English vs Sanskrit Grammar

8/10/2019 English vs Sanskrit Grammar

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Introduction to Verbs

A dhatu indicated with a surd or root symbol p before it develops to form a

stem anga and to the stem is added a personal ending tinvibhakti to form acomplete verb kriya.

For example dhatu root Stha sense of cessation or absence of movement,

anga stem tistha - to stand, kriya verb tisthati, he, she, it stands.

Verbal Prefixes

The English verb to tend

Derives from the pie root TEN, to stretch, when a prefix is appended to it its meaning alters For

example , with prefix meanings given

a. Attend (at- towards, to, at)

b.

Contend (con- with, together, wholly)

c.

Distend (dis - apart, away)

d. Extend (ex - out of, very)

e.

Intend (intowards, in)

f.

Portend (porbefore, instead of)

g. Pretend (pre - instead of,before)

h.

Subtend (sub - under)

Given the meanings of these verbs, it can be appreciated that that the prefixes are instrumental in

modifying the original root to give its particular meaning. A prefix, when appended to a verb is

called an upasarga in Sanskrit grammar.

The grammarians list just twentytwo of these, in alphabetical order they are

a. Ati, beyond over across past surpassing to excess

b.

Adhi over above upon on onto

c. Anu after along like towards following

d. Apa away off from forth

e.

Api over on close proximate

f.

Abhi to towards into against near opposite

g. Ava down off away from

h.

A towards to near into at from back return reversing

i. Ud up upwards out above

j. Upa towards near to next to less down under

k.

Dur bad difficult hard

l.

Dus bad difficult hard

m.

Ni down in on under inton.

Nir away out forth


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o.

Nis away out forth

p. Para back backwards away forth to a distance

q. Pari around about

r.

Pra before forward forth onward fore

s.

Prati against towards to at near back again return reversing

t.

Vi apart asunder away out implying separation or dispersion

u. Sam with together along with conjoined with

v.

Su good excellent well

An upasarga may simply emphasize the original sense of the dhatu, but usually modies the

sense, sometimes the changes is so great as to make the sense of the original dhatu quite.

unrecognizable.

For exampledhatu hr to take away;

a.

prahr to hit

b. ahr to eat

c. samhr to destroy

d. vihr to roam

e.

parihr to abandon

Adjectives

Adjectives are declined like nouns and assume the gender, number and case ofthe noun they qualify. Therefore even if the adjective is not placed before the

noun it qualifies, the two can be related by matching the words which agree in

gender, number and case. This feature facilitates writing verses to meet the

constraints of meter. It helps a reader in rearranging the word order in a verse

syntactically for proper understanding. An adjective visesana qualies a noun, it

is dependent the noun as an attribute. This dependence manifests in the

grammar requiring the vises ana to agree with the noun in gender case and

number. Thus using alpa small we could have

alpah narah alpam naram alpat narat vahanti

The small men carry the small man from the small man


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Adverbs

An adverb kriyavisesana qualies a verb. it is indeclinable avyaya. It is usually found

immediately before the verb. For example using the adverb Sighram quickly.

Narah Sighram gacchati, the man goes quickly

Vowels Accents

Accent is the sounding of a vowel at a higher or lower pitch or tone svara.

There are three tones raised (udatta), not raised (anudatta) and a combination

of the two or moving tone svarita.

Types of Words

Sanskrit grammarians traditionally describe four types of words.

a) Kriya, verb

b) Naman, noun

c) Upasarga, verbal prefix

d) and nipata particle.

The naman and kriya have the fundamental notions of being and becoming

respectively. The kriya type includes the basic kriya verbs derived from a dhatu

and the namadhatu verbs derived from nouns which conjugate according

purusha vacana and lakara as well as the verbal qualifier kriyavisesana which is

indeclinable avyaya. The naman type includes the basic naman common noun

etymologically derived from a dhatu the samjna proper noun, personal name

or technical term whose meaning cannot be etymologically determined. The

sarvanaman pronoun and the nominal qualifier or adjective visesana all

these decline according to linga, vacana and vibhakti. The upasarga,verbal

prefix has been discussed and the nipata article is a catchall for the remainingypes of word. The nipata are avyaya indeclinable and although they are

separate words they are not used by themselves words of this class are ca and

and he vocative particle.

Use of iti

The nipata iti means thus. It lays stress on what precedes it,typically

referring to something that has been said. It is the Sanskrit equivalent of

inverted commas. For exampleasvena gacchami iti vadati, I am going byhorse - he says.


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There is no system of indirect or reported speech in Sanskrit so the

above may equally be translated as He says that he is going by horse. Note that

iti grammatically isolates the phrase or sentence before it from what

follows in the above example the tritiya vibhakti of asvena is not related to

the kriya vadatieven if the word gacchami were omitted.

This isolating function of iti may also be used to separate a definition

from the word being defined or a grammatical rule from an example of its

application and so on.

Introduction to Sandhi

When we speak out sentences fast, there is a natural tendency for the starting

syllable of a word to coalesce with the last syllable of its preceding word. The

great Panini and perhaps grammarians who came before him have studied

scientifically how syllables coalesce in Sanskrit when words are spoken one

after the other and arrived at a set of rules which govern such liasing. This

phenomenon of liasing of syllables is called . A few examples will help toprovide clarity:

+=;

+= ;

+=;

+= .

Sandhi placing together is the principle of sounds coming together naturallyand harmoniously. Sandhi applies whenever two sounds come together and

this is the point it is sounds coming together. The rules of sandhi apply within a

word as it is being developed from its elemental components to its fully

inflected form this is called internal sandhi internal to an individual word

(sa+ krita = saskrita). The rules also apply between words as they come

together to form a sentence this is called external sandhi (srya + udayam= sryodayam) ie., external to the individual words. The rules of internal

and external sandhi are largely the same.


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Guna and Vrddhi

The grammatical terms guna(secondary form) and vrddhi(increase) can be

considered as degrees of strengthening of the three primary vowels.

Samprasarana

Samprasarana is the process whereby an antahsthah is replaced by the

simple vowel of the same mouth position and the following vowel is elided.

Examples of this are ij-ya derived from dhatu yaj sup-ta from dhatu

svap uc-atha from dhatu vac and prcch-ati from dhatu prach.

A similar process occurs in English when a final y is replaced by i before adding another suffix as for example easy and easily beauty and

beautiful holy and holiness.

Introduction to Compound Words

A writer has tremendous freedom to build compound words. In classical

Sanskrit it is rarely that you come across a sentence which does not contain a

compound word. Compounding is called .

Some forms of compounding are shown below:

1. An adjective can be tagged on to a noun: = A blackcobra. Note that it is only the end word that gets inflected.

2. In place of possessive or genitive case.

=teacher of a student.

3. A compound word can denote a simile.

= Dark in complexion like a black lotus.

Let us take this fairly familiar which is recited for an auspiciousbeginning:


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All words other than and are compound words.

= (one who is) wearing white dress.

= (one who has) the complexion of moon.

= (one who has) four shoulders

= (one who has) a benign face

= for the removal of all obstacles.

Note that what is given in brackets is implied and is therefore to be assumed.

The dhatu (root) is the basic form of a word denoting verbal activity in order to

form a noun(naman) or adjective (visesana ) etc this activity needs to freeze

as it were to make it into an object that is manifest and knowable. Thisfixing of the meaning is accomplished by the addition of a suffix(pratyaya) The

process in English is similar.

Say for example from the verb attend the following are derived

Attendant - one who attends

Attendance - the action of attending;

Attention - the quality of attending;

Attentivehaving the quality of attending;Attentiveness - the state of having the quality of attending.

As shown by the last word in this list these suffixes may be

concatenated and further prefixes may be added as for example,

inattentiveness. Words thus fixed by a suffix (pratyaya) may be joined together

to form a compound word as in the following English examplesbedroom,

reside, headache, screwdriver, blackbird, gingerbread, housekeeping,

sightseeing, breakfast, greenback, newspaper, songwriter, daydream, haircut,paperback, sunrise, dressmaker, handwriting, rattlesnake, wheelbarrow.


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The compound word may simply be a conveniently brief way of

expressing a longer phrase (ex., gravestone= stone marking a grave) or express

a specific idea related to its parts (ex., fireman) or may have a meaning quite

different from its parts. ex., pigtail = a plait of hair hanging down from the backof the head & from its resemblance to the tail of a pig.

When a compound is not yet fully accepted in English writing ex., where

it may cause one to stumble when reading it, it is hyphenated as;

breadwinner; fullgrown; lightweight; roofgarden; breakdown;

gingerbeer; oldfashioned; singleminded; doubledecker; heartshaped;

ponytail; storeroom; farfetched; hothouse; redhot;

wholehearted; fire-fly; lamppost; righthanded; worldwide.

In devanagari, a compound word (samasa) is always written without a

break but in transliteration these are often shown hyphenated for example;

prathama - purusa.

A samasa is formed by simply placing the pratipadika (stem) forms

together and applying the sandhi rules at the junction. One exception to this

should be noted, if the pratipadika ends in -an then the n is dropped. forexample Atman(Self) + jnana (knowledge) = Atmajnana(selfknowledge)

In declining the compound word, the vibhakti ending is added to the end

of the compound as a whole i.e only the last member appears to

declinewhile earlier membersretaintheir pratipadika form.

Sanskrit makes extensive use of the samasa very extensive use indeed.

So much so that it is unusual to find a sentence without a samasa. This makes

expressions in Sanskrit at once concise and precise.

Although a samasa may comprise many words, all the principles are

covered in considering the joining of just two words call them, A and B.

A more complex samasa is simply a case where A and/or B is itself a

samasa. If the principal (more important) word of the compound is

underlined then the four classes of samasa may be indicated as;


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AB Dvandva (meaning A and B)

AB Tatpurusha (A is in some case relationship to B)

AB Avyayibhava (forms indeclinable (avyaya) functioning as an adverb)

AB Bahuvrhi (serves as an adjective qualifying an external principal)

Other types of samasa are subdivisions or special cases of these

four main classes. There are few exceptions to the above words such as

atmane-pada and parasmai-pada where the caseaffix of the first word is not

dropped, are called a-luk-samasa.

Dvandva Samasa

The dvandva(lit., couple) samasa is a copulative compound in which the

members if not compounded would be in the same case bhakti and

connected by the conjunction -cha(and). There are two types of dvandva.

Itaretara : The members are considered separately the gender of the

compound is the gender of the last member, the number is the sum of the

members.

Forexample : ramah ca krsnah ca = ramakrsnau (note the dual)

Rama and Krishna

Samahara : The members are taken collectively as a unit. It is always

neuter singular. Pairs of opposites are often put in this form.

For example : Sukham ca duhkham ca; sukhaduhkham (note the

singular), pleasure and pain.

Tatpurusa Samasa

The tatpurusa (lit., his man) samasa is a determinative compound inwhich the first member depends on (i.e, has a case relationship to) or modifies,

the second. There are several types.

Tatpurusaalso called vyadhikaranatatpurusa is characterised as having

different case endings if the compound is dissolved ie.,the members are

different objects. The compound may be further classified according to the

case relationship (dvitiya through saptami) of the first member to the second.


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Forexample : Vrksamulam Vrksasya mulam (sasthitatpurusa), root of a tree =

treeroot.

Karmadharaya, this is a descriptive determinative compound also called

samanadhikaranatatpurusa and is characterised as having the same caseending if the compound is dissolved i.e the members refer to the same

object.

For example: purnacandrah purnah (full) candrah (moon) = full moon.

Dvigu, this samasa has the same sense as the karmadharaya but has a word

denoting direction or a numeral as its first member. For example, Ekavacana

Singular (lit., onespeaking, to speak) & also dvi(two), bahu (many), giving

dual and plural.

Upapada, this compound has a dhatu derivative as its second member. For

example Kumbhakara = Kumbham (pot) + root(Kr), to do, act make, potter.

Nan tatpurusa, a compound with a negative particle ( na-, an- or a-) as its first

member, giving a negative or privativesense. For example a-jnanam = a

negation or absence + jnanam (knowledge) ie., ignorance.

AvyayIbhava Samasa,

The avyayibhava (lit.,an unchanging nature) samasa is indeclinable

(avyaya) and functions as an adverb. The first member is an indeclinable (

preposition or adverbial prefix) and the last a noun (naman) and the whole

takes the form of the neuter singular.

For example, Sakrodham = Sa (the sense is accompaniment) + Krodha

(anger) = with anger, angrily.

Yathasraddham = Yatha (the sense is proportion) + Sraddha

(faith) according to ones faith.

Bahuvrihi Samasa,

The bahuvrihi (lit.,much rice) samasa is a descriptive compound forming

an adjective (visesana) agreeing with a noun (expressed or understood).

For example Padmaksa = Padma(lotus) + aksha(eye) ie., whose eyes are like

lotuses, lotuseyed.


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The difference between the tatpurusha and the bahuvrihi is that the former

remains a noun while the latter becomes an adjective. In the Vedic Sanskrit

the determinative and descriptive compounds were distinguished by accents.

rAja -putra = rajan(king) + putra(son) = the son of the king, the kings son(tatpurusha)

rAjAputra = whose son is a king (bahuvrihi).Aksharas are like elements in Periodic Table. When they join together they

form Molecules and compounds. Adding pre-fixes and suffixes changes the

properties of the root word (dhatu) in predictable way. So if the chemistry of

the language (Rasa-Shastra) is known then one can make any combination of

'shabda', 'vakya' and even 'kaavya' exactly as they like.

Taddhitas or Secondary Derivatives

Vritti is the general term for any complex formation in Sanskrit requiring

explanation or resolution. One such vritti is the samsa. The other vrittis areekaea vritti (similar to the dvandvasamsa), kridvritti (formation of wordsfrom roots or verb-stems by primary affixes), dhtuvritti (formation ofderivative verbs from primary roots) and taddhitavritti (formation of derivative

bases from nouns by secondary affixes). For instance, Rama is referred to as

darathi, by virtue of being the son of Daaratha. Bhrata, kaurava, pava,prtha, ggeya, ntanu, rghava, prvat, draupad, ydava, bhrgava,vsudeva, and bhradvja are all examples of names derived from ancestors byaddition of secondary affixes. Pitmaha, mtula etc. are examples of nounsderived from descendants. Taddhithas are not restricted to persons alone.

Often books are named as a secondary derivative of the author. Thus,

Govindarjyam is the commentary onRamayanaby Govindarja andkarabhya is the bhya written by akara. Another taddhita pratyaya,'in' conveys the sense of possession: thus, dain is somebody with a staff,daa; guin, with gua; cakrin, with cakra (Vinu) and so on.

Kridantas or Krit affixes

The affixes starting with 'krit' are called krit affixes and words formed by

the addition of krit affixes are called kridantas, [words] ending in krit. The

name krit itself is derived from a stra of Adhyy, krit-ati, all affixes

except tiare krit. Addition of krit affixes results in the formation of declinable

and indeclinable participles. Participle, as in the past participle broken is wellknown, with students reciting lists such as break, broke, broken. At the stage
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where these lists are taught, the meaning of a participle is not explained in

great detail.

A participle gets its name because the word called the participle does

the job of an adjective by 'participating' in the action denoted by the verb. Forinstance, in the sentence, 'The Australian leg spinner carried many cans of

baked beans' the word 'baked' describes beans and thus works like an

adjective; yet like green, large of fresh, baked is not really an adjective; rather

it is closely associated with the verb, 'bake'. Similarly in a 'broken widow pane'

and 'a burning train', a word derived from a verb serves as an adjective.

Applying the same lable to kridantas in Sanskrit is somewhat amusing, as all

the adjectives (and nouns and other parts of speech, together referred to as

subantas) are held and shown to be derived from verbal roots; so participles

are not really a separate class in Sanskrit. With this quirk of the descriptive

lable 'participle' being kept in mind, examine the kridantas proper.

The Present Participle is formed by the addition of 'at' (with the addition

of a head and tail, it is usually referred to as at) to the root, as in pahat

(reading). This is possible only for parasmaipada roots; for Atmanepada roots,

another affix 'na' (nac) is added, as in vardhamna (growing). The past

participles are formed by adding 'vas' and 'na' to parasmaipada and

Atmanepada verbs. The past passive participle is formed by 'ta' (ktavat) to the

verb as in bhta (become) or snta (bathed). Potential participles are formed

by addition of 'tavya', 'anya' and 'ya' as in kartavyam or karayam (that which

ought to be done, therefore, duty). These and the other participles of the

future tense and past active are all adjectives and decline as subantas do.

The gerund formed by the addition of 'ktv' (to simple words) or 'ya' (lyap, in

case of words with a prefix) are indeclinable. Thus, we have jtva (having

known) from the root j (to know); if we add a prefix, say 'vi', the gerund is

formed differently: vijya (having known well). The gerund or the indeclinable

past participle is formed by addition of other affixes as well. Another important

indeclinable participle is the infinitive, formed by the addition of 'tum' (tumun),

as in kartu(in order to do) or pahitu(in order to study). The krit affixes are

quite numerous. In addition to those briefly mentioned above, another 60 are

listed in M. R. Kale's 'A Higher Sanskrit Grammar'.

The krit affixes are the key behind the huge vocabulary of Sanskrit and its

potential to coin new words to keep pace with technological developments.

This potential, in fact, is realised through other Indian languages like Hindi,

with new words being coined to describe modern developments. To give one


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example of how important the krit affixes are in usage, given below is a list of

31 words formed by addition of krit affixes to the root 'bh' listed in the

'brihaddhturatnkara' of Hareknta Mira: bhavitavyam, bhavanyam,

bhavyam, bhvyam, bhta, bhtavn, bhavan, bhavant, bhaviyan,

bhaviyat, bhaviyant, bhavitu, bhtv, sambhya, bhavit, bhavitr,bh, bhaviu, bhvuka, vibhu, prabhu, bhti, bhva, prabhava,

bhava, bhavana, bhuvana, bhmi, adbhuta.

What does every case mean?

I will explain this subject to you completely. You must understand the meaning

of every case, not only to be able to decline properly, but to use declension in

a proper manner. If you do not understand how to utilize every case, you will

never can build up a sentence in Sanskrit.

Although I am going to teach the "generic" meaning of the eight cases, you

must learn to think in Sanskrit. If you keep thinking in English while studying

Sanskrit, you will not grasp it at all. Some verbs use cases in an apparently

"incoherent" way (from the English's viewpoint, of course). For example, in

English you say: "I am saying something to someone", but in Sanskrit you may

come to say "I am saying something on someone". In Sanskrit, the use of the

words "of, for, to, on" and all the rest, is "generally" similar to that of English,

but not all the time. So, start to think gradually in Sanskrit from now on if youwant to learn this language adequately:

1) NOMINATIVE CASE: It indicates the Subject. The Subject is both he who is

doing the action denoted by the verb and who is described by the rest of the

sentence.

(Even though you have just started learning declension, I am going to decline in

the examples of each case. Do not worry, it is only for the sake of information.

I will use nouns ending in "a".)

- ivaprema bhavati

iva(iva) is (bhavati) love (prema)--the Subject "iva" is being described inthis sentence. Note that I had to add Visargato the prtipadikaor crude form"iva" so that the word be properly declined in the Nominative case--.

- ivakaroti sarvam


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iva(iva)does (karoti)everything (sarvam)--the Subject "iva" is doing theaction denoted by the verb.

2) VOCATIVE CASE: It indicates Direct Address. It may be optionally

accompanied by such words as "he-- O". If not so, the interjections "O" or "Eh"are already included in the Vocative case itself.

- He iva phi me

O (he)iva(iva)protect (phi)me (me)! --The "he" is optional. Note that theVocative case "iva" coincides with the crude form or prtipadika "iva".Although this is true for nouns ending in "a", is not always true for all nouns,because sometimes the Vocative case coincides with the Nominative case and,

at other cases, it differs from both the crude form and the Nominative--.

- iva phi me

O iva (iva) protect (phi) me (me) --Note that the "O" is included in theVocative case itself.

- Pupadanta gtumarhasi

Eh Pupadanta (pupadanta) be pleased (arhasi) to sing (gtum) --Note that"Eh" is also indicated by the Vocative case--.

3) ACCUSATIVE CASE:It indicates the Direct Object. The Direct Object is that to

which the action denoted by the verb is being directed.

ivampnuyt

He/she/it would obtain (pnuyt)iva(ivam)--"ivam" is the properdeclension for "iva" in the Accusative case--.

4) INSTRUMENTAL CASE:It indicates the Instrument. When you use this case

you are "usually" indicating "by, through, by means of, with, along with,

together with, etc.".

- ivena vivaktam

The universe (vivam)has been made (ktam)by iva (ivena)--"iva" is theinstrument or means by which the entire universe has been made. Note that


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"ena" in "ivena" is respectively substituted for the final "a" in "iva". In short,you remove "a" and place "ena" instead. Of course, this rule is only valid fornouns and adjectives ending in "a"--.

- Pupadantena vanagacchmi

I go (gacchmi)to the woods (vanam)along with Pupadanta(pupadantena)--And now, the Intrumental case gives a sense of company--.

5) DATIVE CASE:It indicates the Indirect Object. In English the Indirect Object is

the word coming after "for" or "to" or "for the sake of", etc.

- Sa ivya puspadadti

He (sa) offers (dadti) a flower (pupam) to iva (ivya) --"ivya" is theIndirect Object and "pupam" is the Direct Object. In sum, you may see two

words being declined: one in Dative case and the other in Accusative case--.

6) ABLATIVE CASE: It indicates the Source. When you use this case you are

"usually" indicating "from, on account of, since, because of, due to, owing to,

etc.".

- ivdanugraha gacchati

The (divine)favour or grace (anugraha)comes (gacchati)from iva(ivt)--"ivt" is the Ablative case of "iva". You may also see that I have used somerules of Sandhito combine the words. But just pay attention to the cases--.

- ivjjagadvartate

The world (jagat)exists (vartate)because of iva(ivt)--Note that the final "t"in "ivt" has been combined with the initial "j" in "jagat" (by means of a ruleof Sandhi) to form "jj".--

7) GENITIVE CASE:It indicates Sense of Belonging. When you use this case you

are "usually" indicating "of, 's, s', etc.".

- ivasya giri

The mountain (giri)of iva(ivasya)--"ivasya" is the Genitive case of "iva".Apart from this, sometimes the Genitive may be used in place of the Dative


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it falls in line with the way it is written in English grammar. In my view it is not

a good practice and it is best learnt and written down the Sanskrit way.

Also it is important to note that the inflected verb is not sensitive to the gender

of the subject, which is not the case in many Indian languages.

and terminations: Root of a verb without any inflexions or

terminations is called . There are two sets of terminations or inflexionsthat a verb can take in different persons and numbers. One set is

and the other is . Some s take terminations,

some take terminations and some take both. Examples will clarify.

= (He,she or it) eats. , is and the termination it has taken is

.

= (He, she or it) rejoices. is and the termination it has taken is

.

or = (He, she or it) requests or begs. is and it can take

either termination. s which take either terminations is called .

Therefore while learning verbs it is necessary to know as well as whether

it is , or .

In addition, verbs are categorized into ten different groups called . A verb

belonging to a gets inflected following a certain template specific to that

. For example , and quoted above belong to the first groupcalled . The is called (+=).as the group is

headed by : .

Therefore while learning a verb, we also need to learn to which it belongs.

The ten s: There are six tenses and four moods Three tenses for the

past, one for the present and two for the future. Tense refers to time andmoods refer to Manobhavam.


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PaaNini, the great grammarian identifies these ten tenses and moods with

specific symbols ( These are symbols only for easy identification and do not

have any etymological significance.) as follows: For each one of these tenses

we show the third person singular of : as an example. (Traditionally a

student is first taught conjugation of)

1. (laT): This corresponds to Present tense in English. Ex:

2. (loT): Imperative mood. Ex: . When used in second person, it

conveys a command, entreaty or advice. Ex: . (Be vigilant). It can

also be used for expressing a wish or a prayer. Ex: . Whenused to express a benediction, there is a special variant prescribed, although in

usage the normal form is also observed. Ex: or . (Mayyou live long)

3. (la~G): This corresponds to Past Imperfect in English. Ex: . As per

grammariansis to be used to express an action that has taken place on the

previous day or earlier. .

4. (li~G): Potential mood. Ex: . There is much overlap between

and in usage. Although can be used for a command, advice orrequest, it is more often used to lay down guide lines and code of conduct.

(). It is also used to express a probability or possibility. It is sometimes

called .

5.

(liT): Past Perfect. Ex:

. It is to be used for narrating past events

which the narrator has not personally witnessed. Consequently in epics,

puranas and itihasas, is preponderantly encountered. As a general rule

when the subject is in First Person, is not appropriate.

6. (luT): Future Tense( sometimes called First Future or Periphrastic

Future). Ex: . It is specified for denoting a future action which is not totake place on the current day. This tense is not frequently encountered.


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7. (lRuT): Simple Future (also called Second Future): Ex: . This canbe used for denoting any future action without any restrictions. In literature,

is much more encountered than .

8. (aaSIrlin~G): This mood is exclusively for giving benedictions! Ex:

. When used in First Person, it expresses a wish for oneself.

9. (lu~G): Grammarians call this Aorist. ( According to Concise OxfordDictionary, past tense merely denoting occurrence without limitation as to

duration etc.) Ex: . It is generally used in dialogues and conversations

which refer to recent past actions. Conjugation in is quite complex and not

easy to master. To the extent that a student has to recognize its conjugated

forms in classics, he has to get familiar with it. However for compositions, he

best avoids it.

10. (lRu~G): Conditional. Ex: . Its use is restricted to a certain set

of situations which is best explained through an example:

. (Had there been good rains there would have

been abundance of food). It is to be used only in such situations where it is tobe implied that had a certain event happened, (which did not happen) a

certain other event would have happened. Please note that is used both inthe main clause and the conditional clause..

The above ten together are called s. There is a ( a strayverse) which laconically explains them :

In the Vedas, another is encountered which is called . The aboverefers to that too.

Active and Passive voices:

= Boy eats food


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= Food is eaten by the boy.

Irrespective of whether is , or , all verbs take

onlyterminations in passive voice.

Like in English, transitive verbs will have two forms one in Active Voice (

) and the other in Passive Voice (). Ex: ->

Sanskrit allows for a type of Passive Voice, often called "Impersonal Passive"

() even for intransitive verbs. Ex: ->

A verb can be conjugated in Active and Passive Voice in all the ten s. In

passive voice irrespective of whether a verb is or , it takes

onlyterminations.

The ten s:

Sanskrit grammarians have classified s into ten lists depending on thepattern they follow in conjugation. Each list is denoted after the root heading

the list. The ten lists are as follows:

1. headed by "".

2.headed by "".

3.headed by "".

4. headed by "".5. headed by "".

6.headed by "".

7.headed by "".

8.headed by "".

9. headed by "".

10.

headed by

"

".


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s 1, 4, 6 and 10 are quite alike in conjugation and are generally clubbed

together and taught before other s. It is to be noted that except for ,

, and in Active Voice, the pattern of conjugation is virtually the

same for all the ten s.

The ten s together list about 2200 s, out of which nearly half of them

belongs to the first namely . However there are a number of frequentlyused verbs which belong to other groups, necessitating a study of all of them.

Tenses and moods

There are six tenses and four moods Three tenses for the past, one for thepresent and two for the future. However Sanskrit does not have any direct

equivalents to present continuous or past continuous. If you want to translate,

"Boy is eating" into Sanskrit, you would do well to translate it as, "

".

One mood is exclusively for giving commands (), another for polite

requests (

), and another for giving benedictions (

). However writers

do not strictly follow the restrictions especially in poetry. There is another

mood to be used in sentences with a conditional clause.

A verb can thus be conjugated in each one of these tenses and moods (a total

of ten).

Causals

An interesting feature of most Indian languages is the facility of what is called

the causal form. From any root verb you can derive another verb which

denotes that the subject is causing another person or object to do the action. It

is best to understand it through an example:

= Boy eats food.

= Mother makes the boy eat food. Or, mother feedsthe boy.


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is the causal derivative of .

-->

The derived verb can be conjugated in all the tenses and moods.

Somebody has made a remark that this facility in Indian languages points to

the predisposition to get any work done by any other person!

Indeclinables

Words in a Sanskrit sentence are one of the three types: 1. 2.and

3..

comprises nouns, pronouns, adjectives and participles, which are

inflected in the appropriate gender, case and number. are the verbswhich have been inflected in the appropriate tense, number and person.

are those which remain uninflected in a sentence and are thereforeindeclinables. Indeclinables include a number of adverbs, conjunctions and

interjections. In the sentence

andare .is . (=quickly) is .

Words , ,etc are all indeclinables.

Verbal derivatives

Sanskrit is rich in verbal derivatives which enable a writer to express complex

constructions with simplicity and precision. A few examples will help

understand the use of such derivatives.

= Boy runs while eating.

= Teacher rebukes the boy who is eating.

= Teacher rebukes the girl who is eating.


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From root the present participle , which is declined like a masculine

noun, is derived. is in - whereas is in

-. Similarly while qualifying a feminine noun the

participle takes the form , which is declined like a feminine noun.

The above is a case of a present participle, which really acts as an adjective

qualifying the noun to which it refers. Note how the present participle gets

inflected according to the case and gender of the noun it qualifies.

The past participle very often plays the part of a verb itself. For example:

= Food was eaten by the boy.

= Food was eaten by the boy.

= Fruits were eaten by the boy.

In these three sentences above, verb has been dispensed with. The past

participle form of , does the job of a verb. Note how it agrees withthe number and gender of the noun it qualifies. It can also be used in Active

voice. For example:

= Boy ate food.

Use of past participle in place of a verb in past tense is very frequent in Sanskrit

as it avoids the complexities of a verb.

There are a number of verbal derivatives which act as indeclinables ().

For example:

= after eating; = to eat or for eating; = worthy ofeating, should be eaten.

Direct speech

In Sanskrit there is no equivalent to indirect speech. If A wants to report to C

what B told A, A will simply report the way he heard from B as direct speech.

Puranas and epics have a way of telling multilayered stories. Perhaps in


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Mahabharata there are 3 or 4 levels in which the story is narrated. If indirect

speech were possible it would have been confusion worse confounded! That is

perhaps the reason why the poet introduces , ,

etc.!ORIGIN OF THE VARNAMALA.

Just as there are countless currents of energy in the cosmos, all of

which are distinct from each other, so are there countless energy currents in

the human body. In yogic literature these are called nadis. Of the 72,000

distinct nadis the yogis have identified, fourteen are of principal importance.

Yogis have also discovered the exact nature of these major energy currents,

their pathways in the body, how they interact with other energy currents, and

what effect they have on the body, nervous system, biochemistry, and mind.

Then, realizing that it is practically impossible to enunciate distinctly the sound

that is produced from the vibrations of each nadi, yogis with extraordinary

spiritual powers captured the entire range of sound produced by all these

energy currents, and divided them into fifty-one parts. That is how the fifty-

one letters of the Sanskrit alphabet were discovered.

The yogis have also discovered that every letter of the Sanskrit

alphabet has its own color, shape, presiding force, and unique transformativequality, as well as its own seer. They have also experienced the relationship

between these letters and different planets, stars, and constellations. They

have discovered the approximate location of these letters in the human body

and the particular pranic or psychological forces to which they correspond.

At a more subtle level, the Sanskrit phonemes relate to the

energy currents which lie deep within the interior of the human body. Each of

the 72,000 currents has a distinct sound, although they are too diffuse and

vague to be enunciated distinctly. Moreover, the yogis have identified places inthe body where two or more energy currents cross. In mantra shastra, the

point where two energy currents intersect is called a sandhi, the point where

three energy currents cross is called marma shthana, and the point where

more than three energy currents converge is called a chakra. Here at the

chakras, the vibratory patterns of energy are strong and vibrant. At the center

of each chakra a distinct sound predominates, and other distinct sounds are

centered around it. That is why, in kundalini yoga, each chakra is represented

as having a particular letter at its center, as well as a letter on each petal.


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The best way to develop the capacity to do the advanced practices

is to meditate on an awakened mantra regularly and wholeheartedly. We can

be confident that a mantra is awakened when we receive it from a teacher

who has been initiated in the long chain of a spiritual tradition. Receiving a

mantra from such a teacher also gives us the security of knowing that theguiding force of the lineage is with us.

English vs Sanskrit Grammar

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