Introduction to Verbs

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

stem anga and to the stem is added a personal ending tinvibhakti to form a
complete verb kriya.
For example dhatu root Stha sense of cessation or absence of movement,
anga stem tistha - to stand, kriya verb tisthati, he, she, it stands.
Verbal Prefixes
The English verb to tend
Derives from the pie root TEN, to stretch, when a prefix is appended to it its meaning alters For
example , with prefix meanings given
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Attend (at- towards, to, at)

Contend (con- with,
together, wholly)
Distend (dis - apart, away)
Extend (ex - out of,
very)
Intend (in towards, in)
Portend (por before, instead of)
Pretend (pre - instead of,before)
Subtend (sub - under)

Given the meanings of these verbs, it can be appreciated that that the prefixes are instrumental in
modifying the original root to give its particular meaning. A prefix, when appended to a verb is
called an upasarga in Sanskrit grammar.
The grammarians list just twentytwo of these, in alphabetical order they are
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.

Ati, beyond
over across
Adhi over
above upon
Anu after
along like
Apa away
off from
Api over
on
close
Abhi to towards
into
Ava down
off away
A towards
to
near
Ud up upwards
out
Upa towards near to
Dur baddifficult hard
Dus bad
difficult hard
Ni down
in
on
Nir away
out
forth

past
surpassing
to excess
on
onto
towards
following
forth
proximate
against near opposite
from
into
at
from back return reversing
above
next to less
down under

under into

o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
t.
u.
v.

Nis away
out
forth
Para back
backwards
Pari around
about
Pra before
forwardforth
Prati against towards
Vi apart asunder
away
Sam with
together
Su goodexcellent
well

away

forth

to a distance

onward
fore
to
at near back again return reversing
out
implying separation or dispersion
along with
conjoined with

An upasarga may simply emphasize the original sense of the dhatu, but usually modies the
sense, sometimes the changes is so great as to make the sense of the original dhatu quite.
unrecognizable.
For exampledhatu hr to take away;
a. prahr to hit
b. ahr to eat
c. samhr to destroy
d. vihr to roam
e. parihr to abandon

Adjectives
Adjectives are declined like nouns and assume the gender, number and case of
the noun they qualify. Therefore even if the adjective is not placed before the
noun it qualifies, the two can be related by matching the words which agree in
gender, number and case. This feature facilitates writing verses to meet the
constraints of meter. It helps a reader in rearranging the word order in a verse
syntactically for proper understanding. An adjective visesana qualies a noun, it
is dependent the noun as an attribute. This dependence manifests in the
grammar requiring the vises ana to agree with the noun in gender case and
number. Thus using alpa small we could have
alpah narah alpam naram alpat narat vahanti
The small men carry the small man from the small man

Adverbs
An adverb kriyavisesana qualies a verb. it is indeclinable avyaya. It is usually found
immediately before the verb. For example using the adverb Sighram quickly.

Narah Sighram gacchati, the man goes quickly

Vowels Accents
Accent is the sounding of a vowel at a higher or lower pitch or tone svara.
There are three tones raised (udatta), not raised (anudatta) and a combination
of the two or moving tone svarita.
Types of Words
Sanskrit grammarians traditionally describe four types of words.
a) Kriya, verb
b) Naman, noun
c) Upasarga, verbal prefix
d) and nipata particle.
The naman and kriya have the fundamental notions of being and becoming
respectively. The kriya type includes the basic kriya verbs derived from a dhatu
and the namadhatu verbs derived from nouns which conjugate according
purusha vacana and lakara as well as the verbal qualifier kriyavisesana which is
indeclinable avyaya. The naman type includes the basic naman common noun
etymologically derived from a dhatu the samjna proper noun, personal name
or technical term whose meaning cannot be etymologically determined. The
sarvanaman pronoun
and the nominal qualifier or adjective visesana all
these decline according to linga, vacana and vibhakti. The upasarga,verbal
prefix has been discussed and the nipata article is a catchall for the remaining
ypes of word. The nipata are avyaya indeclinable and although they are
separate words they are not used by themselves words of this class are ca and
and he vocative particle.
Use of iti
The nipata iti means thus. It lays stress on what precedes it,typically
referring to something that has been said. It is the Sanskrit equivalent of
inverted commas. For exampleasvena gacchami iti vadati, I am going by
horse - he says.

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

the
above may equally be translated as He says that he is going by horse. Note that
iti grammatically isolates the phrase or sentence before it
from
what
follows in the above example the tritiya vibhakti of asvena is not related to
the kriya vadatieven if the word gacchami were omitted.
This isolating function of iti may also be used to separate a definition
from the word being defined or a grammatical rule from an example of its
application and so on.

Introduction to Sandhi
When we speak out sentences fast, there is a natural tendency for the starting
syllable of a word to coalesce with the last syllable of its preceding word. The
great Panini and perhaps grammarians who came before him have studied
scientifically how syllables coalesce in Sanskrit when words are spoken one
after the other and arrived at a set of rules which govern such liasing. This
phenomenon of liasing of syllables is called
. A few examples will help to
provide clarity:
+

=
+
+

=
=

;
;
.

Sandhi placing together is the principle of sounds coming together naturally

and harmoniously. Sandhi applies whenever two sounds come together and
this is the point it is sounds coming together. The rules of sandhi apply within a
word as it is being developed from its elemental components to its fully
inflected form this is called internal sandhi internal to an individual word
(sa + krita = saskrita). The rules also apply between words as they come
together to form a sentence this is called external sandhi (srya + udayam
= sryodayam) ie., external to the individual words. The rules of internal
and external sandhi are largely the same.

Guna and Vrddhi

The grammatical terms guna(secondary form) and vrddhi(increase) can be
considered as degrees of strengthening of the three primary vowels.

Samprasarana
Samprasarana is the process whereby an antahsthah is replaced by the
simple vowel of the same mouth position and the following vowel is elided.
Examples of this are ij-ya derived from dhatu yaj sup-ta from
svap uc-atha from dhatu vac and prcch-ati from dhatu prach.

dhatu

A similar process occurs in English when a final y is replaced by i

before adding another suffix as for example easy and easily beauty and
beautiful holy and holiness.
Introduction to Compound Words
A writer has tremendous freedom to build compound words. In classical
Sanskrit it is rarely that you come across a sentence which does not contain a
compound word. Compounding is called
.
Some forms of compounding are shown below:
1. An adjective can be tagged on to a noun:
=
cobra. Note that it is only the end word that gets inflected.

A black

2. In place of possessive or genitive case.

=

teacher of a student.

3. A compound word can denote a simile.

=

Dark in complexion like a black lotus.

Let us take this fairly familiar

beginning:

which is recited for an auspicious

All words other than

and

are compound words.

= (one who is) wearing white dress.

= (one who has) the complexion of moon.
= (one who has) four shoulders
= (one who has) a benign face
= for the removal of all obstacles.
Note that what is given in brackets is implied and is therefore to be assumed.
The dhatu (root) is the basic form of a word denoting verbal activity in order to
form a noun(naman) or adjective (visesana ) etc this activity needs to freeze
as it were to make it into an object that is manifest and knowable. This
fixing of the meaning is accomplished by the addition of a suffix(pratyaya) The
process in English is similar.
Say for example

from the verb attend the following are derived

Attendant - one who attends

Attendance - the action of attending;
Attention - the quality of attending;
Attentive having the quality of attending;
Attentiveness - the state of having the quality of attending.
As shown by the last word in this list these
suffixes
may
be
concatenated and further prefixes may be added as
for
example,
inattentiveness. Words thus fixed by a suffix (pratyaya) may be joined together
to form a compound word as in the following English examplesbedroom,
reside, headache, screwdriver, blackbird, gingerbread, housekeeping,
sightseeing, breakfast, greenback, newspaper, songwriter, daydream, haircut,
paperback, sunrise, dressmaker, handwriting, rattlesnake, wheelbarrow.

The compound word may simply be a conveniently brief way of

expressing a longer phrase (ex., gravestone= stone marking a grave) or express
a specific idea related to its parts (ex., fireman) or may have a meaning quite
different from its parts. ex., pigtail = a plait of hair hanging down from the back
of the head & from its resemblance to the tail of a pig.
When a compound is not yet fully accepted in English writing ex., where
it may cause one to stumble when reading it, it is hyphenated as;
breadwinner; fullgrown; lightweight; roofgarden; breakdown;
gingerbeer; oldfashioned; singleminded; doubledecker; heartshaped;
ponytail;
storeroom;
farfetched;
hothouse;
redhot;
wholehearted; fire-fly; lamppost; righthanded; worldwide.
In devanagari, a compound word (samasa) is always written without a
break but in transliteration these are often shown hyphenated for example;
prathama - purusa.
A samasa is formed by simply placing the pratipadika (stem) forms
together and applying the sandhi rules at the junction. One exception to this
should be noted, if the pratipadika ends in -an
then the n is dropped. for
example Atman(Self) + jnana (knowledge) = Atmajnana(selfknowledge)
In declining the compound word, the vibhakti ending is added to the end
of the compound as a whole i.e
only the last member appears to
declinewhile earlier membersretaintheir pratipadika form.
Sanskrit makes extensive use of the samasa very extensive use indeed.
So much so that it is unusual to find a sentence without a samasa. This makes
expressions in Sanskrit at once concise and precise.
Although a samasa may comprise many words, all the principles are
covered in considering the joining of just two words call them, A and B.
A more complex samasa is simply a case where A and/or B is itself a
samasa. If the principal (more important) word of the compound is
underlined then the four classes of samasa may be indicated as;

AB
AB
AB
AB

Dvandva (meaning A and B)

Tatpurusha (A is in some case relationship to B)
Avyayibhava (forms indeclinable (avyaya) functioning as an adverb)
Bahuvrhi (serves as an adjective qualifying an external principal)

Other types of samasa are subdivisions

or special cases of these
four main classes. There are few exceptions to the above words such as
atmane-pada and parasmai-pada where the caseaffix of the first word is not
dropped, are called a-luk-samasa.
Dvandva Samasa
The dvandva(lit., couple) samasa is a copulative compound in which the
members if not compounded would be in the same case bhakti and
connected by the conjunction -cha(and). There are two types of dvandva.
Itaretara : The members are considered separately the gender of the
compound is the gender of the last member, the number is the sum of the
members.
Forexample : ramah ca krsnah ca = ramakrsnau (note the dual)
Rama and Krishna
Samahara : The members are taken collectively as a unit. It is always
neuter singular. Pairs of opposites are often put in this form.
For example : Sukham ca duhkham ca; sukhaduhkham (note the
singular), pleasure and pain.
Tatpurusa Samasa
The tatpurusa (lit., his man) samasa is a determinative compound in
which the first member depends on (i.e, has a case relationship to) or modifies,
the second. There are several types.
Tatpurusa also called vyadhikaranatatpurusa
is characterised as having
different case endings if the compound is dissolved ie.,the members are
different objects. The compound may be further classified according to the
case relationship (dvitiya through saptami) of the first member to the second.

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

treeroot.
Karmadharaya, this is a descriptive determinative compound also
called
samanadhikaranatatpurusa
and is characterised as having the same case
ending if the compound is dissolved i.e the members refer to the same
object.
For example: purnacandrah purnah (full) candrah (moon) = full moon.
Dvigu , this samasa has the same sense as the karmadharaya but has a word
denoting direction or a numeral as its first member. For example, Ekavacana
Singular (lit., onespeaking, to speak) & also dvi(two), bahu (many), giving
dual and plural.
Upapada, this compound has a dhatu derivative as its second member. For
example Kumbhakara = Kumbham (pot) + root(Kr), to do, act make, potter.
Nan tatpurusa, a compound with a negative particle ( na-, an- or a-) as its first
member, giving a negative or privativesense. For example a-jnanam = a
negation or absence + jnanam (knowledge) ie., ignorance.
AvyayIbhava Samasa,
The avyayibhava (lit.,an unchanging nature) samasa is indeclinable
(avyaya) and functions as an adverb. The first member is an indeclinable (
preposition or adverbial prefix) and the last a noun (naman) and the whole
takes the form of the neuter singular.
For example, Sakrodham =

Sa (the sense is accompaniment) + Krodha

(anger) = with anger, angrily.
Yathasraddham = Yatha (the sense is proportion) + Sraddha
(faith) according to ones faith.

Bahuvrihi Samasa,
The bahuvrihi (lit.,much rice) samasa is a descriptive compound forming
an adjective (visesana) agreeing with a noun (expressed or understood).
For example Padmaksa = Padma(lotus) + aksha(eye) ie., whose eyes are like
lotuses, lotuseyed.

The difference between the tatpurusha and the bahuvrihi is that the former
remains a noun while the latter becomes an adjective. In the Vedic Sanskrit
the determinative and descriptive compounds were distinguished by accents.
rAja -putra = rajan(king) + putra(son) = the son of the king, the kings son
(tatpurusha)
rAjA putra = whose son is a king (bahuvrihi).
Aksharas are like elements in Periodic Table. When they join together they
form Molecules and compounds. Adding pre-fixes and suffixes changes the
properties of the root word (dhatu) in predictable way. So if the chemistry of
the language (Rasa-Shastra) is known then one can make any combination of
'shabda', 'vakya' and even 'kaavya' exactly as they like.
Taddhitas or Secondary Derivatives

Vritti is the general term for any complex formation in Sanskrit requiring
explanation or resolution. One such vritti is the samsa. The other vrittis 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.
Kridantas or Krit affixes

The affixes starting with 'krit' are called krit affixes and words formed by
the addition of krit affixes are called kridantas, [words] ending in krit. The
name krit itself is derived from a stra of Adhyy, krit-ati, all affixes
except 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, 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.
What does every case mean?
I will explain this subject to you completely. You must understand the meaning
of every case, not only to be able to decline properly, but to use declension in
a proper manner. If you do not understand how to utilize every case, you will
never can build up a sentence in Sanskrit.
Although I am going to teach the "generic" meaning of the eight cases, you
must learn to think in Sanskrit. If you keep thinking in English while studying
Sanskrit, you will not grasp it at all. Some verbs use cases in an apparently
"incoherent" way (from the English's viewpoint, of course). For example, in
English you say: "I am saying something to someone", but in Sanskrit you may
come to say "I am saying something on someone". In Sanskrit, the use of the
words "of, for, to, on" and all the rest, is "generally" similar to that of English,
but not all the time. So, start to think gradually in Sanskrit from now on if you
want to learn this language adequately:
1) NOMINATIVE CASE: It indicates the Subject. The Subject is both he who is
doing the action denoted by the verb and who is described by the rest of the
sentence.
(Even though you have just started learning declension, I am going to decline in
the examples of each case. Do not worry, it is only for the sake of information.
I will use nouns ending in "a".)
- iva prema bhavati
iva (iva) is (bhavati) love (prema) --the Subject "iva" is being described in
this sentence. Note that I had to add Visarga to the prtipadika or crude form
"iva" so that the word be properly declined in the Nominative case--.
- iva karoti sarvam

iva (iva) does (karoti) everything (sarvam) --the Subject "iva" is doing the
action denoted by the verb.
2) VOCATIVE CASE: It indicates Direct Address. It may be optionally
accompanied by such words as "he-- O". If not so, the interjections "O" or "Eh"
are already included in the Vocative case itself.
- He iva phi me
O (he) iva (iva) protect (phi) me (me)! --The "he" is optional. Note that the
Vocative case "iva" coincides with the crude form or prtipadika "iva".
Although this is true for nouns ending in "a", is not always true for all nouns,
because sometimes the Vocative case coincides with the Nominative case and,
at other cases, it differs from both the crude form and the Nominative--.
- iva phi me
O iva (iva) protect (phi) me (me) --Note that the "O" is included in the
Vocative case itself.
- Pupadanta gtumarhasi
Eh Pupadanta (pupadanta) be pleased (arhasi) to sing (gtum) --Note that
"Eh" is also indicated by the Vocative case--.
3) ACCUSATIVE CASE: It indicates the Direct Object. The Direct Object is that to
which the action denoted by the verb is being directed.

ivampnuyt
He/she/it would obtain (pnuyt) iva (ivam) --"ivam" is the proper
declension for "iva" in the Accusative case--.
4) INSTRUMENTAL CASE: It indicates the Instrument. When you use this case
you are "usually" indicating "by, through, by means of, with, along with,
together with, etc.".
- ivena viva ktam
The universe (vivam) has been made (ktam) by iva (ivena) --"iva" is the
instrument or means by which the entire universe has been made. Note that

"ena" in "ivena" is respectively substituted for the final "a" in "iva". In short,
you remove "a" and place "ena" instead. Of course, this rule is only valid for
nouns and adjectives ending in "a"--.
- Pupadantena vana gacchmi
I go (gacchmi) to the woods (vanam) along with Pupadanta (pupadantena) -And now, the Intrumental case gives a sense of company--.
5) DATIVE CASE: It indicates the Indirect Object. In English the Indirect Object is
the word coming after "for" or "to" or "for the sake of", etc.
- Sa ivya puspa dadti
He (sa) offers (dadti) a flower (pupam) to iva (ivya) --"ivya" is the
Indirect Object and "pupam" is the Direct Object. In sum, you may see two
words being declined: one in Dative case and the other in Accusative case--.
6) ABLATIVE CASE: It indicates the Source. When you use this case you are
"usually" indicating "from, on account of, since, because of, due to, owing to,
etc.".

- ivdanugraha gacchati
The (divine) favour or grace (anugraha) comes (gacchati) from iva (ivt) -"ivt" is the Ablative case of "iva". You may also see that I have used some
rules of Sandhi to combine the words. But just pay attention to the cases--.
- ivjjagadvartate
The world (jagat) exists (vartate) because of iva (ivt) --Note that the final "t"
in "ivt" has been combined with the initial "j" in "jagat" (by means of a rule
of Sandhi) to form "jj".-7) GENITIVE CASE: It indicates Sense of Belonging. When you use this case you
are "usually" indicating "of, 's, s', etc.".
- ivasya giri
The mountain (giri) of iva (ivasya) --"ivasya" is the Genitive case of "iva".
Apart from this, sometimes the Genitive may be used in place of the Dative

case (e.g. the sentence "Hita ivasya" cannot be translated into "Good of
iva". It does not make any sense. Not at all. In this case, the Genitive must be
taken for Dative. So, the proper translation is "Good for iva". It is very simple.
Still, the Genitive has "usually" to do with a sense of ownership
8) LOCATIVE CASE: It indicates the Location. When you use this case you are
"usually" indicating "in, on, at, etc.". - ive sarva vartate
Everything (sarvam) exists (vartate) in iva (ive) --"ive" is the Locative case of
"iva". However, sometimes the Locative case may be used in place of the
Accusative (e.g. "ive dattam" is not to be translated as "Given in iva" It does
not make any sense. Not at all. In this case the Locative must be taken for
Accusative. So, the proper translation is "Given to iva". Still, the Locative has
"usually" to do with a sense of location.)
Introduction to Dhatumanjari
Before presenting the Conjugation Tables, introductory remarks on Sanskrit
Verbs and their classification are in order:
Conjugation of verbs:
A Verb in a sentence gets inflected depending upon the person and number of
the subject to which the verb refers.

Third person

eats

(two) eat

second person (you) eat (you two) eat

First person

(I) eat

(We two) eat

(many) eat
(you many)
eat
(We many)
eat

It is important to note that the order in which the three persons are written in
Sanskrit is the reverse of how it is written in English. In fact
literally
means first person, but actually is equivalent to the third person of English ! In
some Sanskrit grammar books written in English, the order is reversed so that

it falls in line with the way it is written in English grammar. In my view it is not
a good practice and it is best learnt and written down the Sanskrit way.
Also it is important to note that the inflected verb is not sensitive to the gender
of the subject, which is not the case in many Indian languages.
and

terminations: Root of a verb without any inflexions or

terminations is called
. There are two sets of terminations or inflexions
that a verb can take in different persons and numbers. One set is
and the other is
. Some
s take
terminations,
some take

terminations and some take both. Examples will clarify.

= (He,she or it) eats.

, is

and the termination it has taken is

.
= (He, she or it) rejoices.

is

and the termination it has taken is

.
or

= (He, she or it) requests or begs.

either termination.

is

s which take either terminations is called

Therefore while learning verbs it is necessary to know

it is

and it can take

or

as well as whether

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

. For example
called
headed by

gets inflected following a certain template specific to that

,

. The

and
is called

quoted above belong to the first group

( +

).as the group is

: .

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

it belongs.

The ten
s: There are six tenses and four moods Three tenses for the
past, one for the present and two for the future. Tense refers to time and
moods refer to Manobhavam.

PaaNini, the great grammarian identifies these ten tenses and moods with
specific symbols ( These are symbols only for easy identification and do not
have any etymological significance.) as follows: For each one of these tenses
we show the third person singular of
: as an example. (Traditionally a
student is first taught conjugation of
1.
2.

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

(loT): Imperative mood. Ex:

. When used in second person, it

conveys a command, entreaty or advice. Ex:

. (Be vigilant). It can

also be used for expressing a wish or a prayer. Ex:

. When
used to express a benediction, there is a special variant prescribed, although in
usage the normal form is also observed. Ex:
or
. (May
you live long)
3.

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

grammarians

. As per

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

previous day or earlier.

4.

. There is much overlap between

(li~G): Potential mood. Ex:

and
in usage. Although
can be used for a command, advice or
request, it is more often used to lay down guide lines and code of conduct.
(
). It is also used to express a probability or possibility. It is sometimes
called

5.
(liT): Past Perfect. Ex:
. It is to be used for narrating past events
which the narrator has not personally witnessed. Consequently in epics,
puranas and itihasas,
is preponderantly encountered. As a general rule
when the subject is in First Person,
6.

is not appropriate.

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

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

7.
(lRuT): Simple Future (also called Second Future): Ex:
. This can
be used for denoting any future action without any restrictions. In literature,
is much more encountered than
.
8.

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

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

9.
(lu~G): Grammarians call this Aorist. ( According to Concise Oxford
Dictionary, past tense merely denoting occurrence without limitation as to
duration etc.) Ex:
. It is generally used in dialogues and conversations
which refer to recent past actions. Conjugation in
is quite complex and not
easy to master. To the extent that a student has to recognize its conjugated
forms in classics, he has to get familiar with it. However for compositions, he
best avoids it.
10.

(lRu~G): Conditional. Ex:

. Its use is restricted to a certain set

of situations which is best explained through an example:

. (Had there been good rains there would have
been abundance of food). It is to be used only in such situations where it is to
be implied that had a certain event happened, (which did not happen) a
certain other event would have happened. Please note that
is used both in
the main clause and the conditional clause..
The above ten together are called
verse) which laconically explains them :

s. There is a

( a stray

In the Vedas, another

refers to that too.

is encountered which is called

Active and Passive voices:

= Boy eats food

. The above

= Food is eaten by the boy.

Irrespective of whether
only

is

or

, all verbs take

terminations in passive voice.

Like in English, transitive verbs will have two forms one in Active Voice (
) and the other in Passive Voice (

). Ex:

->

Sanskrit allows for a type of Passive Voice, often called "Impersonal Passive"
(
) even for intransitive verbs. Ex:
->
A verb can be conjugated in Active and Passive Voice in all the ten
passive voice irrespective of whether a verb is
only

or

s. In
, it takes

terminations.

The ten s:
Sanskrit grammarians have classified
s into ten lists depending on the
pattern they follow in conjugation. Each list is denoted after the root heading
the list. The ten lists are as follows:
1.

headed by

" ".

2.

headed by

"

3.
4.

".

headed by

" ".

headed by

"

".

5.

headed by

"

".

6.

headed by

"

".

7.

headed by

"

8.

headed by

"

9.

headed by

"

10.

headed by

".
".
".
"

".

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

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

and

in Active Voice, the pattern of conjugation is virtually the

same for all the ten s.

The ten s together list about 2200

s, out of which nearly half of them

belongs to the first namely

. However there are a number of frequently
used verbs which belong to other groups, necessitating a study of all of them.
Tenses and moods
There are six tenses and four moods Three tenses for the past, one for the
present and two for the future. However Sanskrit does not have any direct
equivalents to present continuous or past continuous. If you want to translate,
"Boy is eating" into Sanskrit, you would do well to translate it as, "
".
One mood is exclusively for giving commands (

), another for polite

requests (
), and another for giving benedictions (
). However writers
do not strictly follow the restrictions especially in poetry. There is another
mood to be used in sentences with a conditional clause.
A verb can thus be conjugated in each one of these tenses and moods (a total
of ten).
Causals
An interesting feature of most Indian languages is the facility of what is called
the causal form. From any root verb you can derive another verb which
denotes that the subject is causing another person or object to do the action. It
is best to understand it through an example:
= Boy eats food.
= Mother makes the boy eat food. Or, mother feeds
the boy.

is the causal derivative of

-->
The derived verb can be conjugated in all the tenses and moods.
Somebody has made a remark that this facility in Indian languages points to
the predisposition to get any work done by any other person!
Indeclinables
Words in a Sanskrit sentence are one of the three types: 1.
3.

2.

and

.
comprises nouns, pronouns, adjectives and participles, which are

inflected in the appropriate gender, case and number.

are the verbs
which have been inflected in the appropriate tense, number and person.
are those which remain uninflected in a sentence and are therefore
indeclinables. Indeclinables include a number of adverbs, conjunctions and
interjections. In the sentence

and
Words , ,

are

is

(=quickly) is

etc are all indeclinables.

Verbal derivatives

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

constructions with simplicity and precision. A few examples will help
understand the use of such derivatives.
= Boy runs while eating.
= Teacher rebukes the boy who is eating.
= Teacher rebukes the girl who is eating.

From root

the present participle

noun, is derived.

is in

, which is declined like a masculine

-

whereas

is in

. Similarly while qualifying a feminine noun the

participle takes the form

, which is declined like a feminine noun.

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

qualifying the noun to which it refers. Note how the present participle gets
inflected according to the case and gender of the noun it qualifies.
The past participle very often plays the part of a verb itself. For example:
= Food was eaten by the boy.
= Food was eaten by the boy.
= Fruits were eaten by the boy.
In these three sentences above, verb has been dispensed with. The past
participle form of
,
does the job of a verb. Note how it agrees with
the number and gender of the noun it qualifies. It can also be used in Active
voice. For example:
= Boy ate food.
Use of past participle in place of a verb in past tense is very frequent in Sanskrit
as it avoids the complexities of a verb.
There are a number of verbal derivatives which act as indeclinables (
For example:
= after eating;
eating, should be eaten.

= to eat or for eating;

).

= worthy of

Direct speech
In Sanskrit there is no equivalent to indirect speech. If A wants to report to C
what B told A, A will simply report the way he heard from B as direct speech.
Puranas and epics have a way of telling multilayered stories. Perhaps in

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

speech were possible it would have been confusion worse confounded! That is
perhaps the reason why the poet introduces
,
,
etc.!
ORIGIN OF THE VARNAMALA.

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

which are distinct from each other, so are there countless energy currents in
the human body. In yogic literature these are called nadis. Of the 72,000
distinct nadis the yogis have identified, fourteen are of principal importance.
Yogis have also discovered the exact nature of these major energy currents,
their pathways in the body, how they interact with other energy currents, and
what effect they have on the body, nervous system, biochemistry, and mind.
Then, realizing that it is practically impossible to enunciate distinctly the sound
that is produced from the vibrations of each nadi, yogis with extraordinary
spiritual powers captured the entire range of sound produced by all these
energy currents, and divided them into fifty-one parts. That is how the fiftyone letters of the Sanskrit alphabet were discovered.
The yogis have also discovered that every letter of the Sanskrit
alphabet has its own color, shape, presiding force, and unique transformative
quality, as well as its own seer. They have also experienced the relationship
between these letters and different planets, stars, and constellations. They
have discovered the approximate location of these letters in the human body
and the particular pranic or psychological forces to which they correspond.
At a more subtle level, the Sanskrit phonemes relate to the
energy currents which lie deep within the interior of the human body. Each of
the 72,000 currents has a distinct sound, although they are too diffuse and
vague to be enunciated distinctly. Moreover, the yogis have identified places in
the body where two or more energy currents cross. In mantra shastra, the
point where two energy currents intersect is called a sandhi, the point where
three energy currents cross is called marma shthana, and the point where
more than three energy currents converge is called a chakra. Here at the
chakras, the vibratory patterns of energy are strong and vibrant. At the center
of each chakra a distinct sound predominates, and other distinct sounds are
centered around it. That is why, in kundalini yoga, each chakra is represented
as having a particular letter at its center, as well as a letter on each petal.

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

is to meditate on an awakened mantra regularly and wholeheartedly. We can
be confident that a mantra is awakened when we receive it from a teacher
who has been initiated in the long chain of a spiritual tradition. Receiving a
mantra from such a teacher also gives us the security of knowing that the
guiding force of the lineage is with us.