Sanskrit Course First Half PDF

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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 devangar, also used for Hind or Nepl. Other important
scripts like rajan are still in use, although, for the most, only regionally. In the beginning, we will be
using roman script, introducing devangar through a gradual approach.

a i u e ai o au | svar | vowels

a | anusvra | a | visarga |

ka kha ga gha a | khy | gutturals

ca cha ja jha a | tlavy | palatals

a ha a ha a | mrdhany | retroflex

ta tha da dha na | danty | dentals

pa pha ba bha ma | ohy | labials

ya ra la va | antasth | semivowels

a a sa ha | ma | sibilants

ka ja

The syllables are ordered according to certain characteristics of their pronunciation. The first line ( a
i u e ai o au ) includes all vowels, and the two possible modifications of anusvra (a)
and visarga (a). The second line (ka kha ga gha a) 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 a) are produced in the soft palate;
those in the fourth (a ha a ha a) 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 u respectively). Aspirates follow, and then come the two conjunct
consonants ka and ja (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 ti: a word is whatever ends in sup or
ti (sup-ti-anta padam).

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

buddha | the Buddha
rmea | by Rma
bhagavn | the Blessed One
saghena | by the assembly, with the assembly
bodhisattvasya | of the Bodhisattva
etat | this
mahat | by the great
samst | in brief
sampanna | 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 mahat) pronouns (like
etat) and past participles (like sampanna) as well.

These are verbal forms (words ending in ti):

viharati | (someone) dwells
avocat | (someone) said
kathayiymi | (I) will tell
yti | (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:

rm gacchanti | Many Rmas go
rma gacchati | Rma goes
bhagavanta viharanti | The Blessed Ones dwell
bhagavn 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 kathayiymi | I will tell
s kathayiyati | she will tell

Dharmasagraha study

Dharma-sagraha means a Compendium of Dharma; it is a short text, attributed to Ngrjuna, and
constituting a sort of small dictionary of terms related to Buddhism. In particular, the work lists
dharmas within the framework of Vaibhika Abhidharma, adding lists from Mahyna and Vajrayna
categories as well. It is a list of lists.

We will study the Dharmasagraha only selectively, concentrating on certain basic lists, and
occasionally not following the order in which they are found in the actual text.

namo ratnatrayya |

ratnatraya namasktya sarvasattvahitodayam|
kathyate mohanya dharmasrasamuccaya ||

namo ratnatrayya 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 (namasktya) to the Three Jewels (ratna-traya), which are the source (udaya) of
benefit (hita) for all living beings (sarva-sattva),
A compendium (samuccaya) about the essence of Dharma (dharma-sra) is told (kathyate) in order to
destroy delusion (moha-nya).

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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 prathama tvat tri ratnni | tadyath
1. buddha
2. dharma
3. sagha ceti |

tatra | in that context || prathamam| first || tvat | then || tri ratnni | the Three Jewels || tadyath | It (is)
as follows: || buddha | the Buddha || dharma | the Dharma || sagha | the Sagha || ca | and || iti | this
particle has a function similar to the inverted commas; it indicates a quotation ||

In that context, first, the Three J ewels: The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sagha.

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 (araa) for Buddhist practitioners, as in the formula:

buddha araa gacchmi |
dharma araa gacchmi |
sagha araa gacchmi ||

I go for refuge in the Buddha,
I go for refuge in the dharma,
I go for reguge in he Sagha.

Heart Stra study

During the first 10 lessons, we will be studying the shorter version of the Prajpramithdayastram,
the Heart Stra 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:

nama sarvajya | ryvalokitevarabodhisattvo gambhry prajpramity cary
caramo 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; nama means bowing and sarvajya
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 tianta 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 Avalokitevara, the Bodhisattva, while practicing the conduct within the profound
Perfection of Wisdom, observed ()

Exercises

i. memorize the syllabary

ii. learn the devangar for: a i u e ai o au a a

iii. memorize: rma rmau rm; he rma he rmau he rm; rmam rmau rmn

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Lesson 2
Nouns | Vibhakti | The word Rma | 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
(niyataliga) 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: rma, rmea,
rm, rmai, the stem form would be rma. 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 rma c jalamuc ram c vc a phala C suvc
i hari t marut i mati j sraj i vri J asj
u guru t pacat nad t sarit u madhu T jagat
dt t dhmat u dhenu d sampad dt T pacat
ai rai n rjan vadh D hd
o go svas N nman
au glau ai rai N karman
o go
au nau

Moreover, pronouns (sarvanma, 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 Rma

The word Rma 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-kra-anta | ending in short a
puliga | masculine gender
rma-abda | the word rma (Rma)

Singular Dual Plural

1
st
Vibhakti rma rmau rm

Vocative he rma he rmau he rm

2
nd
Vibhakti rmam rmau rmn

3
rd
Vibhakti rmea rmbhym rmai

4
th
Vibhakti rmya rmbhym rmebhya

5
th
Vibhakti rmt rmbhym rmebhya

6
th
Vibhakti rmasya rmayo rmm

7
th
Vibhakti rme rmayo rmeu

In rmea and rm we have a 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 a 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
vka tihati knane | The tree stands in the forest

2
nd
: object of an active sentence
kusumit lat vka sarit | The flowered creeper hangs on the tree

3
rd
: instrument; agent of a passive sentence
vkea abhihata gaja nipatita | The elephant struck by the tree has fallen

4
th
: recipient
vkya deyam jalam | Water is to be given to the tree

5
th
: the point of departure; the origin or cause
vkt naya majarm abhinavm | Bring the new sprout fromthe tree

6
th
: connection between two substantives
vkasya kh unnat | The branch of the tree is tall

7
th
: the substratum of the action, the place or time
vke nam idam ktam akunin | 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 vka ki 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:

rma gata | rma (has) arrived
vkasya kh unnat | the branch of the tree (is) tall
rm unnat | Rmas (are) tall
vkau unnatau | the two trees (are) tall
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gajau gatau | the two elephants (have) arrived
rmasya sundare ghe tu st | in Rmas beautiful house St (is) happy

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

Study the following examples

1a. The 1
st
Vibhakti representing the agent (active contruction)

rma phala khdati ||

Rma eats the fruit.

Here, the word rma is in the 1
st
Vibhakti singular. It represents the agent, the one who performs the
action of eating (khdati).

bhagavn buddha rjaghe viharati sma ||

The Buddha, the Blessed One, was dwelling in Rjgir.

Here, the word buddha and the word bhagavn are both in the 1
st
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 (buddha) and Blessed (bhagavn). The Buddha, Blessed One is the agent, the one
who performs the action of dwelling (viharati sma).

rma gha gacchati ||

Rma goes to the house.

Here the word rma is in the 1
st
Vibhakti, representing the agent, the one who performs the action of
going (gacchati).

ryvalokitevara bodhisattva etad avocat ||

Noble Avalokitevara, the Bodhisattva, said this()

ryvalokitevara and bodhisattva are both in the 1
st
Vibhakti singular, and they refer to the same
person, who is the Noble valokitevara (ryvalokitevara) and a Bodhisattva (bodhisattva). This
person is the agent, the one who performs the action of saying (avocat).

rma kam payati ||

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Rma sees Ka.

Rma is in the 1
st
Vibhakti, and represents the agent of the action of seeing (payati).

rmam ka payati ||

Ka sees Rma.

Ka is in the 1
st
Vibhakti, and represents the agent of the action of seeing (payati). 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.

devadatta pacati ||

Devadatta cooks.

devadatta is in the 1
st
Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of cooking (pacati).

ryvalokitevarabodhisattva vyavalokayati sma ||

Noble Avalokitevara, the Bodhisattva, observed.

Here ryvalokitevarabodhisattva 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)

rmea phala khdyate ||

The fruit is eaten by Rma.

Here phalam is in the 1
st
Vibhakti singular (phalam, being a neuter gender word, has the same ending
for the 1
st
and 2
nd
Vibhakti). It represents the object of the action of eating (khdyate), the thing which
is being eaten by Rma.

bhagavn buddha praamyate ||

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

Here, both bhagavn and buddha 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 (praamyate).

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rmea ghamgamyate ||

The house is being gone to by Rma.

Here gham(the house) is in the 1
st
Vibhakti singular, representing the object of the action of going to
(gamyate).
devadattena odanampacyate ||

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)

Rma phalamkhdati ||

Rma eats the fruit.

Here phalamis in the 2
nd
Vibhakti, representing the object of the action of eating (khdati). Because
phalamis a neuter word, the 1
st
and 2
nd
Vibhakti look the same.

Rma ghamgacchati ||

Rma goes to the house.

ghamis 2
nd
Vibhakti singular, and is the object of the action of going to (gacchati).

rma kampayati ||

Rma sees Ka.

Here kamis in the 2
nd
Vibhakti and represents the object of the action of seeing (payati).

rmam ka payati ||

Ka sees Rma.

Here rmam is in the the 2
nd
Vibhakti and represents the object of the action of seeing (payati). The
meaning does not depend on the order of the words, but on the Vibhakti endings.

devadatta odanampacati ||
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Devadatta cooks the rice.

Here odanamis in the 2
nd
Vibhakti, representing the object of the action of cooking (pacati). Since
odanamis a neuter word, the 1
st
and 2
nd
Vibhakti look identical.

carym carama ()

Practicing the conduct ()

Here carym is in the 2
nd
Vibhakti, representing the object of the action of practicing (carama). The
action of practicing in this case is expressed by a noun and not by a verb (carama, a present active
participle meaning someone who is practicing).

Dharrmasagraha study

tri ynni | tadyath
1. rvakaynam
2. pratyekabuddhaynam
3. mahyna ceti |

tri ynni | Three Vehicles || rvaka-ynam | Hearers Vehicle || pratyeka-buddha-ynam || Solitary
Buddha Vehicle || mah-ynam | Great Vehicle || ca | and || iti | marking quotaion ||

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

Yna 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 rvakas, do not need to hear the Dharma from others). An
alternative name for the Mahyna is Bodhisattvayna.

paca skandh |
1. rpam
2. vedan
3. saj
4. saskra
5. vijna ceti |

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paca skandh | The five aggregates || rpam | form || vedan | sensation || saj | notion || saskra
| formation || vijnam | 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 Stra study

paca skandhs t ca svabhvanyn payati sma ||

Here only payati 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 Avalokitevara, the Bodhisattva.

paca, skandhn, tn, svabhvanyn, 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 (paca skandhn), and them (tn ca)
as being empty of essence (svabhvanyn). The words look different when they are written one after
another, hence at this stage you need (a teachers) 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 devangar for ka kha ga gha a, ca cha ja jha a

ii. memorize the word rma, and the sections of Dharmasagraha and Heart Stra

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

iv. translate: to the Buddha | of Avalokitevara | by Rma | by two Rmas | to the Buddhas |
from two Rmas | to Avalokitevara | of the tall trees | on the trees | to the sagha | from
the saghas |

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Lesson 3
The verb | Bhavati | Concordance of verb and noun | 10 lakras | Sandhi

The verb

Verbs are words ending in verbal suffixes (ti).
Sanskrit grammarians abstracted certain recurrent elements in all the verbal formations, and called
these dhtus (verbal roots). For example, in

bhavati, abhavat, abht, bhavet

the recurrent element would be bh, 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 bh, 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:

prathamapurua means first person and corresponds to the English third person He, she, it;
madhyamapurua means middle person and corresponds to the English second person You;
uttamapurua 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 (la)

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

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

prathamapurua bhavati bhavata bhavanti

madhyamapurua bhavasi bhavatha bhavatha

uttamapurua bhavmi bhavva bhavma

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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 rma bhavati (Rma is) both rma and bhavati
are singular and prathamapurua. In rm bhavanti (Rmas are) both the words are plural. In aha
bhavmi (I am) both the terms are singular and uttamapurua (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. rma phalam khdati | ii. phala khdati rma | iii. khdati phala rma |

or any other option, the meaning remains Rma eats the fruit. This is because the ending of rma and
the ending of khdati concord. Despite this flexibility, (i.) represents the favored word order.

10 lakras

Besides specifying person and number, verbal endings can express different tenses and moods: Sanskrit
grammarians call the endings by the technical term lakra (meaning, the letter la) and name 10
different groups of lakras ( plus le occurring only in the Veda), as follows:

lakra and function English name example(3
rd
singular)

la (vartamna | present) present bhavati
li (parokabhta | past events not witnessed) perfect babhva
lu (anadyatanabhaviyan | future beyond today) first future bhavit
l (bhaviyan | future) second future bhaviyati
le (vede | for the Veda) (only in the Veda)
lo (j | orders) imperative bhavatu
la (anadyatanabhta | past beyond today) imperfect abhavat
vidhili (vidhi | injunctions) potential bhavet
rli ( | benedictions) benedictive bhyt
lu (bhta | past) aorist abht
l (kriynipattau | unaccomplished action) conditional abhaviyat

A traditional verse summarizes the main uses of the various lakras:
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la vartamne le vede bhte lu-la-lias tath |
vidhyios tu li-loau lu-l-l ca bhaviyati ||

la is used for the present;
le in the Veda;
lu, la and li are used for the past;
li and lo are used for injunction and benediction;
lu, lt and l 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 vka tihati knane (the tree stands in the
forest) would actually appear as vkas tihati knane. This is because a, 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,
gua, and vddhi. Gua and vddhi are obtained by adding short a to the vowel, which modifies the
sound:

Basic: a i u
Gua: a e o a(r) a(l)
Vddhi: ai au (r) (l)

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

ryvalokitevarabodhisattvo gambhry prajpramity cary caramo vyavalokayati sma
|

Without these changes due to sandhi, the same sentence would look as follows:

ryvalokitevarabodhisattva gambhrymprajpramitymcarymcarama vyavalokayati
sma |
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3a. The 3
rd
Vibhakti as the instrument

rma hastena phalam khdati ||

Rma eats the fruit with his hand.

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

rmea hastenaphalam khdyate ||

The fruit is eaten by Rma, with his hand.

Here hastena is in the 3
rd
Vibhakti singular, representing the instrument, which helps Rma in the
action of eating (khdyate). 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, rmea, 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: Rma is more
suitable to be the agent of eating, while his hand makes more sense as the instrument.

devadatta agnin odanam pacati ||

Devadatta cooks the rice with fire.

Here agnin 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).

rmea phalam khdyate ||


Here rmea is in the 3
rd
Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of eating (khdyate).

rmea gham gamyate ||

18
The house is gone to by Rma.

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

bhagavn buddha praamyate janai ||

The Buddha, the Blessed One, is bowed to by the people.

Here janai is in the 3
rd
Vibhakti plural, representing the agent of the action of bowing to
(praamyate).

rmea ka dyate ||

Kra is seen by Rma.

rd
Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of seeing (dyate).

rma kea dyate ||

Rma is seen by Ka.

Here kea is in the 3
rd
Vibhakti, representing the agent of the action of seeing (dyate). 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

rma kya phalam dadti ||

Rma gives a fruit to Ka,

Here kya is in the 4
th
Vibhakti, representing the recipient, the one who receives the object of the
action of giving (dadti).

rmya ka phalam dadti ||

Ka gives the fruit to Rma.
19

Here rmya is in the 4
th
action of giving (dadti). The change in meaning, once again, depends upon the change in the Vibhakti,
not on word-order.

rmea knya phalam dattam ||

The fruit has been given to Kna by Rma.

Here kya is in the 4
th
action of giving (dattam). Dattamis 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 (rmea); but the 4
th
Vibhakti is still used for the recipient.

Dharmasagraha study

dvdayatanni |
1. caku
2. rotram
3. ghram
4. jihv
5. kya
6. manayatanam
7. rpam
8. abda
9. gandha
10. rasa
11. spara
12. dharmyatana ceti |

dvdaa-yatanni | Twelve entrances || caku | eye || rotram | ear || ghram| smell || jihv | tongue ||
kya | body || manayatanam | the mind-entrance || rpam | form || abda | sound || gandha | smell ||
rasa | flavor || spara | touch || dharma- yatanam | 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 nma (lit. name, referring to mind and mental
derivatives), the twelve entrances focus on the analysis of rpa (form). When the word rpa appears in
20
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 rpa) 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,
rpaprasda). When rpa 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 Stra study

iha riputra rpa nyat nyataiva rpam | rpn na pthak nyat nyaty na pthag rpam |
yad rpa s nyat y nyat tad rpam ||

iha, riputra, rpam, nyat, nyat, eva, rpam | rpt, na, pthak, nyat, nyaty, na, pthak,
rpam | yat, rpam, s, nyat, y, nyat, tat, rpam ||

Here, riputra, form is emptiness and emptiness is itself form. Emptiness is not apart from form, and
formis not apart fromemptiness. What is form, that is emptiness, what is emptiness, that is form.

iha, riputra, rpam, nyat

The first sentence has a very simple structure: rpam is in the 1
st
Vibhakti, and so is nyat, 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.

nyat, eva, rpam |

The eva is a particle indicating either emphasis, or delimiting something; rma eva, could mean Rma
only, or Rma himself.

rpt, na, pthak, nyat, nyaty, na, pthak, rpam |

Pthak is an indeclinable, meaning separate or apart from and always takes the 5
th
Vibhakti; hence,
rpt (5
th
Vibhakti) and nyty (5
th
Vibhakti).

yat, rpam, s, nyat, y, nyat, tat, rpam ||

yat and s, and also, y and tat, are used to make relative clauses, a construction that we will discuss in
greater detail later in this grammar.

21
Exercises

i. Learn the devangar for a ha a ha a, ta tha da dha na, pa pha ba bha ma

| |

ii. Memorize bhavati (present).

iii. Complete with the appropriate forms of bh/bhavati and translate: rm | vkau |
buddha ... | rma | avalokitevarau | bodhisattv | aham ||

iv. Translate: The tree exists. | (You two) exist. | (We) exist. | (He) exists. | Two Rmas exist. |
(I) exist. | The Bodhisattva Avalokitevara exists. ||

v. Memorize: la vartamne le vede bhte lu-la-lias tath |
vidhyios tu li-loau lu-l-l ca bhaviyati ||

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

rma phalam khdati || rmau phalam khdata || rm phalam khdanti || bhagavn buddha
rjaghe viharati sma || bhagavantau buddhau rjaghe viharata sma || bhagavanta buddh rjaghe
viharanti sma || rma gha gacchati || rmau gha gacchata || rm gha gacchanti || rma
kam payati || rmau kam payata || rm kam payanti || rmam ka payati || rmam
kau payata || rmam k payanti ||

Vocabulary: khd (khdati) | to eat || vih (viharati) | to dwell, to reside || gam (gacchati) | to go to, to
reach || d (payati) | to see, to look at ||

22
Lesson 4
Phala | Compounds: summary of types | Dvanda type | Bhaviyati | Vowel sandhi: iko ya aci

Phala

Neuter nouns ending in short a (like phala, fruit) resemble closely the declension of masculine nouns
with the same ending (like rma). Thus, we have:

a-kra-anta | ending in short a
napusakaliga | neuter gender
phala-abda | the word phala (fruit)

phalam phale phalni
he phala he phale he phalni
phalam phale phalni
phalena phalbhym phalai
phalya phalbhym phalebhya
phalt phalbhym phalebhya
phalasya phalayo phalnm
phale phalayo phaleu

The only differences from the masculine forms occur in the first and the second vibhaktis which
happen to be identical in form.

Compounds

Compounds (samsa) 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.

23
tatpurua the second word is the main referent
karmadhraya subdivision of tatpurua: all members have the same vibhakti
bahuvrhi a word outside the compound is the main referent
dvigu subdivision of karmadhraya, the first member being a number
dvandva both words are equally important
avyaybhva 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

rmakau | Rma and Ka

Here there is an equal wish to refer to Rma and to Ka. It corresponds to the expression

rma ca ka ca |

Dvandvas can be subdivided into two types: itaretaradvanda and samhradvandva. 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
vedan ca saj ca saskr ca vijna ca | vedansajsaskravijnni | feeling, notions,
compositional factors and consciousness |

In the cumulative type (samhra) 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
(napusakaliga, ekavacana):

hranidrbhayam | food (hra) sleeping (nidr) and fear (bhayam): this actually refers to animal life.

Bhaviyati (l) | Future

bhaviyati bhaviyata bhaviyanti
bhaviyasi bhaviyatha bhaviyatha
bhaviymi bhaviyva bhaviyma

24
Example:

apriy na bhaviyanti priyo me na bhaviyati |
aha ca na bhaviymi sarva ca na bhaviyati ||

apriy | those not dear
na bhaviyanti | will not be there
priya me | my dear one
na bhaviyati | will not be there
aham ca | I also
na bhaviymi | will not be there
sarva ca | and everything
na bhaviyati | will not be there

Vowel sandhi: iko ya aci

iko ya aci || is a stra, an aphorism in Pinis grammar. Here it will be used as a mnemonic device to
remember a type of vowel sandhi.

This is the sense of the stra:

ika | in place of the vowels i u
ya | 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 u
ya | refers to ya ra la va, and
ac | to all the vowels.

If we take the example of sudh +upsya, we have to ascertain the sandhi modifications happening
when the final of sudh and the initial u of upsya join together. 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
ya aci || ik will be substituted with ya. In this case, must be substituted by y. Thus

sudh +upsya =sudhy upsya

25
Study the following examples:

5. The 5
th
Vibhakti as the point of departure

kasya ght rmasya gham gacchmi ||

I go from Kas house to Rmas house.

Here ght is in the 5
th
Vibhakti, representing the point of departure for the action of going (gacchmi).

kasya gham rmasya ght gacchmi |

I go from Rmas house to Kas house.

Here ght is in the 5
th
Vibhakti, representing the point of departure for the action of going (gacchmi).

6. The 6
th
Vibhakti, connecting two nouns

kasya ght rmasya gham gacchmi ||

I go from Kas house to Rmas house.

Here kasya and rmasya are in the 6
th
Vibhakti, representing a connection to ght and gham
respectively. As it often happens, this connection is in terms of ownership, possession.

rmasya ght kasya gham gacchmi ||

I go from Rmas house to Kas house.

Here rmasya and kasya are in the 6
th
Vibhakti, representing a connection to ght and gham
respectively. Since the 6
th
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.

vkasyaphalam khdmi ||

I eat the fruit of the tree.

Here vkasya is in the 6
th
Vibhakti, representing a connection to the fruit (phalam).

bhagavn ryvalokitevarasya bodhisattvasyasdhukram adt ||

The Blessed One gave out a praise of Noble Avalokitevara, the Bodhisattva.
26

Here ryvalokitevarasya and bodhisattvasya are both in the 6
th
Vibhakti, representing a connection to
the praise (sdhukram). In other words, they tell us whose praise it is.

Heart Stra study

evam eva vedansajsaskravijnni ||

vedan-saj-saskra-vijnni is an itaretaradvanda. Since vijnam 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 (rpa).

evammeans 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 (rpa nyat
nyat 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.

Dharmasagraha study

adaa dhtava |
1. caku
2. rotram
3. ghram
4. jihv
5. kya
6. mana
7. rpam
8. abda
9. gandha
10. rasa
11. spara
12. dharmadhtu
27
13. cakurvijnam
14. rotravijnam
15. ghravijnam
16. jihvvijnam
17. kyavijnam
18. manovijnadhtu ceti |

adaa dhtava | Eighteen Bases || caku | eye || rotram | ear || ghram| sense of smell || jihv |
tongue || kya | body || mana | mind || rpam | form || abda | sound || gandha | smell || rasa | flavor ||
spara | touch || dharmadhtu | the dharma-base || cakurvijnam | eye-consciousness |
rotravijnam | ear-consciousness || ghravijnam | smell-consciousness || jihvvijnam | tongue-
consciousness || kyavijnam | body-consciousness || manovijnadhtu | 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 dhtus; in this case, the analysis regards both
rpa and nma.

Exercises:

i. learn the devangar for ya ra la va, a a sa ha, ka, ja

ii. memorize the word phala, memorize bhaviyati

iii. memorize iko ya aci and rewrite with sandhi: sdhu +stheyam | nad +ante | dt +laya |
dadhi +atra | madhu +atra ||

iv. translate: rmakau bhavata | rpavedansajsaskravijnni na bhaviyanti |
dukhasamudayanirodhamrg bhavanti | bodhisattva bhaviyati | buddha bhavati |
bodhisattvasya mrga ||

Vocabulary: rpa | form || vedan | sensation || saj | notion || saskra | compositional factor ||
vijna | consciousness || dukha | suffering || samudaya | arising || nirodha | cessation || mrga | path ||

28

Lesson 5
Ram | Compounds: tatpurua and karmadhraya | Abhavat

Ram

-kra-anta | ending in
strliga | feminine gender
ram-abda | the word ram (Lakm)

ram rame ram
he rame he rame he ram
ramm rame ram
ramay rambhy rambhi
ramyai rambhy rambhya
ramy rambhy rambhya
ramy ramayo ramm
ramym ramayo ramsu

Compounds: tatpurua

In tatpurua 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:

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

This can be analyzed as kulasya putra by taking kula as being in the 6
th
vibhakti (genitive).

corabhayam | fear because of a thief

This is analyzed as cort bhayamwith cora as a 5
th
vibhakti (indicating the reason).

Other instances:

dukham atta | gone beyong (atta) suffering (dukha) | dukhtta ||
dhanyena artha | wealth (artha) by means of crops (dhanya) | dhanyrtha ||
rja purua | kings (rjan) man (purua) | rjapurua ||

29
Compounds: karmadhraya

Karmadhraya compounds are a subtype of tatpurua. The difference is that in the karmadhraya both
words have the same vibhakti, and therefore the first member qualifies the second as an adjective, or an
apposition. Pini explains karmadhraya as samndhikaraa tatpurua, i.e. a tatpurua where the
two members refer to the same substratum. For example:

mahsattva | Great (mahn) Being (sattva)

Here this could be analysed as

mahn ca sattva ca | Great and Being

where both mahn and sattva are in the first vibhakti.

Other examples:

nla ca tadutpalam | blue (nlam) and the same being a lotus (utpalam) | nlotpalam||
ghana iva yma | dark blue (yma) like (iva) a cloud (ghana) | ghanayma ||

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

Abhavat (la) | Imperfect

abhavat abhavat abhavan
abhava abhavata abhavata
abhava abhavva abhavma

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.

30

7. The 7
th
Vibhakti as the basis for the action

bhagavn rjaghe viharati sma ||

The Blessed One was dwelling in Rjgir.

Here rjaghe is in the 7
th
Vibhakti, representing the basis, in terms of a location in space, for the
action of dwelling (viharati sma).

ekasmin samaye bhagavn rjaghe viharati sma ||

At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in Rjgir.

Here ekasmin samaye is in the 7
th
Vibhakti, representing the basis, in terms of time, for the action of
dwelling (viharati sma).

devadatta sthlym odanam pacati ||

Devadatta cooks the rice in a pot.

Here sthlym is in the 7
th
Vibhakti, representing the basis, in terms of a location in space, for
Devadatta to accomplish the action of cooking (pacati).

gambhrym prajpramitym carym carama ()

Practicing the conduct within the profound Perfection of Wisdom ()

Here gambhrym and prajpramitym are both in the 7
th
Vibhakti, representing the basis, in
terms of a (figurative) place, for the action of practicing (carama) to take place.

8. The Vocative

praje devi nama astu te ||

Oh Wisdom, Goddess, let there be bowing to you!

Here both praje (wisdom) and devi (goddess) are in the Vocative, and they represent the element
which is being called upon directly.

loktta nama tubhyam ||

31
Oh One Gone Beyond the World, let there be bowing to you!

Here loktta is in the Vocative, representing the One who is being addressed directly.

ya kacit riputra kulaputra v kuladuhit v ()

Oh riputra, any Son of Noble Family or Daughter of Noble Family ()

Here riputra is in the Vocative, representing someone being addressed.

Heart Stra study

iha riputra sarvadharm nyatlaka anutpann aniruddh amal na vimal non na
paripr |

iha, riputra, sarva-dharm, nyat, alaka, anutpann, aniruddh, amal, na, vimal, na,
n, na, paripr |

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

nyat, emptiness; this term is niyataliga, fixed gender; therefore, although it describes
sarvadharm, it concords only in vibhakti (not in gender or number);

a-laka, 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
sarvadharm, and therefore it concords in gender and number as well; the same is true for the next
expressions;

an-utpann, unarisen; utpanna is a past participle, coming from a verb that means to come up, to
arise; an negates the same;

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

a-mal, 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 sarvadharm;

na vi-mal, not without stains; more literally, not without their stains gone; vi-mal can be expanded
as vigata-mal, with the stains completely (vi) gone (gata); gata is the past participle of gam, meaning
to go;

na n, not defective; na is aniyataliga (of no fixed gender);
32

na paripr, not fulfilled.

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

sarva-dharm is itself a compound, a karmadhraya, 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 dharm - 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.

riputra is a vocative like (he) rma.

Dharmasagraha study

dvdagaprattyasamutpda |
1. avidy
2. saskr
3. vijnam
4. nmarpam
5. ayatanam
6. spara
7. vedan
8. t
9. updnam
10. bhava
11. jti
12. jarmaraa, okaparidevadukhadaurmanasyopys ceti |

dvdaa-aga-prattyasamutpda | Dependent arising in twelve parts || avidy | ignorance || saskr
| factors || vijnam | consciousness || nma-rpam | name and form || a-yatanam | the six entrances ||
spara | contact || vedan | sensation || t | craving || updnam | clinging || bhava | becoming || jti
| birth || jar-maraa | decay and death || oka-parideva-dukha-daurmanasya-upys | 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.

33
Exercises

i. learn the devangar for
ka k ki k ku k k k k ke kai ko kau ka ka

kha kh ga g
gha gh a ...

ii. memorize the word ram, memorize abhavat

iii. translate: kulaputrau abhavatm | vke akuni abhavat | we two were in rjgir ||

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

34
Lesson 6
Hari | Compounds: bahuvrhi | Bhavatu | Avyaya

Hari

i-kra-anta | ending in short i
hari-abda | the word hari (Viu)

hari har haraya
he hare he har he haraya
harim har harn
hari haribhy haribhi
haraye haribhy haribhya
hare haribhy haribhya
hare haryo harm
harau haryo hariu

Compounds: bahuvrhi

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

majughoa | Soft (maju) voice (ghoa)
refers to someone with a soft voice. It can be understood as

majughoa purua | a person with a soft voice
and is an epithet (of Majur).

Other examples:
mahn bhu yasya sa mahbhu | the one whose (yasya) arm (bhu) is great, that person (sa) is
called | mahbhu ||
ptam ambara yasya sa ptmbara | the one whose (yasya) garment (ambaram) is yellow (ptam) is
called | ptmbara ||

Bhavatu (lo) | Imperative

bhavatu (bhavatt) bhavatm bhavantu
bhava (bhavatt) bhavatam bhavata
bhavni bhavva bhavma

35
Imperative forms are used to express injunctions, advice and so on. The negative imperative is formed
using m 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:

sada triu ligeu sarvsu ca vibhaktiu |
vacaneu ca sarveu yan na vyeti tad avyayam ||

That which does not change (yat na vyeti), being the same (sadam) in the three genders (triu ligeu)
and in all the vibhaktis (sarvsu ca vibhaktiu) and in all the numbers (vacaneu ca sarveu), 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 adhun | now api | also, even
katham | how ? kad | when ? kutra | where ? ca | and (coming after the word)
tatra | there tad | then puna | again, moreover
prati | towards (with words in the 2
nd
vibhakti) sad | always eva | only
iti | thus (marker for direct speech, thought, quotation)


vijnapratyaya nmarpam

Name-and-formhas consciousness as its condition.

This is a clear example of a bahuvrhi compound. vijna-pratyayammeans something, whose
condition is consciousness (vijna pratyaya yasya tat); it is a 6
th
Vibhakti bahuvrhi, indicating
possession. The word pratyaya would in itself be masculine, but since it appears in a compound
qualifying a neuter word (vijnam) the whole expression becomes neuter.

buddha sarvaja bhavati |

The Buddha is omniscient

buddha eva sarvaja bhavati

36
Only the Buddha is omniscient

ryvalokitevara bodhisattva mahsattva bhavati

Noble Avalokitevarra is a Bodhisattva, Great Being.

ryamaitreya api bodhisattva mahsattva bhavati

Noble Maitreya is also a Bodhisattva, Great Being.

rpa cavedan ca saj ca saskr cavijna ca na bhaviyanti

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

rpa vedan saj saskr vijna ca na bhaviyanti

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 Stra study

tasmc chriputra nyaty na rpa na vedan na saj na saskr na vijnni | na
cakurotraghrajihvkyamansi na rpaabdagandharasaspraavyadharm | na cakurdhtur
yvan na manodhtu ||

tasmt, riputra, nyatym, na, rpam, na, vedan, na, saj, na, saskr, na vijnni | na,
caku-rotra-ghra-jihv-kya-mansi, na, rpa-abda-gandha-rasa-spraavya-dharm | na,
caku-dhtu, yvat, na, manodhtu ||

tasmt | therefore || riputra | oh riputra || nyatym | within emptiness || na | no || rpam | form || na
| no || vedan | feeling || na | no || saj | notion || na | no || saskr | factors/formations || na | no ||
vijnni | consciousnesses || na | no || caku-trotra-ghra-jihv-kya-mansi | eye, ear, sense of
smell (nose), tongue, body, mind || na | no || rpa-abda-gandha-rasa-spraavya-dharm | form,
sound, odour, flavour, touchables, dharmas || na | not | caku-dhtu | base of the eye || yvat | up to ||
na | no || manas-dhtu | base of mind ||

These lists are the three ways of including all dharmas that we earlier studied from the
Dharmasagraha:
37

na rpa na vedan na saj na saskr na vijnni

refers to the five aggregates (skandha);

na cakurotraghrajihvkyamansi na rpaabdagandharasaspraavyadharm

refers to the twelve entrances (yatana);

na cakurdhtur yvan na manodhtu

refers to the eighteen bases (dhtu), 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.

Dharmasagraha study

catvry ryasatyni | tadyath

1. dukham
2. samudaya
3. nirodha
4. mrga 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 devangar for the ca series and a series with vowels

ii. memorize the word hari

iii. memorize bhavatu

38
iv. translate: aham gham gacchmi | buddha bhagavn tatra viharati sma | ita r api
dhvanti | he atro dhva | bhavatu sarvamagalam | kutra gacchasi ? ||

Vocabulary: aham | I || gham | house, home || gam, gacchati | to go || bhagavn | blessed one || tatra |
there, in that place || vi h, viharati | to dwell, to reside || sma | particle to form the past || ita | from
here || ra | hero || api | even, also || dhv, dhvati | to run || atru | enemy || sarvamagalam | all-
round (sarva) auspiciousness (magala) ||

v. translate: avidypratyay saskr | saskrapratyayam vijna | vijnapratyaya
nmarpam | nmarpapratyaya ayatanam | ayatanapratyaya spara |
sparapratyay vedan | vedanpratyay t | tpratyayam updnam | updnapratyayo
bhava | bhavapratyay jti | jtipratyaya jarmaraam ||

Vocabulary: avidy | ignorance || pratyaya | condition || saskra | formation || vijnam |
consciousness || nma-rpam | name and form || a | six || yatanam | entrance || spara | contact ||
vedan | sensation || t | craving || updnam | clinging || bhava | becoming || jti | birth || jar-
maraam | decay and death ||

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

39
Lesson 7
Guru | Avyaybhva | Bhavet | Nad | Kta (past participle) | Past active participles

Guru

u-kra-anta | ending in short u
guru-abda | the word guru (teacher)

guru gur gurava
he guro he gur he gurava
gurum gur gurn
guru gurubhy gurubhi
gurave gurubhy gurubhya
guro gurubhy gurubhya
guro gurvo gurm
gurau gurvo guruu

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

gurur eva gatir gurum eva bhaje guruaiva sahsmi namo gurave |
na guro parama iur asmi guror matir asti gurau mama phi guro ||

guru eva gati | only the Teacher is the way
gurumeva bhaje | I worship only the Teacher
guru eva sah asmi | I am only with the Teacher
nama gurave | obeisance to the Teacher
na guro paramam | (there is) nothing higher than the Teacher
iu asmi guro | I am the Teachers child
mati asti gurau mama | my mind is on the Teacher
phi guro | protect (me), Teacher

Compounds: avyaybhva

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

aktim anatikramya | not exceeding ones capacity | yathakti ||
40
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

spasya lea | a small quantity (lea) of soup | spaprati ||
kasya lea | a small quantity of vegetables | kaprati ||

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 (vidhili) | Potential

bhavet bhavet bhaveyu
bhave bhaveta bhaveta
bhaveya bhaveva bhavema

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

Nad

-kra-anta | ending in the letter
nad-abda | the word nad (river)

nad nadyau nadya
he nadi he nadyau he nadya
nadm nadyau nad
nady nadbhy nadbhi
nadyai nadbhy nadbhya
nady nadbhy nadbhya
nady nadyo nadnm
nadym nadyo nadu

41
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 (karmai) || the action itself (bhve) || 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 sm +ta | smta bh +ta | bhita

gata is a declined like rma in the masculine, ram 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 (karmai) or in reference to the action
(bhve):

rmea khditam phalam | the fruit (was) eaten by Rma
rmea gatam | going was done by Rma

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): rma
gata | Rma 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:

pulinga |

gatavn gatavantau gatavanta
he gatavan he gatavantau he gatavanta
gatavantam gatavantau gatavata
gatavat gatavadbhym gatavadbhi
gatavate gatavadbhym gatavadbhya
gatavata gatavadbhym gatavadbhya
gatavata gatavato gatavatm
gatavati gatavato gatavatsu

42
napusakaliga |

gatavat gatavat gatavanti
he gatavat he gatavat he gatavanti
gatavat gatavat gatavanti
gatavat gatavadbhym gatavadbhi
gatavate gatavadbhym gatavadbhya
gatavata gatavadbhym gatavadbhya
gatavata gatavato gatavatm
gatavati gatavato gatavatsu

Strlinga (feminine) is gatavat, identical to nad.

In brief, while kta participles like gata, bhita 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:

Rma eats the fruit.

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


In Sanskrit, active construction is called kartari prayoga while passive construction is called karmai
prayoga: 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 karmai prayoga. A common way is to employ
verbal forms (tianta); so far we only learnt active verbs, hence all the sentences made with those verbs
were kartari prayoga (bhavati, gacchati, khdati, 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, khditam phalam, the fruit was
eaten) or to the agent (like, rma khditavn, Rma ate).

43

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 patitamitself can never have a passive sense.

eva may rutam

Thus by me (it was) heard.

rutam is here used passively, in reference to the object (what was heard). The agent is expressed by
the 3
rd
Vibhakti (may).

bhagavn samdhi sampanna

The Blessed One entered into absorption.

Here sampanna 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 sampanna is to meet with or undertake, but since the object is
samdhi, it is here translated as entered.

rmea khditam phalam

The fruit (was) eaten by Rma.

rma phalam khditavn

Rma ate the fruit.

These two sentences exemplify a clear passive participle (khditam phalam) and an active one (rma
khditavn). Phalam is in fact the object of the action of eating, while rma is the agent.

44
Heart Stra study

na vidy nvidy na vidykayo nvidykayo yvan na jarmaraa na jarmaraakayo na
dukhasamudayanirodhamrg na jna na prptitvam ||

na, vidy, na, avidy, na, vidy-kaya, na, avidy-kaya, yvat, na, jar-maraam, na, jar-maraa-
kaya, na, dukha-samudaya-nirodha-mrg, na, jnam, na, prptitvam ||

vidy | knowledge || avidy | the converse of vidy || vidy-kaya | the destruction of vidy || avidy-
kaya | the destruction of avidy || yvat | up to || jar-maraam| decay and death || jar-maraa-
kaya | the destruction of decay and death || dukha-samudaya-nirodha-mrg | suffering, arising,
cessation, and the path || jnam | knowledge, cognition || prptitvam | obtainment, or, the quality of
obtaining ||

Dharmasagraha study

rygikamrga |

1. samyagdi
2. samyaksakalpa
3. samyagvk
4. samyakkarmnta
5. samyagjjva
6. samyagvyyma
7. samyaksmti
8. samyaksamdhi ceti |

The Noble Eightfold Path:

Correct View,
Correct Thought,
Correct Speech,
Correct Action,
Correct Livelihood,
Correct Effort,
Correct Recollection and
Correct Meditation.

45
Exercises

i. learn the devangar for the ta series and pa series with vowels
ii. memorize guru, nad, bhavet
iii. memorize gurur eva gatir
iv. memorize the sections of the Heart Stra and Dharmasagraha studies today
v. translate the section of the Heart Stra studied today
vi. translate: gha gatavat st rmea d | bhagavn samdhi sampanna | rmea hata
rvaa nipatita ||
Vocabulary: st |St, Rmas wife || bhagavn | the Blessed One || sampanna | entered, reached || hata |
struck, hit || rvaa | Rvaa, Rmas antagonist | nipatita | fallen ||

46
Lesson 8
Dt | Pit | Pati | Babhva | Ktv and lyap

Dt

dt-abda | the word dt (giver)

dt dtrau dtra
he dta he dtrau he dtra
dtra dtrau dtn
dtr dtbhy dtbhi
dtre dtbhy dtbhya
dtu dtbhy dtbhya
dtu dtro dtm
dtari dtro dtu

Most words ending in are declined as dt. They often indicate someone who does a certain action:
dt is a giver; kart is a doer, and so on. Words of relation and kin, though, have a slightly different
declension, like pit (that follows).

Pit

pit-abda | the word pit (father)

pit pitarau pitara
he pita he pitarau he pitara
pitaram pitarau pitn
pitr pitbhy pitbhi
pitre pitbhy pitbhya
pitu pitbhy pitbhya
pitu pitro pitm
pitari pitro pitu

47
Pati

i-kra-anta | ending in short i
pati-abda | the word pati (master; husband)

pati pat pataya
he pate he pat he pataya
patim pat patn
paty patibhy patibhi
patye patibhy patibhya
patyu patibhy patibhya
patyu patyo patnm
patyau patyo patiu

The word pati does not follow the regular declension of hari, as some forms are more similar to pit;
however, when coming at the end of a compound, pati is declined like hari.

Babhva (li) | Past Perfect

babhva babhvatu babhvu
babhvitha babhvathu babhva
babhva babhviva babhvima

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

Ktv and lyap

The suffixes ktv and lyap are used to form a non-finite verbal form sometimes called absolutive in
English. Ktv (tv) is used when the root is not preceded by any prefixes: gam +tv =gatv. If the root
is preceded by a prefix, lyap (ya) is employed: gam +ya =gamya.

These forms precede other verbs and indicate temporal anteriority: rma gha gatv punar atra
gacchati | Rma, having gone home, comes here again. In this sentence, the action which comes first
is having gone home, and therefore we have gatv. More specifically, when two (or more) verbs refer
to the same agent, the ones, which indicate a prior action, take ktv or lyap (they become absolutives).

bhagavn utthya sdhukramadt |
The Blessed One, having raised, bestowed praise.
ppni ktv api mahbhayni uttarati |
Even having done sins, one crosses over great dangers.
48
aucipratim ghtv jinaratnapratim karoti |
Having taken an impure frame, it makes it the jewel-frame of a Jina.


prajpramitm ritya viharati

Having resorted to the Perfection of Wisdom, he dwells.

Here ritya is the lyabanta form. It comes from the root ri, and because the root is preceded by the
prefix we get ya (lyap) as opposed to tv. If the root had been only ri, it would have become
rayitv.

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 ritya (having resorted to): he resorts to and then he dwells.

Heart Stra study

bodhisattvasya prajpramitm ritya viharati cittvaraa | cittvaraanstitvd atrasto
viparystikrnto nihanirva | tryadhvavyavasthit sarvabuddh prajpramitm
ritynuttar samyaksabodhimabhisabuddh ||

bodhisattvasya | of the Bodhisattva || prajpramitm | the Perfection of Wisdom || ritya | having
relied upon || viharati | one dwells || citta-varaa | with mental obscurations ||| citta-varaa-nstitvt
| due to the non-existence of mental obscurations || a-trasta | un-afraid ||viparysa-atikrnta | having
gone beyond mental distortions || niha-nirva | someone with a sure nirva || tri-adhva-
vyavasthit | placed in the three times || sarva-buddh | all the Buddhas || anuttar, samyak-
sabodhim| unexcelled, perfect Awakening || abhisabuddh | they realized ||

Dharmasagraha study

aau lokadharm |
1. lbha
2. albha
3. sukham
4. dukham
5. yaa
6. ayaa
7. nind
8. praas ceti |
49

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 devangar for the ya series, a series, ka and ja with vowels

ii. memorize dt, pit and pati, and the sections of the Dharmasagraha and Heart Stra

iii. memorize babhva

iv. translate the Heart Stra

v. translate: vka gatv phala khdmi | atra gamya vada puna | tatra babhvatu
mahsattvau ||

Vocabulary: khd, khdati | to eat || +gam, gacchati | to come || vad, vadati | to speak ||

50
Lesson 9
Sarvanma | Sa, s, tat | Parasmaipada and tmanepada | Edhate | Passive construction

Sarvanma

Sarvanma 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, sarvanma words can be either
independently, or to qualify other nouns (as adjectives). Their gender is not fixed.

Sa, s, tat

da-kra-anta | ending in the letter d
tad-abda | the word tad (he)

sa tau te
tam tau tn
tena tbhy tai
tasmai tbhy tebhya
tasmt tbhy tebhya
tasya tayo tem
tasmin tayo teu

tad-abda | the word tad (she)

s te t
tm te t
tay tbhy tbhi
tasyai tbhy tbhya
tasy tbhy tbhya
tasy tayo tsm
tasym tayo tsu

51
tad-abda | the ord tad (it)

tat te tni
tat te tni
tena tbhy tai
tasmai tbhy tebhya
tasmt tbhy tebhya
tasya tayo tem
tasmin tayo teu

Parasmaipada and tmanepada

Verbal endings can be of two types, parasmaipada and tmanepada. Parasmaipada means word for
another, while tmanepada 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 tmanepada endings does not always imply this
difference in the meaning. Rather, some verbs take only parasmaipada endings, some only tmanepada,
while others can take either. Moreover, tmanepada endings are used to form the passive voice, with
the addition of the suffix ya:

rma phala khdati | Rma eats the fruit
rmea phala khdyate | The fruit is eaten by Rma
rma gha gacchati | Rma goes to the house
rmea gha gamyate | The house is reached (is gone) by Rma

Edhate (tmanepada)

la (present tense)

edhate edhete edhante
edhase edhethe edhadhve
edhe edhvahe edhmahe
52

Passive construction

As mentioned earlier, the tmanepada 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 +tmanepada endings:

gamyate gamyete gamyante
gamyase gamyethe gamyadhve
gamye gamyvahe gamymahe

Accordingly:

rma gha gacchati | Rma goes to the house
rmea gha gamyate | The house is gone to by Rma

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 karmai prayoga, which means usage in reference to the object of the action. In karmai
prayoga, the agent is expressed by the third vibhakti (rmea).

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

labhate labhete labhante | becomes | labhyate labhyete labhyante |
vandate vandete vandante | becomes | vandyate vandyete vandyante |


rma phala khdati

Rma eats the fruit

rmea phala khdyate

The fruit is eaten by Rma

st pustaka pahati

St reads the book

53
stay pustaka payate

The book is being read by St

Heart Stra study

tasmj jtavya prajpramitmahmantro mahvidymantro nuttaramantro samasamamantra
sarvadukhapraamana satyam amithyatvt prajpramitym ukto mantra |

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.

Dharmasagraha study

gataya a | tadyath

1. naraka
2. tiryak
3. preta
4. asura
5. manuya
6. deva ceti |

There are six destinies:

1. hell
2. animal
3. hungry ghost
4. demigod
5. human
6. and, god.

54
Exercises

i. write the word rma in devangar

ii. memorize sa, s, tat, edhate, and the new sections of Heart Stra and Dharmasagraha

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

iv. translate: dyante ratnni atiobhanni | saskta pahyate iyai | buddhimadbhi
jna labhyate ||

Vocabulary: d | to see || ratnam | jewel || ati-obhanam | very beautiful || pah | to study, to read ||
buddhimat | intelligent || jnam | knowledge || labh | to get, to obtain ||

55
Lesson 10
The verb: 10 gaas | Ea, ka, ya | Aham, tvam

The verb: 10 gaas

Sanskrit grammarians classify verbal endings into srvadhtuka and rdhadhtuka. The first comprises
the present tense, imperfect, imperative and potential (la, la, lo, vidhili), while the second comprises
the other lakras. Verbs are classified into 10 groups (gaa), where each group forms the srvadhtuka
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
gaa (bhvdi) and get
modified in a similar manner, by adding a conjugational sign, short a. (In addition, bh takes gua
grade and is therefore transformed into bho).

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

bho +a +ti || bh takes gua and becomes bho

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

bhavati || this is the final form

Similarly:

edh +a +te

edhate

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

56

Gaa Conjugational Sign Process Result
1
st
bhvdi

a bhav +a +ti
edh +a +te
bhavati
edhate
2
nd
addi

- ad +ti
s +te
atti
ste
3
rd
juhotydi

- juho +ti
jih +te
juhoti
jihte
4
th
divdi

ya dv +ya +ti
dp +ya +te
dvyati
dpyate
5
th
svdi

nu su +nu +ti
su +nu +te
sunoti
sunute
6
th
tuddi

a tud +a +ti
tud +a +te
tudati
tudate
7
th
rudhdi

na rudh +na +ti
rudh +na +te
ruaddhi
rundhe
8
th
tandi

u tan +u +ti
tan +u +te
tanoti
tanute
9
th
krydi

n kr +n +ti
kr +n +te
krti
krte
10
th
curdi

aya cor +aya +ti
cor +aya +te
corayati
corayate

57

Ea, ka, ya

etad-abda | the word etad (This)

ea etau ete
etam (enam) etau (enau) etn (enn)
etena (enena) etbhym etai
etasmai etbhym etebhya
etasmt etbhym etebhya
etasya etayo (enayo) etem
etasmin etayo (enayo) eteu

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

ma-kra-anta | ending in the letter m
kim-abda | the word kim (Who?)

ka kau ke
kam kau kn
kena kbhym kai
kasmai kbhym kebhya
kasmt kbhym kebhya
kasya kayo kem
kasmin kayo keu

By adding cid cana or api, the interrogative pronouns become indefinite pronouns: kacid, kacana =
someone, kenacit, kenapi =by somenone, etc.

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yad-abda | the word yad (Who | relative pronoun)

ya yau ye
yam yau yn
yena ybhym yai
yasmai ybhym yebhya
yasmt ybhym yebhya
yasya yayo yem
yasmin yayo yeu

Aham, tvam

triu ligeu samnarpa | with the same form in the three genders
asmad-abda | the word asmad (I)

aham vm vayam
mm (m) vm (nau) asmn (na)
may vbhym asmbhi
mahyam (me) vbhym (nau) asmabhyam (na)
mat vbhym asmat
mama (me) vayo (nau) asmkam (na)
mayi vayo asmsu

triu ligeu samnarpa | with the same form in the three genders
yumad-abda | the word yumad (You)

tvam yuvm yyam
tvm (tv) yuvm (vm) yumn (va)
tvay yuvbhym yumbhi
tubhyam (te) yuvbhym (vm) yumabhyam (va)
tvat yuvbhym yumat
tava (te) yuvayo (vm) yumkam (va)
tvayi yuvayo yumsu

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Heart Stra study

tadyath gate gate pragate prasagate bodhi svh ||

iti prajpramithdayastra samptam ||

Dharmasagraha study

katamni catvri samyakprahni | tadyath

1. utpannn kualamln sarakaam
2. anutpannn samutpda
3. utpannnm akualn dharm praham
4. anutpannn punaranutpda 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 bh (bhavati) and the word phala in devangar

ii. memorize ea, ka, ya

iii. memorize aham, tvam

iv. add adequate forms of sa, aham, tvam, ea and translate:

. gha gacchmi | . khdita phalam ? | . neple bhavva | . unnatau bhavatha | nama
bhagavate arhate samyaksabuddhya ||

Vocabulary: gham | house || gam | to go || khd | to eat || unnata | tall || samyak-sambuddha | perfectly
awakened, perfect Buddha ||

60
Lesson 11

Yat - tat constructions |The kraka system | Usages of the 1
st
Vibhakti | Sambodhan | Jalamuc

Yat-tat constructions

Relative clauses are formed in Sanskrit by employing the relative pronoun yad (ya, y, yat) in
reference to the pronoun tad (sa, s, 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.

ya prattyasamutpda deaymsa
ta sabuddha vande ||

Here the main sentence is ta sambuddha vande | I salute that perfect Buddha. We have the 2
nd

vibhakti singular of sa (tam). ya in the first line, on the other hand, is the 1
st
vibhakti of ya, and the
clause means the one who taught dependent arising. Both ta and ya refer to the same person
(namely, the Buddha): but in ta vande that person is the object of the action (karman), while in the
clause the same person is the agent (kart): 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-rayt uttarati ppni
na ryate tat katham?

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

The kraka system

Sanskrit grammarians employ a set of explanatory devices to analyze the functions of the various parts
of a sentence. These are called krakas, 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 kraka. The
salient feature of this type of analysis is that it centers on the main action or verb (kriy).

The most important krakas are six:
61

1. kart | agent
The autonomous one is the agent (svatantra kart).
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:

devadatta pacati | Devadatta cooks

but also

agni 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 psitatama 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:

vidy dadti vinayam | Knowledge gives modesty

Here vidy 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. karaam | instrument
That, which is most instrumental, is the instrument (sdhakatama karaam).

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

devadatta agnin pacati | Devadatta cooks with fire.
rma hastena khdati | Rma eats with his hand.

4. sapradnam | recipient

That, which one intends through the object, is the recipient (karma yam abhipraiti sa
sampradnam).

Devadatta saghya dhana dadti | Devadatta gives wealth to the sagha.
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5. apdnam | point of departure
That, which is fixed in case of a departure, is called point of departure (dhruvam apyepdnam).

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

grmt yti | (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:

dhvata avt patati | (Someone) falls from a running horse

6. adhikaraam | support
Support is something which holds up (dhrodhikaraam).

kae ste | (Someone) sits on a mat.
sthlym pacati | (Someone) cooks in a vessel.
moke icch asti | There is a wish for liberation.
sarvasmin tm 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 (aupaleika). In the third, the support is such in the sense of being the subject matter
(vaiayika). In the last example, the support is pervasive (abhivypaka).

Usages of the 1
st
Vibhakti | Sambodhan

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 (kart,
kartari prayoga), the first Vibhakti also indicates the agent:

vka tihati knane | the tree stands in the forest
guru eva gati bhavati | only the teacher is the way

If the verb refers to the object of the action (karman, karmai prayoga), the 1
st
Vibhakti expresses the
same:

rma pjyate | Rma is worshipped
bhv 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 nouns stem, or, for
example, a specific gender (while the person of the agent or object can be already conveyed by the
verb).

The Vocative (sambodhan) is considered a subtype of the 1
st
Vibhakti, used to call for someones
attention, or to address someone:

he vka ki kampase | O tree, why do you shake? phi guro | Protect (me), o teacher!

Jalamuc

ca-kra-anta | ending in the letter ca
jalamuc-abda | the word jalamuc (cloud)

jalamuk jalamucau jalamuca
he jalamuk he jalamucau he jalamuca
jalamucam jalamucau jalamuca
jalamuc jalamugbhym jalamugbhi
jalamuce jalamugbhym jalamugbhya
jalamuca jalamugbhym jalamugbhya
jalamuca jalamuco jalamucm
jalamuci jalamuco jalamuku

Exercises:

i. write the word ram in devangar

ii. memorize: vkas tihati knane

iii. memorize jalamuc

iv. translate: ya gha gacchati, tasya nma rma | yasya nma rma, sa gha gacchati | yasya
patn st, sa rma | yasya patn gha gatavat, tasya nma rma | ya stay vivhita, sa rma
patny sah gha gacchati sma ||

Vocabulary: patn | wife || vivhita | married || sah | together with (+3
rd
Vibhakti) ||

64
Lesson 12
Verbs of the 2
nd
gaa | Usages of the 2
nd
Vibhakti | Kudh | ecoyavyva

Verbs of the 2
nd
gaa | addi |

ad | to eat (la)

atti atta adanti
atsi attha attha
admi adva adma

as | to be (irregular)

asti sta santi
asi stha stha
asmi sva sma

s | to sit (tmanepad)

ste ste sate
sse sthe dhve
se svahe smahe

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:

kusumit lat vka sarit | The flowered creeper rests on the tree
gurum eva bhaje | I worship only the teacher
rma phala khdati | Rma eats the fruit
rma ka payati | Rma sees Ka
ka rma payati | Ka sees Rma

The second vibhakti is also found with certain verbs, when one does not wish to express the
sapradna, apdna or dharaa in a specific manner:

g dogdhi paya | He milks milk from the cow (yet, g, 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):

ryvalokitevara yumanta riputram etad avocat | The Noble Avalokitevara said this to the
long-lived riputra (where both etad and yumanta riputramare in 2
nd
vibhakti).
The 2
nd
Vibhakti can also be used adverbially:

ava ghra dhvati | The horse runs fast

Kudh

dha-kra-anta | ending in the letter dh
str-liga | feminine gender
kudh-abda | the word kudh (hunger)

kut kudhau kudha
he kut he kudhau he kudha
kudham kudhau kudha
kudh kudbhym kudbhi
kudhe kudbhym kudbhya
kudha kudbhym kudbhya
kudha kudho kudhm
kudhi kudho kutsu

ecoyavyva

ecoyavyva || is another stra in Pinis grammar, used to regulate vowel sandhi: it works in a way
similar to iko ya aci. It means:

eca | in place of e o ai au let there be
ay-av-y-v-a | ay av y v
(aci) | when a vowel follows

aci is not found in the stra, but it has to be considered as implied (this is common in many of Pinis
aphorisms). The reason why we get this meaning from the stra is that

ec | is a technical term for e, o, ai, au
ayavyva | is an itateretaradvandva listing ay, av, y, v
ac | is a technical term for any vowel

For example:
66

hare +e =haraye || vio +e =viave || nai +aka =nyaka || pau +aka =pvaka

Exercises:

i. memorize the verbal forms
ii. memorize kusumit lat vka sarit
iii. memorize kudh
iv. memorize ecoyavyva
v. write with sandhi (in devangar): bho +a | kulaputrau +abhavatm |
vi. translate and write in devangar: bhagavn yumanta riputram mantrayati sma |
ryvalokitevara yumanta mahkyapa etad uktavn | st rma prati agacchat ||

Vocabulary: +mantr | to address || uktavn | past active participle of vac, to say || prati | towards (+
2
nd
Vibhakti)

67

Lesson 13
Bhavit |Verbs of the 3rd gaa | Usages of the 3rd Vibhakti | Idam | Present active participles for
parasmaipada verbs

Bhavit (lu)

bhavit bhavitrau bhavitra
bhavitsi bhavitstha bhavitstha
bhavitsmi bhavitsva bhavitsma

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

Verbs of the 3
rd
gaa | juhotydi |

hu | to sacrifice (la)

juhoti juhuta juhvati
juhoi juhutha juhutha
juhomi juhuva juhuma

d | to give (ubhayapad) | parasmaipade

dadti datta dadati
dadsi dattha dattha
dadmi dadva dadma

d | to give (ubhayapad) | tmanepade

datte dadte dadate
datse dadthe dadhve
dade dadvahe dadmahe

Usages of the 3
rd
vibhakti

According to whether the verbal endings refer to the agent (kartari prayoga) or to the object of the
action (karmai), we have two main usages of the 3
rd
vibhakti as the instrument (karaa) or as the agent
itself (kart). For example:

rma hastena phala khdati | Rma eats the fruit with his hand
68
rmea hastena phala khdyate | The fruit is eaten by Rma with his hand

Notice that in the second example both rmea 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:

vkea abhihata gaja nipatita | The elephant (gaja) struck by the tree (vkea abhihata) has
fallen (nipatita)

Here too we might decide to understand the tree (vka) 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:

rmea saha st vanam agacchat | Together with (saha) Rma, St went to the forest
bhagavn bhikusaghena srdha viharati sma | The Blessed One was dwelling together with
(srdham) an assembly of monks
stay vin na tua rma | Without (vin) St, Rma is not content

We often find the 3
rd
Vibhakti used adverbially:

sugatnm suta ucyate kaena | In one instant, (someone) is called son of the Sugatas

Idam

idam-abda | the word idam (this, for things not as near as etad)

ayam imau ime
imam (enam) imau (enau) imn (enn)
anena (enena) bhym ebhi
asmai bhym ebhya
asmt bhym ebhya
asya anayo (enayo) em
asmin anayo (enayo) eu

idam-abda | the word idam (this)

69
iyam ime im
imm (enm) ime (ene) im (en)
anay (enay) bhym bhi
asyai bhym bhya
asy bhym bhya
asy anayo (enayo) sm
asym anayo (enayo) su

idam-abda | thw word idam (this)

idam ime imni
idam (enat) ime (ene) imni (enni)
anena (enena) bhym ebhi
asmai bhym ebhya
asmt bhym ebhya
asya anayo (enayo) em
asmin anayo (enayo) eu

Present active participles for parasmaipada verbs

Active present participles are formed in two different ways, according to whether the verb takes
parasmaipada or tmanepada terminations. In the first case, we have participles like
gacchat, khdat and so on. Their declension is quite similar to the past active participles (like gatavat):

ta-kra-anta | ending in the letter t
gacchat-abda | the word gacchat (he who is going)

gacchan gacchantau gacchanta
he gacchan he gacchantau he gacchanta
gacchantam gacchantau gacchata
gacchat gacchadbhym gacchadbhi
gacchate gacchadbhym gacchadbhya
gacchata gacchadbhym gacchadbhya
gacchata gacchato gacchatm
gacchati gacchato gacchatsu

70
gacchat-abda | the word gacchat (that which is going)

gacchat gacchant gacchanti
he gacchat he gacchant he gacchanti
gacchat gacchant gacchanti
gacchat gacchadbhym gacchadbhi
gacchate gacchadbhym gacchadbhya
gacchata gacchadbhym gacchadbhya
gacchata gacchato gacchatm
gacchati gacchato gacchatsu

gacchat-abda | the word gacchat (she who goes)

gacchant gacchantyau gacchantya
he gacchanti he gacchantyau he gacchantya
gacchantm gacchantyau gacchant
gacchanty gacchantbhym gacchantbhi
gacchantyai gacchantbhym gacchantbhya
gacchanty gacchantbhym gacchantbhya
gacchanty gacchantyo gacchantnm
gacchantym gacchantyo gacchantu

Exercises:

i. memorize all the verbs and nouns of the lesson
ii. memorize: vkebhihato gajo nipatito
iii. translate, writing in devangar: Rma sees St, who is going to the house | I saw the long-
lived riputra, who was residing in Rjgir |
iv. translate: gha gacchata narasya phala khdmi | phala khdan nara rmasya ghe
hya viharati sma | gha gacchanty patny phala khditv rma t patn
sasneha payati ||
Vocabulary: to see | d (payati, payata, payanti, etc.) || nara | man || sneha | affection (sa-
sneha | with affection) ||

71

Lesson 14
Verbs of the 4
th
th
Vibhakti | Bhve prayoga | Present active participles for
tmanepada verbs

Verbs of the 4
th
gaa | divdi |

div | to play (la) dp | to shine (tmanepad)

dvyati dvyata dvyanti dpyate dpyete dpyante
dvyasi dvyatha dvyatha dpyase dpyethe dpyadhve
dvymi dvyva dvyma dpye dpyvahe dpymahe

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
sapradna-kraka):

vkya deya jalam | Water is to be given to the tree
viprya g dadti | He gives the cow to the Brahmin

The 4
th
Vibhakti is also used with words like nama, svasti, svh, svadh:

nama sarvajya | (Let there be) bowing to the Omniscient One
namo gurave | (Let there be) bowing to the Teacher
agnaye svh | Svh to Agni

The word alam also takes the 4
th
Vibhakti, when it means enough for:

daityebhya hari alam | Hari is enough for the demons

On the other hand, it takes the 3
rd
Vibhakti, when it means enough with:

alam ativistarea | Enough with this excess of elaboration !

Bhve prayoga

We have already encountered the construction of bhve prayoga when studying past participles:

rmea gatam | Going was done by Rma
72

In this sentence, the participle gata refers neither to the agent (kartari) nor to the object of the action
(karmai): it refers to the action itself, to a state of affairs (bhve). The same type of construction can
appear with verbs (tiantam, words ending in verbal suffixes):

rmea gamyate | Going is done by Rma
dhvyate avai | Running is done by the horses

The verbs that can be used in bhve prayoga 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 dhv, 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 tmanepada endings
and the addition of ya).

Present active participles for tmanepada verbs

Present active participles with tmanepada verbs can be formed in two ways. For verbs of conjugations
1, 4, 6 and 10, one obtains these participles by adding mna 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
(prathamapurua, ekavacana) and remove the ending te. Therefore for labhate the verbal base will be
labha, and accordingly the present active participle will be labhamna (labha +mna), meaning,
someone who obtains. Labhamna is declined like rma in the masculine, like phalam in the neuter,
and like ram in the feminine.

For verbs of the other conjugations, one adds na instead of mna:
(to lie down) | ayna

Again, ayna is declined like rma, phalam or ram according to gender.

Exercises:

i. memorize all the nouns and verbs of the lesson
ii. memorize: vkya deya jalam
iii. explain in English and give examples in Sanskrit for: kartari prayoga, karmai prayoga,
bhve prayoga |
iv. translate: phala khdadbhi narai dhvyate | bhamna rma stay dyate | vkt
patat phala ghra gacchati | May there be obeisance to the all-knowing one |
Vocabulary: khd | to eat || nara | man || dhv | to run || bh | to speak || pat | to fall || ghra | quick,
fast ||
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Lesson 15
Verbs of the 5
th
th
Vibhakti | Present passive participles | Dvigu | Karin

Verbs of the 5
th
gaa | svdi |

su | to press out juice (ubhayapad) | parasmaipade (la)

sunoti sunuta sunvanti
sunoi sunutha sunutha
sunomi sunuva\sunva sunuma\sunma

su | to press out juice (ubhayapad) | tmanepade |

sunute sunvte sunvate
sunue sunvthe sunudhve
sunuve sunuvahe\sunvahe sunumahe\sunmahe

Usages of the 5
th
Vibhakti

The 5
th
Vibhakti is predominantly used to express the apdnakraka, i.e. the point from something
gets detached or moves away:

vkt naya majar abhinavm | Bring the new sprout from the tree
tasmt samdhe vyutthya | Having arisen from that absorption

As we have seen, the apdna can itself be a moving thing; its stability is only relative to the other
thing that moves away: dhvata avt 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 -t (roughly corresponding to the English ness, indicating the fact of,
the quality of):

sarve bhv svabhvany prattyasamutpannatvt | All existent things are empty of svabhva, due
to the fact of being dependently arisen

The 5
th
Vibhakti can also be used adverbially:

sugattmajasavarvatra samst kathayiymi | 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 -ta to the nominal stem (instead of using the usual declensions, like rmt) usually
expresses the same as the 5
th
Vibhakti:

na svata utpadyante bhv | Things do not arise from themselves

Present passive participles

Present passive participles refer to the object of the action (karmai), as opposed to the agent (kartari,
what active participles refer to). To form them, we use once again the ending mna, added to the
passive verbal base, obtained from the 3
rd
person singular (prathamapurua ekavacana) of the present
passive verb: gamyate | gamyamna (That which is being gone to). In the three genders, gamyamna
is declined like rma, phalam and ram, respectively.

Dvigu

Dvigu compounds are a subtype of karmadhraya (hence, the first term qualifies the second and both
are in the same vibhakti). In dvigu samsa, though, the first term is a numeral. The compound then can
become either a word in the singular, or respect the number expressed:

trilok (singular) | The three worlds (loka)
saptaraya (plular) | The seven (sapta) sages (aya)

Karin

na-kra-anta | ending in the letter n
puliga | masculine
karin-abda | the word karin (elephant)

kar kariau karia
he karin he kariau he karia
kariam kariau karia
kari karibhym karibhi
karie karibhym karibhya
karia karibhym karibhya
karia kario karim
karii kario kariu

Words like karin form the corresponding feminine simply by adding long , becoming like nad (hence,
kari, she elephant).

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Exercises:

i. memorize vkd naya majarm abhinavm |
ii. memorize the verbs and nouns of the lesson
iii. write in devangar and translate: unnatebhya vkebhya patyate janai | sarva kaika
ghaavat ktakatvt | samst vadmi | gata na gamyate | agata na gamyate |
gamyamna na gamyate ||

Vocabulary: jana | a person || kaika | momentary || ghaa | a pot || -vat | suffix meaning just like ||
ktaka | 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
th
Vibhakti | Mati

Verbs of the 6
th
gaa | tuddi |

tud | to wound (ubhayapad) | parasmaipade | (la)

tudati tudata tudanti
tudasi tudatha tudatha
tudmi tudva tudma

tud | to wound (ubhayapad) | tmanepade |

tudate tudete tudante
tudase tudethe tudadhve
tude tudvahe tudmahe

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:

vkasya kh unnat | The branch of the tree is tall
iu asmi guro | I am a child of the Teacher

Not unlike the English genitive (Elisabeths 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:

rmasya daranam | Rmas sight

It might either mean that Rma 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:

caturatishasra strm | 84000 women (women being in the 6
th
Vibhakti).

77
Mati

ikrnta | ending in the letter i
matiabda | the word mati (mind)

mati mat mataya
he mate he mat he mataya
matim mat mat
maty matibhym matibhi
matyai\mataye matibhym matibhya
maty\mate matibhym matibhya
maty\mate matyo matnm
matym\matau matyo matiu

Exercises

ii. memorize vkasya khonnat |
iii. translate: bhvn nisvabhvn na satt vidyate | asya utpdd idam utpadyate |

Vocabulary: satt | existence, being || vidyate | is found, is known || utpda | arising || ut+pad | to arise
(tmanepad) ||

iv. translate: || nama sarvajya || eva may rutam | ekasmin samaye bhagavn rvasty
viharati sma jetavanenthapiadasya rme mahat bhikusaghena srdham
ardhatrayodaabhir bhikuatair abhijtbhijtai sthavirair mahrvakai sarvair
arhadbhi |

Vocabulary: rvast | name of a city || jetavana | name of a forest || anthapiada | lit. Giver of
food to those without a protector, name of a householder || rma | pleasant garden || ardha-
trayodaa | half of thirteen || ata | hundred || abhijtbhijta | having realizations || sthavira | elder ||
mahrvaka | great Hearer ||

78
Lesson 17
Verbs of the 7
th
th
Vibhakti | Abht | d gua | tman

Verbs of the 7
th
gaa | rudhdi |

rudh | to oppose (ubhayapad) | parasmaipade | (la)

ruaddhi rundha rundhanti
ruatsi rundha rundha
ruadhmi rundhva rundhma

rudh | to oppose (ubhayapad) | tmanepade |

rundhe rundhte rundhate
runtse rundhthe rundhve
runddhe rundhvahe rundhmahe

Usages of the 7
th
Vibhakti

The 7
th
Vibhakti expresses the adhikaraakraka, meaning the place, time or general condition within
which the action occurs:

vke nam ida kta akunin | On the tree, this nest was made by the bird
matir asti gurau mama | My mind is on the Teacher
ekasmin samaye bhagavn rjaghe 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 prayoga,
karmai prayoga and bhve prayoga, 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, karmai and bhve are all in the 7
th
Vibhakti).

Abht (lu)

abht abhtm abhvan
abh abhtam abhta
abhvam abhva abhma

This form (called aorist), can either be used for the past in general, or more specifically for very recent
past events (adyatanabhta, past within today).
79

d gua

When a vowel is preceded by the vowel a (whether short or long), it takes gua grade, which becomes
the single substitute for both:

upa +indra =upendra | gag +udakam =gagodakam |

tman

nakrnta ending in the letter n
puliga masculine gender
tman-abda the word tman (self)

tm tmnau tmna
he tman he tmnau he tmna
tmnam tmnau tmana
tman tmabhy tmabhi
tmane tmabhy tmabhya
tmana tmabhy tmabhya
tmana tmano tmanm
tmani tmano tmasu

Exercises

ii. memorize vke nam ida kta akunin
iii. memorize d gua
iv. solve, writing in devangar: mah +indra | sarva +i |
v. translate: asmin sati ida bhavati | mama mati asti gurau | lubiny bhagavata janma |
Vocabulary: san | present participle of as (to be) || janman | birth ||

vi. translate: tadyath | sthavirea ca riputrea, mahmaudgalyyanena ca mahkyapena ca
mahkapphiena ca mahktyyanena ca mahkauhilena ca revatena ca uddhipanthakena
ca nandena ca nandena ca rhulena ca gavpatin ca bharadvjena ca klodayin ca
vakkulena ca aniruddhena ca | etai cnyai ca sabahulair mahrvakai |
Vocabulary: tadyath | just like || anya | other, another || sabahula | many || (The rest of the new
words are proper names of the Arhats)

80
Lesson 18
Verbs of the 8
th
gaa | Bhyt | Tumun (infinitives) | Principles of prosody: anuubh | vddhir eci |
Madhu |

Verbs of the 8
th
gaa | tandi |

tan | to spread (ubhayapad) | parasmaipade | (la)

tanoti tanuta tanvanti
tanoi tanutha tanutha
tanomi tanuva\tanva tanuma\tanma

tan | to spread (ubhayapad) | tmanepade |

tanute tanvte tanvate
tanue tanvthe tanudhve
tanve tanuvahe\tanvahe tanumahe\tanmahe

Bhyt (rli)

bhyt bhystm bhysu
bhy bhystam bhyasta
bhysam bhysva bhysma

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:

khd +tumun =khditum | d +tumun =draum |

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:

81
ka draum yti | He goes to see Ka
phala khditum icchasi | You want to eat a fruit

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

ka drau kla | The time to see Ka
phala khditu vel | Time to eat a fruit

Principles of prosody: anuubh

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 (pda): the number of syllables in each pda 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 anuup, made of 8 +8 +8 +8 syllables, where only the second
half of each pda is fixed. The following verse is both a definition, and an example of, this type of
verse:

pacama laghu sarvatra
saptama dvicaturthayo |
aha gur vijnyt
etac chlokasya lakaam ||

The 5
th
is always laghu,
the 7
th
(is so) in the second and the fourth (pdas);
one should understand the 6
th
to be guru:
this is the definition of a loka.

vddhir eci

This rule is an exception to d gua. If the letter a (whether short or long) is followed by ec (e o ai au),
the latter letter takes vddhi grade and this becomes the single substitute for both:

ka +ekatvam =kaikatvam | gag +ogha =gagaugha | deva +aivaryam =devaivaryam |
ka +autkahyam =kautkahyam |

82
Madhu

ukrnta | ending in the letter u
madhuabda | the word madhu

madhu madhun madhni
he madho-he madhu he madhun he madhni
madhu madhun madhni
madhun madhubhy madhubhi
madhune madhubhy madhubhya
madhuna madhubhy madhubhya
madhuna madhuno madhnm
madhuni madhuno madhuu

Exercises

ii. memorize vddhir eci
iii. solve: rmea +eva | jana +oghn | prathama +aupapattyaikam |
iv. translate: sabahulai ca bodhisattvair mahsattvai | tadyath majuriy ca
kumrabhtena, ajitena ca bodhisattvena, gandhahastin ca bodhisattvena, nityodyuktena ca
bodhisattvena, anikiptadhurea ca bodhisattvena | etai ca anyai ca bodhisattvair
mahsattvai |

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

83
Lesson 19
Verbs of the 9
th
gaa | abhaviyat | aka savare drgha | is

Verbs of the 9
th
gaa | krydi |

kr | to buy (ubhayapad) | parasmaipade | (la)

krti krta kranti
krsi krtha krtha
krmi krva krma

kr | to buy (ubhayapad) | tmanepade |

krte krte krate
kre krthe krdhve
kre krvahe krmahe

abhaviyat (l)

abhaviyat abhaviyatm abhaviyan
abhaviya abhaviyatam abhaviyata
abhaviya abhaviyva abhaviyma

This mood (the conditional) is used in if then type of sentences, when one wishes to express that
the condition was not fulfilled:

yadi rma gamiyat, aham tasmai dakiam adsyam| Had Rma come, I would have given him the
priestly fare.

yadi atru bapatham aysyat tarhi sa amariyat | 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., Rma 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).

84
aka savare drgha

When ak (a i u ) is followed by an homogeneous letter (savara), the long form (drgha) is the single
substitute for both:

daitya +ari =daityri | r +a =ra | viu +udaya =vidaya | hot +kra =hotkra

is

sakrnta | ending in the letter s
is-abda | the word is (Blessing)

iau ia
he he iau he ia
iam iau ia
i rbhy rbhi
ie rbhy rbhya
ia rbhy rbhya
ia io im
ii io u

Exercises

ii. memorize aka savare drgha
iii. memorize and write in devangar: vkas tihati knane kusumit lat vka sarit |
vkebhihato gajo nipatito vkya deya jalam || vkd naya majarm abhinav
vkasya khonnat | vke nam ida kta akunin he vka ki kampase ||
iv. solve: mah +dart | samvti +ritam | madhu +utpda | dhyt +dhhi |
v. translate: akrea ca devnm indrea, brahma ca sahpatin | etai cnyai ca
sabahulair devaputranayutaatasahasrai || 1 ||

Vocablary: akra | name of Indra || sahmpati | Lord of the Sah universe || devaputra | sons of the
gods || nayuta | million || ata | hundred || sahasra | thousand ||

85
Lesson 20
Verbs of the 10
th
gaa | ddeddvivacana praghyam | sarva |

Verbs of the 10
th
gaa | curdi |

cur | to steal (ubhayapad ) | parasmaipade | (la) cur | to steal (ubhayapad) | tmanepade |

corayati corayata corayanti corayate corayete corayante
corayasi corayatha corayatha corayase corayethe corayadhve
coraymi corayva corayma coraye corayvahe coraymahe

ddeddvivacana praghyam

This is an exception to the sandhi rules studied so far: (t) (t) and e (et), when they are endings for
the dual number (dvivacanam) are to be retained without modification (praghyam):

har +etau =har etau || vi +imau =vi imau || gage +am =gage am ||

sarva

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

akrnta | ending in the letter a
sarvaabda | the word sarva (All)

sarva sarvau sarve
he sarva he sarvau he sarve
sarvam sarvau sarvn
sarvea sarvbhy sarvai
sarvasmai sarvbhy sarvebhya
sarvasmt sarvbhy sarvebhya
sarvasya sarvayo sarvem
sarvasmin sarvayo sarveu

krnta | ending in the letter
sarvabda | the word sarv (All)

86
sarv sarve sarv
he sarve he sarve he sarv
sarv sarve sarv
sarvay sarvbhy sarvbhi
sarvasyai sarvbhy sarvbhya
sarvasy sarvbhy sarvbhya
sarvasy sarvayo sarvsm
sarvasy sarvayo sarvsu

akrnta | ending in the letter a
sarvaabda | the word sarva (All)

sarva sarve sarvi
he sarva he sarve he sarvi
sarva sarve sarvi
sarvea sarvbhy sarvai
sarvasmai sarvbhy sarvebhya
sarvasmt sarvbhy sarvebhya
sarvasya sarvayo sarvem
sarvasmin sarvayo sarveu

Exercises

ii. memorize ddeddvivacana praghyam
iii. solve: gur +utpdyete | phale +icch | har apayat |
iv. translate: tatra khalu bhagavn yumanta riputram mantrayati sma | asti riputra
pacime digbhge ito buddhaketra koiatasahasra buddhaketrm atikramya
sukhvat nma lokadhtu | tatra amityur nma tathgatorhan samyaksabuddha etarhi
tihati dhriyate ypayati, dharma ca deayati | tat ki manyase riputra kena kraena s
lokadhtu sukhvatty ucyate ? | tatra khalu puna riputra sukhvaty lokadhtau nsti
sattvn kyadukha na cittadukham | apramny eva sukhakrani | tena kraena
s lokadhtu sukhvatty ucyate || 2 ||
Vocabulary:
khalu | indeed|| +mantr | to address|| pacima | western || dik-bhga | direction-part (the part of the
direction) || ita | from here || ketra | field || koi | ten millions || ati +kram | to go beyond || sukhvat
| lit. Endowed with happiness, name of Amitbhas Buddha field || loka-dhtu | world sphere ||
etarhi | now || sth (tihati) | to stay || dh (tmanepad, dhriyate) | to be or to exist, to live || y
(causative, ypayati) | to spend time || di (causative, deayati) | to teach || kraa | reason || kya |
body || a-prama | without measure
87

Lesson 21
Description of vtti | kdanta | taddhita | sandyanta | ekaea | samsa

Description of vtti

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 Vsudeva. This is called vtti, and subdivided
into five types:

i. kdantavtti | ii. taddhitavtti | iii. sandyantadhtuvtti | iv. ekaeavtti | v. samsavtti

kdanta

kdanta means ending in kt suffixes. kt suffixes are added to a verbal root to form nouns, usually
indicating agency. Most Sanskrit nouns are formed through kdanta terminations:

bhajate iti bhakta | one who is devoted is called a devotee

bhaj | To be devoted to | dhto || 3 | 1 | 91 || This stra tells us that kt suffixes are attached to the roots
| kartari kt || 3 | 4 | 67 || This stra tells us that kt suffixes are used in reference to
the agent
bhaj +kta | | ktaktavat nih || 1 | 1 | 26 || This stra tells us that kta and ktavatu are called
nih
| nih || 3 | 2 | 102 || This stra tells us that nih is used in reference to the past:
thus, our form must be a past participle. Moreover, it must be either in reference
to bhva or karman if it is kta (an exception to the general rule that kt suffixes
refer to the agent)

Thus we know that bhakta must be a past participle, referring either to the object or to bhva.

mriyate iti martya | one who dies is called a mortal
jyate anena iti jnam | that, through which one knows, is called knowledge
ucyate iti vk | it is spoken, thus it is called speech

88
taddhita

taddhita are secondary affixes: just like kt endings are added to verbal roots, taddhita endings are
added to nouns:

mano apatyni pumnsa | mnu || Men, who are descendent of Manu, are called Mnu
daarathasya apatya pumn | Darathi || A man, who is a descendent of Daaratha, is called
Darathi

sandyantadhtu

Verbs can modify their meaning by adding a series of affixes between the verbal root and the verbal
endings: these are called san-di-anta (endings, beginning with san):

1. sannant (desideratives):

bhavitum icchati | bubhati || (Someone) wants to exist
gantum icchati | jigamiati || (Someone) wants to go

bh + san + ap + tip
root the letter s the letter a the ending ti

The root bh becomes reduplicated in front of the affix san.

2. ijant (causatives)

bhvayati || (Someone) causes to exist
gamayati || (Someone) causes to go

bh +ic +ap +tip

Bh takes vddhi.

3. yaant (Frequentatives)

atiayena bhavati | bobhyate || (Someone) exists excessively, exists frequently
atiayena dpyate | dedpyate || (Someone) illuminates excessively, illuminates frequently

bh +ya +tmanepada terminations

Bh is reduplicated, and the first bh takes gua grade (bho), unaspirated (bo).
89
4. yalugant (Frequentatives)

atiayena spardhate | pspardhate || (Someone) competes excessively, frequently
atiayena karoti | carkarti || (Someone) does excessively, frequently

spardh +ap +tip
spardh is reduplicated, the ya goes away.

5. nmadhtava (Denominatives)

kmyac

putram tmana icchati | putrakmyati || (Someone) wants a son for oneself
yaa tmana icchati | yaaskmyati || (Someone) wants fame for oneself

kyac

putram tmana icchati | putryati || (Someone) wants a son for oneself
yaa tmana icchati | yaasyati || (Someone) wants fame for oneself

Alternatively:

putram iva carati | putryati || (Someone) behaves like a son
pitaram iva carati | pitryati || (Someone) behaves like a father
prsde iva carati | prsdyati || (Someone) behaves as if in a palace

crakvip

hasa iva carati | hasati || (Someone) behaves like a wild goose
ka iva carati | kati || (Someone) behaves like Ka

kya

hasa iva carati | hasyate || (Someone) behaves like a wild goose
ka iva carati | kyate || (Someone) behaves like Ka
siha iva carati | sihyate || (Someone) behaves like a lion

kyap

lohita bhavati | lohityati, lohityate || (Someone) has the color of copper (red)
manda bhavati | mandyati, mandyate || (Someone) is slow
90

yak

kayati || (Someone) scratches
asyati || (Someone) has envy

ekaea

In this vtti, 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:

mt ca pit ca | pitarau || s ca sa ca | tau || iv ca iva ca | ivau ||

samsa

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).

91
Glossary of important grammatical terms in Sanskrit

ac || vowels
ajanta || ending (anta) in a vowel (ac)
avyaya || indeclinable
avyaybhava || a type of compound that turns into an avyaya
tmanepada || lit. word for oneself. One of the two voices verbs can have.
rdhadhtuka || terminations that do not affect the system of the present and the classification of verbs
into gaas
uttamapurua || lit. best person. The first person
ekavacana || lit. speech for one. The singular
kart || agent, doer
karman || the object of the action
karmadhraya || subtype of tatpurua compound, where both members are in the same vibhakti and one
qualifies the other
kraka || 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 gata or rutam
ktavatu || a particle used to form past active participles, like gatavat
ktv || a particle used to form absolutives, like ktv or gatv
gaa || a group of verbs conjugated in the same manner (only in reference to the system of the present,
the srdhadhtuka endings)
tatpurua || 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
Daaratha becomes Darathi
ti || 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 karmadhraya compound, where the first member is a number
dvivacana || the dual number
dhtu || literally an ore, a verbal root
napusakaliga || neuter gender
padam|| a word
parasmaipada || word for another, one of the two voices which verbs can take in Sanskrit
puliga || masculine gender
prathamapurua || first person, equal to the English 3
rd
person (he\she\it)
bahuvacana || plural
bahuvrhi || a type of compound, which refers to a term outside of itself (exocentric)
madhyamapurua || middle person, equal to the English 2
nd
person (you)
lakra || verbal endings, attached to the modified root the can express person, number, tense and mood
92
lyap || a particle used to form the absolutive, when the verbal root is preceded by a prefix, like
+gam+lyap | gamya
vibhakti || nominal declension
samsa || compound
sarvanma || a pronoun (lit. name for all)
srvadhtuka || those tenses and moods that are part of the system of the present, i.e. fall within the 10
gaa classification
sup || a nominal suffix, an ending which is attached to nouns
strliga || feminine gender
hal || a consonant
halantam|| ending (hal) in a consonant

93

( 7

H
; -

guavad doarahita
syd na v pustaka mama |
kamyatm pahanrthya
na sarva skhalita may ||

yadi puya mayvapta
devabhparkay |
abdttamahbuddha
payantu yetra dukhit ||

j

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