha. We have the 2

nd

vibhakti singular of saḥ (tam). yaḥ in the first line, on the other hand, is the 1

st

vibhakti of yaḥ, and the

clause means ‘the one who taught dependent arising’. Both taṁ and yaḥ refer to the same person

(namely, the Buddha): but in taṁ vande that person is the object of the action (karman), while in the

clause the same person is the agent (kartṛ): this different function is expressed by different vibhaktis.

The overall meaning becomes:

I salute that perfect Buddha, who taught dependent arising.

The relative pronoun yad can even appear as part of a compound. For example:

yad-āśrayāt uttarati pāpāni

na āśrīyate tat katham?

How is that not resorted to, relying upon which, one may cross sins?

The kāraka system

Sanskrit grammarians employ a set of explanatory devices to analyze the functions of the various parts

of a sentence. These are called kārakas, which in its simplest explanation means ‘it does something’

(karoti iti). In other words, anything, which helps in the accomplishment of the main action, or

anything, which stands in some relation to the verb that signifies that action, is called kāraka. The

salient feature of this type of analysis is that it centers on the main action or verb (kriyā).

The most important kārakas are six:

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1. kartṛ | agent

‘The autonomous one is the agent’ (svatantraḥ kartā).

Grammatical commentators make it clear that what the definition concerns is whatever one wishes to

describe as the most prominent factor in the accomplishment of the action; without any necessary

implication of factual autonomy or independence. For example, we may say:

devadattaḥ pacati | Devadatta cooks

but also

agniḥ pacati | The fire cooks

the choice depending upon whether we wish to stress the role of Devadatta or of the fire.

2. karman | object of the action

‘That, which the agent desires the most’ (kartur īpsitatamaṁ karma).

Once again, the definition has to be taken flexibly, not so much as implying an actual volition. What

the agent is most concerned with while engaging in a certain action is what is called ‘most desired’, and

this might be the case even if the agent is insentient and has no ‘concern’ literally! For example:

vidyā dadāti vinayam | Knowledge gives modesty

Here vidyā is not a person, but what knowledge most tends to in the action of giving is no other than

modesty (vinayam), which is therefore the karman.

3. karaṇam | instrument

‘That, which is most instrumental, is the instrument’ (sādhakatamaṁ karaṇam).

The main helper to the agent in the accomplishment of the action:

devadattaḥ agninā pacati | Devadatta cooks with fire.

rāmaḥ hastena khādati | Rāma eats with his hand.

4. saṁpradānam | recipient

‘That, which one intends through the object, is the recipient’ (karmaṇā yam abhipraiti sa

sampradānam).

Devadattaḥ saṅghāya dhanaṁ dadāti | Devadatta gives wealth to the saṅgha.

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5. apādānam | point of departure

‘That, which is fixed in case of a departure, is called point of departure’ (dhruvam apāye’pādānam).

‘Point of departure’ means the fixed place, from which another thing gets detached. For example:

grāmāt āyāti | (Someone) comes from the village.

Here the village is fixed, in respect to someone who moves away from it. The definition, though, is not

concerned as to whether the village itself is moving or stable, but only refers to the relative stability of

something in respect to something else that gets detached from it. The following example makes this

clear:

dhāvataḥ aśvāt patati | (Someone) falls from a running horse

6. adhikaraṇam | support

‘Support is something which holds up’ (ādhāro’dhikaraṇam).

kaṭe āste | (Someone) sits on a mat.

sthālyām pacati | (Someone) cooks in a vessel.

mokṣe icchā asti | There is a wish for liberation.

sarvasmin ātmā asti | In everything, the Self is there.

The first two sentences represent a type of support, which actually comes into contact with the thing

supported (aupaśleṣika). In the third, the support is such in the sense of being the subject matter

(vaiṣayika). In the last example, the support is ‘pervasive’ (abhivyāpaka).

Usages of the 1

st

Vibhakti | Sambodhanā

The 1

st

Vibhakti expands upon the information already indicated by the endings of the main verb;

accordingly, its function depends upon the type of sentence. When the verb expresses the agent (kartṛ,

kartari prayogaḥ), the first Vibhakti also indicates the agent:

vṛkṣaḥ tiṣṭhati kānane | the tree stands in the forest

guruḥ eva gatiḥ bhavati | only the teacher is the way

If the verb refers to the object of the action (karman, karmaṇi prayogaḥ), the 1

st

Vibhakti expresses the

same:

rāmaḥ pūjyate | Rāma is worshipped

bhāvāḥ na vidyante | existent things are not found

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The 1

st

Vibhakti therefore expresses a certain amount of information about the agent or the object,

which the verb alone cannot convey. This information is the meaning of the noun’s stem, or, for

example, a specific gender (while the person of the agent or object can be already conveyed by the

verb).

The Vocative (sambodhanā) is considered a subtype of the 1

st

Vibhakti, used to call for someone’s

attention, or to address someone:

he vṛkṣa kiṁ kampase | O tree, why do you shake? pāhi guro | Protect (me), o teacher!

Jalamuc

ca-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘ca’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

jalamuc-śabda | the word ‘jalamuc’ (cloud)

jalamuk jalamucau jalamucaḥ

he jalamuk he jalamucau he jalamucaḥ

jalamucam jalamucau jalamucaḥ

jalamucā jalamugbhy m jalamugbhiḥ

jalamuce jalamugbhyām jalamugbhyaḥ

jalamucaḥ jalamugbhyām jalamugbhyaḥ

jalamucaḥ jalamucoḥ jalamucām

jalamuci jalamucoḥ jalamukṣu

Exercises:

i. write the word ramā in devanāgarī

ii. memorize: vṛkṣas tiṣṭhati kānane

iii. memorize jalamuc

iv. translate: yaḥ gṛhaṁ gacchati, tasya nāma rāmaḥ | yasya nāma rāmaḥ, saḥ gṛhaṁ gacchati | yasya

patnī sītā, saḥ rāmaḥ | yasya patnī gṛhaṁ gatavatī, tasya nāma rāmaḥ | yaḥ sītayā vivāhitaḥ, saḥ rāmaḥ

patnyā sahā gṛhaṁ gacchati sma ||

Vocabulary: patnī | wife || vivāhitaḥ | married || sahā | together with (+ 3

rd

Vibhakti) ||

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Lesson 12

Verbs of the 2

nd

gaṇa | Usages of the 2

nd

Vibhakti | Kṣudh | eco’yavāyāvaḥ

Verbs of the 2

nd

gaṇa | adādiḥ |

ad | to eat (laṭ)

atti attaḥ adanti

atsi atthaḥ attha

admi advaḥ admaḥ

as | to be (irregular)

asti staḥ santi

asi sthaḥ stha

asmi svaḥ smaḥ

ās | to sit (ātmanepadī)

āste āsāte āsate

āsse āsāthe ādhve

āse āsvahe āsmahe

Usages of the second vibhakti

The most common usage of the 2

nd

vibhakti is to express the object of the action (karman) in case of

active constructions:

kusumitā latā vṛkṣaṁ saṁśritā | The flowered creeper rests on the tree

gurum eva bhaje | I worship only the teacher

rāmaḥ phalaṁ khādati | R ma eats the fruit

rāmaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ paśyati | Rāma sees Kṛṣṇa

kṛṣṇaḥ rāmaṁ paśyati | Kṛṣṇa sees Rāma

The second vibhakti is also found with certain verbs, when one does not wish to express the

saṁpradāna, apādāna or ādharaṇa in a specific manner:

gāṁ dogdhi payaḥ | He milks milk from the cow (yet, gāṁ, ‘cow’, is 2

nd

vibhakti)

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Verbs indicating speech often take the 2

nd

vibhakti (in a construction also referred to as ‘double

accusative’):

āryāvalokiteśvaraḥ āyuṣmantaṁ śāriputram etad avocat | The Noble Avalokiteśvara said this to the

long-lived Śāriputra (where both etad and āyuṣmantaṁ śāriputram are in 2

nd

vibhakti).

The 2

nd

Vibhakti can also be used adverbially:

aśvaḥ śīghraṁ dhāvati | The horse runs fast

Kṣudh

dha-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘dh’

strī-liṅgaḥ | feminine gender

kṣudh-śabdaḥ | the word ‘kṣudh’ (hunger)

kṣut kṣudhau kṣudhaḥ

he kṣut he kṣudhau he kṣudhaḥ

kṣudham kṣudhau kṣudhaḥ

kṣudhā kṣudbhyām kṣudbhiḥ

kṣudhe kṣudbhyām kṣudbhyaḥ

kṣudhaḥ kṣudbhyām kṣudbhyaḥ

kṣudhaḥ kṣudhoḥ kṣudhām

kṣudhi kṣudhoḥ kṣutsu

eco’yavāyāvaḥ

eco’yavāyāvaḥ || is another sūtra in Pāṇini’s grammar, used to regulate vowel sandhi: it works in a way

similar to iko yaṇ aci. It means:

ecaḥ | in place of e o ai au let there be

ay-av-āy-āv-aḥ | ay av āy āv

(aci) | when a vowel follows

aci is not found in the sūtra, but it has to be considered as implied (this is common in many of Pāṇini’s

aphorisms). The reason why we get this meaning from the sūtra is that

ec | is a technical term for e, o, ai, au

ayavāyāvaḥ | is an itateretaradvandva listing ay, av, āy, āv

ac | is a technical term for any vowel

For example:

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hare + e = haraye || viṣṇo + e = viṣṇave || nai + akaḥ = nāyakaḥ || pau + akaḥ = pāvakaḥ

Exercises:

i. memorize the verbal forms

ii. memorize kusumitā latā vṛkṣaṁ saṁśritā

iii. memorize kṣudh

iv. memorize eco’yavāyāvaḥ

v. write with sandhi (in devanāgarī): bho + a | kulaputrau + abhavatām |

vi. translate and write in devanāgarī: bhagavān āyuṣmantaṁ śāriputram āmantrayati sma |

āryāvalokiteśvaraḥ āyuṣmantaṁ mahākāśyapaṁ etad uktavān | sītā rāmaṁ prati agacchat ||

Vocabulary: ā + mantr | to address || uktavān | past active participle of vac, to say || prati | towards (+

2

nd

Vibhakti)

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Lesson 13

Bhavitā |Verbs of the 3rd gaṇa | Usages of the 3rd Vibhakti | Idam | Present active participles for

parasmaipada verbs

Bhavitā (luṭ)

bhavitā bhavitārau bhavitāraḥ

bhavitāsi bhavitāsthaḥ bhavitāstha

bhavitāsmi bhavitāsvaḥ bhavitāsmaḥ

Technically, the luṭ refers to future actions, happening beyond today.

Verbs of the 3

rd

gaṇa | juhotyādiḥ |

hu | to sacrifice (laṭ)

juhoti juhutaḥ juhvati

juhoṣi juhuthaḥ juhuthaḥ

juhomi juhuva juhuma

dā | to give (ubhayapadī) | parasmaipade

dadāti dattaḥ dadati

dadāsi datthaḥ dattha

dadāmi dadvaḥ dadmaḥ

dā | to give (ubhayapadī) | ātmanepade

datte dadāte dadate

datse dadāthe dadhve

dade dadvahe dadmahe

Usages of the 3

rd

vibhakti

According to whether the verbal endings refer to the agent (kartari prayogaḥ) or to the object of the

action (karmaṇi), we have two main usages of the 3

rd

vibhakti as the instrument (karaṇa) or as the agent

itself (kartṛ). For example:

rāmaḥ hastena phalaṁ khādati | Rāma eats the fruit with his hand

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rāmeṇa hastena phalaṁ khādyate | The fruit is eaten by Rāma with his hand

Notice that in the second example both rāmeṇa and hastena are in the 3

rd

vibhakti, and we can decide

who the agent is and which is the instrument only from context (not just from the endings). Another

example:

vṛkṣeṇa abhihataḥ gajaḥ nipatitaḥ | The elephant (gajaḥ) struck by the tree (vṛkṣeṇa abhihataḥ) has

fallen (nipatitaḥ)

Here too we might decide to understand the tree (vṛkṣa) as either an agent or an instrument (in case we

interpret the sentence as having an implied agent).

Another important usage of the 3

rd

vibhakti is with some words meaning ‘together with’ or ‘without’:

rāmeṇa saha sītā vanam agacchat | Together with (saha) Rāma, Sītā went to the forest

bhagavān bhikṣusaṅghena sārdhaṁ viharati sma | The Blessed One was dwelling together with

(sārdham) an assembly of monks

sītayā vinā na tuṣṭaḥ rāmaḥ | Without (vinā) Sītā, Rāma is not content

We often find the 3

rd

Vibhakti used adverbially:

sugatānām sutaḥ ucyate kṣaṇena | In one instant, (someone) is called ‘son of the Sugatas’

Idam

ma-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘m’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

idam-śabdaḥ | the word ‘idam’ (this, for things not as near as ‘etad’)

ayam imau ime

imam (enam) imau (enau) imān (enān)

anena (enena) ābhyām ebhiḥ

asmai ābhyām ebhyaḥ

asmāt ābhyām ebhyaḥ

asya anayoḥ (enayoḥ) eṣām

asmin anayoḥ (enayoḥ) eṣu

ma-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘m’

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

idam-śabda | the word ‘idam’ (this)

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iyam ime imāḥ

imām (enām) ime (ene) imāḥ (enāḥ)

anayā (enayā) ābhyām ābhiḥ

asyai ābhyām ābhyaḥ

asyāḥ ābhyām ābhyaḥ

asyāḥ anayoḥ (enayoḥ) āsām

asyām anayoḥ (enayoḥ) āsu

ma-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘m’

napuṁsakaliṅgaḥ | neuter gender

idam-śabdaḥ | thw word ‘idam’ (this)

idam ime imāni

idam (enat) ime (ene) imāni (enāni)

anena (enena) ābhyām ebhiḥ

asmai ābhyām ebhyaḥ

asmāt ābhyām ebhyaḥ

asya anayoḥ (enayoḥ) eṣām

asmin anayoḥ (enayoḥ) eṣu

Present active participles for parasmaipada verbs

Active present participles are formed in two different ways, according to whether the verb takes

parasmaipada or ātmanepada terminations. In the first case, we have participles like

gacchat, khādat and so on. Their declension is quite similar to the past active participles (like gatavat):

ta-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘t’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

gacchat-śabdaḥ | the word ‘gacchat’ (he who is going)

gacchan gacchantau gacchantaḥ

he gacchan he gacchantau he gacchantaḥ

gacchantam gacchantau gacchataḥ

gacchatā gacchadbhyām gacchadbhiḥ

gacchate gacchadbhyām gacchadbhyaḥ

gacchataḥ gacchadbhyām gacchadbhyaḥ

gacchataḥ gacchatoḥ gacchatām

gacchati gacchatoḥ gacchatsu

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ta-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘t’

napuṁsakaliṅgaḥ | neuter gender

gacchat-śabdaḥ | the word ‘gacchat’ (that which is going)

gacchat gacchantī gacchanti

he gacchat he gacchantī he gacchanti

gacchat gacchantī gacchanti

gacchatā gacchadbhyām gacchadbhiḥ

gacchate gacchadbhyām gacchadbhyaḥ

gacchataḥ gacchadbhyām gacchadbhyaḥ

gacchataḥ gacchatoḥ gacchatām

gacchati gacchatoḥ gacchatsu

ta-kāra-anta | ending in the letter ‘t’

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

gacchat-śabdaḥ | the word ‘gacchat’ (she who goes)

gacchantī gacchantyau gacchantyaḥ

he gacchanti he gacchantyau he gacchantyaḥ

gacchantīm gacchantyau gacchantīḥ

gacchantyā gacchantībhyām gacchantībhiḥ

gacchantyai gacchantībhyām gacchantībhyaḥ

gacchantyāḥ gacchantībhyām gacchantībhyaḥ

gacchantyāḥ gacchantyoḥ gacchantīnām

gacchantyām gacchantyoḥ gacchantīṣu

Exercises:

i. memorize all the verbs and nouns of the lesson

ii. memorize: vṛkṣeṇābhihato gajo nipatito

iii. translate, writing in devanāgarī: Rāma sees Sītā, who is going to the house | I saw the long-

lived Śāriputra, who was residing in Rājgir |

iv. translate: gṛhaṁ gacchataḥ narasya phalaṁ khādāmi | phalaṁ khādan naraḥ rāmasya gṛhe

hyaḥ viharati sma | gṛhaṁ gacchantyāḥ patnyāḥ phalaṁ khāditvā rāmaḥ tāṁ patnīṁ

sasnehaṁ paśyati ||

Vocabulary: to see | dṛś (paśyati, paśyataḥ, paśyanti, etc.) || naraḥ | man || snehaḥ | affection (sa-

sneha | with affection) ||

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Lesson 14

Verbs of the 4

th

gaṇa | Usages of the 4

th

Vibhakti | Bhāve prayoga | Present active participles for

ātmanepada verbs

Verbs of the 4

th

gaṇa | divādiḥ |

div | to play (laṭ) dīp | to shine (ātmanepadī)

dīvyati dīvyataḥ dīvyanti dīpyate dīpyete dīpyante

dīvyasi dīvyathaḥ dīvyatha dīpyase dīpyethe dīpyadhve

dīvyāmi dīvyāvaḥ dīvyāmaḥ dīpye dīpyāvahe dīpyāmahe

Usages of the 4

th

Vibhakti

The main usage of the 4

th

Vibhakti is to express the recipient of the object of the action (the

saṁpradāna-kāraka):

vṛkṣāya deyaṁ jalam | Water is to be given to the tree

viprāya gāṁ dadāti | He gives the cow to the Brahmin

The 4

th

Vibhakti is also used with words like namaḥ, svasti, svāhā, svadhā:

namaḥ sarvajñāya | (Let there be) bowing to the Omniscient One

namo gurave | (Let there be) bowing to the Teacher

agnaye svāhā | Svāhā to Agni

The word ‘alam’ also takes the 4

th

Vibhakti, when it means ‘enough for’:

daityebhyaḥ hariḥ alam | Hari is enough for the demons

On the other hand, it takes the 3

rd

Vibhakti, when it means ‘enough with’:

alam ativistareṇa | Enough with this excess of elaboration !

Bhāve prayogaḥ

We have already encountered the construction of bhāve prayogaḥ when studying past participles:

rāmeṇa gatam | ‘Going was done by Rāma’

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In this sentence, the participle gata refers neither to the agent (kartari) nor to the object of the action

(karmaṇi): it refers to the action itself, to a state of affairs (bhāve). The same type of construction can

appear with verbs (tiṅantam, words ending in verbal suffixes):

rāmeṇa gamyate | ‘Going is done by Rāma’

dhāvyate aśvaiḥ | ‘Running is done by the horses’

The verbs that can be used in bhāve prayogaḥ are either intransitive verbs, or transitive verbs used in an

intransitive sense. In other words, they are either verbs that cannot take an object (like dhāv, to run), or

verbs that can usually take an object, but are not taking an object in some particular usages (like gam,

to go). The verbal forms themselves are identical to the passive (hence, they have ātmanepada endings

and the addition of ‘ya’).

Present active participles for ātmanepada verbs

Present active participles with ātmanepada verbs can be formed in two ways. For verbs of conjugations

1, 4, 6 and 10, one obtains these participles by adding māna to the verbal base. The verbal base consists

of the verbal root + the conjugational sign (with all the sandhi transformations, when they apply). A

simple way to identify the verbal base of a certain verb is to take its 3

rd

person singular present

(prathamapuruṣa, ekavacana) and remove the ending te. Therefore for labhate the verbal base will be

labha, and accordingly the present active participle will be labhamāna (labha + māna), meaning,

‘someone who obtains’. Labhamāna is declined like rāma in the masculine, like phalam in the neuter,

and like ramā in the feminine.

For verbs of the other conjugations, one adds āna instead of māna: śī (to lie down) | śayāna Again, śayāna is declined like rāma, phalam or ramā according to gender.

Exercises:

i. memorize all the nouns and verbs of the lesson

ii. memorize: vṛkṣāya deyaṁ jalam

iii. explain in English and give examples in Sanskrit for: kartari prayogaḥ, karmaṇi prayogaḥ,

bhāve prayogaḥ |

iv. translate: phalaṁ khādadbhiḥ naraiḥ dhāvyate | bhāṣamānaḥ rāmaḥ sītayā dṛśyate | vṛkṣāt

patat phalaṁ śīghraṁ gacchati | May there be obeisance to the all-knowing one |

Vocabulary: khād | to eat || naraḥ | man || dhāv | to run || bhāṣ | to speak || pat | to fall || śīghra | quick,

fast ||

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Lesson 15

Verbs of the 5

th

gaa | Usages of the 5

th

Vibhakti | Present passive participles | Dvigu | Karin

Verbs of the 5

th

gaṇa | svādiḥ |

su | to press out juice (ubhayapadī) | parasmaipade (laṭ)

sunoti sunutaḥ sunvanti

sunoṣi sunuthaḥ sunutha

sunomi sunuvaḥ\sunvaḥ sunumaḥ\sunmaḥ

su | to press out juice (ubhayapadī) | ātmanepade |

sunute sunvāte sunvate

sunuṣe sunvāthe sunudhve

sunuve sunuvahe\sunvahe sunumahe\sunmahe

Usages of the 5

th

Vibhakti

The 5

th

Vibhakti is predominantly used to express the apādānakāraka, i.e. the point from something

gets detached or moves away:

vṛkṣāt ānaya mañjarīṁ abhinavām | Bring the new sprout from the tree

tasmāt samādheḥ vyutthāya … | Having arisen from that absorption …

As we have seen, the apādāna can itself be a moving thing; its stability is only relative to the other

thing that moves away: dhāvataḥ aśvāt patati | (Someone) falls from a running horse

Another important usage of the 5

th

Vibhakti is to express a cause or logical ground, a usage often found

with words ending in –tva or -tā (roughly corresponding to the English –ness, indicating ‘the fact of’,

‘the quality of’):

sarve bhāvāḥ svabhāvaśūnyāḥ pratītyasamutpannatvāt | All existent things are empty of svabhāva, due

to the fact of being dependently arisen

The 5

th

Vibhakti can also be used adverbially:

sugatātmajasaṁvarāvatāraṁ samāsāt kathayiṣyāmi | I will tell in brief of how to engage in the deeds of

the sons of the Sugatas

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Adding the suffix -taḥ to the nominal stem (instead of using the usual declensions, like rāmāt) usually

expresses the same as the 5

th

Vibhakti:

na svataḥ utpadyante bhāvāḥ | Things do not arise from themselves

Present passive participles

Present passive participles refer to the object of the action (karmaṇi), as opposed to the agent (kartari,

what active participles refer to). To form them, we use once again the ending māna, added to the

passive verbal base, obtained from the 3

rd

person singular (prathamapuruṣa ekavacana) of the present

passive verb: gamyate | gamyamāna (‘That which is being gone to’). In the three genders, gamyamāna

is declined like rāma, phalam and ramā, respectively.

Dvigu

Dvigu compounds are a subtype of karmadhāraya (hence, the first term qualifies the second and both

are in the same vibhakti). In dvigu samāsa, though, the first term is a numeral. The compound then can

become either a word in the singular, or respect the number expressed:

trilokī (singular) | The three worlds (loka)

saptarṣayaḥ (plular) | The seven (sapta) sages (ṛṣayaḥ)

Karin

na-kāra-antaḥ | ending in the letter ‘n’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine

karin-śabdaḥ | the word ‘karin’ (elephant)

karī kariṇau kariṇa he karin he kariṇau he kariṇaḥ

kariṇam kariṇau kariṇaḥ

kariṇā karibhyām karibhiḥ

kariṇe karibhyām karibhyaḥ

kariṇaḥ karibhyām karibhyaḥ

kariṇaḥ kariṇoḥ kariṇām

kariṇi kariṇoḥ kariṣu

Words like karin form the corresponding feminine simply by adding long ī, becoming like nadī (hence,

kariṇī, ‘she elephant’).

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Exercises:

i. memorize vṛkṣād ānaya mañjarīm abhinavām |

ii. memorize the verbs and nouns of the lesson

iii. write in devanāgarī and translate: unnatebhyaḥ vṛkṣebhyaḥ patyate janaiḥ | sarvaṁ kṣaṇikaṁ

ghaṭavat kṛtakatvāt | samāsāt vadāmi | gataṁ na gamyate | agataṁ na gamyate |

gamyamānaṁ na gamyate ||

Vocabulary: janaḥ | a person || kṣaṇika | momentary || ghaṭa | a pot || -vat | suffix meaning ‘just like’ ||

kṛtaka | a product || -tva | -ness, the fact of being such and such, the quality of being such and such ||

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Lesson 16

Verbs of the 6

th

gaṇa | Usages of the 6

th

Vibhakti | Matiḥ

Verbs of the 6

th

gaṇa | tudādiḥ |

tud | to wound (ubhayapadī) | parasmaipade | (laṭ)

tudati tudataḥ tudanti

tudasi tudathaḥ tudatha

tudāmi tudāvaḥ tudāmaḥ

tud | to wound (ubhayapadī) | ātmanepade |

tudate tudete tudante

tudase tudethe tudadhve

tude tudāvahe tudāmahe

Usages of the 6

th

Vibhakti

The 6

th

Vibhakti differs from the others, since it does not express a relationship with the verb, but

rather with another noun. We can usually understand the 6

th

Vibhakti as indicating possession of one

thing by another:

vṛkṣasya śākhā unnatā | The branch of the tree is tall

śiśuḥ asmi guroḥ | I am a child of the Teacher

Not unlike the English genitive (Elisabeth’s kindness), when the 6

th

Vibhakti joins a noun to an action,

the action may be ‘possessed’ by the noun in two different senses: either as being its agent, or its

object:

rāmasya darśanam | Rāma’s sight

It might either mean that Rāma is the one who sees, or the one who is seen.

This Vibhakti is also used when we want to specify the number of something:

caturaśītisāhasraṁ strīṇām | 84000 women (women being in the 6

th

Vibhakti).

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Matiḥ

ikārāntaḥ | ending in the letter ‘i’

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

matiśabdaḥ | the word ‘mati’ (mind)

matiḥ matī matayaḥ

he mate he matī he matayaḥ

matim matī matīḥ

matyā matibhyām matibhiḥ

matyai\mataye matibhyām matibhyaḥ

matyāḥ\mateḥ matibhyām matibhyaḥ

matyāḥ\mateḥ matyoḥ matīnām

matyām\matau matyoḥ matiṣu

Exercises

i. memorize all the verbs and nouns of the lesson

ii. memorize vṛkṣasya śākhonnatā |

iii. translate: bhāvānāṁ niḥsvabhāvānāṁ na sattā vidyate | asya utpādād idam utpadyate |

Vocabulary: sattā | existence, being || vidyate | is found, is known || utpāda | arising || ut+pad | to arise

(ātmanepadī) ||

iv. translate: || namaḥ sarvajñāya || evaṁ mayā śrutam | ekasmin samaye bhagavān śrāvastyāṁ

viharati sma jetavane’nāthapiṇḍadasya ārāme mahatā bhikṣusaṅghena sārdham

ardhatrayodaśabhir bhikṣuśatair abhijñātābhijñātaiḥ sthavirair mahāśrāvakaiḥ sarvair

arhadbhiḥ |

Vocabulary: śrāvastī | name of a city || jetavana | name of a forest || anāthapiṇḍada | lit. ‘Giver of

food to those without a protector’, name of a householder || ārāma | pleasant garden || ardha-

trayodaśa | half of thirteen || śata | hundred || abhijñātābhijñāta | having realizations || sthavira | elder ||

mahāśrāvakaḥ | great Hearer ||

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Lesson 17

Verbs of the 7

th

gaṇa | Usages of the 7

th

Vibhakti | Abhūt | ād guṇaḥ | Ātman

Verbs of the 7

th

gaṇa | rudhādiḥ |

rudh | to oppose (ubhayapadī) | parasmaipade | (laṭ)

ruṇaddhi rundhaḥ rundhanti

ruṇatsi rundhaḥ rundha

ruṇadhmi rundhvaḥ rundhmaḥ

rudh | to oppose (ubhayapadī) | ātmanepade |

rundhe rundhāte rundhate

runtse rundhāthe rundhve

runddhe rundhvahe rundhmahe

Usages of the 7

th

Vibhakti

The 7

th

Vibhakti expresses the adhikaraṇakāraka, meaning the place, time or general condition within

which the action occurs:

vṛkṣe nīḍam idaṁ kṛtaṁ śakuninā | On the tree, this nest was made by the bird

matir asti gurau mama | My mind is on the Teacher

ekasmin samaye bhagavān rājagṛhe viharati sma | At one time, the Blessed One was residing in Rajgir

asmin sati, idam bhavati | This being there, that exists

It also tells us the thing, to which something else refers, as in the expressions ‘kartari prayogaḥ’,

‘karmaṇi prayogaḥ’ and ‘bhāve prayogaḥ’, meaning ‘usage in reference to the agent’, ‘usage in

reference to the object of the action’ and ‘usage in reference to the state of things’ respectively (where

kartari, karmaṇi and bhāve are all in the 7

th

Vibhakti).

Abhūt (luṅ)

abhūt abhūtām abhūvan

abhūḥ abhūtam abhūta

abhūvam abhūva abhūma

This form (called aorist), can either be used for the past in general, or more specifically for very recent

past events (adyatanabhūta, past within today).

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ād guṇaḥ

When a vowel is preceded by the vowel a (whether short or long), it takes guṇa grade, which becomes

the single substitute for both:

upa + indraḥ = upendraḥ | gaṅgā + udakam = gaṅgodakam |

Ātman

nakārāntaḥ ending in the letter ‘n’

puṁliṅgaḥ masculine gender

ātman-śabdaḥ the word ‘ātman’ (self)

ātmā ātmānau ātmānaḥ

he ātman he ātmānau he ātmānaḥ

ātmānam ātmānau ātmanaḥ

ātmanā ātmabhyāṁ ātmabhiḥ

ātmane ātmabhyāṁ ātmabhyaḥ

ātmanaḥ ātmabhyāṁ ātmabhyaḥ

ātmanaḥ ātmanoḥ ātmanām

ātmani ātmanoḥ ātmasu

Exercises

i. memorize all the verbs and nouns of the lesson

ii. memorize vṛkṣe nīḍam idaṁ kṛtaṁ śakuninā

iii. memorize ād guṇaḥ

iv. solve, writing in devanāgarī: mahā + indraḥ | sarva + īśi |

v. translate: asmin sati idaṁ bhavati | mama matiḥ asti gurau | luṁbinyāṁ bhagavataḥ janma |

Vocabulary: san | present participle of ‘as’ (to be) || janman | birth ||

vi. translate: tadyathā | sthavireṇa ca śāriputreṇa, mahāmaudgalyāyanena ca mahākāśyapena ca

mahākapphiṇena ca mahākātyāyanena ca mahākauṣṭhilena ca revatena ca śuddhipanthakena

ca nandena ca ānandena ca rāhulena ca gavāṁpatinā ca bharadvājena ca kālodayinā ca

vakkulena ca aniruddhena ca | etaiś cānyaiś ca saṁbahulair mahāśrāvakaiḥ |

Vocabulary: tadyathā | just like || anya | other, another || saṁbahula | many || (The rest of the new

words are proper names of the Arhats)

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Lesson 18

Verbs of the 8

th

gaṇa | Bhūyāt | Tumun (infinitives) | Principles of prosody: anuṣṭubh | vṛddhir eci |

Madhu |

Verbs of the 8

th

gaṇa | tanādiḥ |

tan | to spread (ubhayapadī) | parasmaipade | (laṭ)

tanoti tanutaḥ tanvanti

tanoṣi tanuthaḥ tanutha

tanomi tanuvaḥ\tanvaḥ tanumaḥ\tanmaḥ

tan | to spread (ubhayapadī) | ātmanepade |

tanute tanvāte tanvate

tanuṣe tanvāthe tanudhve

tanve tanuvahe\tanvahe tanumahe\tanmahe

Bhūyāt (āśīrliṅ)

bhūyāt bhūyāstām bhūyāsuḥ

bhūyāḥ bhūyāstam bhūyasta

bhūyāsam bhūyāsva bhūyāsma

This mood (called benedictive) is not frequently found: it can be used to express desire, hope or

blessing.

Tumun (infinitives)

Infinitives are indeclinables (avyaya) formed by adding the suffix tumun (which becomes ‘tum’) to the

verbal root:

khād + tumun = khāditum | dṛṣ + tumun = draṣṭum |

These could be generally translated as ‘to eat’ and ‘to see’, which well captures the main usages of this

form: to indicate an action, towards which the main action tends:

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kṛṣṇaṁ draṣṭum yāti | He goes to see Kṛṣṇa

phalaṁ khāditum icchasi | You want to eat a fruit

or, to indicate an action, and that it is the time to do it:

kṛṣṇaṁ draṣṭuṁ kālaḥ | The time to see Kṛṣṇa

phalaṁ khādituṁ velā | Time to eat a fruit

Principles of prosody: anuṣṭubh

Sanskrit meters are based on quantity, not on stress. There are two ways of calculating quantity: the one

we will look at divides syllables into either guru (heavy) or laghu (light). Any syllable containing a

long vowel, or a short vowel followed by more than one consonant, is guru: others are laghu.

A verse is characteristically divided into four ‘feet’ (pāda): the number of syllables in each pāda and

the specific succession of guru and laghu make up for different types of verses. Perhaps the commonest

and simplest of Sanskrit verses is the anuṣṭup, made of 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 syllables, where only the second

half of each p da is fixed. The following verse is both a definition, and an example of, this type of

verse:

pañcamaṁ laghu sarvatra

saptamaṁ dvicaturthayoḥ |

ṣaṣṭhaṁ gurū vijānīyāt

etac chlokasya lakṣaṇam ||

The 5

th

is always laghu,

the 7

th

(is so) in the second and the fourth (pādas);

one should understand the 6

th

to be guru:

this is the definition of a ‘śloka’.

vṛddhir eci

This rule is an exception to ād guṇaḥ. If the letter a (whether short or long) is followed by ec (e o ai au),

the latter letter takes vṛddhi grade and this becomes the single substitute for both:

kṛṣṇa + ekatvam = kṛṣṇaikatvam | gaṅgā + oghaḥ = gaṅgaughaḥ | deva + aiśvaryam = devaiśvaryam |

kṛṣṇa + autkaṇṭhyam = kṛṣṇautkaṇṭhyam |

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Madhu

ukārāntaḥ | ending in the letter ‘u’

napuṁsakaliṅgaḥ | neuter gender

madhuśabdaḥ | the word ‘madhu’

madhu madhunī madhūni

he madho-he madhu he madhunī he madhūni

madhu madhunī madhūni

madhunā madhubhyāṁ madhubhiḥ

madhune madhubhyāṁ madhubhyaḥ

madhunaḥ madhubhyāṁ madhubhyaḥ

madhunaḥ madhunoḥ madhūnām

madhuni madhunoḥ madhuṣu

Exercises

i. memorize all the verbs and nouns of the lesson

ii. memorize vṛddhir eci

iii. solve: rāmeṇa + eva | jana + oghān | prathama + aupapattyaṁśikam |

iv. translate: saṁbahulaiś ca bodhisattvair mahāsattvaiḥ | tadyathā mañjuśriyā ca

kumārabhūtena, ajitena ca bodhisattvena, gandhahastinā ca bodhisattvena, nityodyuktena ca

bodhisattvena, anikṣiptadhureṇa ca bodhisattvena | etaiś ca anyaiś ca bodhisattvair

mahāsattvaiḥ |

Vocabulary: kumārabhūta | in the form of a young prince ||

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Lesson 19

Verbs of the 9

th

gaṇa | abhaviṣyat | akaḥ savarṇe dīrghaḥ | Āśis

Verbs of the 9

th

gaṇa | kryādiḥ |

krī | to buy (ubhayapadī) | parasmaipade | (laṭ)

krīṇāti krīṇītaḥ krīṇanti

krīṇāsi krīṇīthaḥ krīṇītha

krīṇāmi krīṇīvaḥ krīṇīmaḥ

krī | to buy (ubhayapadī) | ātmanepade |

krīṇīte krīṇāte krīṇate

krīṇīṣe krīṇāthe krīṇīdhve

krīṇe krīṇīvahe krīṇīmahe

abhaviṣyat (lṛṅ)

abhaviṣyat abhaviṣyatām abhaviṣyan

abhaviṣyaḥ abhaviṣyatam abhaviṣyata

abhaviṣyaṁ abhaviṣyāva abhaviṣyāma

This mood (the conditional) is used in ‘if… then…’ type of sentences, when one wishes to express that

the condition was not fulfilled:

yadi rāmaḥ āgamiṣyat, aham tasmai dakṣiṇam adāsyam | Had Rāma come, I would have given him the

priestly fare.

yadi śatruḥ bāṇapatham ayāsyat tarhi saḥ amariṣyat | Had the enemy gone within the range of arrows,

he would have died.

yadi is used to express ‘if’, while tarhi means ‘then’: either can be omitted, as it will be understood as

implied. The implication in the two sentences is that the condition was not fulfilled (i.e., R ma did not

come, the enemy did not go within the range of arrows). If we want to express a condition which may

or may not be fulfilled, we need to employ the potential mood (like bhavet).

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akaḥ savarṇe dīrghaḥ

When ak (a i u ṛ ) is followed by an homogeneous letter (savarṇa), the long form (dīrgha) is the single

substitute for both:

daitya + ariḥ = daityāriḥ | śrī + īśaḥ = śrīśaḥ | viṣṇu + udayaḥ = viṣṇūdayaḥ | hotṛ + ṛkāraḥ = hotṝkāraḥ

āśis

sakārāntaḥ | ending in the letter ‘s’

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

āśis-śabdaḥ | the word ‘āśis’ (Blessing)

āśīḥ āśiṣau āśiṣaḥ

he āśīḥ he āśiśau he āśiṣaḥ

āśiṣam āśiṣau āśiṣaḥ

āśiṣā āśīrbhyāṁ āśīrbhiḥ

āśiṣe āśīrbhyāṁ āśīrbhyaḥ

āśiṣaḥ āśīrbhyāṁ āśīrbhyaḥ

āśiṣaḥ āśiṣoḥ āśiṣām

āśiṣi āśiṣoḥ āśṣu

Exercises

i. memorize all the verbs and nouns of the lesson

ii. memorize akaḥ savarṇe dīrghaḥ

iii. memorize and write in devanāgarī: vṛkṣas tiṣṭhati kānane kusumitā latā vṛkṣaṁ saṁśritā |

vṛkṣeṇābhihato gajo nipatito vṛkṣāya deyaṁ jalam || vṛkṣād ānaya mañjarīm abhinavāṁ

vṛkṣasya śākhonnatā | vṛkṣe nīḍam idaṁ kṛtaṁ śakuninā he vṛkṣa kiṁ kampase ||

iv. solve: mahā + ādarāt | samvṛti + īritam | madhu + utpāda | dhyātṛ + ṛdhhiḥ |

v. translate: śakreṇa ca devānām indreṇa, brahmaṇā ca sahāṁpatinā | etaiś cānyaiś ca

saṁbahulair devaputranayutaśatasahasraiḥ || 1 ||

Vocablary: śakra | name of Indra || sahāmpati | Lord of the Sahā universe || devaputra | sons of the

gods || nayuta | million || śata | hundred || sahasra | thousand ||

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Lesson 20

Verbs of the 10

th

gaṇa | īdūdeddvivacanaṁ pragṛhyam | sarva |

Verbs of the 10

th

gaṇa | curādiḥ |

cur | to steal (ubhayapadī ) | parasmaipade | (laṭ) cur | to steal (ubhayapadī) | ātmanepade |

corayati corayataḥ corayanti corayate corayete corayante

corayasi corayathaḥ corayatha corayase corayethe corayadhve

corayāmi corayāvaḥ corayāmaḥ coraye corayāvahe corayāmahe

īdūdeddvivacanaṁ pragṛhyam

This is an exception to the sandhi rules studied so far: ī (īt) ū (ūt) and e (et), when they are endings for

the dual number (dvivacanam) are to be retained without modification (pragṛhyam):

harī + etau = harī etau || viṣṇū + imau = viṣṇū imau || gaṅge + am = gaṅge am ||

sarva

‘sarva’ is a good example of pronominal declension, resembling tad, idam and so on.

akārāntaḥ | ending in the letter ‘a’

puṁliṅgaḥ | masculine gender

sarvaśabdaḥ | the word ‘sarva’ (All)

sarvaḥ sarvau sarve

he sarva he sarvau he sarve

sarvam sarvau sarvān

sarveṇa sarvābhyāṁ sarvaiḥ

sarvasmai sarvābhyāṁ sarvebhyaḥ

sarvasmāt sarvābhyāṁ sarvebhyaḥ

sarvasya sarvayoḥ sarveṣām

sarvasmin sarvayoḥ sarveṣu

ākārāntaḥ | ending in the letter ‘ā’

strīliṅgaḥ | feminine gender

sarvāśabdaḥ | the word ‘sarvā’ (All)

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sarvā sarve sarvāḥ

he sarve he sarve he sarvāḥ

sarvāṁ sarve sarvāḥ

sarvayā sarvābhyāṁ sarvābhiḥ

sarvasyai sarvābhyāṁ sarvābhyaḥ

sarvasyāḥ sarvābhyāṁ sarvābhyaḥ

sarvasyāḥ sarvayoḥ sarvāsām

sarvasyāṁ sarvayoḥ sarvāsu

akārāntaḥ | ending in the letter ‘a’

napuṁsakaliṅgaḥ | neuter gender

sarvaśabdaḥ | the word ‘sarva’ (All)

sarvaṁ sarve sarvāṇi

he sarva he sarve he sarvāṇi

sarvaṁ sarve sarvāṇi

sarveṇa sarvābhyāṁ sarvaiḥ

sarvasmai sarvābhyāṁ sarvebhyaḥ

sarvasmāt sarvābhyāṁ sarvebhyaḥ

sarvasya sarvayoḥ sarveṣām

sarvasmin sarvayoḥ sarveṣu

Exercises

i. memorize all the verbs and nouns of the lesson

ii. memorize īdūdeddvivacanaṁ pragṛhyam

iii. solve: gurū + utpādyete | phale + icchā | harī apaśyat |

iv. translate: tatra khalu bhagavān āyuṣmantaṁ śāriputram āmantrayati sma | asti śāriputra

paścime digbhāge ito buddhakṣetraṁ koṭiśatasahasraṁ buddhakṣetrāṇām atikramya

sukhāvatī nāma lokadhātuḥ | tatra amitāyur nāma tathāgato’rhan samyaksaṁbuddha etarhi

tiṣṭhati dhriyate yāpayati, dharmaṁ ca deśayati | tat kiṁ manyase śāriputra kena kāraṇena sā

lokadhātuḥ sukhāvatīty ucyate ? | tatra khalu punaḥ śāriputra sukhāvatyāṁ lokadhātau nāsti

sattvānāṁ kāyaduḥkhaṁ na cittaduḥkham | apramāṇāny eva sukhakāraṇāni | tena kāraṇena

sā lokadhātuḥ sukhāvatīty ucyate || 2 ||

Vocabulary:

khalu | indeed|| ā + mantr | to address|| paścima | western || dik-bhāga | direction-part (the part of the

direction) || itaḥ | from here || kṣetra | field || koṭi | ten millions || ati + kram | to go beyond || sukhāvatī

| lit. ‘Endowed with happiness’, name of Amitābha’s Buddha field || loka-dhātu | world sphere ||

etarhi | now || sthā (tiṣṭhati) | to stay || dhṛ (ātmanepadī, dhriyate) | to be or to exist, to live || yā

(causative, yāpayati) | to spend time || diś (causative, deśayati) | to teach || kāraṇa | reason || kāya |

body || a-pramāṇa | without measure

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Lesson 21

Description of vṛtti | kṛdanta | taddhita | sanādyanta | ekaśeṣa | samāsa

Description of vṛtti

Sanskrit can often express the meaning of two or more words through a single word. Just like ‘A son of

Vasudeva’ can be expressed through the single word ‘Vāsudeva’. This is called ‘vṛtti’, and subdivided

into five types:

i. kṛdantavṛttiḥ | ii. taddhitavṛttiḥ | iii. sanādyantadhātuvṛttiḥ | iv. ekaśeṣavṛttiḥ | v. samāsavṛttiḥ

kṛdanta

kṛdanta means ‘ending in kṛt suffixes’. kṛt suffixes are added to a verbal root to form nouns, usually

indicating agency. Most Sanskrit nouns are formed through kṛdanta terminations:

bhajate iti bhaktaḥ | one who is devoted is called a ‘devotee’

bhaj | To be devoted to | dhātoḥ || 3 | 1 | 91 || This sūtra tells us that kṛt suffixes are attached to the roots

| kartari kṛt || 3 | 4 | 67 || This sūtra tells us that kṛt suffixes are used in reference to

the agent

bhaj + kta | | ktaktavatū niṣṭhā || 1 | 1 | 26 || This sūtra tells us that kta and ktavatu are called

‘niṣṭhā’

| niṣṭhā || 3 | 2 | 102 || This stra tells us that niṣṭhā is used in reference to the past:

thus, our form must be a past participle. Moreover, it must be either in reference

to bhāva or karman if it is kta (an exception to the general rule that kṛt suffixes

refer to the agent)

Thus we know that bhakta must be a past participle, referring either to the object or to bhāva.

mriyate iti martyaḥ | one who dies is called a ‘mortal’

jñāyate anena iti jñānam | that, through which one knows, is called ‘knowledge’

ucyate iti vāk | it is spoken, thus it is called ‘speech’

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taddhita

taddhita are secondary affixes: just like kṛt endings are added to verbal roots, taddhita endings are

added to nouns:

manoḥ apatyāni pumānsaḥ | mānuṣāḥ || Men, who are descendent of Manu, are called ‘Mānuṣāḥ’

daśarathasya apatyaṁ pumān | Dāśarathiḥ || A man, who is a descendent of Daśaratha, is called

‘Dāśarathiḥ’

sanādyantadhātu

Verbs can modify their meaning by adding a series of affixes between the verbal root and the verbal

endings: these are called ‘san-ādi-anta’ (endings, beginning with san):

1. sannantāḥ (desideratives):

bhavitum icchati | bubhūṣati || (Someone) wants to exist

gantum icchati | jigamiṣati || (Someone) wants to go

bhū + san + śap + tip

root the letter ‘s’ the letter ‘a’ the ending ‘ti’

The root bhū becomes reduplicated in front of the affix ‘san’.

2. ṇijantāḥ (causatives)

bhāvayati || (Someone) causes to exist

gamayati || (Someone) causes to go

bhū + ṇic + śap + tip

Bhū takes vṛddhi.

3. yaṅantāḥ (Frequentatives)

atiśayena bhavati | bobhūyate || (Someone) exists excessively, exists frequently

atiśayena dīpyate | dedīpyate || (Someone) illuminates excessively, illuminates frequently

bhū + yaṅ + ātmanepada terminations

Bhū is reduplicated, and the first bhū takes guṇa grade (bho), unaspirated (bo).

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4. yaṅlugantāḥ (Frequentatives)

atiśayena spardhate | pāspardhate || (Someone) competes excessively, frequently

atiśayena karoti | carkarīti || (Someone) does excessively, frequently

spardh + śap + tip

spardh is reduplicated, the yaṅ goes away.

5. nāmadhātavaḥ (Denominatives)

kāmyac

putram ātmanaḥ icchati | putrakāmyati || (Someone) wants a son for oneself

yaśaḥ ātmanaḥ icchati | yaśaskāmyati || (Someone) wants fame for oneself

kyac

putram ātmanaḥ icchati | putrīyati || (Someone) wants a son for oneself

yaśaḥ ātmanaḥ icchati | yaśasyati || (Someone) wants fame for oneself

Alternatively:

putram iva ācarati | putrīyati || (Someone) behaves like a son

pitaram iva ācarati | pitrīyati || (Someone) behaves like a father

prāsāde iva ācarati | prāsādīyati || (Someone) behaves as if in a palace

ācārakvip

haṁsaḥ iva ācarati | haṁsati || (Someone) behaves like a wild goose

kṛṣṇaḥ iva ācarati | kṛṣṇati || (Someone) behaves like Kṛṣṇa

kyaṅ

haṁsaḥ iva ācarati | haṁsāyate || (Someone) behaves like a wild goose

kṛṣṇaḥ iva ācarati | kṛṣṇāyate || (Someone) behaves like Kṛṣṇa

siṁhaḥ iva ācarati | siṁhāyate || (Someone) behaves like a lion

kyap

lohitaḥ bhavati | lohitāyati, lohitāyate || (Someone) has the color of copper (red)

mandaḥ bhavati | mandāyati, mandāyate || (Someone) is slow

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yak

kaṇḍūyati || (Someone) scratches

asūyati || (Someone) has envy

ekaśeṣa

In this vṛtti, one word remains out of a pair: this is usually the case for words in the dual, when they

express a feminine + a masculine term:

mātā ca pitā ca | pitarau || sā ca sa ca | tau || śivā ca śivaś ca | śivau ||

samāsa

Compounds are formed by the coming together of two nouns: the first noun loses its vibhakti endings.

For more on compounds, see the previous lessons.

Exercises: Translate a text (ask the teacher).

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Glossary of important grammatical terms in Sanskrit

ac || vowels

ajanta || ending (anta) in a vowel (ac)

avyaya || indeclinable

avyayībhava || a type of compound that turns into an avyaya

ātmanepada || lit. ‘word for oneself’. One of the two voices verbs can have.

ārdhadhātuka || terminations that do not affect the system of the present and the classification of verbs

into gaṇas

uttamapuruṣa || lit. ‘best person’. The first person

ekavacana || lit. ‘speech for one’. The singular

kartṛ || agent, doer

karman || the object of the action

karmadhāraya || subtype of tatpuruṣa compound, where both members are in the same vibhakti and one

qualifies the other

kāraka || a term indicating a relation with the verb or with the action signified by the verb in the main

sentence

kta || a particle used to form past participles, like gataḥ or śrutam

ktavatu || a particle used to form past active participles, like gatavat

ktvā || a particle used to form absolutives, like kṛtvā or gatvā

gaṇa || a group of verbs conjugated in the same manner (only in reference to the system of the present,

the sārdhadhātuka endings)

tatpuruṣa || a type of compound where the second member is the main referent and where the first

member is in some vibhakti relation to the second

taddhita || additional endings added to nouns to express special meanings: for example, ‘the son of

Daśaratha’ becomes ‘Dāśarathi’

tiṅ || a verbal suffix, an ending which is attached to verbs

dvandva || a type of compound where both members are equally important, thus resembling a list

dvigu || a type of karmadhāraya compound, where the first member is a number

dvivacana || the dual number

dhātu || literally an ‘ore’, a verbal root

napuṁsakaliṅga || neuter gender

padam || a word

parasmaipada || ‘word for another’, one of the two voices which verbs can take in Sanskrit

puṁliṅga || masculine gender

prathamapuruṣa || ‘first person’, equal to the English 3

rd

person (he\she\it)

bahuvacana || plural

bahuvrīhi || a type of compound, which refers to a term outside of itself (exocentric)

madhyamapuruṣa || ‘middle person’, equal to the English 2

nd

person (you)

lakāra || verbal endings, attached to the modified root the can express person, number, tense and mood

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lyap || a particle used to form the absolutive, when the verbal root is preceded by a prefix, like

ā+gam+lyap | āgamya

vibhakti || nominal declension

samāsa || compound

sarvanāma || a pronoun (lit. ‘name for all’)

sārvadhātuka || those tenses and moods that are part of the ‘system of the present’, i.e. fall within the 10

gaṇa classification

sup || a nominal suffix, an ending which is attached to nouns

strliṅga || feminine gender

hal || a consonant

halantam || ending (hal) in a consonant

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गुणव ोषरिहतं या वा पु तकं मम । यता ंपठनाथाय न सव खिलतं मया ॥

य द पु यं मयाव ं देवभाषापरी या । श दातीतमहाबु ंप य तु ये ऽ दुःिखताः ॥

guṇavad doṣarahitaṁ

syād na vā pustakaṁ mama |

kṣamyatām paṭhanārthāya

na sarvaṁ skhalitaṁ mayā ||

yadi puṇyaṁ mayāvaptaṁ

devabhāṣāparīkṣayā |

śabdātītamahābuddhaṁ

paśyantu ye’tra duḥkhitāḥ ||

म गलम ्॥