Vykara a, Grammar.

vykarat padasiddhi padasiddher arthanirayo bhavati | artht tattvajna tattvajnt para reya ||
(From [knowledge of] grammar one obtains words; from words, meaning; from meaning the knowledge of Brahman; and from that, the Ultimate Bliss.)

1. Introduction Grammar is the system of rules, implicit in a language, governing the structural relationships of the language including word components, phonology, morphology and syntax. Syntax refers to rules governing how words combine to form phrases and sentences. Morphology refers to the process by which word components roots, stems, prefixes, affixes etc combine to form words. Phonology, a more technical and narrower term of linguists, is the study of 'sound systems' of a language. To give an example, in English, phonology studies along with stress and intonation, why words English words are pronounced the way they are. Grammars of some languages include pronunciation, word meaning and etymology; but Indians have treated the science of pronunciation and etymology separately. A particular feature of the Indian tradition is the close relationship between religion (more a 'way of life' as viewed by the practitioners) and these sciences. The study of these is clubbed with the study of scriptures and the basic texts are considered divine in inspiration. Pini's Adhyy is the text meant when one refers to the grammar of Sanskrit without any qualification. This is called Adhyy because it contains eight chapters; each of these is further divided into four quarters. In total, there are 3,978 stras. The reference to a stra has three parts: 1.4.14 refers to the 14th stra in the fourth quarter of the first chapter. This text, composed more than 2,400 years ago, remains the most comprehensive grammar of Sanskrit and is still taught and studied in a slightly re-arranged manner in India and elsewhere. It is also one of the most comprehensive grammars of any language in the world. Yet for such a comprehensive grammar, it is remarkably short, only as long as 1,000 lokas. To give an idea of how long this is, it would fit into fifty A4 sheets, typed normally. This extreme terseness is mainly due to the nature of the stra-type of literature. A stra, usually translated as aphorism, is extremely terse often being unintelligible and indicates the key aspects or essence of the subject matter. For a strakra, it is famously said, half a syllable saved is as valuable as begetting a son. With such extremely terse construction, collections of stras are indeed short. However, the conciseness of the Adhyy is also on account of a) the most basic or fundamental level at which the problems of grammar were considered and answered, b) the ingenuity of its structure as seen by the use of 'pratyhras' and the order in which the stras have been arranged. Each of these aspects of the Adhyy is fascinating in its own right and would be treated at some length at the appropriate place. Apart from Pini's work, three other works all related and closely dependent on the Adhyy need to be mentioned with respect to grammar. They are the vrtikas by Ktyyana or Vararuchi, the

bhya by Patanjali, and the rearrangement into chapters by Bhattoji Dkita in the form of Siddhntakaumudi. An edition of the Mahabhya contains the original stras, the vrtikas and the bhya; similarly Siddhntakaumudi contains the original stras, many of the vrtikas, and notes by Bhattoji Dkita. The aspect of rearrangement in the Siddhntakaumudi is best explained after discussing the ordering of the stras in the Adhyy. Apart from Paninian grammar, there are other grammars of Sanskrit before Pini and after Pini as well, and aspects of those grammars are still used in addition to the main body of the Paninian grammar. For instance, the visarga does not have the status of a character in Paninian grammar; yet, in all Indian languages, not merely Sanskrit, the anusvra (bindu) and visarga find a place in the varamla at the end of the vowels. Sanskrit grammar is also the model/source for grammars of other Indian languages. While this author is not acquainted with any grammar other than that of Telugu, Sanskrit and English with maybe some exposure to the grammar of Hindi one gets a sense that other Indian languages like Bengali and Marathi borrow many bits of their grammar, in addition to the vocabulary, from Sanskrit. In Telugu, the situation is that grammatical terminology is imported wholesale from Sanskrit, though the meaning of the term is sometimes inappropriate. For instance, the infinitive is called the 'tumun-anta' in Sanskrit, as an affix called tum[un] is attached at the end of a verb-stem to form the infinitive, as in gantu (to go) and pahitu (to read). The infinitive is called the tumun-anta in Telugu as well, though the affix which is actually attached is 'ku' as in povuaku (to go) and caduvuaku (to read). This is so because the meaning associated with tumun-anta as the infinitive has transcended the etymological meaning of 'ending in tumun'. If the situation is such in a language with about 2,000 years of existence and 1,000 years of high quality literature, one could well imagine how strong the influence would be on the later languages belonging to the same branch of Indo-European languages as Sanskrit. The first Tamil grammar, the Tolkappiyam, is said to be based on aindra grammar, a precursor to Paninian grammar. Thus, we see that Sanskrit grammar is at once one of the oldest grammars, one of the tersest, one of the most comprehensive, and verily the specimen nearest to a 'perfect grammar' that humanity has. 2. Grammar and Scripture The six an as, elements in the sense of constituent parts, of the Veda are ika (phonetics), Chandas g (prosody), Vykaraa (grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Jyotia (astronomy and astrology) and Kalpa (compendium of instructions regarding ritual and law). These are said to be the nose, feet, mouth, ears, eyes and hand in that order, of the vedas. The vedas are to be learnt along with these six angas, and further four upngas subsidiary elements of Nyya, Mmsa, Pura and Dharmastra. A person who has learnt the Veda in such a way is referred to as sa-anga-upnga-veda-vid, combined as sngopnga-vedavid. Thus vykaraa is an integral part of the vedic studies. In fact the very first purpose of vykaraa

listed by the sage Ktyyana is raka protection of the vedas. For a text which was not written for many years, the integrity of the vedas over thousands of years and across thousands of kilometres is remarkable. This was possible due to the vikriti phas of the Veda. Whereas in the prakriti pha, the Veda is in proper order, in vikriti phas, the original text is arranged in various elaborate ways, as if each syllable were like the svaras, sa-re-ga-ma-pa-da-ni. For instance, while learning classical music, at an early stage one encounters what are known as jana svaras sa-sa-re-re-ga-ga-ma-ma re-re-ga-ga-ma-ma-pa-pa ga-ga-ma-ma-pa-pa-da-da .... and so on. Now, if instead of individual svaras, we insert syllables (or words) of a particular mantra, with various permutations and combinations, the various vikriti patterns of reciting or chanting the vedas obtain. The most famous of such vikriti phas is the ghana, a ghanaphi being considered the most qualified amongst vedic pundits. As the order changes, different syllables come in contact with each other and different sandhis occur, all of which ought to be meticulously followed. Vykaraa is the science which helps determine the form of the resultant syllable. A ghanaphi needs to be a master of sandhi rules and apply them continuously even as he focuses on the original and rearrangement of the same. A small wonder, then, that they are considered the foremost of the vedic pundits. The other four purposes enumerated by the sage Ktyyana are ha (imagination, as in a priest using the appropriate noun forms depending on whose behalf the ritual is being conducted), gama (vedas the correct recitation and understanding of), laghutva (conciseness) and asandeha (removal of doubts). That grammar is not removed from ritual or religion in the Hindu society is also seen from the fact that in the Sri Chakra arcana, a few stras of Pini's Adhyy are recited as the Mother is fond of all the vidyas. The very origin of grammar is attributed to Mahevara, the sound of whose drum is said to have given rise to the fourteen Mhevara stras, which are assumed to have been studied in Pini's grammar. Even as the pride of place is given to the Adhyy, there are separate vedic grammars called prtikhyas. 3. Prtikhya These are grammars nominally specific to a given kha, branch of a Veda. For instance, the Taittirya prtikhya is associated with the Taittirya kha of the Krishna Yajur Veda. These prtikhyas are somewhat limited grammars, with more focus on the phonetics; but they sometimes deal with material outside the scope of grammar and the application of some of their rules is often beyond the Vedas. For instance, the final chapter of rik-prtikhya deals with vedic chandas, more elaborately than Pigala's chandas. Sanskrit and hence in many Indian languages, maybe excepting Tamil to a certain extent spellings are phonetic, that is, a word is spelt exactly as written. However, three syllables seem to be exceptions to this rule: the sayuktkara, conjunct syllable, formed when 'ha' is

followed by 'ma', 'na', and 'a' as in Brahma, vahni, aparha. In each of these cases, it seems that the pronunciation of the syllable is reversed to result in 'Bramha', 'vanhi', and 'aparha' and no rule in Adhyy explains this apparent reversal. We find an answer in the Taittirya prtikhya, where it is explained that the 'ha' followed by a, na, and ma is nasalised, and in actual pronunciation the nasalised 'ha' sounds like the anunsika (a, na and ma) followed by ha. This is what leads to the apparent reversal, especially as the last nasal sounds are not audible. Other rules of various prtikhyas prescribing non-difference amongst va and ba; ra and la; ya and ja; or doubling of certain conjuncts are followed not merely in the vedic language but in the geographies where those recensions were popular. Thus, in Bengal where ukla Yajurveda is the most popular, to this day, the non-difference among va and ba is followed. It is believed that one should follow ia vyavahra, the conduct of the distinguished. The most distinguished persons in a region are the vedic pundits, and if they interchange va and ba, the rest of the population would also do it. Thus, in this derived fashion we have the rules of prtikhya also governing day to day usage. 4. Pre-Paninian and Post-Paninian Grammar Some ancient texts mention eight grammars including the Paninian, and some mention nine texts. The Ramayana describes Hanuman as the knower of nine grammars navavykararthavetta. According to one tradition when Brihaspati taught grammar to Indra, he set out to teach every form of every subanta and tiganta. Indra is supposed to have improvised upon this by separating the prakriti and pratyaya, the base and the affix. The aindra vykaraa is not purely mythological (nor is the Brihaspati vykaraa); some traces of it are indeed found. As mentioned earlier, the Tamil grammar Tolkappiyam is based on Indra's grammar. We have presently available, ten prtikhyas, all of which are some sorts of grammar, if mainly vedic. That apart, Pini himself mentions ten grammarians: pili, Kyapa, Grgya, Glava, Ckravarmaa, Bhradvja, kayana, kalya, Senaka and Sphoyana. Other texts mention 15 grammarians before Pini. All in all, according to Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Pullela Sriramachandrudu (in the introduction to his Telugu translation of the Laghu Siddhntakaumudi, the introduction being based on Yudhihir Mmasaka's 'Saskrit vykara k itihs'), about 85 pre-Paninan grammarians can be identified. Then, there are internal evidences to suggest that some of the stras in Adhyy are actually earlier stras used without change by Pini. A proper discussion of the internal evidence requires a good knowledge of grammar. At this point, it would suffice to say that Pini's work is best thought of as a culmination of generations of effort, rather a work entirely by Pini. As it were, the development of grammar did not end with Pini, though such an accusation is often hurled at Pini. Most unusually in the stra-vritti-bhya tradition, when Ktyyana or Vararuchi wrote the vritti on the strapha, he corrected Pini, sometimes subtly and sometimes directly; and Patanjali who wrote the Mahabhya further improvised. The present form of the Adhyy is usually the text finalised in the Kik, written in the eighth century after Christ, though it is possible to identify most changes done by the Kikkras. Glosses on commentaries, explanations of glosses

and so on kept appearing up to the sixteenth century till the Siddhntakaumudi was composed by Bhattoji Dkita. Bhattoji Dkita is quite orthodox and does not admit anybody other than the munitrayam Pini, Vararuchi and Patanjali as an authority on grammar. The Adhyy, initially in its original form, and in the last four hundred years or so in the form of Siddhntakaumudi, stands out as the brightest star. Even so, it has to be appreciated that this is a result of a continuous process of observation, theorisation, discussion and refinement that happened across vast distances in time and place and that is has been built upon, refined further and improvised mainly in its application, after its composition. 5. The Companion Books of A dhyy The Adhyy is studied along with its companion books: the Mhevara stras, the udi stras, the phi stras, the lignusanam, the gaa pha and the dhtu pha. Essentially, the Mhevara stras are the characters of the alphabet arranged as 14 stras. These serve to generate 44 pratyhras, notational lables, which denote a set of syllables. These short-cuts are used through out the grammar which contributes to the terseness of the Adhyy. Early Sanskrit etymologists, most famously Yska (the author of Nirukta) argued that all words can be derived etymologically from the roots. The grammarians differed by qualifying that only the regularly formed words can be derived etymologically. Notwithstanding the much acclaimed comprehensiveness of the Adhyy, a number of irregular words cannot be derived using only the rules of the Adhyy. The udi stras serve to fill this gap and supply the affixes and rules required to derive the irregular words. Pini is aware of the udi stras, mentions them as 'too many', and does not include them in the Adhyy. The phi stras are so named because they give rules of accents in 'phi's, nominal stems. It is interesting that the nominal stem is called prtipadika according to the Paninian system. The authorship of these stras numbering 87, arranged in four chapters, is attributed to ntanavchrya. Whereas the stras dealing with accent in the Adhyy deal with the finally derived noun forms, the phi stras deal with the accent in the nominal stem. Paninian rules on accent presuppose knowledge of accent in nominal bases and so the phi stras are essential to complete the rule-system governing accents. The lignusanam gives the rules of gender of words. Sanskrit has three genders and the gender of the word occasionally differs from the natural gender. A famous example is the wife, which has synonyms in all the three genders: bhry (feminine), kalatram (neuter) and dr (masculine). Since Sanskrit admits technically only two kinds of words subanta (ending in sup, case affixes) and tiganta (ending in ti, verb-affixes pronounced as ting rhyming with thing and wing), every nonverb is a subanta and has gender. Subanta includes seven of the eight parts of speech, as classified in English, that is, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interrogatives.

Additionally, it includes derived words such as participles. Many of these are indeclinables, which have the same form in the three genders and eight cases. The gaapha consists of groups of similar words, to which certain rules of grammar apply identically. The gaa or group is referred to by the starting word. The authorship of the list is disputed, but reference to this list is essential to know the full application of any given rule. The dhtupha is a list of about 2,200 primitive roots classified into ten groups and gaas. Each group of roots conjugate broadly similarly. Conjugation is the process by which, a root or stem transforms into a verb. For instance, khd is the root meaning 'to eat'. To this root, the ti affixes are added and it forms the present tense, third person (prathama purua in Sanskrit) verb of khdati (eats, eating), past tense, third person verb of akhdat (ate), future tense, third person verb of khdiyati (will eat) and so on. Almost all vocabulary of Sanskrit is traced to these roots and thus knowledge of the dhtupha along with grammar is all that is required to master Sanskrit. In the Siddhntakaumudi, the rearrangement of the Adhyy, the udi stras, the phi stras and lignusanam are included. The Mhevara stras are normally given before the beginning of the text. Thus of the six companion books to the Adhyy, four are normally included with the main book, and the two lists gaapha and dhtupha are like appendices. 6. Mhevara Stras nrittvasne naarjarja nanda hakkm navapachavram | uddhartu kmassanakdi siddhn etadvimare ivastrajlam || (At the end of his dance, Naaraja sounded his drum nine and five times. Desirous of the upliftment of siddhas like Sanaka, I expand these iva stras). The fourteen Mhevara stras, so named because they have emanated from the drum of Lord iva during his Cosmic dance, are: 1. a, i, u, | 2. , , k | 3. e, o, | 4. ai, au, c| 5. ha, ya, va, ra, | 6. la, | 7. a, ma, a, a, na m| 8. jha, bha, | 9. gha, ha, dha | 10. ja, ba, ga, a, da, | 11. kha, pha, cha, ha, tha, ca, a, ta, v|

12. ka, pa, y| 13. a, a, sa r| 14. ha, l| The last letter in each of the stras is called an 'it' (rhymes with with) and is purely indicatory, not a part of the stra itself. When any alphabet in the above list is combined with an 'it', a pratyhra is formed which indicates all the intervening letters, but not the intervening 'it's. Thus, ac indicates a, i, u, , , e, o, ai and au. In Pini's system, ' a' stands for the short or hrasva 'a', the long or drgha '', and a third yet longer form 'a3' called pluta, which is pronounced for a period of three measures, where a hrasva is pronounced for a period of one measure, and drgha, two measures. To complete this description, the letter also indicates the svarita, udtta and anudtta vowel 'a', as well as the nasalised and non-nasalised vowel 'a'. Thus it represents eighteen forms of 'a'. Thus, collectively, the pratyhra ac includes all the vowels of Sanskrit. This in fact is the etymological origin of the technical word for vowels in Sanskrit (and Hindi, Telugu etc.), ac. Similarly hal refers to ha, ya, va, ra, la, a, ma, a, a, na, jha, bha, gha, ha, dha, ja, ba, ga, a, da, kha, pha, cha, ha, tha, ca, a, ta, ka, pa, a, a, sa and ha. In other words, hal refers to all the consonants, and is used in that sense in Indian languages. Pini has used 44 pratyhras in the Adhyy, but not others which are technically possible. While the Mhevara stras are nothing more than the letters of the alphabet, and are actually called akarasammnya or varasammnya, their beauty lies in their arrangement. The grouping is such that similar letters which are commonly subject to certain rules are grouped together. However this grouping itself is dynamic; while all consonants behave similarly in case of certain sandhis, the semivowels ya, ra, la, va behave differently from the rest of the consonants for another sandhi. All such groupings are made possible with this arrangement. In short, by the very grouping, all the possible permutations and combinations of similarities amongst the letters of the alphabet are encoded. All this, with but a single repetition of one letter! One wonders at the ingenuity of the arrangement and can readily appreciate why the origin of such an arrangement is considered divine. 7. The Types of Sutras in the A dhyy The stras of Adhyy are classified under six heads: sanj, paribh, vidhi, niyama, atidea and adhikra. Some add a seventh head, niedha. The most common rule is the vidhi, operational rule. These describe the normal processes of grammar. For instance, 6.1.101 (aka savare drgha) states that the vowels a, i, u, and lengthen when followed by a similar (savara) vowel. A sanj stra is a definition which introduces new technical words. Fox example, 1.4.14 (suptiantam padam) defines a word as something ending in either a sup or ti, both of which are technical words referring to case-affixes and verb-affixes. The names 'sup' and 'ti' are themselves formed by combining the first syllable of the case-affixes with the last 'it' of the last case-affix and by

combining the first syllable of the verb-affixes with the last 'it' of the verb-affixes. We observe that this convention is exactly similar to the way pratyhras formed using the Mhevara stras. Rules which establish such conventions are called paribha rules, or metarules, or rules of interpretation. 1.1.46 (ah sthneyog) gives the rule of interpretation when a word is used in the genitive case, ah vibhakti. Normally, ah vibhakti is used to convey the sense of possession, as in rmasya bam, rmabam (Rama's arrow), relation in place, comparison, nearness, proximity, change, collection, component member and others. The present stra clarifies that in the stras of Adhyy, whenever a word occurs in ah, without any qualification, it will assume the meaning of 'in the place of'. The adhikra stras are usually translated as headings. For instance, 2.13 (prkkartsamsa) states all the terms that we shall describe from this point up to the stra 2.2.38 (kaarkarmadhraye) will get the designation of samsa or compound. Similarly, 3.1.1 (pratyaya) states that the third, fourth and fifth chapters deal with affixes. Thus, we see that the validity of adhikra stras extends over many stras. Thus, in a sense they are super-vidhi stras. These are marked with a svarita tone, so that a student might know which stras extend their influence. In printed texts, some notation or the other, such as marking adhikra stras in bold print, is followed. An extension rule extends the operation of a rule to a given item as well. An example would be out of place in an introductory essay, such as this, but suffice to say that unlike an adhikra stra, the application of an extension stra is much more restricted, usually to one stra. A niyama stra restricts the application of a previous rule. This marks exceptions to the vidhi rules. A niedha stra is a negation. For instance 1.1.9 (tulysya prayatnam savaram) defines savaras as those which have a comparable effort in producing the vara. The immediate next stra, 1.1.10 (njjhalau) clarifies that vowels and consonants cannot be savaras. Based on these rules, a vritti is made of the stras. A vritti is a complete, intelligible sentence which gives the intent of the stra. 8. The Arrangement of Sutras in the A dhyy The Adhyy was composed in the days when such texts were learnt by heart first and then the application was understood, practiced and mastered. Consequently, it is expected that all the nearly 4,000 stras be applied simultaneously in a given situation to determine the correct grammatical transformation. In case more than one stra is capable of being applied, but there is a conflict in the force of such competing stras, usually the latter prevails. Depending on the type of stra, the order of preference in case of conflict varies. The order of preference for different types of stras is clearly laid out. The exception to the above arrangement is spelt out in 7.2.1 (prvatrsiddham) which states that the

earlier stras be treated as not valid. Thus, in the first seven chapters and a quarter (referred to as sapdi, with the quarter), the stras are applied progressively, one after other to a given situation; in the last three quarters (the tripdi) the same arrangement continues, but with the stras in the first seven chapters and a quarter not being valid. The application of Adhyy to a given situation requires considerable intellectual prowess, so much so that not all word forms are settled. Even after it was applied competently for a number of centuries, it is possible to launch into a discussion of what the correct form of a particular word is. The scope for strrtha discussion on even such a simple matter as how should 'rupees five hundred' be expressed in Sanskrit is considerable. Such difficulties gave rise to the need for a simpler way to study the Adhyy. Early attempts were to re-organise it under subject-matters, prakaraas. These attempts, over many iterations spread across centuries reached a perfect shape in the sixteenth century in the form of Siddhntakaumudi. 9. The Siddhntakaumudi The Siddhntakaumudi, composed in the 16th century by Bhattoji Dkita, rearranges the 3978 stras of the Adhyy under various groupings, more similar to a modern book of grammar. Along with the stra is given a short explanatory comment by Bhattoji Dkita. The key job done by these comments or notes is point out application of other stras along with the present one, or where other seemingly contradictory rules are not applicable. This has become so popular that for the last four hundred years, the Adhyy was mainly studied in the form of the Siddhntakaumudi, not in its original form. Swami Daynanda Saraswati, the founder of rya Samj, promoted the study of Adhyy in its original form more than a hundred years ago. Notwithstanding the sustained efforts of ryasamjis ever since, Siddhntakaumudi with its derived texts, mainly the Laghu Siddhntakaumudi remains the most popular text for learning grammar. Bhattoji Dkita himself wrote a commentary on Siddhntakaumudi called Prauhamanorama, where he establishes that only Pini, Ktyyana and Patanjali may be accepted as authorities on matters of grammar. There have been other commentaries on Siddhntakaumudi, including a couple brihacchabdaratna and laghuabdratna by the grandson of Bhattoji Dkita, Hari Dkita. The Siddhntakaumudi includes commentary on the udi stras, phi stras and lignusanam, apart from the commentary on mhevarastras and the Adhyy. 10. Contents of Grammar A proper description of the grammar of Sanskrit ought to include descriptions of the various elements. With a view that this job is best done by presenting the contents divided amongst the various

prakaraas of the Siddhntakaumudi, the contents of grammar are explained in brief in the following pages, with the beginner in focus. 10.1 Ground rules The first chapter of the Siddhntakaumudi puts together most of the Definitions (sanj rules) and the Rules of Interpretation (paribha) before dealing with the subject proper. 10.2 Sandhi Sandhi is the coalescence of two letters in immediate contact. For instance, cup+board results in cupboard with the conjunct syllable 'pb' being pronounced as 'bb'. Thus, sandhi is something which is common to all languages, not merely Sanskrit. At any rate, to a large extent this is true of Indian languages. We find that the rules of sandhi in Sanskrit are sometimes not followed in Dravidian languages. For instance a + u results in o in Sanskrit, as in srya + udayam = sryodayam. However, bengaLa + ru = bengaLru, not bengaLoru, but when it comes to sryodaya, the Sanskrit rule is followed. Even in Sanskrit, we have exceptions to the general rule. To continue with the a + u combination, aka + hini = akauhini (a military unit consisting of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 horses and 1,09,350 foot soldiers), not akohini; pra + ha = prauha (full grown, mature), not proha. The vowel 'o' is by definition the combination of 'a' and 'u' (hence it has no short form in Sanskrit, unlike in Dravidian languages) and when such a combination results in a diphthong 'au' (a diphthong is a combination of two vowels; 'ai' and 'au' are the diphthongs in Sanskrit, as the term is used in English), or does not result in the combinatorial vowel 'o' (though the two vowels forming this sound are not clearly discernible, 'e' and 'o' are referred to as diphthongs by Sanskrit grammarians). In the above examples, we see that exceptions to the pure, technical rules are found. These exceptions occur by force of usage. Linguists have observed several tendencies towards simplification in most cases which go against strict, narrow technical rules. The rules of Sandhi in grammar deal with both the generic, technical rules and rules which take note of the convention of usage. For those who argue that Paninian grammar is prescriptive and has frozen Sanskrit, this should make it clear that the Paninian grammar was descriptive when it was composed. The Sandhis are classified as vowel sandhis, non-sandhis (that is rules describing the occasions where sandhi does not occur), visarga sandhi and hal-sandhi (coalescence of final consonants with vowels and consonants). Another useful classification is internal sandhi and external sandhi. Internal sandhi refers to the sandhi amongst case endings, verbal affixes, prefixes and suffixes which results in the formation of a word; external sandhi is what occurs between words, whether they form a compound or not. External sandhi is more familiar to speakers of other Indian languages. In the earlier example,

sryodaya, we see an external sandhi. In sa + krita = saskrita (put together, well done, refined), we find an example of both an internal sandhi and a description of usage, rather a prescriptive rule. As will be seen later, modern English differs from Sanskrit in treatment of compound words. This tendency to spilt compound words is observed in several Indian languages as well. Here it is pertinent to note that sandhi is nitya, that is, sandhi rules ought to be always followed in case of internal sandhi and in case of compound words. External sandhi, not amongst compound words, is up to the speaker in speech or prose, but compulsory in verse. For a beginner, external sandhi is taught, while rules governing internal sandhi are passed over. Actually the rules governing sandhi apply equally to internal and external sandhis, but certain rules are exclusively or mostly applicable to internal sandhi; these are the rules which are not taught to beginners. Also, the examples given are mainly those of external sandhi. 10.3 Declensions A noun changes its form depending on the number and case of the noun. For instance book is a singular; books, plural. Case is the English word for vibhakti. We have rules such as the karta, doer or subject, is in pratham vibhakti; the karta, or object, is in dvity vibhakti; and the karaa, instrument is in the trity vibhakti. The first three cases are respectively called nominative, accusative and instrumental cases; the next four are dative, ablative, genitive and locative. The sambodhana pratham vibhakti is called the vocative. The various forms of the noun in different cases and numbers are called 'declensions' and a noun (or adjective or pronoun) is said to decline. Such changes are also called inflections. Inflection, technically, has a larger scope since it includes the changes in verbs, called 'conjugation'. Nouns do not decline much in English except for number (singular and plural); another common occurrence is the genitive, formed by the addition of an apostrophe and 's'. Sanskrit nouns (and six other parts of speech, that is, all except verbs) decline profusely, with the addition of a dual number, not common in other familiar languages. While, technically every subanta has 21 (or 24) forms, distinct forms are lesser than that. The dual number has only three forms (nominative and accusative; instrumental, dative and ablative; genitive and locative), while the plural has only six forms (the dative and the ablative are always identical). There are a class of words called avyayas or indeclinables which do not decline. In other words, they have an identical form in all the three numbers and seven cases. Nominally, a noun form is formed by the addition of a case affix called a 'sup' to the noun stem. They are 21 case affixes, starting with 'su', 'au', 'jas' and ending with 'i', 'os', 'sup'. By combining the first letter of these affixes 'su' with the last letter 'p', we get 'sup' which refers to the set of 21 affixes. The addition of these affixes is far from simple. They usually change depending upon the gender of the noun stem, prtipadika. Then they are elaborate sandhi rules. At the end of it all, a noun declines as illustrated below:

akrnta pulliga rma abda rma rmam rmea rmya rmt rmasya rme he rma rmau rmau rmbhy rmbhy rmbhy rmayo rmayo he rmau rm rmn rmai rmebhya rmebhya rm rmeu he rm pratham vibhakti dvity vibhakti trity vibhakti caturth vibhakti pacam vibhakti ah vibhakti saptam vibhakti sambodhana pratham vibhakti

The process of deriving each of the above forms is called rpasiddhi (literally, attainment of form) which demonstrates one's mastery of grammar. This process is so complicated that vibhakti forms are learnt by heart, independently of grammar. These forms vary depending on the gender of the noun (and the other six parts of speech, henceforth noun in this context shall include the other subantas as well) and the last letter of the noun. A traditional text, abdamajar, lists about 175 of these forms. A Kerala version lists 200. For a beginner, the rules of grammar relevant to declensions are usually not taught; instead a sub-set of the vibhakti forms are taught, usually masculine and neuter nouns ending in a, i, u, , t; feminine nouns ending in , i, , , ; and a few pronouns. Even advanced learners tend to learn the rest of the vibhaktis first and attempt rpasiddhi, if at all, later. A mnemonic verse which lists the singular forms of rma in various cases and also demonstrates the basic syntax of the usage of case is given below: rmo rjamai sad vijayate rmam rameam bhaje, rmebhihath nicaracam rmya tasmai nama | rmnnsti paryaam parataram rmasya dso'smyaham, rme citta laya sad bhavatu me bho rma mmuddhara ||

10.4 Indeclinables As mentioned earlier, an avyaya or an indeclinable has the same form in all numbers and cases, and also the three genders. Additionally, there are a few nouns called niptas, which have an identical form everywhere: anyat, astam, om, canas, cu, namas, nsti, bhr, bhuvar, vadi, am, udi, sudi, savat, svh, svadh, svar and svasti. The different types of indeclinables are a) prepositions, b) adverbs, c) particles, d) conjunctions and e)

interjections. There are about 20 prepositions, called upasargas; about 300 words used adverbially, 9 particles (ad, k, ku, cana, cit, na, sma, vit and sv), about fifty conjunctions and about forty interjections. Of these, the upasargas are the most important. They combine with verb stems and multiply the available vocabulary. Then, they combine with other nouns to form compound words called avyaybhvas, which are themselves indeclinable. A beginner is usually introduced only to upasargas; the other indeclinables are explained as and when they are encountered, rather than being taught formally as a component of grammar. 10.5 Formation of Feminine Bases In Sanskrit, nouns, adjectives and the subantas are formed from verbal roots by the additions of krit and other affixes. The word so formed is usually masculine. To these masculine words, addition of '', '', '' and 'ti' results in the feminine. This addition is subject to a set of rules collated under the chapter formation of feminine bases. A beginner usually understands the application of the more important of these rules by exposure. A formal study is taking up in advanced stage. 10.6 Cases (krakas) Krakaprakaraa is the part of grammar that deals with syntax. To be sure, Sanskrit syntax properly extends beyond the krakas to include concordance (agreement of the adjective with the noun and agreement of the verb with the subject), usage of pronouns and the usage of numerous participles. Many of these are by convention and usage by respected authors. This situation led to the comment amongst western Indologists that if Sanskrit grammar is lacking in any area, it is in syntax. To quote Dr. H. Kern in his introduction to 'Sanskrit Syntax' by Dr. J. S. Speijer (published by E. J. Brill, Leyden, 1886), Indian grammar, which is virtually the same as saying Pini's grammar, superior as it is in many respects to anything of the kind produced among other civilized nations of antiquity, is profoundly deficient in its treatment of syntax. There are six krakas corresponding to the seven cases, save the genitive. Karaka kart karma Case Nominative (pratham) Accusative (dvity) Usage Example

Naming or default case; denotes rmo rjamani| Rama is a jewel the subject when used with a verb among kings. Denotes the object rmam bhaje| [I] worship Rama.

karaa

rmea abhihat nicaracam| Instrumental Denotes the agent or instrument The army of demons is killed by (trity) of action Rama.

sampradna

Dative (caturth)

rmya nama| I offer salutations Denotes the person to whom to Rama (this translation is to something is given or offered; or convey the sense of the dative; the an object with reference to which proper translation is 'I bow to an action of offering is made Rama'.) The primary sense is that of rmt nsti paryaa parataram| separation and moving away There is no higher path than [that from, real or figurative. of] Rama. Denotes the place where an rme me cittalaya sad bhavatu| action takes place, with reference May my heart always be fixated to the subject or object. upon Rama.

apdna

Ablative (pacam) Locative (saptam)

adhikaraa

All senses not expressed by the krakas are expressed by the genitive. Technically, the genitive expresses the relation of one noun to another in a sentence. In 'rmasya dsa asmi aham' (I am the servant of Rama), the speaker belongs to Rama, in the capacity of a servant and hence Rama is expressed in the genitive case. Additionally, we have the vocative case, treated as a variant of the nominative case which denotes the person being addressed, as in 'bho rma! mm uddhara' (O Rama! Uplift me). There are two other cases called the locative absolute and the genitive absolute. It is best to introduce the Absolute case by quoting Alexander Bain from his Higher English Grammar (published by Longmans & Co., London, 1879): When the participle agrees with a Subject different from the Subject of the Verb, the Phrase is said to be in Absolute Construction: 'the sun having risen, we commenced our journey'; 'this said, he sat down'. Whereas the nominative is used as the absolute in English, the locative absolute is the most popular in Sanskrit, and referred to as 'sati saptam'. The genitive absolute, used less frequently to show contempt or disregard, is referred to as 'sata ah. It may be noted that both 'sati' and 'sata' are the locative and genitive singulars of the word 'san', to be. The absolute case is used to convey the sense of English particles 'when', 'while', 'since' and 'although'. A good understanding of the common usage of the various cases is fundamental to make any progress in learning Sanskrit. Though the absolute case is somewhat difficult to initially master, it is used very frequently and the beginner should be at least able to identify the absolute case, if not be actually able to use it properly. The less frequent usages of different cases may be initially omitted. Here it is pertinent to note a tendency amongst schools to make children learn up to 20 vibhakti patterns by rote, but omitting to properly introduce the krakas. The declensions, learnt with such difficulty, make sense only when the student knows how to use them and for that a preliminary understanding of the matter treated above is absolutely essential. If the object being learnt has a

purpose, it makes the act of learning less of a chore and more interesting. This is recognised by agencies outside the school system, who in the name of 'Spoken Sanskrit' introduce copious sentences in all the cases. 10.7 Compound words When two or more words are joined together, a compound word is formed, called samsa (sa, together + as, be) in Sanskrit. Usually the relation between the words is not mentioned. When required, the compound is resolved, giving the relationship between the words joined. For instance, 'lokantha' can mean 'the lord of the world' or 'one to whom the world is the lord'. The sentence which resolves a compound is called a vigraha vkya. The rules of sandhi are observed when the words forming a compound come together. In all respects, the compound word behaves like a word and takes case affixes and can form other compounds. One criticism of later developments in Sanskrit is that the compounds became very long often running to a full page doing the duty of full fledged sentences. Compounds are variously classified in four, five or six groups, with further sub-classification. The samsakusumvali gives examples of about a hundred types of samsas, with examples of compounds along with their resolutions. A note about writing compound words is in order. English has developed a convention of writing compound words such as 'civil servant' with a space in between. In contrast, German is more insistent that a compound word retain its fundamental character of being a single word. Thus, we have the German Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party) shortened to Nazi Party using the first two letters of the two words in the first compound. It may also be noted that the last word, 'workers party' is also a compound. Following the English convention, Indians started writing names as Pmulaparti Venkaa Narasiha Rao, whereas the correct way of writing such a name ought to be Pmulaparti (called the upanma in Sanskrit) Venkaanarasiharao. The same convention extends to Shiva Kumar, Nrya Dutt and so on. However Indir Priyadarin maybe written as such, as Priyadarin can also be an adjective describing Indir. Having said this, it must be mentioned that conventions develop over time and the general usage becomes the standard usage. For instance, the spaces between separate words, along with other punctuation marks are all the result of modern printing technology. Old manuscripts have but two punctuation marks, the pra virma (a single stick, or daa as in '|') and drgha virma (two sticks, as in '||'). An example is reproduced below (the first two lines of Rig Veda).

By modern convention, there ought to be a space in the first sentence after rgaeya, as in 'rgaeya nama|', but such conventions are not seen in the earlier forms of writing. This being a pada pha, each word is however separated by a daa. Normally the sandhi is done in 'agnimLe', in the samhit pha, but not in the pada pha. We notice that the daa separator is absent after the first word in the compound word 'purohita', which is however broken into its constituent words. A mastery of krakas is required to write the vigraha vkyas, resolution of compounds. The beginner need not bother with all the classifications and sub-classifications or with the vigraha vkyas, as long as the sense conveyed by the samsas is adequately understood. Once the basics are learnt, a working knowledge of compounds ought to be acquired for it is almost impossible to find any fragment of non-vedic Sanskrit without compounds. 10.8 Taddhitas or Secondary Derivatives Vritti is the general term for any complex formation in Sanskrit requiring explanation or resolution. We have just examined one such vritti, the samsa. The other vrittis are ekaea vritti (similar to the dvandvasamsa), kridvritti (formation of words from roots or verb-stems by primary affixes), dhtuvritti (formation of derivative verbs from primary roots) and taddhitavritti (formation of derivative bases from nouns by secondary affixes). For instance, Rama is referred to as darathi, by virtue of being the son of Daaratha. Bhrata, kaurava, pava, prtha, ggeya, ntanu, rghava, prvat, draupad, ydava, bhrgava, vsudeva, and bhradvja are all examples of names derived from ancestors by addition of secondary affixes. Pitmaha, mtula etc. are examples of nouns derived from descendants. Taddhithas are not restricted to persons alone. Often books are named as a secondary derivative of the author. Thus, Govindarjyam is the commentary on Ramayana by Govindarja and karabhya is the bhya written by akara. Another taddhita pratyaya, 'in' conveys the sense of possession: thus, dain is somebody with a staff, daa; guin, with gua; cakrin, with cakra (Vinu) and so on. There are more than 70 taddhita pratyayas, and are most profusely used. Taddhitas seem to be preferred from a stylistic point as well, more so amongst the Southerners. One such excessive use of taddhitas by Ktyyana led the bhyakra to comment 'priyataddhit dkity' and that lable stuck since then.

10.9 Conjugation of Roots Conjugation refers to the changes that a verb undergoes. For instance, the verb 'boil' changes to 'boils' 'boiled', 'boiling', 'will boil' and so on. In Sanskrit the verb changes its forms in the three forms singular, dual and plural and three persons: Third person, second person and first person. Thus, pah (to read) takes various forms depending on who the subject is: s phati (she reads), chtr pahanti (students read) or aham pahmi (I read). The various forms of the verb pah in present tense are given below: English Person Third Person Second Person First Person Sanskrit Person prathamapurua madhyamapurua uttamapurua Singular pahati pahasi pahmi Dual pahata pahatha pahvah Plural pahanti pahatha pahmah

The difference in nomenclature between English and Sanskrit is to be noted. The literal translation of prathamapurua ought to be the first person, but it corresponds to the third person in English.

10.9.1 The Six Tenses The three most familiar tenses or simple tenses are the present, past and future. Sanskrit has three more tenses: two more varieties of past tense and an additional variety of future tense. Additionally, there are four moods. We will examine each of these in turn. One variety of the past tense is Past Perfect or simply Perfect, called parokabhta in Sanskrit, meaning something which happened long ago. An example would be: rj daaratho nma babhva (there was a king called Dasaratha). That was thousands of years ago; Dasaratha is no longer around. This is the perfect past; the Imperfect Past is the opposite of it: bla phala akhdat (boy ate fruit). Conceivably, this happened sometime back. The technical rule is that this ought to be used when the event is capable of being witnessed by the speaker. In practice that is often not the case. Then, there is a third kind of past tense, which is supposed to be indefinite about whether the action is complete or not. Based on the Greek word for indefinite, this is called the Aorist. A lot of this terminology came from early studies in Indo-European languages, but the lables can sometimes confuse the beginner. From the above description, a sensible approach would be to use the Aorist heavily and use the Perfect and Imperfect tenses with precision and clarity; that however is not the case. The most commonly used verb form of past tense is the Imperfect and the Sanskrit Imperfect is quite different from the English Imperfect (called the Past Continuous or Past Progressive). In English the Imperfect or Past Continuous requires the action to have started in the past and to continue into the present, as in I was eating. That is not the case in Sanskrit, as we saw in the example of boy ate fruit. This is not to say that the lable-givers were wrong. In fact, in other Indo-European languages, the Imperfect indeed refers to only past actions; English is more the exception. The older names for these tenses

were 1st Preterite (Imperfect), 2nd Preterite (Perfect) and 3rd Preterite (Aorist). Preterite, from the Latin equivalent of bhta, is the same as past tense. There are two future tenses, referred to as 1st Future and 2nd Future, or Periphrastic Future and Simple Future, in that order. Periphrastic is another unfamiliar technical word of grammar. Peri is the prefix meaning about, around etc; phrastic is derived from phrase. Thus, periphrastic means phrase-like. A periphrastic verb is a verb form constructed using an auxiliary verb, as in he did say.... This is, it will be observed, different from the simple inflected or conjugated verb form in he said.... A periphrastic verb is different from a phrasal verb, which is a verb combined with an adverb and/or a preposition, as speak up. The 1st future in Sanskrit refers to an action that would occur at a definite time in future but not this day, whereas the 2nd future refers to an action that would occur at an indefinite time in future including today, and to denote recent and future continuous time. Thus, in place of three familiar tenses (actually there are more than three tenses in English such as past perfect and present perfect continuous), we have six tenses in Sanskrit. 10.9.2 The Four Moods In addition to the six tenses, we have four 'moods'. Mood captures the 'attitude' of the speaker. Let us say the principal of the School sends a directive for school children regarding the Republic Day event at school. If the directive says, 'all teachers must attend', it is said to be in imperative mood; if it further states that 'all school buses would run in their normal routes as many children may attend' , the underlined part is said to be in potential mood; if the directive ends with something along the lines of 'may our children strengthen this Republic further', it is in a benedictive mood. The fourth is called the conditional where the action of the verb is conditional upon another event. In English, an example would be If it rains, he won't go. There is another closely related mood called Subjunctive, which has a sense of subject to. Here the difference is: the subjunctive expresses wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or statements that are contrary to fact at present. To modify our above example, If it were to rain, he would not go, would convey the sense that the speaker does not wish 'him' to go and so wants rain, though there is no rain or indication of rain presently. This is the sense conveyed by the Subjunctive. The subjunctive is used only in the Vedic language. We have started the introduction saying there are four moods, but listed five: Imperative, Potential, Benedictive, Conditional and Subjunctive. This is so because the Potential and Benedictive are two forms of what is simply referred to as li in Sanskrit. The Potential is called vidhili and the Benedictive is called rli. Since the Subjunctive is not studied in the laukika grammar, the two lis are separately studied. 10.9.3 Alternative Names for Moods Some books on Sanskrit grammar mention other moods such as the Injunctive, Optative and

Precative. These are best understood by first knowing the meaning of these terms. The Injunctive is related to the word used so commonly in courts: 'injunction'. An injunction is an order, a command. The Optative is derived from the same root as 'option' and conveys a sense of choice. In grammar, the mood expressing a preferred choice amongst alternatives, that is a wish, is called the Optative. The precative is related to 'pray', and expresses an entreaty, supplication, a prayer. These terms are used in the grammar of Greek and Latin, and attempts were made to find equivalents in Sanskrit. The equivalent in Sanskrit for the Injunctive is found in the Aorist. There are seven (according to M. R. Kale) or three varieties (according to Western grammarians of Sanskrit) of the Aorist, and the Injunctive is one of those. The difference between the Imperative and Injunctive is in terms of affixes, augmentation and historical development, rather than in usage. Similarly, the Precative and Optative are, in one interpretation, forms of the Aorist. S. C. Vasu however treats the Potential as the same as the Optative. In dealing with all these lables, the point of view of the author is of much significance. For somebody not interested in comparative studies, these lables are less than helpful. What is important, and which is clear enough in the traditional classification, is to know which form expresses a command, wish, blessing, prayer, possibility and conditionality. One other lable might be mentioned: the pluperfect, which may be roughly thought of as the complete or supremely perfect; in English it has an easier lable, the past perfect tense. It is usually stated that Sanskrit has no pluperfect. This is true in the sense of comparison with Greek, but Sanskrit is perfectly capable of expressing actions fully completed in the past using the various participles, the locative absolute and such others. In the more advanced books on grammar, usually remarks are made as to how a given particle or tense serves the function of the pluperfect as well. There it is most useful to substitute past perfect for the pluperfect. Pini's lables are purely nominal, devoid of any meaning, as tabulated below: 3rd Person, Singular form of bh

S. lakra No.

Descriptive Lable

Sense conveyed Action taking place at the present time, recently completed or in the immediate future (where are you going?); habitual or repeated action; and others.

la

Present tense

bhavati

li

Action done before the current day and not Perfect tense or witnessed by the speaker; action which takes place babhva 2nd Preterite when the speaker was unconscious or distracted First future or Periphrastic future tenses Definite futurity, not today (he would donate food on the amvsya). bhavit bhaviyati

3 4

lu li

Second future or Indefinite futurity (he would donate food life-

simple future tense 5 le Subjunctive mood Imperative mood

long); including today; and others. Wish etc. subject to action contrary to present state taking place (If I were the Prime Minister of India,...); and others. Used only in the Vedas. Command; entreaty; benediction; courteous enquiry; gentle advice and others. bhavatu, bhavatt abhavat

6 7

lo la *

Imperfect tense Past action not done today, and others. Presently, or 1st Preterite the most commonly used form of the past tense. vidhili Potential mood

li rli Benedictive mood

Vidhi (duty), nimantraa (invitation), mantraa (permission), adha (attend honorary office), bhavet samprana (courteous enquiry), prrthana (prayer) and others. Blessings Past action indefinitely, without reference to any particular time; and others Action conditional upon something bhyt

9 10

lu li

Aorist or 3rd Preterite Conditional mood

abht abhaviyat

* This is pronounced like the English 'lung'; similarly others are pronounced as ling, lung, and lring. There remain two more details of the verb to be noticed: the voice (active, passive, impersonal) and the personal terminations. There are two personal terminations called parasmaipada and Atmanepada that roots take to form verbs. Theoretically, when the fruit of action of a verb occurs to the speaker, Atmanepada is used; when it does not accrue to the speaker, parasmaipada is used. Some verbs are exclusively parasmaipada verbs, others exclusively Atmanepada verbs; some admit both affixes, and are called ubhayapadas. There are a few which change from one category to another, if preceded by certain prefixes. The terminations for the Atmanepada verbs are different from the parasmaipada terminations. To give a feel for the difference between parasmaipada and Atmanepada conjugations, the Atmanepada verb, labh (to gain), is conjugated in the present tense below: English Person Third Person Second Person First Person Sanskrit Person prathamapurua madhyamapurua uttamapurua Singular labhate labhase labhe Dual labhete labhethe labhvahe Plural labhante labhadhve labhmahe

It may be noted that Atmanepada conjugations for the ten tenses and moods are distinct from the parasmaipada conjugations in those ten lakras.

Verbs which admit an object, or karma, are called sakarmakadhtus, or transitive verbs. These may be expressed in the active voice or passive voice. For instance, Rama reads the book (rma pustaka phati) is in active voice; in the passive voice, the sentence is rewritten as: The book is being read by Rama (rmea pustaka pahyate). Read is called a transitive verb. Some verbs do not admit an object, as in, 'I sleep'. Such verbs are called intransitive verbs, or akarmakadhtus. For such verbs, the passive construction is called impersonal passive, or bhve prayoga. There is a third kind of passive called the reflexive, as in 'rice is cooked' (odana pacyate). Irrespective of which passive the verb takes, the conjugation of the verb in the passive voice is similar. As it happens, it is identical with the conjugation of verbs of the 4th class Atmanepada verbs. Thus, we see that verbs can be conjugated in ten tenses and moods, nine forms in each tense or mood, corresponding to the three numbers and the three persons; that is each verb changes itself into ninety forms. Then we need to add the forms in passive voice, which adds another 90 forms. Since the passive forms and Atmanepada forms are identical, for every verb a student needs to learn 180 verb forms. Since this may be quite daunting, during the initial stages only five lakras are introduced: present, imperfect and simple future tense; imperative and potential moods. This cuts the load in half, but knowing these forms and declension of about twenty of the more important noun and pronoun forms is essential to be able to read anything in Sanskrit. 10.10 Derivative Verbs There are four kinds of derivative verbs, called pratyayntadhtus: Causals (ijantas), Desideratives (sannantas), Frequentatives (yaantas) and Denominatives (nmadhtus). A causal verb is different from an ordinary verb in that the agent of action, karta, causes another to do the action rather than do it himself. Thus, Rama makes [the students] read, rma phayati. These are formed by the addition of the affix 'ic' (which is actually a plain 'i' with a head, '' and tail 'c', for ease of pronunciation). Words ending in 'ic' are ijantas (the transformation of the last harsh 'ca' into the softer 'ja' being a feature of sandhi). This is another 'artificial' or nominal non-descriptive lable of Pini. Other teachers refer to this also as prayojakrthakas. The conjugation of these causal verbs is exactly similar to the conjugation of verbs in the tenth class. This somewhat reduces the burden on the student. The Desiderative verb expresses the desire of the agent of action to perform the action, or to be in the condition, denoted by the root or the desiderative base. pipahiati, [he] wishes to study, is derived from the root, pah. Nominal and participle derivates of the desiderative verb are fairly common, not only in Sanskrit but in other Indian languages as well. ur, the desire to listen, has acquired the meaning of 'service' as a student desirous of learning more would serve his guru with obedience and diligence. The rdhi or established meaning of 'service' is so prominent that we have nursing homes named somewhat inappropriately, if only etymologically speaking, ur. Another common noun derived from the desiderative is 'mumuku', the one desirous of moka, liberation.

The Frequentative or Intensive verb expresses repetition or intensity of the action conveyed by the base verb. From 'dp', to shine, is derived 'dedpyate' [it] shines brightly; and dedpyamna, shining brightly. Sanskrit nouns (and others together known as subantas) are formed from verb-roots, but a class of verbs called Denominatives are formed from the nouns. A good modern example in English would be 'googling'. Verbs putryati, rjyati, from putra and rjan, express the desire of the speaker for a son and a king. Some of the denominatives are used to convey the sense of treating like, as in 'he treats his student like a son.' There is a list of 50 roots starting with kau, referred to as kavdigaa, which are both roots and nouns; these also form denominatives similarly. 10.12 Kridantas or Krit affixes The affixes starting with 'krit' are called krit affixes and words formed by the addition of krit affixes are called kridantas, [words] ending in krit. The name krit itself is derived from a stra of Adhyy: 3.1.63 krit-ati, all affixes except ti are krit. Addition of krit affixes results in the formation of declinable and indeclinable participles. Participle, as in the past participle broken is well known, with students reciting lists such as break, broke, broken. At the stage where these lists are taught, the meaning of a participle is not explained in great detail. A participle gets its name because the word called the participle does the job of an adjective by 'participating' in the action denoted by the verb. For instance, in the sentence, 'The Australian leg spinner carried many cans of baked beans' the word 'baked' describes beans and thus works like an adjective; yet like green, large of fresh, baked is not really an adjective; rather it is closely associated with the verb, 'bake'. Similarly in a 'broken widow pane' and 'a burning train', a word derived from a verb serves as an adjective. Applying the same lable to kridantas in Sanskrit is somewhat amusing, as all the adjectives (and nouns and other parts of speech, together referred to as subantas) are held and shown to be derived from verbal roots; so participles are not really a separate class in Sanskrit. With this quirk of the descriptive lable 'participle' being kept in mind, we will examine the kridantas proper. The Present Participle is formed by the addition of 'at' (with the addition of a head and tail, it is usually referred to as at) to the root, as in pahat (reading). This is possible only for parasmaipada roots; for Atmanepada roots, another affix 'na' (nac) is added, as in vardhamna (growing). The past participles are formed by adding 'vas' and 'na' to parasmaipada and Atmanepada verbs. The past passive participle is formed by 'ta' (ktavat) to the verb as in bhta (become) or snta (bathed). Potential participles are formed by addition of 'tavya', 'anya' and 'ya' as in kartavyam or karayam (that which ought to be done, therefore, duty). These and the other participles of the future tense and past active are all adjectives and decline as subantas do. The gerund formed by the addition of 'ktv' (to simple words) or 'ya' (lyap, in case of words with a prefix) are indeclinable. Thus, we have jtva (having known) from the root j (to know); if we add

a prefix, say 'vi', the gerund is formed differently: vijya (having known well). The gerund or the indeclinable past participle is formed by addition of other affixes as well. Another important indeclinable participle is the infinitive, formed by the addition of 'tum' (tumun), as in kartu (in order to do) or pahitu (in order to study). The krit affixes are quite numerous. In addition to those briefly mentioned above, another 60 are listed in M. R. Kale's 'A Higher Sanskrit Grammar'. The krit affixes are the key behind the huge vocabulary of Sanskrit and its potential to coin new words to keep pace with technological developments. This potential, in fact, is realised through other Indian languages like Hindi, with new words being coined to describe modern developments. To give one example of how important the krit affixes are in usage, given below is a list of 31 words formed by addition of krit affixes to the root 'bh' listed in the 'brihaddhturatnkara' of Hareknta Mira: bhavitavyam, bhavanyam, bhavyam, bhvyam, bhta, bhtavn, bhavan, bhavant, bhaviyan, bhaviyat, bhaviyant, bhavitu, bhtv, sambhya, bhavit, bhavitr, bh, bhaviu, bhvuka, vibhu, prabhu, bhti, bhva, prabhava, bhava, bhavana, bhuvana, bhmi, adbhuta. 10.13 U di Sutras The best way to introduce and describe these stras would be to quote Srisa Chandra Vasu, in the introductory passage to udi stras, in his translation of the Siddhntakaumudi: The Udi suffixes, though as necessary as the Kridanta ones, and as important as the taddhita suffixes added to the nouns of the gana-pha are seldom treated of in ordinary treatises of grammar as an essential subject of grammatical instruction. Pini himself, though diffuse in other respects, stops short when treating Udi by saying Undyo bahula, (they are too many). Moreover the formation of Udi words are so very arbitrary and complicated on account of the insertion, transposition, substitution and transmission of the letters by the indeterminate laws of prosthesis, epenthesis, metathesis, paragoge, synalepha, synesis, synacresis, synecphonesis and others, that it can hardly be brought under the definite rules of permutation by sandhi, or reduced under the strictest forms of grammar for the adhesion of these suffixes. The primary significance of the root is utterly lost in the derivative word formed from it. There are 751 Udi stras in addition to the nearly 4,000 stras of the Adhyy. The Udi affixes themselves number 325. 10.14 Vedic Grammar and Rules Governing Accents The rules pertaining to the Vedic usage have been collated and given in eight chapters under the heading vaidik prakriy towards the end of the Siddhntakaumudi. The rules in each chapter correspond to the rules found in that particular adhyya of the Adhyy. Along with the various vedic diversities, this section also deals with 'le', the Vedic Subjunctive, which turns out to be a composite mood, with six tenses: Present, Imperfect, Present Conditional, Imperfect Conditional, Strong Present Conditional, and Strong Imperfect Conditional with each of them having two

alternate forms in the third person and middle person. The vaidika prakaraa is followed by the svara prakaraa, or the section on accents. It is curious that these rules have not been clubbed with rest of the Vedic Grammar. Here the accents of words, verbstems or roots and affixes are given, but not the accents of nominal bases. The accents of nominal bases are listed separately under the heading 'Phi Sutras', 'phi' being the technical name for nominal bases. 10.15 Li gnusanam Lignusanam lists 189 stras to determine the gender of words. This is different from the nmalignusanam of Amar Singh, or amarasiha, which is more commonly referred to as amarakoa. The amarakoa is like a thesaurus listing groups of words with similar meanings. Along with the words, the gender is also clarified, where required. The pinyalignusanam on the other hand gives rules governing the gender of words. The lignusanam is the first appendix to Siddhntakaumudi. Some, mainly Western Indologists, opine that this work is not composed by Pini, but the traditional grammarians of India, including Bhattoji Dkita, attribute this work to Pini. 11. Ga ap ha The second appendix is the gaapha. Unlike the lignusana, the Adhyy as a book on grammar would be incomplete without the gaapha. Many stras, as in 'sarvdni sarvanmni' (sarva and others are the pronouns) refer to a class of words known simply by the first word, to which the entire stra applies. Since this list of words grouped together is so important, the Siddhntakaumudi incorporates them into the main text and lists the words wherever a gaa is referred to. The gaapha has more than a thousand words listed under 258 gaas. Some gaas, like the sarva gaa mentioned above have further sub-gaas which are also referred to separately. 12. Dhtup ha The other important appendix of the Adhyy is the dhtupha, which lists all the roots or verbal bases. There are different versions of the dhtupha with about 2,000 to 2,200 roots. Syaa-Mdhava is said to have edited / strengthened this list. A Mdhavya dhtuvritti is popular. These are listed under ten
Siddhanta Madhaviya Paniniya Pandit Kanak kaumudi, Dhatuvritti (A. Dhatupatha Lal Sharma's S. C. Mahadeva (Sanskrit Ashtadhyayi Vasu Sastri, 1900) Documents) (1969) 1059 995 1165 1010 72 71 76 72 25 24 26 24 137 137 161 140 34 34 39 34 143 153 173 157 25 25 25 25 10 10 10 10 61 60 71 61 395 390 489 410 1961 1899 2235 1943

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 Class 9 Class 10

classes or gaas and each gaa is known after the first root in the gaa as bhvdaya (bh and others) and so on. Listed in the adjacent table are the numbers of roots in each class, as per different sources. More than the actual number, the pattern of distribution is instructive. We see that more than half the roots are in the first class; three other classes tenth, fourth and sixth account for another third of the roots. Thus the remaining six classes account for less than a fifth of the roots. As it turns out the conjugation of verbs in the first class, tenth class, and sixth class are similar with a few changes; those in the fourth class are exactly similar to the conjugation of Atmanepada verbs and the passive verbs. Thus the bulk of conjugations can be learnt by learning two patterns of conjugation. In the Siddhntakaumudi, 524 stras starting with number 2151 deal with the conjugations and the nearly two thousand roots are listed with meaning under one of the 524 rules. Thus no separate list is appended to the Siddhntakaumudi, as it is appended to the Adhyy. Of these, a beginner can gain a good understanding of the language with knowledge of about 200 to 250 roots. 13. Difficulty in Learning If is often held that Sanskrit is difficult to learn. This may be on two counts. One, since this is seldom 'picked up', as opposed to being learnt in a formal way, in childhood the difficulty is very apparent. Many people learn other languages as adults; even they seem to find Sanskrit tough. This is so because a certain amount of abstractness is encountered in the initial stages of learning the language, as compared to learning other languages wherein people seem to be making good progress in a short time. Some believe this to be an issue of the teaching methodology and have tried to structure Sanskrit similarly with small phrases being taught so that Sanskrit may be spoken in ten days. Even so the perception about the difficulty persists. This, in a way, is the price paid for the proximity to perfection that Sanskrit grammar has achieved. Indeed many compare the joys of learning Sanskrit grammar with that from reading Euclid's geometry. The linguists' ideal grammar would identify all the building blocks of a language and the rules governing their combination, like a Chemist has the Periodic Table and the valences of different elements. This grammar would then be able to predict all the possible combinations resulting in words and sentences. Such a grammar is called a Transformational Grammar or a Generative Grammar. There are other such get-to-the-root-of-it grammars. All of them, though purportedly describing English, are as difficult to learn. Thus any grammar which identifies the components at the lowest level is necessarily abstract and difficult to learn in the initial stages. The reward for this difficulty is the ability to generate virtual infinite combinations of these components. The components are the 2,000 roots and the affixes ti, krit, sup, taddhita etc.; the Adhyy stras, Mhevara stras, phi stras and the udi stras are the rules governing the combination of these components. It is best to approach the language with the knowledge that it is an extra-ordinary science and that it requires some amount of effort.

In order to make this effort tolerable, a popular scheme in to first teach basic sandhis, about 20 declensions, and conjugation of the verbs in 1st, 4th, 6th and 10th classes in the present, imperfect and simple future tense and in the potential and imperative moods along with rules of sandhi. After this, participles of the present, potential and past are introduced along with a few secondary affixes (taddhita vritti) and compound words (samsas). In the process, the student would be acquainted with not a few dhtus. With this knowledge, one would be able to competently refer to koas (dictionaries and other compendia) and do some amount of self study. With some practice of doing visandhi, identifying individual words, one can start reading easy texts like Mahabharata, the puras or pacatantra. Some amount of reading classical literature under a teacher would be useful to tackle works of higher poetic merit like Ramayana, the pacamahkvyas (Raghuvaam and Kumrasabhavam of Klidsa, Kirtrjunyam of Bhravi, iuplavadham of Mgha, and Naiadham of rhara), and the dramas of poets like Bhsa, Klidsa, Bhavabhti and Hara. Usually this study is taken up along with the study of other aspects of grammar. Prose works are the most difficult to read in Sanskrit as they abound in difficult puns. These are usually taken up for study only after a thorough study of grammar. Technical works on the daranas or yurveda etc. require some amount of initiation into the terminology used therein. With Vednta, often the difficulty is not with the language, but with the concept. 14. Conclusion Thus we see that over a few centuries the Vedic language got refined into Sanskrit with a most impressive grammar being evolved in the form of Pini's Adhyy at least two and a half millennia back. It might not be incorrect to say that the grammar of Sanskrit is the oldest, shortest and the best grammar of any language in the world. The ideal of dividing a language into components and rules governing how the components interact with each other has been perhaps achieved best in Sanskrit. With a little over 2,000 roots and a couple of hundred affixes, governed by about 4,000 rules, Sanskrit grammar can generate millions of words and word forms enough to describe the world, its sciences and developments, thousands of years after the grammar reached its mature form. This generative ability is due to the most fundamental level at which the building blocks of the language have been examined and the relationship amongst them determined. In this sense, comparing other grammars with Sanskrit grammar would be like comparing particle physics with mechanics. With such extra-ordinary sophistication, perfection really, it is not a wonder that grammar acquired canonical status, and Pini, the equivalent of Sainthood. Great as Pini was, the grammar in its final form is most likely a culmination of the efforts of generations of grammarians over a few centuries. It is equally true, contrary to general perception, that grammar evolved after Pini as well, incrementally in its rules, application and interpretation of rules; and dramatically in pedagogy

method of teaching. Sanskrit grammar continues to inspire awe and amazement amongst those who study it, as only a work of highest beauty and perfection can. It is not the easiest of grammars to master, but it definitely is amongst the least arbitrary; each rule is almost like a law of nature with any keen and diligent observer coming to a similar conclusion after observing the patterns of speech one encounters. To put the perceived difficulty in learning in perspective, it is most useful to note that this system was devised in an age when writing was not widely prevalent and that more than a hundred generations of scholars learnt it without the kind of learning aids that we today have. How blessed then are we, that we inherited this wonderful science as a heritage and that we have cheap paper, cheap writing instruments, numerous books, computers, the internet, networks of well-meaning individuals, the thousands of centres of learning to pass this on to the next generation? For further reading, Yudhihir Mmsaka's Saskrit Vykara k itihs in Hindi is the best work on the history of grammar. Most of the key texts Adhyy, Siddhntakaumudi and the Kik have been edited and translated into English with notes by S. C. Vasu; they are the best English versions of the key texts. The Sanskrit English dictionary by Monier Williams is one of the best (it was written in order to help the translation of Bible into Sanskrit as a Sanskrit Bible was thought the most powerful means of proselytisation) and most comprehensive (though it A number of Sanskrit documents are available freely and for purchase on the internet. The site Sanskrit Documents (www.sanskritdocuments.org) maintains a most useful and comprehensive list of all the Sanskrit Documents available on the internet. Maharshi University of Management (http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/) has most of the vedic literature in devangar script with the highest quality of editing. The Chitrpr Math has one of the best free lessons on Sanskrit (http://www.chitrapurmath.net/sanskrit/sanskrit_Iesson.asp) on the internet. Dr. Shivamurthy Swamiji of Sri Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath, Sirigere, Karnataka has developed an amazing implementation of the Adhyy, called the gaakdhyy available at http://www.taralabalu.org/panini/. The Digital Library of India (www.new.dli.ernet.in and http://dli.iiit.ac.in) has an invaluable treasure of old books on, in and about Sanskrit. Samskrita Bhrati (http://www.samskritabharati.org/sb) has the most extensive programme of teaching Sanskrit in classrooms. It is hoped that the above listed aids would be found helpful by the reader. Svasti.