tr̥tīyō ’dhyāyaḥ
Chapter 3

kriyārūpāvatāraḥ

Verbal Morphology

§17. Verbs.

“Verbs” ākhyātam are those forms which have verbal endings (also called ākhyātāni), that is to say, finite verbs, which are inflected for the grammatical categories of person, number, diathesis (or “voice”), as well as tense and mood. The process of inflecting a verbal form for these categories is called conjugation.

English has a fairly minimal system of conjugation (I do, you do, he does, etc. for the present tense, I did, you did, he did etc. for the past), and expresses most of the distinctions of tense, mood, and diathesis through compound verbal expressions that make use of auxiliary verbs. In Sanskrit, by contrast, all of these categories are typically expressed in a single verbal form.

Finite verbs are so called because they are limited (finitum) by these grammatical categories; non-finite verbs do not express all of these categories. Usually only a finite form can function as a verbal predicate. Non-finite forms are used as the complements of certain types of verbal and adjectival phrases (as in the case of infinitives), or as the head of a subordinate clause (as in the case of converbs).

As noted above, verbal forms are understood by Indian grammarians refer to “processes” bhāvaḥ, in contrast to “existing things” sattvam, which are designated by nominal forms. However, because of Sanskrit’s rich processes of derivation, it is possible to express processes with nominal forms as well.

In Pāṇini’s grammar, the starting point for the formation of any finite verbal form, and several non-finite verbal forms, is a verbal root dhātuḥ. The next step is to select one of the lakāraḥ, abstract signs that combine the notion of tense and mood. One a tense and mood has been assigned with a lakāraḥ, a conjugational stem is formed through morphological processes such as reduplication (in the case of the perfect tense or liṭ) and suffixation (in the case of most other tenses and moods). In the latter case, the stem-forming suffix is selected lexically: certain verbal roots take certain stem-forming suffixes and not others. Finally, once a conjugational stem aṅgam has been formed, the conjugational endings tiṄ are added, which differ according to the grammatical categories that are to be expressed by them (such as person, number, and diathesis) and according to the tense–mood of the stem to which they are added. Each step of this process will be discussed in the following sections.

§17.1.Verbal roots

A verbal root is an abstract entity from which the process of verbal inflection begins. It expresses a basic meaning (e.g., “going”) that is specified by the addition of suffixes, specifically, the tense and mood suffixes (called lakārāḥ) to which the conjugational endings of verbs are added.

Most primary roots in Sanskrit are monosyllabic, as was evidently the case in Indo-European as well. The qualification “primary” is necessary because, in Sanskrit, a verbal root, in the strictly morphological sense of a unit to which tense and mood suffixes can be added, can be formed secondarily from either a nominal stem (a prātipadikam) or from another verbal root by means of certain suffixes (called sanādipratyayāḥ). These denominal and deverbal roots are almost always polysyllabic.

Learning the verbal roots and their meanings has long been one of the “first steps” of learning Sanskrit. Pāṇini’s grammar refers to a traditional “recitation of verbal roots” dhātupāṭhaḥ, and many such lists were edited and compiled.

§17.2.Sēṭ and Aniṭ roots

Verbal roots in Proto-Indo-European could end in a consonant called a laryngeal, a sound which does not survive in Sanskrit but which has left traces here and there. One of these traces is that roots which historically ended in a laryngeal take the augment i before certain suffixes. (This i is called iṬ, and it is the regular outcome of a Proto-Indo-European laryngeal between consonants.) This augment was gradually extended to roots which did not end with a laryngeal in Proto-Indo-European. Thus one will have to know whether a given root is sēṬ (literally “with the augment i”) or aniṬ (“without the augment i”). Thus:

root: vr̥t sēṬ hu aniṬ
Ktvā: vart-i-tvā hu-tvā
root: sēṬ aniṬ
thaL: lulav-i-tha yayā-tha

Sēṭ roots will be noted in transliteration with a superscript i, as in .

As noted above, the class of sēṬ roots largely corresponds to roots that ended in a laryngeal in Proto-Indo-European. Because of the laryngeal’s effects on the preceding sounds, it’s often possible to guess whether a root belongs to this class or not on the basis of its form. Roots that end in voiceless aspirates (such as grath) and in long vowels (such as ) are often sēṭ.

§17.3.Tenses and moods

Every finite verb can be said to have both a tense, which expresses the time in which the action referred to by the verb occurred relative to the time in which the verb form is used, as well as a mood, which expresses the “way” (modus) in which the action is referred to, that is to say, whether it is something the speaker refers to as actually occurring (either in the past, present, or future), or as something that either might happen or ought to happen.

The five tenses of Sanskrit are:

  • present: For referring to an action that takes place more or less more or less at the same time that the verbal form is used Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.123. The Sanskrit present tense corresponds to the English habitual present (“I go to the store”) and progressive present (“I am going to the store”).
  • aorist: For referring to an action that takes place in the past, without further specification of time Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.110.
  • imperfect: For an action that takes place in the relatively recent past. (“Before the present day,” according to Pāṇini’s definition in Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.111.)
  • perfect: For referring to an action that takes place in the distant past. (“Beyond the speaker’s personal experience,” according to Pāṇini’s definition in Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.115.)
  • future: For referring to an action that takes place in the future, relative to the speaker’s time.

Sanskrit therefore has three past tenses, and more can be added if we consider the common use of the past participle to be a past tense. For practical purposes, there is no difference in meaning between the imperfect, aorist, and perfect, although fastiduous authors will observe Pāṇini’s rules and they will refrain from using, for instance, a perfect-tense verb to describe an action which the speaker has personally witnessed.

The following moods may also be distinguished:

  • indicative: For a referring to an action that actually did, does, or will take place. This is sometimes called the realis mood.
  • optative: For referring to an action that ought to or ought not to take place, as well as an action that might or might not take place. This is the principal irrealis mood.
  • imperative: For referring to an action that, from the speaker’s perspective, must or must not take place, especially when giving commands or orders.

Lists of Sanskrit moods often include the following additional moods, which are only used in very specific circumstances, and which in some cases are clearly derivative of the three moods above:

  • subjunctive: So called because of its formal identity with the Indo-European subjunctive, but used in Vedic texts as a future tense.
  • injunctive: In post-Vedic Sanskrit, this mood is used exclusively in prohibitions, in complementary distribution with the imperative; in Vedic Sanskrit, it is a tenseless verb used for events that occur “outside of time.”
  • precative: A mood used for wishing blessings, formally similar to the optative.
  • conditional: A mood used to express counterfactual conditions, of comparatively rare occurrence.

It is important to note, however, that the system of tenses and moods has been restructured in Sanskrit vis-à-vis what we can reconstruct for Indo-European. Most importantly, Indo-European distinguished a category of aspect that has been more or less folded into the category of tense in post-Vedic Sanskrit. There were three such aspects:

  • imperfective: For referring to an action as occurring over an extended period of time, including continuous, progressive, or habitual action.
  • aorist: For referring to an action as a punctual event.
  • stative: For referring to an action as a state consequent upon a previous action.

Each of these three aspects was expressed with a particular form of the stem. Each aspectual stem “had” the indicative, subjunctive, imperative and optative moods, in the sense that endings that characterized these moods could be added onto a given aspectual stem. Moreover, in the case of the imperfective aspect, there were two tenses of the indicative mood, one indicating present time, and another indicating past time. Hence the verbal system that Sanskrit inherited from Indo-European looked something like the following:

aspect mood and tense
imperfective indicative present (laṭ)
indicative past (laṅ)
imperative (lōṭ)
subjunctive (lēṭ)
optative (liṅ)
aorist indicative (luṅ)
imperative
subjunctive
optative
stative indicative (liṭ)
imperative
subjunctive
optative

There are therefore three different “systems” of tenses and moods, corresponding to the three different aspects of Indo-European: the present (the inherited imperfective), the aorist (the inherited aorist), and the perfect (the inherited stative).

These systems have been modified in Sanskrit in a number of ways:

  • First, the distinction between tense and aspect has been largely erased, so that the past indicative of the imperfective, the indicative of the aorist, and the indicative of the stative all function as past tenses, namely, as the imperfect, aorist, and perfect.
  • Second, the non-indicative moods, besides those of the present system, are only used in the Vedic language. In the post-Vedic language, the imperative and optative moods can only be formed from the present stem.
  • The subjunctive is no longer used in the post-Vedic language, having been functionally replaced with two future tenses.
§17.4.lakārāḥ

In the above table, we have noted in parentheses those aspect-tense-mood combinations that are represented in Pāṇini’s system of lakārāḥ. As noted above, these lakārāḥ stand for fixed tense-mood combinations. They are listed below, together with the stem of the verb that they select for:

lakāraḥ Interpretation Stem
laṭ Present (indicative) Present
laṅ Imperfect (indicative) Present
lōṭ Imperative Present
liṅ Optative Present
lēṭ Subjunctive Present
lr̥ṭ (Synthetic) future Future
lr̥ṅ Conditional Future
luṭ (Analytic) future N/A
luṅ Aorist (indicative) Aorist
liṭ Perfect (indicative) Perfect

Pāṇini’s names reflect the patterns of these different tense-mood combinations. For example, what the present indicative and imperfect indicative share, in contrast to all of the other tense-mood combinations, is the medial element -a-, which signifies that these forms are built by adding a set of personal endings to the present stem without any additional suffixation. By contrast, the present indicative is characterized by a final -ṭ, whereas the imperfect indicative is characterized by a final -ṅ, and therefore they take two different sets of endings.

§17.5.Person puruṣaḥ

Among the categories that finite verbs are inflected for is person. Sanskrit distinguishes between the prathamapuruṣaḥ or “first person,” the madhyamapuruṣaḥ or “middle person,” and the uttamapuruṣaḥ or “last person.” Beware that these correspond to what we call the third person, the second person, and the first person, respectively. Sanskrit does not distinguish between an inclusive and exclusive first person.

§17.6.Number saṁkhyā

Like nouns, finite verbs in Sanskrit are inflected for singular ēkavacanam, dual dvivacanam, and plural bahuvacanam numbers.

§17.7.Diathesis or voice

The diathesis (also called voice) of a verb, in linguistics, generally refers to the connection between the arguments of a verb, which are features of its syntax, to one or another of the participants in the verbal action (called thematic roles below), which are features of its semantics. In English, we distinguish between “active voice,” where the agent is the principal argument, or subject, of the verb, and “passive voice,” where the patient is the subject of the verb.

In Sanskrit, there is a clear distinction between verbal constructions wherein the subject is an agent, and verbal constructions where in the subject is a patient. The latter are called “passive” or “P-oriented” (for patient) constructions. These will be discussed below.

Sanskrit makes a further diathetic distinction within the category of “active” or “A-oriented” voice between parasmaipadám, “a word for another,” and ātmanēpadám, “a word for oneself.” This distinction maps onto what grammars in the Greek and Latin tradition call “active” (ἐνέργεια) and “middle” (μεσότης), respectively. The expression “middle,” in the Greek and Latin tradition, is meant to capture the fact that the subject of the verb in question is represented as neither the agent of a particular action, nor the patient of the verbal action, but something in between. Here is an analogous case from English:

  • I am baking the bread in the oven. :: active voice, because the subject of the verb “bake” is represented as the agent of the verbal action.
  • The bread is being baked in the oven. :: passive voice, because the subject of the verb “bake” is represented as the patient of the verbal action.
  • The bread is baking in the oven. :: middle voice, because the subject of the verb “bake” is the bread, which is neither represented as the agent of an action of baking, nor the patient of the same action.

The “middle” voice, so construed, is used to represent the subject of the verb as a “non-agentive agent,” that is, someone who undergoes or experiences the action of the verb, but who is nevertheless not represented as the patient of an action performed by someone else. It is therefore often, cross-linguistically, with the following types of verbs:

  • verbs of perceiving and experiencing;
  • verbs of motion;
  • other verbs referring to changes in state.

Note that these types of verbs are typically intransitive, that is, they do not take a direct object. They may, however, take dependents that agree with the subject: in “I feel tired,” “tired” is not a direct object, but an adjective that agrees with the subject of the verb.

Whereas the distinction between “active” and “passive” voice in Sanskrit is made by the verbal stem—one form of the stem being used for “A-oriented” constructions, and another for “P-oriented” constructions—the distinction between parasmaipadám and ātmanēpadám is made by the verbal endings. There are thus, for any verb, two sets of endings, and the choice of whether to use parasmaipadám or ātmanēpadám endings is mostly conditioned lexically, along the lines sketched above:

  • Most transitive verbs have an agent subject, that is, the subject of the verb is an “agentive agent.” These verbs take parasmaipadám endings.
    • indrō vr̥traṁ hanti “Indra slays Vr̥tra.”
  • A few transitive verbs have an experiencer subject, that is, the subject of the verb is one who experiences something. These verbs take ātmanēpadám endings.
    • indrō sōmaṁ bhuṅktē “Indra consumes the Sōma.”
  • Among intransitive verbs, some will treat the subject as an “agentive agent,” and will hence take parasmaipadám endings (these verbs are usually called unergative in the linguistics literature):
    • brāhmaṇāś calanti “The Brahmans are walking.”
  • Some intransitive verbs, however, treat the subject as a “non-agentive agent,” and will take ātmanēpadám endings (these verbs are called unaccusative in the linguistics literature):
    • sa manyatē “He is thinking.”
§18. Verbal endings tiṄ.

The verbal endings—or tiṄ, to use Pāṇini’s abbreviation for them—are the final element in a finite verbal form. The endings are what express the categories of person, number, and diathesis; additionally, each tense-mood combination lakārāḥ takes a specific set of endings.

As with the nominal endings, Pāṇini teaches the verbal endings in “triplets,” consisting of the singular, dual, and plural ending in the third person, second person, and first person, in that order. There are two such 3x3 matrices taught in Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.4.78, the first being the endings of the parasmaipadám and the second being the endings of the ātmanēpadám.

These two sets of endings are actually the starting-point for the derivation of additional sets of endings, because both the parasmaipadám and ātmanēpadám include special endings for each lakāraḥ. We will see, however, that Pāṇini has classified the lakārāḥ on the basis of the kinds of endings that they take, and therefore there is a broad division—subsequently discovered by philologists, who gave it a new name—between primary endings, used in lakārāḥ with the marker , and secondary endings, used in lakārāḥ with the marker .

In some verbal inflections, just as in some nominal inflections, there is a distinction between the strong and weak form of the stem, which historically arose from the interplay of the accent of the root, or stem-forming suffix, and the accent of the inflectional ending. The endings that require the strong form of the stem will be noted below.

§18.1.Parasmaipadám endings

This section will explain the parasmaipadám endings for the various lakārāḥ. We begin with the parasmaipadám endings that Pāṇini teaches as basic:

Basic parasmaipadám endings
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ tiP tas jhi
madhyamapuruṣaḥ siP thas tha
uttamapuruṣaḥ miP vas mas

Note that the endings of the singular all have the marker P, which indicates that the accent is on the preceding morpheme; all of the other endings are accented. These singular endings also require the strong form of the stem, if the paradigm distinguishes between strong and weak forms. The endings listed above are the primary endings, which are used in the present indicative laṭ. If we “translate” Pāṇini’s endings into the forms that actually appear, we obtain the following 3x3 matrix:

Primary endings of the parasmaipadám (present indicative laṭ)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ -ti -táḥ -ánti / -áti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ -si -tháḥ -thá
uttamapuruṣaḥ -mi -váḥ -máḥ

Important points to notice about these endings are:

  • The endings of the singular are unaccented, and additionally, they and the plural of the prathamapuruṣaḥ end in an element -i, which Indo-Europeanists have considered a “hic-et-nunc particle,” indicating that the verb refers to the present. This element disappears in the secondary endings.
  • The remaining endings of the uttamapuruṣaḥ end in an element -ḥ, which also disappears in the secondary endings.
  • The plural ending of the prathamapuruṣaḥ has two variants, -ánti and -áti, which derive from two different grades of an earlier ending -ént-i and -n̥t-i.
  • Most of these endings are well-attested in the other Indo-European languages:
    • -ti एक॰ प्र॰: Lat. -t, Hittite -zi, Greek -τι in ἐστί.
    • -si एक॰ मध्य॰: Lat. -s, Hittite -si.
    • -mi एक॰ उत्त॰: Hittite -mi, Greek -μι in verbs like δείκνῡμι.
    • -ánti बहु॰ प्र॰: Hittite -anzi, Greek (Doric) -οντι, Latin -unt.
Secondary endings of the parasmaipadám (imperfect laṅ, aorist luṅ, and optative liṅ)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ -t -tā́m -án / -úḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ -s -tám -tá
uttamapuruṣaḥ -am -vá -má

Notes on these endings:

  • The “hic-et-nunc particle” does not appear on the endings of the singular, or of the plural prathamapuruṣaḥ.
  • The singular ending of the uttamapuruṣaḥ is -am, which derives from -m (the primary ending without -i); it is taught as -am because it takes this form after consonants, whereas after vowels, it is -m.
  • Similarly, the element -ḥ of the dual and plural uttamapuruṣaḥ endings does not appear, as it does in the primary endings.
  • The plural ending of the prathamapuruṣaḥ has two variants. The first, -án, is used in the imperfect laṅ, and it is simply -ánt, after the application of the rule that no Sanskrit word can end in more than one consonant.
  • The second plural ending of the prathamapuruṣaḥ, -úḥ, is used in the aorist luṅ and optative liṅ. Historically, it derives from -r̥s.
Imperative lōṭ endings of the parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ -tu -tā́m -ántu / -átu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ -dhí / -hí / -tám -tá
uttamapuruṣaḥ -āni -āva -āma

The imperative endings are most similar to the secondary endings, with the following differences:

  • The primary endings that terminate in an element -i—the three singular endings as well as the plural of the prathamapuruṣaḥ—take a similar element in the imperative, namely, -u.
  • The singular of the madhyamapuruṣaḥ, however, always takes a special ending in the imperative:
    • after the stem-final vowel -a- (the so-called “thematic vowel”), the ending is .
    • otherwise, the ending is -dhí (after consonants) and -hí after vowels (compare Greek -θί)
  • There is no imperative of the uttamapuruṣaḥ. The subjunctive forms are used instead.
§18.2.Ātmanēpadám endings

This section will explain the ātmanēpadám endings for the various lakārāḥ, starting, once again, from the endings that Pāṇini teaches as basic:

Basic ātmanēpadám endings
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ta ātām jha
madhyamapuruṣaḥ thās āthām dhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ iḌ vahi mahiṄ

These are the basic ātmanēpadám endings, which can also be referred to using Pāṇini’s abbreviation taṄ. In contrast to the parasmaipadám endings, Pāṇini teaches the secondary endings as basic, and has rules (e.g., Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.4.79) which change the secondary endings to primary endings in the lakārāḥ that require them. For the sake of convenience, here are the primary endings of the ātmanēpadám, that is, those which are used in the present indicative laṭ:

Primary endings of the ātmanēpadám endings (present indicative laṭ)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ -tḗ -ā́tē -ántē / -átē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ -sḗ -ā́thē -dhvē
uttamapuruṣaḥ -ḗ -váhē -máhē

Notes on these endings:

  • The element -i, which characterizes a certain set of primary endings in the parasmaipadám, also characterizes a set of primary endings in the ātmanēpadám. In the ātmanēpadám, however, this element almost always combines with a final vowel -a to yield . The endings with this element can thus be analyzed as follows:
    • -tá + i-tḗ एक॰ प्र॰, cp. Greek -εται
    • -sá + i-sḗ एक॰ मध्य॰
    • + i-ḗ एक॰ उत्त॰
    • -ánta + i-ántē बहु॰ प्र॰, cp. Greek -ονται, Hittite -anta
  • The terminal element appears throughout the primary endings of the ātmanēpadám, even when it cannot be analyzed as the result of combining a final -a with a particle -i. Several of the corresponding secondary endings do not end in a -a but in -am or -ām.
  • Several elements are recognizably the same as the parasmaipadám endings:
    • -t- as a marker of the एक॰ प्र॰ (here followed by a vowel -a)
    • -s- as a marker of the एक॰ मध्य॰ (here followed by a vowel -a)
    • -nt- as a marker of the बहु॰ प्र॰ (here followed by a vowel -a)
    • -va- as a marker of the द्वि॰ उत्त॰ (here followed by an element -hi / -hē)
    • -ma- as a marker of the बहु॰ उत्त॰ (here followed by an element -hi / -hē)
Secondary endings of the ātmanēpadám endings (imperfect indicative laṅ, aorist luṅ, optative liṅ)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ -tá -ā́tām -ánta / -áta/ -rán
madhyamapuruṣaḥ -thā́ḥ -ā́thām -dhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ / -váhi -máhi

The similarities of these endings to those of the parasmaipadám have been discussed above. When some relationship is evident between the forms, the principal difference is that the secondary endings of the ātmanēpadám, in contrast to those of the parasmaipadám, are followed by an element -a (extended to in the primary endings) or -hi (extended, probably analogically, to -hē in the primary endings). A number of other points:

§18.3.The optative suffix

As noted above, the optative liṅ always receives the “secondary” endings, like the aorist and imperfect. The optative, however, always includes an element between the verbal stem and the secondary endings which serves as the marker of this mood.

There are two related forms of this marker, and ī. The former is used only in athematic verbs, that is, verbs belonging to classes 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9, and then only in the so-called strong forms, i.e., the singular forms of the parasmaipadám. The marker ī is used in all other contexts, including in all of the thematic conjugations, where it combines with the stem-final vowel to form the ending ē.

The marker of the optative in Indo-European was -ih₁- in the zero grade and -yeh₁- in the full grade.

§19. The past-tense augment.

The past tenses—that is, the imperfect laṅ and the aorist luṅ—employ an augment that appears prior to the verbal form, although after any verbal prefixes. This augment, which Pāṇini teaches as aṬ, is generally a short vowel a:

  • ákarōt “he did”
  • ákārṣīt “id.”

However, in the case of verbal roots beginning with a vowel, the combination of augment and initial vowel always results in vŕ̥ddhiḥ of the initial vowel:

  • aícchat “he desired” (iṣ)
  • aít “he went” (i)
  • ā́rcchat “he went” (r̥ch)

In a small number of other cases, the augment is lengthened before an initial consonant of a verb:

  • ā́var “he blocked”

The lengthening of the augment before a consonant is an effect of a root-initial laryngeal (in the above example, the proto-form is é-h₂u̯er-t.

§20. The present system.

The present system refers to a family of verbal forms that have in common the fact that they are formed from the same verbal stem, which is conventionally called the present stem. (Not all of these forms have a reference to the present time, however.) The verbal forms that belong to the present system are:

  • the present indicative, or laṭ;
  • the imperfect indicative, or laṅ;
  • the imperative, or lōṭ; and
  • the optative, or liṭ.

The present stem is formed in different ways from different verbal roots, and hence we talk about ten classes of verbs. A verb belongs to a class solely by virtue of how its present stem is formed, which is to say, which present-stem-forming suffix vikaraṇaḥ is added to the verbal root before the endings of the mood-tense complexes lakārāḥ that belong to the present system. In part, a verb’s belonging to one or the other class is determined by phonological considerations; in part, it is also determined by semantic considerations. The reason is that some of the present-stem-forming suffixes vikaraṇāḥ had particular meanings—generally, nasal-infix presents are more “transitive,” and -ya- presents are more “stative” or “reflexive”—but most of those semantic nuances have been lost. A verb’s membership in one (or more) of the ten classes must be memorized.

The ten classes are distinguished, as noted above, by the present-stem-forming suffix, or vikaraṇaḥ, that is used to form the present stem. The following suffixes are used:

  1. ŚaP (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.68): Unaccented -a- which causes the root to be accented and full-grade (guṇáḥ). The list of verbs of this first class is called bhvādigaṇaḥ.
  2. No suffix (technically: luk-elision of the formant ŚaP, cf. Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.4.72). The root takes the full grade (guṇa) in the strong form of the stem, and the zero grade in the weak form of the stem. The list of verbs of this second class is called adādigaṇaḥ.
  3. No suffix (technically: ślu-elision of the formant ŚaP, cf. Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.4.75). Reduplication abhyāsaḥ of the verbal root, which takes the full-grade (or guṇa) form in the strong forms of the stem, and the zero-grade form in the weak forms of the stem. The list of verbs of this third class is called hvādigaṇaḥ.
  4. ŚyaN: An unaccented suffix -ya-. The root takes its weakest (zero) grade before this suffix, but it is accented. The list of verbs of this fourth class is called divādigaṇaḥ.
  5. Śnu (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.73): The suffix is -nō- in the strong form of the stem, and -nu- in the weak form of the stem. The list of verbs of this fifth class is called svādigaṇaḥ.
  6. Śa (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.77): The suffix is an accented -á-, and the root stays in the zero grade. The list of verbs of this sixth class is called tudādigaṇaḥ.
  7. Śnam (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.78): The vikaraṇaḥ is actually an infixed -na- before the final consonant in the strong forms, and -n- in the weak forms. The list of verbs of this seventh class is called rudhādigaṇaḥ.
  8. u (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.79): The suffix is -ō- in the strong form of the stem, and -u- in the weak form. The list of verbs of this eighth class is called tanādigaṇaḥ.
  9. Śnā (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.81): A suffix -nā- in the strong form of the stem, and -nī- in the weak form of the stem. The list of verbs of this ninth class is called kryādigaṇaḥ.
  10. ṆiC (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.25): The root is first suffixed with ṆiC, which induces Ṇ-vŕ̥ddhiḥ in the root syllable; then the suffixed root takes the vikaraṇaḥ ŚaP, which causes the preceding suffix to undergo guṇáḥ. Hence the entire suffix appears as -áya-. The list of verbs of this tenth class is called curādigaṇaḥ.

Full paradigms of all of the mood-tense complexes lakārāḥ belonging to the present system will follow for verbs belonging to each of the ten classes.

§20.1.The first class bhvādigaṇaḥ

Formed with a vikaraṇaḥ -a- that induces guṇa on the root, if the root is capable of taking guṇáḥ. (Recall that “superheavy” roots, which contain either a long vowel followed by a consonant, like jīv, or any vowel followed by two consonants, like nind, cannot take guṇáḥ.) The root is accented.

The first class is the largest. Here are some of the most common verbs:

  • bhū “become” (parasmaipadi)
  • smr̥ “remember” (parasmaipadi)
  • nad “hum” (parasmaipadi)
  • nind “blame” (parasmaipadi)
  • vraj “wander” (parasmaipadi)
  • tap “burn” (parasmaipadi)
  • cam “sip” (parasmaipadi)
  • nam “bow” (parasmaipadi)
  • ji “win” (parasmaipadi)
  • dah “burn” (parasmaipadi)
  • dhāv “run” (parasmaipadi)
  • sr̥ “spread” (parasmaipadi)
  • tr̥ “cross” (parasmaipadi)
  • vad “speak” (parasmaipadi)
  • vas “dwell” (parasmaipadi)
  • pat “fall” (parasmaipadi)
  • īkṣ “fall” (ātmanēpadi)
  • īh “desire” (ātmanēpadi)
  • dyut “shine” (ātmanēpadi)
  • syand “sprinkle” (ātmanēpadi)
  • ram “enjoy” (ātmanēpadi)
  • tvar “hurry” (ātmanēpadi)
  • “lead” (ubhayapadi)
  • sah “bear” (ātmanēpadi)
  • khan “dig” (ubhayapadi)
  • hr̥ “take” (ubhayapadi)
  • yaj “worship” (ubhayapadi)
  • vap “sow” (ubhayapadi)
  • vah “carry” (ubhayapadi)
  • śri “betake oneself” (ubhayapadi)

A number of roots form their present stem with a suffix cha. They are considered to belong to the first class, if the root syllable is accented, or the sixth class, if the suffix is accented. The root always takes the zero grade before this suffix. See Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.77.

  • gam “go” (parasmaipadi) → gáccha-
  • yam “stop” (parasmaipadi) → yáccha-
  • “go” (parasmaipadi) → ŕ̥ccha- (cf. ἔρχομαι)
  • prach “go” (parasmaipadi) → pr̥cchá- (cf. poscō)
  • iṣ “want” (parasmaipadi) → icchá-

This suffix was originally a present stem forming suffix (-sḱe-/-sḱo-), and is attested in several other Indo-European languages. It probably had an “inchoative” sense, indicating that the agent is just beginning the action: hence gʷm-sḱé-ti “he sets out.”

A very small number of verbal roots in this class form their present stem with an irregular kind of reduplication:

  • sthā “stand” (parasmaipadi) → tíṣṭha- (cf. ἵστημι)
  • “drink” (parasmaipadi) → píbati-
  • ghrā “sniff” (parasmaipadi) → jíghra-

The following roots, historically ending in a laryngeal, form the present stem by lengthening the root vowel:

  • kram “stride” (parasmaipadi) → krā́mati

The first class is exemplified with bhū “become” in the parasmaipadám and ruc “shine” in the ātmanēpadám.

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ bhávati bhávataḥ bhávanti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ bhávasi bhávathaḥ bhávatha
uttamapuruṣaḥ bhávāmi bhávāvaḥ bhávāmaḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ rṓcatē rṓcētē rṓcantē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ rṓcasē rṓcēthē rṓcadhvē
uttamapuruṣaḥ rṓcē rṓcāvahē rṓcāmahe
The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ábhavat ábhavatām ábhavan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ábhavaḥ ábhavatam ábhavata
uttamapuruṣaḥ ábhavam ábhavāva ábhavāma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ árōcata árōcētām árōcanta
madhyamapuruṣaḥ árōcathāḥ árōcēthām árōcadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ árōcē árōcāvahi árōcāmahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ bhávatu bhávatām bhávantu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ bháva bhávatam bhávata
uttamapuruṣaḥ bhávāni bhávāva bhávāma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ rṓcatām rṓcētām rṓcantām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ rṓcasva rṓcēthām rṓcadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ rṓcai rṓcāvahai rṓcāmahai
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ bhávēt bhávētām bhávēyuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ bhávēḥ bhávētam bhávēta
uttamapuruṣaḥ bhávēyam bhávēva bhávēma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ rṓcēta rṓcēyātām rṓcēran
madhyamapuruṣaḥ rṓcēthāḥ rṓcēyāthām rṓcēdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ rṓcēya rṓcēvahi rṓcēmahi
§20.2.The second class adādigaṇaḥ

This is the root present. There is no present-stem forming suffix: the default suffix, ŚaP (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.68), is deleted by Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.4.72. There is a distinction in vowel gradation for roots of this class: a strong stem, which generally features a full-grade root (or guṇáḥ), and a weak stem, which generally geatures a zero-grade root. The strong stem is used before the singular endings of the parasmaipadám only, i.e., those endings that Pāṇini teaches with the anubandha p (tiP, siP, and miP), and that, too, only in the present indicative laṭ and imperfect indicative laṅ, as well as certain forms of the imperative lōṭ, namely, all forms of the first person (which are taken from the subjunctive) as well as the third person singular of the parasmaipadám.

If the verb is accented (see above), then the accent is on the root when the strong stem is used, i.e., in the singular forms of the parasmaipadám; the accent is on the ending in the other forms.

Here is a list of relatively common second class verbs, which I provide with their third persons singular and plural::

  • ad “eat” (parasmaipadi), átti, adánti
  • “go” (parasmaipadi), yā́ti, yā́nti
  • han “kill” (parasmaipadi), hánti, ghnánti
  • vaś “desire” (parasmaipadi), váṣṭi, uśánti
  • ās “sit” (ātmanēpadi), ā́stē, ā́satē
  • vid “know” (parasmaipadi), vḗtti, vidánti
  • i “go” (parasmaipadi), ḗti yánti
  • as “be” (parasmaipadi), ásti, sánti
  • vac “speak” (parasmaipadi), vákti (no third person plural)
  • śās “command” (parasmaipadi), śā́sti, śāsáti
  • īś “rule” (ātmanēpadi), īśḗ, īśátē
  • brū “speak” (ubhayapadi), brávīti or brūtḗ, bruvánti or bruvátē

To exemplify the paradigm, we use i “go” in the parasmaipadám and ās “sit” in the ātmanēpadám.

All of the roots beginning with a long vowel in this class, including ās, maintain their accent on the root throughout.

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ḗti itáḥ yánti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ḗṣi itháḥ ithá
uttamapuruṣaḥ ḗmi iváḥ imáḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ā́stē ā́sātē ā́satē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ā́ssē ā́sāthē ā́ddhvē
uttamapuruṣaḥ ā́sē ā́svahē ā́smahe

The verb i has the strong stem ē and the weak stem i. The strong stem only occurs before endings that begin with a consonant. The weak stem, however, occurs before both consonant-initial and vowel-initial endings. In the parasmaipadám, the only vowel-initial ending is -anti, and there is a special rule (Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.81) that tells us that the vowel of the stem, i, is replaced by the corresponding semivowel, y, before this ending, and hence we have third-person plural form yánti.

In the ātmanēpadám, however, there are many endings that begin with vowels. The ātmanēpadám forms of this verb only occur after a verbal prefix, and in this context, by a special rule, the stem i is not replaced by the corresponding semivowel y, but by the sequence iy (which keeps the root as a distinct syllable), according to Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.77. Hence the forms in the ātmanēpadám would be iyē, iyāthē, iyātē, iyatē.

The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ aít aítām ā́yan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ aíḥ aítām aíta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ā́yam aíva aíma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ā́sta ā́sātām ā́sata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ā́sthāḥ ā́sāthām ā́ddhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ā́si ā́svahi ā́smahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ḗtu itā́m yántu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ihí itám itá
uttamapuruṣaḥ áyāni áyāva áyāma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ā́stām ā́sātām ā́satām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ā́ssva ā́sāthām ā́ddhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ā́sai ā́sāvahai ā́sāmahai
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ iyā́t iyā́tām iyúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ iyā́ḥ iyā́tam iyā́ta
uttamapuruṣaḥ iyā́m iyā́va iyā́ma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ā́sīta ā́sīyātām ā́sīran
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ā́sīthāḥ ā́sīyāthām ā́sīdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ā́sīya ā́sīvahi ā́sīmahi
§20.3.The third class hvādigaṇaḥ

This is the “reduplicating” present, so called because it is formed with a reduplicated syllable, or abhyāsaḥ, which is always a modified version of the root. The rules for the formation of the reduplicated syllable are almost exactly the same as for the reduplication of the perfect. Specifically:

  • No aspiration is permitted in the reduplicated syllable. Aspirate stops become their corresponding unaspirated forms, and the voiced aspirate h becomes j.
  • The reduplicated syllable itself is always light. This means that vowel of the root, if it is long, is shortened; if it is a diphthong (ē, ō, ai and au), it becomes the corresponding simple vowel (i or u). Generally the vowel ā in the root syllable becomes a in the reduplicated syllable (e.g., dadā́ti from ), but in a few roots, it becomes i (e.g., mimā́ti from ). This rule also means that any root-final consonants are lost, since they would make the reduplicated syllable heavy.
  • No complex consonants are permitted in the reduplicated syllable. Generally, if the onset of the root is C₁C₂, the onset of the reduplicated syllable is C₁ (e.g., jihrḗti from hrī). If, however, root begins with a sibilant-stop combination, then the stop, rather than the sibilant, appears in the reduplicated syllable.
  • Velar kaṇṭhyaḥ consonants are replaced by their palatal tālavyaḥ counterparts. This is because the vowel of the reduplicated syllable in Indo-European was high (either e or i), which caused the palatalization of a preceding velar stop in Indo-Iranian.

The examples are hu “pour out” for parasmaipadám and “measure” for ātmanēpadám.

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám Parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ juhṓti juhutáḥ júhvati
madhyamapuruṣaḥ juhṓṣi juhutháḥ juhuthá
uttamapuruṣaḥ juhṓmi juhuváḥ juhumáḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ mimītḗ mímātē mímatē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ mímīṣē mímāthē mímīdhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ mímē mimīváhē mimīmáhē
The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ájuhōt ájuhutām ájuhavuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ájuhōḥ ájuhutam ájuhuta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ájuhavam ájuhuva ájuhuma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ámimīta ámimātām ámimata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ámimīthaḥ ámimāthām ámimīdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ámimi ámimīvahi ámimīmahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ juhṓtu juhutā́m júhvatu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ juhudhí juhutám juhutá
uttamapuruṣaḥ juhávāni juhávāva juhávāma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ mimitā́m mímātām mímatām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ mimiṣvá mímāthām mimidhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ mímai mímāvahai mímāmahai
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ juhuyā́t juhuyā́tām juhuyúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ juhuyā́ḥ juhuyā́tam juhuyā́ta
uttamapuruṣaḥ juhuyā́m juhuyā́va juhuyā́ma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ mimītá mimīyā́tām mimīrán
madhyamapuruṣaḥ mimīthā́ḥ mimīyā́thām mimīdhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ mimīyá mimīváhi mimīmáhi
§20.4.The fourth class divādigaṇaḥ

The fourth class (“[the list of verbal roots] which begins with div”) forms its present stem with the present-stem-forming suffix ŚyaN (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.69). This has the following properties:

  • The form of the present-stem-forming suffix is an unaccented -ya-.
  • The suffix requires that the root be in the zero grade. Hence:
    1. No guṇáḥ or vŕ̥ddhiḥ applies to the verbal root.
    2. If the verbal root is taught in a full-grade form (e.g., tam) then it will go into the corresponding zero-grade form (e.g., tām).
  • The accent is on the root syllable.

Here is a list of relatively common fourth class verbs:

  • naś “be lost” (parasmaipadi)
  • kṣudh “be hungry” (parasmaipadi)
  • tr̥p “be satisfied” (parasmaipadi)
  • nr̥t “dance” (parasmaipadi)
  • siv “sew” (parasmaipadi)
  • div “gamble” (parasmaipadi)
  • man “think” (ātmanēpadi)
  • nah “tie up, bind” (parasmaipadi)
  • puṣ “nourish” (parasmaipadi) or “be nourished” (ātmanēpadi)

The root śram “become tired” lengthens its vowel when the present stem forming suffix is added, hence śrāmyáti.

The forms are exemplified with puṣ “nourish” in the parasmaipadám and man “think” in the ātmanēpadám.

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ púṣyati púṣyataḥ púṣyanti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ púṣyasi púṣyathaḥ púṣyatha
uttamapuruṣaḥ púṣyāmi púṣyāvaḥ púṣyāmaḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ mányatē mányētē mányantē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ mányasē mányēthē mányadhvē
uttamapuruṣaḥ mányē mányāvahē mányāmahe
The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ápuṣyat ápuṣyatām ápuṣyan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ápuṣyaḥ ápuṣyatam ápuṣyata
uttamapuruṣaḥ ápuṣyam ápuṣyāva ápuṣyāma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ámanyatē ámanyētām ámanyanta
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ámanyathāḥ ámanyēthām ámanyadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ámanyē ámanyāvahi ámanyāmahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ púṣyatu púṣyatām púṣyantu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ púṣya púṣyatam púṣyata
uttamapuruṣaḥ púṣyāni púṣyāva púṣyāma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ mányatām mányētām mányantām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ mányasva mányēthām mányadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ mányai mányāvahai mányāmahai
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ púṣyēt púṣyētām púṣyēyuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ púṣyēḥ púṣyētam púṣyēta
uttamapuruṣaḥ púṣyēyam púṣyēva púṣyēma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ mányēta mányēyātām mányēran
madhyamapuruṣaḥ mányēthāḥ mányēyāthām mányēdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ mányēya mányēvahi mányēmahi
§20.5.The fifth class svādigaṇaḥ

This class adds the stem-forming suffix vikaraṇaḥ -nṓ-/-nu- to the verbal root. It is essentially identical to the eighth class, which adds the suffix -ṓ-/-u-. The strong forms are built with the full-grade suffix -nṓ-, and the weak forms, with the zero-grade suffix -nu-.

The accent is on the present-stem forming suffix in the strong forms and on the ending in the weak forms.

Roots of this class behave somewhat differently in their internal sandhi depending on whether they end in a vowel or a consonant. For roots that end in a vowel, the final u of the stem becomes v before endings that begin with a vowel (e.g., cinvánti). This final u also be dropped before the endings of the first person dual and plural (e.g., cinmáḥ or cinumáḥ).

For roots that end in a consonant, however, the consonant cluster -C-n- prevents the final u of the stem from becoming v (because that would result in an awkward consonant cluster -Cnv-). Instead, we have uvaṄ-sandhi, where the final u is replaced by uv before endings that begin with a vowel (e.g., āpnuvánti). The u of the stem is retained before the endings of the first person dual and plural (e.g., āpnumáḥ).

Here is a list of relatively common fifth class verbs:

  • śak “be capable” (parasmaipadi)
  • śru “hear” (parasmaipadi); though this forms its stem as if from śr̥
  • āp “obtain” (parasmaipadi)
  • “pervade” (ātmanēpadi)
  • su “press” (ubhayapadi)
  • ci “collect” (ubhayapadi)
  • str̥ “cover” (ubhayapadi)
  • vr̥ “choose” (ubhayapadi)

The paradigms are given using āp “obtain” for the parasmaipadám and ci “gather” for the ātmanēpadám.

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ āpnṓti āpnutáḥ āpnuvánti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ āpnṓṣi āpnutháḥ āpnuthá
uttamapuruṣaḥ āpnṓmi āpnuváḥ āpnumáḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ cinutḗ cinvā́tē cinvátē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ cinuṣḗ cinvā́thē cinudhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ cinvḗ cinváhē cinmáhē
The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ā́pnōt ā́pnutām ā́pnuvan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ā́pnōḥ ā́pnutam ā́pnuta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ā́pnavam ā́pnuva ā́pnuma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ácinuta ácinvātām ácinvata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ácinuthāḥ ácinvāthām ácinudhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ácinvi ácinvahi ácinmahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ āpnṓtu āpnutā́m āpnvántu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ āpnú āpnutám āpnutá
uttamapuruṣaḥ tanávāni tanávāva tanávāma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ cinutā́m cinvā́tām cinváthām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ cinuṣvá cinvā́thām cinudhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ cinávai cinávāvahai cinávāmahi
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ āpnuyā́t āpnuyā́tām āpnuyúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ āpnuyā́ḥ āpnuyā́tam āpnuyā́ta
uttamapuruṣaḥ āpnuyā́m āpnuyā́va āpnuyā́ma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ cinvītá cinvīyā́tām cinvīrán
madhyamapuruṣaḥ cinvīthā́ḥ cinvīyā́thām cinvīmáhi
uttamapuruṣaḥ cinvīyá cinvīváhi cinvīmáhi
§20.6.The sixth class tudādigaṇaḥ

The sixth class (“[the list of verbal roots] which begins with tud”) forms its present stem with the present-stem-forming suffix Śa. This has the following properties:

  • The form of the present-stem-forming suffix is an unaccented -á-.
  • The suffix requires that the root be in the zero grade. Hence:
    1. No guṇáḥ or vŕ̥ddhiḥ applies to the verbal root.
    2. If the verbal root is taught in a full-grade form (e.g., prach) then it will go into the corresponding zero-grade form (e.g., pr̥ch).
    3. Typically these roots end in a consonant, but for roots that end in the vowel r̥̄, the stem ends in -irá-.
  • The accent is on the present-stem-forming suffix.

Here is a list of relatively common verbs that belong to the sixth class:

  • viś “enter” (parasmaipadi)
  • diś “point out” (parasmaipadi)
  • likh “write” (parasmaipadi)
  • spr̥ś “touch” (parasmaipadi)
  • kr̥̄ “scatter” (parasmaipadi)
  • kṣip “throw” (parasmaipadi)
  • vidh “worship” (parasmaipadi)
  • lajj “be embarrassed” (ātmanēpadi)
  • sphur “tremble, flash, throb, pulse” (parasmaipadi)
  • viś “enter” (parasmaipadi)
  • sr̥j “emit” (parasmaipadi)
  • kr̥ṣ “plow” (ubhayapadi)

The following roots form their present stem by inserting a nasal between the vowel and the final consonant Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.1.59:

  • muc “release” (ubhayapadi) → muñcá-
  • lup “cut” (ubhayapadi) → lumpá-
  • vid “find” (ubhayapadi) → vindá-
  • lip “smear” (ubhayapadi) → limpá-
  • sic “sprinkle” (ubhayapadi) → siñcá-
  • kr̥t “cut” (parasmaipadi) → kr̥ntá-
  • khid “oppress” (parasmaipadi) → khindá-
  • piś “form” (parasmaipadi) → piṁśá-

The verbs listed as prach and iṣ form their present stems as pr̥ccháti and iccháti respectively. See the note on the verbs yácchati and gácchati under first-class verbs above.

The forms are exemplified with sr̥j “emit” in the parasmaipadám and lajj “be embarrassed” in the ātmanēpadám.

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ sr̥játi sr̥játaḥ sr̥jánti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ sr̥jási sr̥játhaḥ sr̥játha
uttamapuruṣaḥ sr̥jā́mi sr̥jā́vaḥ sr̥jā́maḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ lajjátē lajjḗtē lajjántē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ lajjásē lajjḗthē lajjádhvē
uttamapuruṣaḥ lajjḗ lajjā́vahē lajjā́mahe
The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ásr̥jat ásr̥jatām ásr̥jan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ásr̥jaḥ ásr̥jatam ásr̥jata
uttamapuruṣaḥ ásr̥jam ásr̥jāva ásr̥jāma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ álajjatē álajjētām álajjanta
madhyamapuruṣaḥ álajjathāḥ álajjēthām álajjadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ álajjē álajjāvahi álajjāmahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ sr̥játu sr̥játām sr̥jántu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ sr̥já sr̥játam sr̥játa
uttamapuruṣaḥ sr̥jā́ni sr̥jā́va sr̥jā́ma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ lajjátām lajjḗtām lajjántām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ lajjásva lajjḗthām lajjádhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ lajjaí lajjā́vahai lajjā́mahai
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ sr̥jḗt sr̥jḗtām sr̥jḗyuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ sr̥jḗḥ sr̥jḗtam sr̥jḗta
uttamapuruṣaḥ sr̥jḗyam sr̥jḗva sr̥jḗma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ lajjḗta lajjḗyātām lajjḗran
madhyamapuruṣaḥ lajjḗthāḥ lajjḗyāthām lajjḗdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ lajjḗya lajjḗvahi lajjḗmahi
§20.7.The seventh class rudhādigaṇaḥ

This class is sometimes called the ‘nasal infix’ class, because its stem-forming affix vikaraṇaḥ is a nasal, which is not added onto the verbal root, but infixed between the root’s vowel and its final consonant.

In the strong forms, the infix full-grade form -ná-. In the weak forms, the infix takes the zero-grade form -n-. Note that, because the root ends in a consonant, there will be internal sandhi between the root and endings beginning with a consonant. Note, also, that the -n- of the infix is subject to retroflexion by nati in its strong forms.

The accent is on the infix in the strong forms and on the ending in the weak forms.

Some of the most common roots in this class are:

  • rudh “block” (ubhayapadí) → ruṇádh-, rundh-
  • yuj “join” (ubhayapadí) → yunáj-, yuñj-
  • bhuj “enjoy” (ātmanēpadí) → bhunáj-, bhuñj-
  • his “strike” (parasmaipadí) → hiṁs-, hinás-
  • śiś “distinguish” (parasmaipadí) → śináṣ-, śiṁṣ-
  • bhañj “break” (parasmaipadí) → bhanáj-, bhañj-
  • añj “annoint” (parasmaipadí) → anáj-, añj-

The following paradigms use the verb rudh “block” for parasmaipadám and bhuj “enjoy” for ātmanēpadám.

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ruṇáddhi runddháḥ rundhánti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ruṇátsi runddháḥ runddhá
uttamapuruṣaḥ ruṇádhmi rundhváḥ rundhmáḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ bhuṅktē bhuñjā́tē bhuñjátē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ bhuṅkṣḗ bhuñjā́thē bhuṅgdhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ bhuñjḗ bhuñjváhe bhuñjmáhe
The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ áruṇat árunddhām árunddhan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ áruṇat árunddham árunddha
uttamapuruṣaḥ áruṇadham árundhva árundhma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ábhuṅkta ábhuṅjātām ábhuñjata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ábhuṅkthāḥ ábhuñjāthām ábhuṅgdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ábhuñji ábhuñjvahi ábhuñjmahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ruṇáddhu runddhā́m rundhántu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ runddhí runddhám runddhá
uttamapuruṣaḥ ruṇádhāni ruṇádhāva ruṇádhāma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ bhuṅktā́m bhuñjā́tām bhuñjátām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ bhuṅkṣvá bhuñjā́thām bhuṅgdhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ bhunájai bhunájāvahai bhunájāmahai
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ rundhyā́t rundhyā́tām rundhyúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ rundhyā́ḥ rundhyā́tam rundhyā́ta
uttamapuruṣaḥ rundhyā́m rundhyā́va rundhyā́ma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ bhuñjītá bhuñjīyā́tām bhuñjīrán
madhyamapuruṣaḥ bhuñjīthā́ḥ bhuñjīyā́thām bhuñjīdhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ bhuñjīyá bhuñjīváhi bhuñjīmáhi
§20.8.The eighth class tanādigaṇaḥ

The stem-forming affix vikaraṇaḥ in his class is the vowel u, which takes the full-grade or guṇáḥ form -ṓ- in the strong forms, and the zero-grade form -u- in the weak forms.

The accent is on the suffix in the strong forms and on the verbal ending in the weak forms.

This class of verbs is exactly parallel to the fifth class, which builds its strong forms with the affix -nṓ- and its weak forms with the affix -nu-.

The primary verb of the eighth class, tan “stretch,” historically was a nu-present. The root takes the zero-grade form before the suffix, so the inherited form would have been tn-nu- or tn-néu-. But because an inherited n between consonants develops into a in Sanskrit, the zero-grade form of the root ends up looking like ta, and for convenience, the Sanskrit grammarians considered the n of the suffix to belong to the root.

The forms are examplified with tan “stretch” in both the parasmaipadám and the ātmanēpadám.

In addition, the full paradigm of the verb kr̥ “do” is given here, which presents a number of particularities: in the strong forms, the stem takes the form karṓ-, and in the weak forms, it appears as kuru- or kur-. The latter is the reflex of the zero-grade form kr̥ before the stem-forming suffix -u-. In addition, the verb kr̥ drops the stem-final u before the endings of the first person dual and plural (like fifth-class verbs such as ci, su, etc.).

The present tense laṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ tanṓti tanutáḥ tanvánti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ tanṓṣi tanutháḥ tanuthá
uttamapuruṣaḥ tanṓmi tanuváḥ tanumáḥ
The present tense laṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ tanutḗ tanvā́tē tanvátē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ tanuṣḗ tanvā́thē tanudhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ tanvḗ tanuváhē tanumáhē
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ karṓti kurutáḥ kurvánti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ karṓṣi kurutháḥ kuruthá
uttamapuruṣaḥ karṓmi kurváḥ kurmáḥ
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ kurutḗ kurvā́tē kurvátē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ kuruṣḗ kurvā́thē kurudhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ kurvḗ kurváhē kurmáhē
The imperfect tense laṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ átanōt átanutām átanvan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ átanōḥ átanutam átanuta
uttamapuruṣaḥ átanuvam átanuva átanuma
The imperfect tense laṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ átanuta átanvātām átanvata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ átanuthāḥ átanvāthām átanudhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ átanvi átanuvahi átanumahi
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ákarōt ákurutām ákurvan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ákarōḥ ákurutam ákuruta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ákaravam ákurva ákurma
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ákuruta ákurvātām ákurvata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ákuruthāḥ ákurvāthām ákurudhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ákurvi ákurvahi ákurmahi
The imperative lōṬ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ tanṓtu tanutā́m tanvántu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ tanú tanutám tanutá
uttamapuruṣaḥ tanávāni tanávāva tanávāma
The imperative lōṬ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ tanutā́m tanvā́tām tanvátām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ tanuṣvá tanvā́thām tanudhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ tanávai tanávāvahai tanávāmahi
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ karṓtu kurutā́m kurvántu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ kurú kurutám kurutá
uttamapuruṣaḥ karávāṇi karávāva karávāma
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ kurutā́m kurvā́tām kurvátām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ kuruṣvá kurvā́thām kurudhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ karávai karávāvahai karávāmahai
The optative liṄ, parasmaipadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ tanuyā́t tanuyā́tām tanuyúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ tanuyā́ḥ tanuyā́tam tanuyā́ta
uttamapuruṣaḥ tanuyā́m tanuyā́va tanuyā́ma
The optative liṄ, ātmanēpadám
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ tanvītá tanvīyā́tām tanvīrán
madhyamapuruṣaḥ tanvīthā́ḥ tanvīyā́thām tanvīmáhi
uttamapuruṣaḥ tanvīyá tanvīváhi tanvīmáhi
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ kuryā́t kuryā́tām kuryúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ kuryā́ḥ kuryā́tam kuryā́ta
uttamapuruṣaḥ kuryā́m kuryā́va kuryā́ma
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ kurvītá kurvīyā́tām kurvīrán
madhyamapuruṣaḥ kurvīthā́ḥ kurvīyā́thām kurvīdhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ kurvīyá kurvīváhi kurvīmáhi
§20.9.The ninth class kryādigaṇaḥ

The present-stem forming suffix (vikaraṇaḥ) for this class is -nā- in the strong forms and -nī- (before consonants) or -n- (before vowels) in the weak forms. The accent is on the suffix in the strong forms and on the verbal endings in the weak forms.

Historically, this class is a subset of the seventh class, which forms the stem with an infix -na- or -n-. The roots of the ninth class happened to end in a laryngeal in Indo-European, and the combinations of the infix and the final consonant, -ne-H- and -n-H-, resulted in -nā- and -nī- in Sanskrit.

The parasmaipadám forms are exemplified with bandh “bind,” and the ātmanēpadám forms with jñā “know.”

Present indicative laṬ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ badhnā́ti badhnītáḥ badhnánti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ badhnā́si badhnītháḥ badhnīthá
uttamapuruṣaḥ badhnā́mi badhnīváḥ badhnīmáḥ
Present indicative (laṬ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ jānītḗ jānā́tē jānátē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ jānīṣḗ jānā́thē jānīdhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ jānḗ jānīváhē jānīmáhē
Imperfect indicative laṄ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ábadhnāt ábadhnītām ábadhnan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ábadhnāḥ ábadhnītam ábadhnīta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ábadhnām ábadhnīva ábadhnīma
Imperfect indicative laṄ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ájānīta ájānātām ájānata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ájānīthāḥ ájānāthām ájānīdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ájāni ájānīvahi ájānīmahi
Imperative lōṬ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ badhnā́tu badhnītā́m badhnántu
madhyamapuruṣaḥ badhnīhí badhnītám badhnītá
uttamapuruṣaḥ badhnā́ni badhnā́va badhnā́ma
Imperative lōṬ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ jānītā́m jānā́tām jānátām
madhyamapuruṣaḥ jānīṣvá jānā́thām jānīdhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ jānaí jānā́vahai jānā́mahai
Optative liṄ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ badhnīyā́t badhnīyā́tām badhnīyúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ badhnīyā́ḥ badhnīyā́tam badhnīyā́ta
uttamapuruṣaḥ badhnīyā́m badhnīyā́va badhnīyā́ma
Optative liṄ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ jānītá jānīyā́tām jānīraú
madhyamapuruṣaḥ jānīthā́ḥ jānīyā́thām jānīdhvám
uttamapuruṣaḥ jānīyá jānīváhi jānīmáhi
§20.10.The tenth class curādigaṇaḥ

The tenth class mostly includes deverbal verbs, such as causative verbs. But it includes a number of roots that have no corresponding simple verb. These roots are listed in the curādigaṇaḥ.

They are formed with the present stem forming suffix -áya-, which induces Ṇ-vŕ̥ddhiḥ on the root syllable. (In Pāṇini’s system, these stems are formed by adding the suffix ṆiC to the root, and then adding the suffix ŚaP, just as in the first class of verbs: ṆiC strengthens the root syllable, and ŚaP strengthens the root-extension ṆiC to guṇáḥ, hence the composite form -áy-a-.)

Some roots in this class are:

  • gaṇ “count” → gaṇáya-
  • kath “say” → katháya-
  • cint “think” → cintáya-

The parasmaipadám forms are exemplified with cur “steal.” There are no non-causative ātmanēpadám verbs.

Present indicative laṬ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ cōráyati cōráyataḥ cōráyanti
madhyamapuruṣaḥ cōráyasi cōráyathaḥ cōráyatha
uttamapuruṣaḥ cōráyāmi cōráyāvaḥ cōráyāmaḥ
§20.11.The passive/impersonal of the present system yaK

All of the finite verb forms listed above are used “in reference to the agent of the verbal action” kartári prayōgáḥ. Sanskrit, however, allows for any verb of any of the ten classes to be used either with reference to the patient of the verbal action karmáṇi prayōgáḥ, if the verb is transitive, or with reference to the verbal action itself bhāvḗ prayōgáḥ. (For more on these three constructions, see the agentive, patientive, and impersonal constructions below.)

In the present system, a passive/impersonal construction is available with a special present stem forming suffix vikaraṇaḥ that Pāṇini calls yaK. The effect of the final diacritical letter anubandhaḥ K is to put the root into the zero grade (see vowel gradation above). Once the passive stem (i.e., the stem used for both passive and impersonal expressions) has been formed by adding the suffix yaK to the verbal root in the zero grade, the ātmanēpadám endings are added, since these endings are obligatory whenever the verbal form expresses the patient or the verbal action Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.3.13.

The formation of the passive stem is generally straightforward: add the suffix -ya- to the unstrengthened verbal root:

  • gam + yaK [ + ]gamyátē “goes” [impersonal]
  • + yaK [ + ]nīyátē “is led”
  • pac + yaK [ + ]pacyátē “is cooked”
  • paṭh + yaK [ + ]paṭhyátē “is recited”

However the root sometimes undergoes changes. One type of change relates to the combination of root-final vowel with the -ya- of the present stem forming suffix. Before the suffix, the vowels i and u are lengthened, and the vowel is changed to ri; a long r̥̄ is changed to īr generally, but to ūr after labial consonants:

  • śru + yaK [ + ]śrūyátē “is heard”
  • stu + yaK [ + ]stūyátē “is praised”
  • ci + yaK [ + ]cīyátē “is piled”
  • kr̥ + yaK [ + ]kriyátē “is done”
  • hr̥ + yaK [ + ]hriyátē “is taken”
  • tr̥̄ + yaK [ + ]tīryátē “is crossed”
  • pr̥̄ + yaK [ + ]pūryátē “is filled”

An exception to this rule is śī “lie,” which forms the impersonal stem śayya- Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.22.

Verbal roots ending in that begin with conjunct consonants, however, do not turn the into ri, but into ar, probably to avoid an awkward combination of consonants such as smr-, Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.29

  • smr̥ + yaK [ + ]smaryatē “it is remembered”

The following verbs take saṁprasā́raṇam in the passive stem Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.1.15:

  • vac + yaK [ + ]ucyátē “is said”
  • svap + yaK [ + ]supyátē “sleeps” [impersonal]
  • vaś + yaK [ + ]uśyátē “is wished”
  • yaj + yaK [ + ]ijyátē “is sacrificed”
  • vap + yaK [ + ]upyátē “is sown”
  • vah + yaK [ + ]uhyátē “is carried”
  • vas + yaK [ + ]uṣyátē “stays” [impersonal
  • + yaK [ + ]ūyátē “is weaved”
  • vyē + yaK [ + ]vīyátē “is covered”
  • hvē + yaK [ + ]hūyátē “is called”
  • vad + yaK [ + ]udyátē “is spoken”
  • śvi + yaK [ + ]śūyátē “expands” [impersonal]
  • grah + yaK [ + ]gr̥hyatē “is taken”
  • jyā + yaK [ + ]jīyátē “fails” [impersonal]
  • vyadh + yaK [ + ]vidhyátē “is pierced”
  • vyac + yaK [ + ]vicyátē “is surrounded”
  • vraśc + yaK [ + ]vr̥ścyátē “is cut”
  • prach + yaK [ + ]pr̥cchyátē “is asked”
  • bhrajj + yaK [ + ]bhr̥jjyátē “is fried”
  • syam + yaK [ + ]simyátē “cries” [impersonal]

The following verbal roots ending a long vowel (and historically in a laryngeal) form their zero-grade forms with ī Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.66:

  • + yaK [ + ]dīyátē “is given”
  • dhā + yaK [ + ]dhīyátē “is placed”
  • + yaK [ + ]mīyátē “is measured”
  • sthā + yaK [ + ]sthīyátē “stands” [impersonal]
  • + yaK [ + ]hīyátē “is abandoned”
  • gai + yaK [ + ]gīyátē “is sung”
  • + yaK [ + ]pīyátē “is drunk”
  • + yaK [ + ]sīyátē “is finished”

The verbal root śās forms the passive stem śiṣyá- Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.34.

Roots that have a penultimate nasal typically lose it in the passive:

  • rañj + yaK [ + ]rajyátē “is attached” [impersonal]
  • sraṁs + yaK [ + ]srasyátē “falls” [impersonal]
  • bandh + yaK [ + ]badhyátē “is bound”

Among the roots ending in a nasal consonant, most do not change, but a few can optionally lose the final nasal and lengthen the preceding vowel Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.43. All of these historically ended in a laryngeal consonant.

  • jan + yaK [ + ]janyátē or jāyátē “is born”
  • tan + yaK [ + ]tanyátē or tāyátē “is stretched”
  • san + yaK [ + ]sanyátē or sāyátē “is attained”
  • khan + yaK [ + ]khanyátē or khāyátē “is dug”
§20.12.The present participle

The verbal adjective of the present stem is formed by the addition of two suffixes: one corresponding to parasmaipadám forms, which Pāṇini calls ŚatR̥, and one corresponding to ātmanēpadám forms, which Pāṇini calls ŚānaC. The form that these suffixes take depends on the class of the verb, according to the following rule:

  • verbal roots belonging to the thematic classes—that is, those whose present-stem forming suffix ends in the thematic vowel a, including the first bhvādigaṇaḥ, the fourth divādigaṇaḥ, the sixth tudādigaṇaḥ, and the tenth curādigaṇaḥ—affix the suffix -at in the parasmaipadám and the suffix -māna- in the ātmanēpadám;
  • verbal roots belonging to all other classes, or athematic roots, affix the suffix -at- in the parasmaipadám and the suffix -āna- in the ātmanēpadám.

The reason for the different suffixes of the ātmanēpadám participle in the thematic and non-thematic verb classes is the different development of the inherited suffix, -mh₁no-, after a vowel (as was always the case in the thematic verb classes) and after a consonant (as was often the case in the athematic verb classes). After a vowel, the suffix probably developed into -mīna-, for which there is some inscriptional evidence. After a consonant, it developed into -āna-. Analogy from the postconsonantal version of the suffix probably reshaped the postvocalic version.

The declension of the present participle of the parasmaipadám is covered above: in the masculine and nominative, it is inflected as a stem ending in -ant in the strong cases and -at in the weak cases. The feminine is formed with the suffix ṄīP. As noted in the section on the participle’s declension, there is an important exception to general principle that the strong stem is formed with -ant- and the weak stem with -at: in the participle of verbs of the third class, which have a reduplicated stem, the form of the stem is always -at-, even in the strong cases (although it is optionally -ant- in the nominative-accusative-vocative of the neuter).

Whether the feminine suffix is added onto the stem in -ant- or -at-, and also whether the neuter nominative-accusative dual is formed by adding the suffix onto the stem in -ant- or -at-, depends on the verb class. The general principle is as follows:

  • verbs of the first, fourth, and tenth classes use the stem ending in -ant-;
  • verbs of the second, third, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth classes use the stem ending in -at-;
    • (except verbs of the second class ending in , which may use either the stem ending in -at- or the stem ending in -ant-)
  • verbs of the sixth class may use either stem.
Parasmaipadám present participles, masculine and feminine nominative singular
Class Masculine Feminine
1. bhvādiḥ bhávan bhávantī
2. adādiḥ adán adatī́
2. adādiḥ yā́n yā́ntī / yātī́
3. hvādiḥ júhvan júhvatī
4. divādiḥ dī́vyan dī́vyantī
5. svādiḥ sunván sunvatī́
6. tudādiḥ tudán tudántī / tudatī́
7. rudhādiḥ rundhán rundhatī́
8. tanādiḥ tanván tanvatī́
9. kryādiḥ krīṇán krīṇatī́
10. curādiḥ cōráyan cōráyantī
§21. The perfect system.

The perfect system refers to a set of verbal forms that are derived with the tense-mood marker liṭ. Unlike the present system, there is no distinction between classes in the perfect: all verbs are formed according to the same rules. Not all verbs, however, can be inflected in the perfect: verbs beginning with a vowel (besides a or ā) that is “superheavy” (i.e., a long vowel followed by a consonant, or a short vowel followed by two consonants), such as īḍ, und, ēdh, and indh, cannot be inflected in this tense.

The forms of the perfect are generally used with reference to past time; Pāṇini prescribes the perfect tense for events in the past that one has not personally witnessed (parōkṣē liṭ in Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.115), and it is commonly used in discussing the remote past, or as a general narrative tense..

As with all other verbal forms, the perfect can be thought of as a combination of a stem with a given ending. As with athematic verbs in the present system, the verbs in the perfect generally distinguish between a strong and weak form of the stem, the former displaying a full-grade form of the root, and the latter a zero-grade form.

The characteristic of the perfect stem is not a suffix, but rather a reduplication abhyāsaḥ of the root. In addition, the perfect takes a distinctive set of endings in both the parasmaipadám and the ātmanēpadám.

§21.1.Reduplication

The basic principles of reduplication in the perfect are similar to that of third-class verbs in the present tense (see above): the reduplicated syllable is the verbal root, only subject to a greater number of phonological constraints, and subject to certain modifications:

  • No coda consonants. If the root ends in a consonant, it is omitted from the reduplicated syllable. (This is due to a broader constraint on heavy syllables.)
    • car “go” → ca-
    • pac “go” → pa-
    • labh “touch” → la-
  • No long vowels. If the vowel of the root is long, it is shortened in the reduplicated syllable. The short equivalents of ē and ō are i and respectively Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.1.48. (This, too, is due to the aforementioned constraint on heavy syllables.) Note that the vowel of the reduplicated syllable of bhū is ba- rather than bu- Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.73.
    • “lead” → ni-
    • sēv “serve” → si-
    • “give” → da-
    • bhū “become” → ba-
  • No vocalic r. becomes a.
    • vr̥ “open” → va-
    • mr̥ “die” → ma-
  • Saṁprasā́raṇam if possible. Roots that contain a semivowel followed by the vowel a and which are subject to saṁprasā́raṇam form the reduplicated syllable with the corresponding vowel (Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.1.17). Roots that would form a saṁprasā́raṇam stem with use a in the reduplicated syllable because of the above constraint on .
    • vac “speak” → u-
    • vad “speak” → u-
    • vap “sow” → u-
    • vaś “wish” → u-
    • vas “dwell” → u-
    • svap “sleep” → su-
    • yaj “sacrifice” → i-
    • vyadh “strike” → vi-
  • No velars. Velars turn into the corresponding palatal sounds. See the above examples, as well as:
    • kāś “shine” → ca-
    • kr̥ “play” → ca-
    • gāh “dive into” → ja-
  • No aspirates. Aspirates are replaced by the corresponding non-aspirate sounds, and the phoneme h is replaced by j.
    • bhū “become” → ba-
    • bhuj “enjoy” → bu-
    • dhā “place” → da-
    • “leave” → ja-
  • No conjunct consonants. If the root begins with a conjunct consonant, it must be reduced to a single consonant. Generally the least sonorous consonant remains, where stops are the least sonorous of all, followed by sibilants, followed by nasals, and finally followed by semivowels, the least sonorous consonants. Here are examples of the possible combinations:
    • stop + sibilant:
      • spr̥ś “touch” → pa-
      • skhal “trip” → ca-
      • kṣip “throw” → ci-
    • sibilant + nasal:
      • smr̥ “remember” → sa-
    • stop + semivowel:
      • kruś “shout” → cu-
      • tras “be afraid” → ta-

Roots beginning with a vowel follow the same rules, although some sandhi changes occurs: in the weak form of the stem, the vowel of the reduplicated syllable with combine with the vowel of the root, and in the strong form, if the root takes guṇáḥ or vŕ̥ddhiḥ, the glide y or v will be inserted between the reduplicated syllable and the root.

§21.2.Endings

The endings of the perfect are different from those of the present system. In the tables below, they have been presented with the augment i, which very often appears between a stem ending in a consonant, and an ending beginning with a consonant.

In the following, the parasmaipadám endings are given with Pāṇini’s diacritic letters (anubandhaḥ):

Parasmaipadám endings of the perfect
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ṆaL atuḥ uḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ thaL athuḥ a
uttamapuruṣaḥ ṆaL va ma

The ātmanēpadám endings are generally the same as the primary secondary endings that are used, for example, in the present tense:

Ātmanēpadám endings of the perfect
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ē ātē irē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ āthē dhvē
uttamapuruṣaḥ ē vahē mahē

Note, however, the distinct endings ē in the third person singular (in contrast to ) and irē in the third person plural.

The augment iṬ very commonly occurs between the perfect stem and endings that begin with a consonant. The presence or absence of iṬ depends very much on the root in question, but the endings can be put into three groups:

always with iṬ 3pl.ātmanē.
mostly with iṬ va 1du.parasmai.
ma 1pl.parasmai.
2sg.ātmanē.
dhvē 2pl.ātmanē.
vahē 1du.ātmanē.
mahē 1pl.ātmanē.
less often with iṬ tha 2sg.parasmai.

Note that the augment is generally optional before the second person singular parasmaipadám ending tha, hence uváktha or uvácitha.

The verb kr̥ never takes the augment iṬ in the perfect, except before the third person plural ātmanēpadám ending (which is, for all intents and purposes, irē).

Roots ending in a vowel like “give” or dhā “place” take a special ending in the first person and third person singular parasmaipadam. In those cases the vowel of the root combines with the ending to produce au (see the paradigms below).

§21.3.Vowel gradation

In the perfect, as in all of the other ‘athematic’ verb conjugations, there is a pattern of accent mobility between the stem and the endings, which accompanies a pattern of vowel gradation. According to this pattern, the stem exhibits a full grade of the root syllable when it is accented, and a zero grade of the root syllable when it is unaccented. Hence the perfect distinguishes between a strong and weak form of the stem.

As usual, the singular endings of the parasmaipadám are unaccented and therefore accompany the strong form of the stem, whereas the stem is weak before all of the other endings (the dual and plural of the parasmaipadám and all of the ātmanēpadám endings).

§21.4.The weak stem

The weak form of the root is simply the zero grade, which involves all of the transformations associated with the diacritic marker K (which is implicit in all of the endings of the perfect other than the singular parasmaipadám). The most important such transformation is saṁprasā́raṇam: for many verbs that contain a semivowel followed by the vowel a, the a is lost and the semivowel becomes a vowel. In many of those cases, internal sandhi will unite the reduplicating syllable and the root syllable, since both are formed with saṁprasā́raṇam:

Root Meaning Weak stem
grah “grasp” ja-gr̥h-
vac “say” ūc-
svap “sleep” su-ṣup-
yaj “sacrifice” īj-
vyadh “pierce” vi-vidh-

For roots ending in vowels, whether the final vowel of the weak stem becomes a semivowel before endings beginning with a vowel (yaṆ) or whether it is substituted with a combination of a short vowel plus a semivowel (iyaṄ/uvaṄ) depends on the number of consonants that precede it. If the final vowel is preceded by one consonant, it is regularly converted into a semivowel; if it is preceded by more than one, it is replaced with iyaṄ or uvaṄ:

Root Meaning 3pl.parasmai.
“lead” ni-ny-úḥ
krī “buy” ci-kriy-úḥ
śru “hear” śu-śruv-úḥ

In the case of the verb bhū, however, the augment vuK is always inserted between the root and endings beginning with a vowel:

Root Meaning 3pl.parasmai.
bhū “lead” ba-bhū-v-úḥ

One important class of verbal roots does not employ reduplication in the weak form of the stem, but instead uses a collapsed stem. These are roots that (1) contain the vowel a followed by a single consonant, and (2) form their reduplicating syllable with the exact same consonant that is used in the root, i.e., they do not begin with a conjunct consonant, a velar, or an aspirate. Such roots form the weak stem by replacing the medial vowel a with ē, as follows:

Root Meaning Weak stem
sad “sit” sēd-
pac “cook” pēc-
man “think” mēn-
tan “stretch” tēn-

An even smaller class of verbs with a medial a (i.e., the vowel a followed by one and only one consonant) forms the weak stem of the perfect with reduplication, but accompanied by the deletion of the vowel of the root syllable. These roots are as follows Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.98:

Root Meaning Weak stem
gam “go” ja-gm-
han “strike” ja-ghn-
jan “be born” ja-jñ-
khan “dig” ca-khn-
ghas “eat” ja-kṣ-

Note that han substitutes its original velar, gh, for h in the perfect forms.

Finally, roots that end in the vowel ā form the strong stem with ā (which takes special endings in the first and third person parasmaipadam) and their weak stem with i before consonants and zero before vowels:

Root Meaning Weak stem
“give” da-d-, da-di-
§21.5.The strong stem

For verbs of a certain phonological shape, the strong form of the stem itself takes different forms depending on which of the endings follows. The vowel gradation of the strong them is:

ending vowel grade
ṆaL (1sg.parasmai.) optionally guṇáḥ or -vŕ̥ddhiḥ
thaL (2sg.parasmai.) guṇáḥ
ṆaL (3sg.parasmai.) -vŕ̥ddhiḥ

-vŕ̥ddhiḥ” means that the root will take either guṇáḥ or vŕ̥ddhiḥ depending on its phonological shape. Roots endings in a vowel, or which have the vowel a followed by one and only one consonant, take vŕ̥ddhiḥ in these forms; all other roots take guṇáḥ.

A root like bhid “split” will never take vŕ̥ddhiḥ before endings marked with , because it has neither a final vowel nor a medial a. Hence its paradigm will be as follows:

Perfect liṭ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ bibhḗda bibhidátuḥ bibhidúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ bibhḗditha bibhidátuḥ bibhidá
uttamapuruṣaḥ bibhḗda bibhidivá bibhidimá

For a verb like , however, vŕ̥ddhiḥ is required in the third person singular, and guṇáḥ is required in the second person singular. In the first person singular, either guṇáḥ or vŕ̥ddhiḥ may be used. Hence:

Perfect liṭ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ninā́ya ninyátuḥ ninyúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ninḗtha, nináyitha ninyáthuḥ ninyá
uttamapuruṣaḥ ninā́ya, nináya ninyivá ninyimá

The reason for the difference in vowel gradation in the strong form of the stem has to do with Brugmann’s Law. The Proto-Indo-European vowel o generally became a in Sanskrit. However, when it occurred in an open syllable—that is, when it was not followed by a consonant in the same syllable—it developed into the long vowel ā. The full grade of the perfect stem was formed with an accented ó in Proto-Indo-European. Most often, Indo-European roots end in a single consonant. Hence this ó stood in an open syllable before endings beginning with a vowel. The endings reconstructed for the perfect in Proto-Indo-European are e in the third person singular, th₂e in the second person singular, and h₂e in the first person singular. Hence Brugmann’s Law generally converted a medial ó into a in the first and second person singular, and ā in the third person singular. Possibly the option for guṇáḥ or -vŕ̥ddhiḥ in the first person singular arose from the fact that the laryngeal consonant with which the first person singular ending began, h₂, was already unstable at the time that Brugmann’s Law operated. Below are the reconstructions for the perfect of śru “hear”, with a dash marking the boundary between the stem and the ending, and a dot marking the boundary between syllables:

Form Proto-Indo-European Sanskrit
3sg.parasmai. ḱe.ḱló.w-e śuśrā́va
2sg.parasmai. ḱe.ḱlów-t.h₂e śuśrṓtha
1sg.parasmai. ḱe-ḱlów.-h₂e śuśráva
§21.6.Paradigms

The verb bhū “become” is peculiar first of all because it reduplicates with ba-, rather than the expected bu-, and second because it does not undergo any kind of vowel gradation in the perfect, and third because a glide (vUK) always appears between the root and endings beginning with a vowel.

Perfect liṭ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ babhū́va babhūvátuḥ babhūvúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ babhū́vitha babhūváthuḥ babhūvá
uttamapuruṣaḥ babhū́va babhūvivá babhūvimá

The verb man “think” is conjugated in the ātmanēpadám, and it forms its weak stem through a “collapse” of the reduplicating syllable and the root.

Perfect liṭ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ mēnḗ mēnā́tē mēnirḗ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ mēniṣḗ mēnā́thē mēnidhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ mēnḗ mēniváhē mēnimáhē

The verb “give” exhibits the special ending of the first and third person singular parasmaipadam for verbs ending in a long ā:

Perfect liṭ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ dádau dadatúḥ dadúḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ dádātha, dáditha dadā́thuḥ dadá
uttamapuruṣaḥ dádau dadivá dadimá
Perfect liṭ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ dadḗ dadā́tē dadirḗ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ dadiṣḗ dadā́thē dadidhvḗ
uttamapuruṣaḥ dadḗ dadiváhē dadimáhē
§22. The aorist systems.

The aorist refers to a set of verbal formations that constitute a system in alternation with the present and perfect system. Originally, the aorist system was associated with perfective aspect, that is, to speak of actions as complete in themselves, and usually thus as punctual (e.g., ‘he dropped the glass’ vs. ‘he kept dropping the glass’). The significance of aspect, however, has largely disappeared from the Sanskrit verbal system, and aorist forms are used as the ‘default’ past tense Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.110. They contrast with the imperfect, which is used for actions which have taken place within the lifetime of the speaker but not generally in the timeframe of discourse (e.g., ‘Obama was elected in 2008’), and with the perfect, which is generally reserved for the remote past (e.g., ‘Harṣa defeated Śaśāṅka’). The association of aorist forms with perfective aspect, however, lives on in the common use of augmentless aorist forms to express prohibitions (‘don’t do that’ = mā tat kārṣīḥ; see the injunctive below).

The aorist system, like the present system, comprises a number of different stem formations. But whereas each verbal root is generally associated with one and only one present stem, a given verbal root may be associated with several different aorist stems. Moreover the phonological shape of a root is of greater importance in determining the stems that it can form in the aorist system than in the present system. The major modes of aorist stem formation are:

  • the sigmatic aorists:
    • the simple sigmatic aorist or s-aorist SiC;
    • the iṣ-aorist;
    • the siṣ-aorist;
    • the sa-aorist Ksa;
  • the root aorist;
  • the thematic aorist aṄ;
  • the reduplicated aorist CaṄ; and
  • the passive aorist CiṆ.

Some of these formations are reserved for specific syntactic functions. Thus, just as the suffix yaK forms an impersonal or passive present stem, so too the suffix CiṆ forms an impersonal or passive aorist. Similarly, just as the suffix ṆiC forms a causative root that can be conjugated in the present system, so too the suffix CaṄ forms a causative aorist. Whether a particular root takes a particular aorist formation, however, is otherwise largely determined by its phonological shape.

Pāṇini groups all of the aorist forms together firstly under the abstract tense-aspect-mood marker luṅ Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.110, which is always replaced with the suffix Cli Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.43. This general suffix of the aorist is then substituted as needed to form the aorist stems discussed below. The default form is the s-aorist Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.44.

The endings of the aorist are the secondary endings of both the parasmaipadám and ātmanēpadám. The only major point to note in connection with the aorist endings is the third person plural. The thematic aorist conjugations (those formed with Ksa and aṄ) take -an in the parasmaipadám and -anta in the ātmanēpadám. (The root aorist of bhū, which is athematic, also takes the ending -an.) The athematic aorist conjugations, however, take the ending -uḥ in the parasmaipadám and -ata in the ātmanēpadám.

The aorist, as an indicative past tense, always features the past tense augment aṬ (= á-). The augment is added before the root, but after all of the verbal prefixes. In case the root begins with a vowel, the augmented form of the root is represented by vŕ̥ddhiḥ of that vowel.

§22.1.The sigmatic aorists

The most common forms of the aorist feature the aorist marker s, which appears between the root and the endings. There are, however, a number of different ways to form this aorist—which is called the sigmatic or sibilant aorist because of this marker—depending partly on the phonological shape of the verbal root:

  • the s-aorist,
  • the iṣ-aorist,
  • the siṣ-aorist, and
  • the sa-aorist.

The s-aorist is the default aorist formation, and is formed by the addition of the suffix s (Pāṇini’s siC) directly to the verbal root. The default pattern of vowel gradation for this form is lengthened grade (vŕ̥ddhiḥ) in the parasmaipadám and zero grade in the ātmanēpadám. However, verbal roots that end in the vowels i, ī, u and ū take full grade (guṇáḥ) in the ātmanēpadám. Verbs that end in a long ā turn this into i or ī in the ātmanēpadám (in the parasmaipadám such verbs usually form another aorist).

The endings of the s-aorist are the regular secondary endings for athematic verbs, including -uḥ in the third person plural parasmaipadám and -ata in the third person plural ātmanēpadám. However, because these endings are added directly onto a stem characterized by s, a number of sandhi changes, and pseudo-sandhi changes, occur:

  • between the verbal root and endings that consist of a single phoneme (i.e., -s of the 2sg.parasmai. and -t of the 3sg.parasmai.) an augment -ī- is inserted, so that the endings of the 2sg. and 3sg. parasmai. are effectively -īḥ and -īt respectively;
  • before the ending -dhvam of the 2pl.ātmanē., the aorist marker s is lost, and in case the s would have been retroflexed, the ending becomes -ḍhvam;
  • before endings that begin with t or th stop, the aorist marker -s- is lost in two circumstances:
    • if the sound preceding s is a consonant; and
    • if the sound preceding s is a short vowel (as in the ātmanēpadam of certain vowel-final roots.

Regarding the insertion of the augment ī: this is a relatively new feature of the s-aorist, which begins to appear in the Atharvavēda and, with some regularity, in the Brāhmaṇa texts. The older form of the s-aorist was simply (e.g.) ánaiḥ, ájaiḥ, ákāḥ, ápāk, etc. The augment ī was introduced from the iṣ-aorist (see below).

Regarding the loss of s/ before -dhvam, this is a normal (although rare) sandhi phenomenon, according to which the s/ is voiced due to regressive assimilation of voicing. The voiced dental sibilant (call it z if you like) disappears without any visible effect, but the voiced retroflex sibilant (call it ) almost always produces retroflexion in the following dental stop, and hence the outcome -ḍhvam.

Regarding the loss of s after the of a verbal root, this is likely not a sandhi phenomenon at all, but the appearance of root aorist forms in the paradigm of the s-aorist.

s-aorist of pac ‘cook’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ápākṣīt ápāktām ápākṣuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ápākṣīḥ ápāktam ápākta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ápākṣam ápākṣva ápākṣma
s-aorist of pac ‘cook’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ápakta ápakṣātām ápakṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ápakthāḥ ápakṣāthām ápagdhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ápakṣi ápakṣvahi ápakṣmahi
s-aorist of ‘lead’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ánaiṣīt ánaiṣṭām ánaiṣuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ánaiṣīḥ ánaiṣṭam ánaiṣṭa
uttamapuruṣaḥ ánaiṣam ánaiṣva ánaiṣma
s-aorist of ‘lead’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ánēṣṭa ánēṣātām ánēṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ánēṣṭhāḥ ánēṣāthām ánēḍhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ánēṣi ánēṣvahi ánēṣmahi
s-aorist of vi-ji ‘conquer’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ vyájēṣṭa vyájēṣātām vyájēṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ vyájēṣṭhāḥ vyájēṣāthām vyájēḍhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ vyájēṣi vyájēṣvahi vyájēṣmahi
s-aorist of ā- ‘take’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ā́dita ā́diṣātām ā́diṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ā́dithāḥ ā́diṣāthām ā́diḍhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ā́diṣi ā́diṣvahi ā́diṣmahi

The iṣ-aorist is, in origin, just the form that the s-aorist took when the verbal root takes the augment iṬ (i.e., if it is a sēṬ root). It uses the same endings as the s-aorist, but the vowel gradation is different: the augment i generally causes the root to enter the full grade, or guṇáḥ, although roots ending in a vowel (and some roots with a penultimate a) take vŕ̥ddhiḥ in the parasmaipadám, just as in the s-aorist.

Note that the second and third person singular of the parasmaipadám are not *-iṣīḥ and *-iṣīt, but -īḥ and -īt (as noted above, these forms actually originated in the iṣ-aorist, and secondarily spread to the s-aorist).

The roots that took this augment, as explained above, historically ended in a laryngeal consonant, which became i in interconsonantal position.

iṣ-aorist of budh ‘wake up’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ábōdhīt ábōdhiṣṭām ábōdhiṣuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ábōdhīḥ ábōdhiṣṭam ábōdhiṣṭa
uttamapuruṣaḥ ábōdhiṣam ábōdhiṣva ábōdhiṣma
iṣ-aorist of budh ‘wake up’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ábōdhiṣṭa ábōdhiṣātām ábōdhiṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ábōdhiṣṭhāḥ ábōdhiṣāthām ábōdhiḍhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ábōdhiṣi ábōdhiṣvahi ábōdhiṣmahi
iṣ-aorist of ‘purify’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ápāvīt ápāviṣṭām ápāviṣuḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ápāvīḥ ápāviṣṭam ápāviṣṭa
uttamapuruṣaḥ ápāviṣam ápāviṣva ápāviṣma
iṣ-aorist of ‘purify’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ápaviṣṭa ápaviṣātām ápaviṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ápaviṣṭhāḥ ápaviṣāthām ápaviḍhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ápaviṣi ápaviṣvahi ápāviṣma

In a few verbs (ram ‘besport,’ yam ‘control,’ nam ‘bow,’ and those ending in ), the augment -s- (sak) is added between the root and the augment -i-. This form is therefore often called the “siṣ-aorist.” The root stays in its full grade form (guṇáḥ), and only the parasmaipadám is used. In the ātmanēpadám of these verbs, the s-aorist is used instead.

siṣ-aorist of ‘go’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ áyāsīt áyāsiṣṭām ápaviṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ áyāsīḥ áyāsiṣṭam áyāsiṣṭa
uttamapuruṣaḥ áyāsiṣam áyāsiṣva ápāviṣma
siṣ-aorist of nam ‘bow’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ánaṁsīt ánaṁsiṣṭām ánaṁsiṣata
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ánaṁsīḥ ánaṁsiṣṭam ánaṁsiṣṭa
uttamapuruṣaḥ ánaṁsiṣam ánaṁsiṣva ánaṁsiṣma
§22.2.The sa-aorist Ksa

Another aorist paradigm, using the suffix -sa, is used for the following types of verbs Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.45:

  • those ending in ś, , s or h;
  • those that have a medial i, ī, u, ū, , or r̥̄;
  • those that do not take the augment iṬ.

Hence roots that take this form include diś “point out,” viś “enter,” lih “lick,” duh “milk,” and so on. (Not dr̥ś “see,” which takes the s-aorist instead.)

In these forms, the root always stands in the zero grade. The endings -an and -anta of the third person plural are used instead of the endings -uḥ and -ata.

sa-aorist of diś ‘point out’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ádikṣat ádikṣatām ádikṣan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ádikṣaḥ ádikṣatam ádikṣata
uttamapuruṣaḥ ádikṣam ádikṣāva ádikṣāma
sa-aorist of diś ‘point out’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ádikṣata ádikṣātām ádikṣanta
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ádikṣathāḥ ádikṣatham ádikṣadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ádikṣi ádikṣāvahi ádikṣāmahi

Four verbs that end in h (duh “milk,” dih “smear,” lih “lick,” and guh “hide”) optionally take the regular s-aorist endings before ātmanēpadám endings that begin with a dental (that is to say, the entire suffix of the sa-aorist is optionally deleted in such environments, see Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.73):

  • duh 3rd person singular ātmanēpadám: ádhukṣata or ádugdha
  • duh 2nd person singular ātmanēpadám: ádhukṣathāḥ or ádugdhāḥ
  • duh 2nd person plural ātmanēpadám: ádhukṣadhvam or ádugdhvam
§22.3.The root aorist

The root aorist refers to an aorist form in which the endings are added directly to the verbal root. In Classical Sanskrit, this form is only available for a small class of verbs — five that end in (, dhā, sthā, , and , the last of which is a substitution of gam “go” in certain contexts), and bhū — and only in the parasmaipadám Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.4.77. (These same roots use the s-aorist in the ātmanēpadám.) But in the Vedas forms from other roots, and ātmanēpadám forms, are attested.

The third-person plural ending in -uḥ for roots endings in , before which this vowel is lost; for bhū, the ending is -an, before which bhū becomes bhuv-.

Root aorist of ‘give’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ádāt ádātām áduḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ádāḥ ádātam ádāta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ádām ádāva ádāma
Root aorist of bhū ‘be’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ábhut ábhūtām ábhuvan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ábhūḥ ábhūtam ábhūta
uttamapuruṣaḥ ábhūvam ábhūva ábhūma
§22.4.The thematic aorist aṄ

The thematic aorist is formed by a suffix -a- (Pāṇini’s aṆ) added to root in the zero grade. The root dr̥ś, and roots ending in the vowel -r̥, take guṇáḥ instead Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.14. It has both parasmaipadám and ātmanēpadám forms, but not all roots can take both. Following Pāṇini we can think of three classes of roots that take this form:

  • those that take the a-aorist in both the parasmaipadám and ātmanēpadám, like sr̥ “go,” śās “order,” and “go”;
  • those that take it in the parasmaipadám and only optionally in the ātmanēpadám, like lip “smear,” sic “sprinkle,” and hvē “call”;
  • those that take it in the parasmaipadám and not in the ātmanēpadám, like puṣ “nourish,” śuṣ “dry out,” and dyut “shine.”

The thematic aorist is very similar to the imperfect of thematic verbs, especially those in class 6, which also appear in the zero grade. One difference, however, is that the imperfect uses the present stem, which in some cases is formed by nasal infixation, whereas the aorist stem never has a nasal infix. Contrast:

  • sic “sprinkle” → á-siñc-a-t “he sprinkled” (imperfect)
  • sic “sprinkle” → á-sic-a-t “he sprinkled” (aorist)

There are two verbs that form their thematic aorist stems by reduplication: vac “speak” and pat “fly.” In both cases the root syllable appears in the zero grade:

  • vac + aṆá-va-vc-a-ávōca-
  • pat + aṆá-pa-pt-a-ápapta-

A few other verbs have idiosyncratic a-aorist formations:

  • as “throw” + aṆā́stha-
  • śās “teach” + aṆáśiṣa-
  • naś “perish” + aṆánēśa-
Thematic aorist of vid ‘find’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ávidat ávidatām ávidan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ávidaḥ ávidatam ávidata
uttamapuruṣaḥ ávidam ávidāva ávidāma
Thematic aorist of vid ‘find’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ávidata ávidētām ávidanta
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ávidathāḥ ávidēthām ávidadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ávidē ávidāvahi ávidāmahi
Thematic aorist of sr̥ ‘go’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ásarat ásaratām ásaran
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ásaraḥ ásaratam ásarata
uttamapuruṣaḥ ásaram ásarāva ásarāma
Thematic aorist of sr̥ ‘go’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ ásarata ásarētām ásaranta
madhyamapuruṣaḥ ásarathāḥ ásarēthām ásaradhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ ásarē ásarāvahi ásarāmahi
§22.5.The reduplicated aorist caṄ

The reduplicated aorist, formed with the suffix caṄ, forms verbs with a causative meaning as well as verbs that are conjugated in the tenth class in the present system. The stem-forming suffix caṄ thus corresponds, in the aorist system, to the stem-forming suffix ṆiC (technically ṆiC + ŚaP) in the present system. The roots śri “resort to,” dru “melt,” and sru “run” (as liquid) have a non-causative meaning in this tense. Generally the root takes the zero grade, but roots that end in take guṇáḥ, and roots that have a medial have the option of taking zero grade or guṇáḥ (see below).

The reduplicated syllable abhyāsaḥ is formed similarly to third-class presents, with two exceptions: an a and ā in the root syllable become i in the reduplicated syllable, and the length of the vowel in the reduplicated syllable is adjusted to conform to a prosodic template. The reduplicated syllable and root syllable should either fit the template ˉ ̆ (heavy-light), or failing that, ̆ˉ (light-heavy). Verbs with a medial can take both forms, depending on whether they take guṇáḥ. Here are some examples:

  • ˉ ̆ (heavy-light)
    • dru + CaṄ “melt” → ádudruva-
    • kṣip + CaṄ “throw” → ácikṣipa-
    • jan + CaṄ “be born” → ájījana--
    • bhid + CaṄ “break” → ábībhida-
    • kr̥ + CaṄ “do” → ácīkara-
    • vr̥dh + CaṄ “grow” → ávīvr̥dha- (but see below)
    • vr̥t + CaṄ “turn” → ávīvr̥ta- (but see below)
  • ̆ ˉ (light-heavy)
    • rakṣ + CaṄ “guard” → árarakṣa-
    • vr̥dh + CaṄ “grow” → ávavardha- (but see above)
    • vr̥t + CaṄ “turn” → ávavarta- (but see above)
Reduplicated aorist of śri ‘resort to’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ áśiśriyat áśiśriyatām áśiśriyan
madhyamapuruṣaḥ áśiśriyaḥ áśiśriyatam áśiśriyata
uttamapuruṣaḥ áśiśriyam áśiśriyāva áśiśriyāma
Reduplicated aorist of śri ‘resort to’ (ātmanēpadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ áśiśriyata áśiśriyētām áśiśriyanta
madhyamapuruṣaḥ áśiśriyathāḥ áśiśriyēthām áśiśriyadhvam
uttamapuruṣaḥ áśiśriyē áśiśriyāvahi áśiśriyāmahi
§22.6.The passive aorist CiṆ

The passive aorist is formed with CiṆ, i.e., the suffix -i added onto a root that takes Ṇ-vr̥ddhi. This form is called the “passive aorist” because it is taught in an impersonal and passive sense Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.66, although there are a number of cases when it is used actively.

  • ákāri (kr̥) “it was done”
  • ájani (jan) “it was produced”
  • ávadhi (vadh) “it was killed”
  • ádarśi (dr̥ś) “it was seen”
  • abhyádhāyi (dhā) “it was expressed”
  • ábōdhi (budh) “it was realized”
  • ávāci (vac) “it was said”
  • anvábhāvi (anu-bhū) “it was experienced”
§22.7.The injunctive

The injunctive is just an aorist form with an augment. It is primarily used with the prohibitive particle to express a prohibition.

The future is a verbal form that refers to the future (“what will happen,” bhaviṣyat). Sanskrit has two such forms: one, called lr̥ṭ by Pāṇini, is like the other lakāras in that it involves the addition of a stem-forming suffix vikaraṇaḥ to a verbal root dhātuḥ followed by the personal endings; the other, called luṭ, can be thought of as a verbal use of an agent noun. The former, which I will “the simple future” or just “the future,” is used much more often than the latter.

§23.1.The future lr̥ṭ

The simple future is formed by adding the stem-forming suffix syá to the root (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.33), which is generally in the full grade (guṇáḥ). Many verbs take the augment i (iṬ) between the root and the suffix syá, and hence the future suffix in these verbs can be thought of as iṣyá.

Of roots ending in vowels, none of those ending in ā, i, and ī, and all of those ending in and r̥̄ take the augment; those ending in u or ū must be learned on a case-by-case basis. Those ending in consonants must be learned on a case-by-case basis as well.

For verbs that do not take the augment i, a number of sandhi changes might occur between the root and the suffix:

  • Voicing assimilation:
    • labh + sya [ + ti ]lapsyáti “will receive”
    • pad + sya [ + ti ]patsyáti “will occur”
    • budh + sya [ + ti ]bhōtsyáti “will become aware”
  • ruki:
    • bhaj + sya [ + ]bhakṣyátē “will partake”
    • spr̥ś + sya [ + ti ]sprakṣyáti “will touch”

The padám (parasmaipadám or ātmanēpadám) is the same as that of the present tense for any given verb.

The endings are the same as those of the present tense as well.

Here are a number of examples of the third-person singular of the future from verbal roots of various shapes. The full paradigm can be formed on the analogy of the present.

  • Vowel-final roots (no i)
    • + sya [ + ti ]dāsyáti “will give”
    • sthā + sya [ + ti ]sthāsyáti “will stand”
    • gai + sya [ + ti ]gāsyáti “will sing”
    • i + sya [ + ti ]ēṣyáti “will go”
    • ji + sya [ + ti ]jēṣyáti “will prevail”
    • + sya [ + ti ]nēṣyáti “will lead”
    • śru + sya [ + ti ]śrōṣyáti “will hear”
  • Vowel-final roots (with i)
    • bhū + sya [ + ti ]bhaviṣyáti “will become”
    • kr̥ + sya [ + ti ]kariṣyáti “will do”
    • hr̥ + sya [ + ti ]hariṣyáti “will take”
  • Consonant-final roots (no i)
    • prach + sya [ + ti ]prakṣyáti “will ask”
    • vac + sya [ + ti ]vakṣyáti “will say”
    • tyaj + sya [ + ti ]tyakṣyáti “will take”
    • sr̥j + sya [ + ti ]srakṣyáti “will create”
    • spr̥ś + sya [ + ti ]sprakṣyáti “will touch”
    • dr̥ś + sya [ + ti ]drakṣyáti “will see”
    • pad + sya [ + ti ]patsyáti “will occur”
    • ad + sya [ + ti ]atsyáti “will each”
    • bhid + sya [ + ti ]bhitsyáti “will break”
    • dah + sya [ + ti ]dhakṣyáti “will burn”
    • duh + sya [ + ti ]dhōkṣyáti “will milk”
    • krudh + sya [ + ti ]krōtsyáti “will get angry”
    • yudh + sya [ + ti ]yōtsyáti “will fight”
    • budh + sya [ + ti ]bhōtsyáti “will become aware”
    • vr̥t + sya [ + ti ]vartsyáti “will turn”
    • labh + sya [ + ]lapsyátē “will receive”
    • man + sya [ + ]maṁsyátē “will think”
    • kram + sya [ + ]kraṁsyáti “will step”
    • dviṣ + sya [ + ti ]dvēkṣyáti “will hate”
    • viṣ + sya [ + ti ]vēkṣyáti “will enter”
  • Consonant-final roots (with i)
    • pat + sya [ + ti ]patiṣyáti “will fly”
    • granth + sya [ + ti ]granthiṣyáti “will knot”
    • gam + sya [ + ti ]gamiṣyáti “will go”
    • śubh + sya [ + ti ]śōbhiṣyáti “will shine”
    • has + sya [ + ti ]hasiṣyáti “will laugh”
    • śaṁs + sya [ + ti ]śaṁsiṣyáti “will praise”
§23.2.The periphrastic future luṭ

The “periphrastic future” luṭ is so called because it is composed of an agent noun in -tr̥ (see below) and the inflected forms of the copula as. (There are only parasmaipadám forms.) However, the copula is only used in the first and second person, and the agent noun is only inflected for number in the third person. The agent noun generally takes i in those cases where the simple future also takes i, with one important exception: roots ending in -r̥, which necessarily take the augment in the simple future, do not take it in the periphrastic future. The accent is on the final syllable of the agent noun.

It is more rare than the simple future, and it is said to be used “not with reference to the present day” (anadyantanē luṭ, Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.3.15).

Periphrastic future of kr̥ ‘do’ (parasmaipadám)
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ kartā́ kartā́rau kartā́raḥ
madhyamapuruṣaḥ kartā́si kartā́sthaḥ kartā́stha
uttamapuruṣaḥ kartā́smi kartā́svaḥ kartā́smaḥ
§24. Secondary verbs sanādiḥ.

Secondary verbs are those which are derived not from a simple, unanalyzeable verbal root dhātuḥ, but from a verbal root that has been formed from other elements. Those elements may include other verbal roots, nominal stems, and suffixes. We can in general distinguish secondary verbs into two main classes:

  • Deverbal verbs (those formed from other verbs):
    • The causative ṆiC
    • The desiderative saN
    • The intensive yaṄ
  • Denominative verbs (those formed from nominal stems):
    • Denominative verbs proper KyaṄ
    • Verbs formed with denominal prefixes cvi
§24.1.The causative

The causative refers to a verb that is formed from an existing verbal root (here referred to as the “simple verb”) by the addition of a suffix that Pāṇini calls ṆiC that expresses the cause hētuḥ whereby the agent of the simple verb is made to perform the action of that verb.

Sanskrit grammarians refer to the action of having someone else do something as “employing” prayōjanam. The cause, or as I will refer to it, the causer, is therefore the employing agent prayōjakakartr̥ of the causative verb, while the agent of the simple verb, the causee, is the employed agent prayōjyakartr̥ of the causative verb.

Causative verbs can therefore be considered valency-increasing because they add an argument, namely the causer, to the argument structure of the verb. Thus, with the addition of a causative suffix, intransitive verbs (valency 1) become transitive (valency 2), and transitive verbs (valency 2) become ditransitive (valency 3).

English, and every other language, also has “causative alternations,” or ways in which an expression involving a causer alternates with an expression without a causer. Here are a few examples:

  • The tree falls (vr̥kṣaḥ patati).
    He fells the tree (vr̥kṣaṁ pātayati).
    [Morphological alternation]
  • The cake bakes (purōḍāśas tapati).
    He bakes the cake (purōḍāśaṁ tāpayati).
    [Unmarked alternation]
  • The tree stands (vr̥kṣas tiṣṭhati).
    He stands the tree up (vr̥kṣaṁ sthāpayati).
    [Phrasal alternation]
  • He eats (bhuṅktē).
    He feeds him (taṁ bhōjayati).
    [Lexical alternation]

As the translations above suggest, Sanskrit expresses such alternations morphologically, that is, by using a form of the verb that is explicitly marked as causative through the suffix ṆiC.

In the suffix ṆiC, the marker-letter anubandhaḥ C means that the accent of the causative base is on the final syllable, and the marker-letter means that the root will undergo a particular kind of vowel gradation, namely -vŕ̥ddhiḥ). This requires the following changes (I leave off the suffix i in this presentation but give the root in the form it would take before a vowel) :

  • vŕ̥ddhiḥ in the case of a final vowel (for exceptions see below);
    • kr̥ “do” → kār
    • śru “hear” → śrāv
    • i “go” → āy
    • “lead” → nāy
    • mr̥ “die” → mār
    • hr̥ “take away” → hār
  • vŕ̥ddhiḥ in the case of a medial vowel a;
    • pat “fall” → pāt
    • pad “occur” → pād
    • pac “cook” → pāc
    • khan “dig” → khān
    • śap “curse” → śāp
    • ram “play” → rām (also ram; see below)
  • particular to the causative is the cancellation of vŕ̥ddhiḥ in a list of verbal roots that are taught with the marker m in the dhātupāṭhaḥ, as well as some others that end in a nasal, all of which are given here for reference Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.92:
    • gam “go”
    • śram “become tired”
    • dam “(become) tame”
    • śam “become quiet”
    • tam “gasp”
    • ghaṭ “fit”
    • vyath “fear”
    • prath “spread”
    • mrad “rub”
    • krap “pity”
    • tvar “hurry”
    • jvar “burn”
    • naṭ “dance”
    • śrath “kill”
    • van “act”
    • jval “shine”
    • smr̥ “remember”
    • dr̥̄ “respect”
    • śrā “boil”
    • jñā “know”
    • cal “move”
    • mad “rejoice”
    • dhvan “sound”
    • mad “rejoice”
    • dal “cut”
    • val “cover”
    • skhal “skip”
    • trap “be ashamed”
    • kṣai “wane”
    • jan “be born”
    • jr̥̄ “get old”
    • rañj “dye”
    • glā “fade”
    • snā “wash”
    • van “cherish”
    • phaṇ “approach”
  • a handful of roots insert a nasal (Pāṇini’s num) rather than taking vŕ̥ddhiḥ by Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.1.61 and the following rules:
    • labh “obtain” → lambh
    • rabh “begin” → rambh
    • radh “cook” → randh
    • jabh “snap” → jambh
  • guṇáḥ of all other roots;
    • bhid “split” → bhēd
    • budh “awaken” → bōdh
    • tr̥p “be satisfied” → tarp
    • dr̥ś “see” → darś
    • tud “hit” → tōd
  • except roots that end either in two consonants or a long vowel followed by a consonant, which are not subject to vowel gradation in the first place.
    • cumb “kiss”
    • jīv “live”
    • krīḍ “play”

All roots ending in ā, as well as a few others, appear in the causative with an augment āgamaḥ interposed between the final vowel of the root and the causative suffix. The default augment is p Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.36:

  • sthā “stand” → sthāp
  • “give” → dāp
  • dhā “place” → dhāp
  • “measure” → māp
  • “abandon” → hāp
  • hrī “be ashamed” → hrēp
  • vlī “press down” → vlēp
  • “go” → arp

Three verbs which end in vowels and therefore would take the usual vŕ̥ddhiḥ strengthening instead replace their i-vowel with ā and thus take the augment p (Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.1.48, Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.1.57):

  • ji “conquer” → jāp
  • adhi-iadhyāp
  • krī “buy” → krāp
  • smi “smile” → smāp

Another common augment is y Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.37, especially with those roots that are taught as ending in long diphthongs (indeed the y can be considered part of the root in these cases rather than an augment):

  • hvā or hvē “call” → hvāy
  • or “conclude” → sāy
  • “drink” → pāy

The augment is used with the verb bhī “be afraid” in the meaning of “terrify” or “be scary,” forming the causative root bhīṣ Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.1.56.

Two further special cases deserve notice. The root ruh “ascend” can either make its causative form as rōh or rōp Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.43. The root han “strike” makes its causative form as ghāt Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.32.

The pattern of vowel gradation in the causative is based on two aspects of Proto-Indo-European. First, the forms from which the Sanskrit causative were derived featured the vowel o rather than an e, and in accordance with Brugmann’s Law, an ablauting (i.e., morphologically alternating) vowel o became a long ā in Sanskrit if and only if that o appeared in an open syllables (i.e., if it was followed by one and only one consonant within the word). Hence we have, e.g., pātáyati from potéyeti, but darśáyati from dorḱéyeti. Secondly, many roots ended with a laryngeal consonant that was lost in Sanskrit, but which made the root syllable closed for the purposes of Brugmann’s Law. That is why we have, e.g., śamáyati from ḱomHéyeti, damáyati from domHéyeti, and so on. A few roots that did not actually end in a laryngeal consonant in Proto-Indo-European, such as gam (gʷom) were nevertheless remodelled on the analogy of roots like śam, dam, etc. which did.

Presence or absence of the causative suffix. Once the root has been strengthened as described above, it never changes in any causative form. What does change, however, is whether a particular form exhibits the suffix of the causative, namely -ay- (the guṇáḥ form of i), or whether the suffix is deleted. Compare, for example, the infinitive kārayitum “to cause to do” and the past passive participle kāritaḥ “caused to do.” The causative suffix is deleted in the latter but not the former.

The deletion of the causative suffix is covered by two relatively simple rules, Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.51 and Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.52. These rules say that the causative suffix is deleted before an ārdhadhātukaḥ suffix that does not take the augment i, as well as before the past passive and past active participle suffix. Hence:

  • the suffix is retained throughout the present system of verbs, which is formed throughout with sārvadhātukaḥ suffixes;
  • it is retained in the conjugational future tense and the conditional;
  • it is retained before most primary suffixes kr̥t that begin with a consonant, before which the augment i appears, hence:
    • tumun (infinitive): kārayitum, śrāvayitum, dāpayitum
    • Ktvā (converb): kārayitvā, śrāvayitvā, dāpayitvā
    • luṭ (periphrastic future): kārayitā, śrāvayitā, dāpayitā
    • tavya (future passive participle): kārayitavyaḥ, śrāvayitavyaḥ, dāpayitavyaḥ
  • it is deleted before those primary suffixes that begin with a vowel or the consonant y, hence:
    • LyaP (converb): saṁskārya, ādāpya
      • However, if the converb suffix is preceded by a short vowel and a single consonant, then the causative suffix is retained Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.56: praṇamayya, avagamayya, praśamayya, etc.
    • KyaP and ṆyaT (future passive participle): kāryaḥ, śrāvyaḥ, dāpyaḥ
  • it is deleted in the past passive participle and past active participle niṣṭhā, hence:
    • Kta (past passive participle): kāritaḥ, śrāvitaḥ, dāpitaḥ
    • KtavatU (past active participle): kāritavān, śrāvitavān, dāpitavān
  • it is deleted in the passive of the present system, i.e., before the stem-forming suffix yaK, hence:
    • kāryatē, śrāvyatē, dāpyatē

The present system. Causative verbs are used in all of the tenses and moods of the present system, including the present laṭ, imperfect laṅ, optative liṅ, and imperative lōṭ. The present stem is formed by adding the suffix -áya- (i.e., the causative suffix i = ṆiC, followed by the present-stem forming suffix a = ŚaP, which induces guṇáḥ of the causative suffix). The exact same suffix is used in the tenth present class of verbs, which are therefore formally identical to the causative.

The future system. Causative verbs form their future by adding -iṣya to the causative stem: kārayiṣyati, śrāvayiṣyati, dāpayiṣyati.

The perfect system. Causative verbs use the periphrastic perfect. The form used in the periphrastic perfect is a verbal noun formed by adding -ām onto the causative base with -ay- Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.55, hence kārayāṁ cakāra, bhāvayāṁ cakāra, dāpayāṁ cakāra, etc.

The aorist system. Causative verbs use the reduplicated aorist.

§24.2.The desiderative saN

The “desiderative” refers to the fact that the agent desires to do the action expressed by the verb Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.7. Sanskrit has a number of closely-related desiderative forms, exemplified here using ji “conquer”:

  • a conjugated verbal form, formed with the suffix sa saN:
    • jígīṣati “he wants to conquer”
  • an action noun, formed with the suffix :
    • jígīṣā “the desire to conquer”
  • an agent noun, formed with the suffix su:
    • jígīṣuḥ “one who wants to conquer”

As these examples show, the verbal and nominal forms share a stem, which is characterized by reduplication and a final s. The rules for reduplication are the same as those of the present (a u or ū in the root gives u in the reduplicant, but otherwise the vowel of the reduplicant is i). However, a number of roots form the desiderative in a slightly irregular way, and their forms ought to be memorized. This includes the following long-vowel roots:

  • + sa [ + ti ]dítsati “wants to give”
  • dhā + sa [ + ti ]dhítsati “wants to place”
  • + sa [ + ti ]mítsati “wants to measure”
  • + sa [ + ti ]mítsati “wants to destroy”

As well as the following other roots:

  • āp + sa [ + ti ]ī́psati “wants to obtain”
  • rabh + sa [ + ]rípsatē “wants to begin”
  • labh + sa [ + ]lípsatē “wants to take”
  • dambh + sa [ + ti ]dhípsati or dhī́psati “wants to deceive”
  • śak + sa [ + ti ]śikṣati “wants to be able, learns”
  • pat + sa [ + ti ]pítsati “wants to fall”
  • pad + sa [ + ]pítsatē “wants to occur”
  • jñap + sa [ + ]jñī́psati “wants to command”
  • muc + sa [ + ]mṓkṣatē “wants to be free” (or múmukṣatē)

Some of these forms can be explained as remodeled stems arising from a reduplicant followed by a zero-grade root, e.g., pí-pt-sa-pítsa-, śí-śk-sa-śíkṣa-, etc.

Generally the root appears in the zero grade, except of course when it is followed by the augment i iṬ, which induces guṇáḥ. Roots that end in the vowels i and u lengthen this vowel, and roots that end in change it to īr or, after labels, to ūr:

  • kr̥ + sa [ + ti ]cikīrṣati “wants to do”
  • śru + sa [ + ti ]śuśrūṣati “wants to listen, obeys”
  • śri + sa [ + ti ]śiśrīṣati “wants to adhere”
§24.3.The intensive

The intensive (sometimes also called the frequentative) is another secondary verb form that indicates the action of the verb is performed repeatedly, concentratedly, or intensely (samabhihāraḥ, Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.22). It is easily recognized from his heavy reduplication, discussed below. Any root that has a single vowel (i.e., is monosyllabic) and begins with a consonant can form an intensive; this excludes tenth-class verbs (which are technically considered not to be monosyllabic) as well as most roots beginning with vowels (see Kātyāyana on 3.1.22 for exceptions).

The intensive is formed by combining (a) one of three forms of “heavy reduplication” with (b) one of two present stem forming suffixes vikaraṇaḥ. The combination is relatively free, i.e., either form of the present stem may take any form of reduplication. The options for (b) are:

  • a thematic verb, formed with the suffix -ya- with the root in the zero grade yaṄ, which is used exclusively in the ātmanēpadám;
  • an athematic verb, formed with a zero suffix yaṄluk, which is used exclusively in the parasmaipadám (very few ātmanēpadám forms are found even in the Veda).

The thematic ātmanēpadám form uses the regular thematic ātmanēpadám endings. Apart from the reduplication, roots undergo exactly the same changes that they undergo before the suffixes yaK (of the present passive) or ŚyaN (of fourth-class presents). One exception is that verbs that end in substitute rather than ri before the suffix Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.27.

The athematic parasmaipadám form uses the same endings, and indeed the same alternation between strong and weak forms of the verbal stem, that are found in third-class presents. That is to say, the athematic forms use the strong (guṇáḥ) form in the singular of the present and the imperfect, and the first person and third person singular of the imperative, and the weak form (zero-grade) everywhere else. There is one major distinction, however: in the singular, it is generally possible to use the linking-vowel ī iḌāgamaḥ between a final consonant of the root and the initial consonant of the singular ending, and in such cases, the root syllable remains in the weak form Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.87. Here, then, is a paradigm of the athematic parasmaipadám form and, for completeness, the thematic ātmanēpadám form:

Athematic intensive present of vid ‘know’
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ vḗvētti, vḗvidīti vēvittáḥ vḗvidati
madhyamapuruṣaḥ vḗvētsi, vḗvidīṣi vēvittháḥ vēvitthá
uttamapuruṣaḥ vḗvēdmi, vḗvidīmi vēvidváḥ vēvidmáḥ
Thematic intensive present of vid ‘know’
ēkavacanē dvivacanē bahuvacanē
prathamapuruṣaḥ vēvidyátē vēvidyḗtē vēvidyántē
madhyamapuruṣaḥ vēvidyásē vēvidyḗthē vēvidyádhvē
uttamapuruṣaḥ vēvidyḗ vēvidyā́vahi vēvidyā́mahi

The characteristic heavy reduplication of the intensive is formed in one of the following ways.

The preferred option is to reduplicate using a template, CaC (where C represents a consonant), that is made from the verbal root. The first consonant is, as usual, a “reduced” (i.e., phonologically unmarked) copy of the initial consonant of the root, observing the constraints well-known from other types of reduplication (no conjunct consonants, no aspirates, and no velar consonants — although one form of this reduplication allows velar consonants in rare circumstances). The vowel of the reduplicant is the guṇáḥ vowel a. The final consonant of the reduplicant then first consonant segment of the syllabic nucleus of the root. You can think of this in the following way: (a) put the root into the guṇáḥ or full-grade form, so that the vowel a will appear between the initial (onset) consonants and any final (coda) consonants; (b) take as the reduplicant a reduced form of the initial (onset) consonant, followed by the vowel a, followed by the first consonant after this vowel. In most cases, when the vowel of the root is i, ī, u, ū, or r̥̄, then this process can be summarized by saying: reduplicate with a guṇáḥ form of the root. Here are some examples:

  • vid “know” (template (v)ay) → vēvid-
  • “lead” (template (n)ay) → nēnī-
  • kr̥ “do” (template (k)ar) → carkr̥-
  • kruś “become angry” (template (kr)av) → cōkruś-
  • śru “hear” (template (śr)av) → śōśru-
  • bhū “become” (template (bh)av) → bhōbhū-
  • hu “offer” (template (h)av) → jōhu-
  • vr̥t “turn” (template (v)ar) → varvr̥t-
  • car “walk” (template (c)ar) → carcar-
  • cal “walk” (template (c)al) → calcal-
  • krand “scream” (template (kr)an) → caṅkrand-
  • han “kill” (template (h)an) → jaṅghan-
  • gam “go” (template (g)am) → jaṅgam-
  • nam “bow” (template (n)am) → nannam-
  • bhram “roam” (template (bhr)am) → bambhram-

A number of forms show a nasal in the reduplicant that is not obviously there in the root Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.86: jaṅjap- from jap “mutter,” jañjabh- from jabh “yawn,” jaṅgah- from gah “enter into,” dandaś- from daś “bite,” and dandah- from dah “burn,” among others. In most of these cases the medial a of the root is in fact the reflex of a vocalized or , so that the template of the reduplicant is in fact Can or Cam (for the nasal, compare the forms daṁśaḥ “biting,” daṁhayati “shines,” jambhaḥ “tusk,” and the Prakrit verb jampaï “talks”).

In the thematic intensive, the form of the reduplicant is not determined by the root itself, but the root as modified by the following suffix yaṄ. Hence, for roots of the form or Cr̥, the thematic intensive will form the modified stem Cīyá- and Crīyá after the reduplication, and the reduplication will use the guṇáḥ form of the vowel ī, i.e., ē:

  • kr̥ “do” → cēkrīya-
  • kr̥̄ “scatter” → cēkīrya-
  • “give” → dēdīya-
  • ghrā “smell” → jēghrīya-
  • svap “sleep” → sōṣupya-

You may have noticed that this mode of reduplication is only used when it would result in a reduplicant of the form CaC where the second consonant is either a nasal (n, m) or a semivowel (y, v, r, l). When there is no nasal or semivowel as the first consonant segment of the full-grade root, this mode of reduplication is not possible. Instead, the reduplicant is formed with a long ā instead. This also happens to a number of roots with the vowel , which also allow the earlier kind of reduplication:

  • svap “sleep” → sāsvap- (but thematic sōṣupya- above)
  • vaś “wish” → vāvaś-
  • śvas “breathe” → śāśvas-
  • vad “speak” → vāvad-
  • dhr̥ “carry” → dādhr̥-
  • dr̥̄ “split” → dādr̥-

In fact the earlier language very rarely allows the preferred template CaC to be formed even from roots with a final stop consonant: hence badbadh- and badbādh- from bādh “press into.”

The above processes of reduplication result in a reduplicant that is prosodically heavy but still consists of a single syllable (which ends either with a long vowel or a consonant). There is another process of reduplication available to certain verbs in the intensive that similarly results in a prosodically heavy reduplicant, but in this case the reduplicant consists of two syllables. The process is simple: take the prosodic template CaC, discussed above, and then add the linking-vowel i (if the root begins with a conjunct consonant) or ī (if the root begins with a simple consonant). This option is available for all roots that contain the vowel Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.91:

  • vr̥t “turn” (template (v)ar) → varīvr̥t-
  • vr̥dh “grow” (template (v)ar) → varīvr̥dh-
  • kr̥ “do” (template (k)ar) → carīkr̥-
  • mr̥j “wipe” (template (m)ar) → marīmr̥j-

A number of roots — most of which would have formed their template as Can — take a version of this reduplication, whereby the reduplicant is Canī- Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.84:

  • dhvaṁs “perish (template (dhv)an) → danidhvas-
  • skand “leap” (template (sk)an) → caniṣkad-
  • bhraṁś “fall” (template (bhr)an) → barībhraś-
  • śraṁs “fall” (template (śr)an) → sanīśras-
  • vañc “become crooked” (template (v)an) → vanīvac-
  • pad “occur” (irregular) → panīpad-
  • pat “fly” (irregular) → panīpat-
  • gam “go” (irregular) → ganīgam-

Finally, we can note that in this final type of reduplication, the original velar consonant of the root is sometimes retained in the reduplicant, such as ganīganti (from gam), karīkarti (kr̥), kanikrantti (krand), kaniṣkantti (skand). See Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.91 for further exceptions.

To summarize we can list the available intensive forms of the third person singular of kr̥ “do” in the present tense: carkarti, carkarīti, carīkarti, carīkarīti, karīkarti, karīkarīti, and cēkrīyatē.

§25. Denominal verbs.

Denominal verbs are verbs which are formed on the basis of a nominal stem prātipadikam. There are two general strategies of forming verbs from nominal stems: one turns the nominal stem into a verbal prefix (gatiḥ, see below), which can then be used with other verbs; the other turns the nominal stem into a verbal stem by means of a stem-forming suffix (vikaraṇaḥ).

§25.1.Compounded verbs cvi

The suffix cvi can be added onto a nominal stem in order to convert it into a verbal prefix gátiḥ, by Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.4.61. The condition for using cvi is that whatever is referred to by the nominal stem ‘becomes something that it was not before,’ i.e., it undergoes a change of state (Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.4.50: abhūtatadbhāvḗ kr̥bhvastiyōgē saṁpadyakartári cviḥ). Pāṇini restricts such prefixes to use with the verbal roots kr̥ ‘do,’ bhū ‘become,’ and as ‘be.’

In terms of their form, such prefixes substitute ī in place of a stem-final a or ā (Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.32).

  • śuklīkarōti ‘he makes white, he whitens’ (something that was not white before: śukla- ‘white’)
  • śuklībhavati ‘it becomes white’
  • dīrghībhavati ‘it becomes long’ (dīrgha- ‘long’)
  • bhasmīkr̥taḥ ‘made into ashes’ (bhasman- ‘ashes’)

Note the very common forms svī-kr̥ and aṅgī-kr̥, both of which mean “accept,” and are formed by cvi from sva- and aṅga- respectively. Similarly formed (although technically not with cvi) is ūrī-kr̥ “accept.”

§25.2.Denominative verbs nāmadhātavaḥ

Like English, Sanskrit allows nominal stems to be used as verbs (i.e., to take the person-number-tense endings of the present system) by adding a present stem forming suffix to the nominal stem. The resulting forms are called denominatives. They are quite diverse in their formation and in their meaning. If x represents the meaning of the underlying nominal stem, the resulting denominative verb could have a range of meanings (from Wikipedia, with some additional notes):

  • to make (something) into x (resultative / transitive);
  • to become x (resultative / intransitive);
  • to treat (something) like x (similative / transitive);
  • to act like x (similative / intransitive);
  • to perform x (performative);

The reason for distinguishing transitive and intransitive versions of various denominative meanings is because these meanings are often produced by different suffixes in Sanskrit. Transitive denominatives tend to take parasmaipadám endings, while intransitive denominatives tend to take ātmanēpadám endings. Note the following pairs:

  • śithila- adj. “loose”
    • śithilayati “he makes (something) loose” (resultative / transitive)
    • śithilāyatē “it becomes loose” (resultative / intransitive)
  • kaluṣa- adj. “turbid”
    • kaluṣayati “he makes (something) turbid” (resultative / transitive)
    • kaluṣāyatē “it becomes turbid” (resultative / intransitive)

Most denominative suffixes involve the element -ya- added onto a nominal stem. When the nominal stem ends in a, we can distinguish three types of denominative suffixes, exemplified in turn:

  • -aya-, with either parasmaipadám endings (ṆiC) or ātmanēpadám endings (ṆiṄ);
  • -īya-, with parasmaipadám endings (KyaC); or
  • -āya-, with ātmanēpadám endings (KyaṄ).

-aya- (ṆiC/ṆiṄ). This suffix should already be familiar from the causative and tenth-class verbs. It is added onto a relatively small set of nominal stems, and its meaning is usually transitive and resultative (to make something x or to endow something with x), and in these senses takes parasmaipadám endings. In a very few cases the resulting verb takes ātmanēpadám endings (see Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.20 and Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.21 and Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.24).

  • muṇḍa- adj. “bald” → muṇḍáyati “he shaves” (resultative / transitive)
  • miśra- adj. “mixed” → miśráyati “he mixes” (resultative / transitive)
  • ślakṣṇa- adj. “soft” → ślakṣṇáyati “he softens” (resultative / transitive)
  • lavaṇa- adj. “salty” → lavaṇáyati “he salts” (resultative / transitive)
  • vrata- n. “vow” → vratáyati “he vows” (resultative / transitive)
  • vastra- n. “clothing” → vastráyati “he wears” (resultative / transitive)
  • hala- n. “plough” → haláyati “he ploughs”
  • kala- m. “the die kali” → kaláyati “he rolls kali
  • kr̥ta- n. “the die kr̥ta” → kr̥táyati “he rolls kr̥ta
  • tūsta- n. “dreadlocks” → tūstáyati “he wears dreadlocks”
  • rūpa- n. “form” → rūpáyati “he discerns”
  • varṇa- m. “description” → varṇáyati “he describes”

-ya- (yaK/KyaC/KyaṄ). We can treat these suffixes together when they come after a nominal stem ending in a consonant, because the consonant of the stem is retained. They are typically performatives, which tend to take ātmanēpadám endings when they primarily affect the agent himself/herself, and parasmaipadám endings when they primarily affect someone else (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.19, Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.15).

  • bhiṣaj- m. “(medical) treatment” → bhiṣajyáti “he treats” (yaK)
  • kaṇḍū- f. “itch” → kaṇḍūyátē “he itches” (yaK)
  • manas- n. “mind” → manasyáti “he is minded” (yaK)
  • duvas- n. “reverence” → duvasyáti “he reveres” (yaK)
  • namas- n. “reverence” → namasyáti “he reveres” (KyaC)
  • tapas- n. “penance” → tapasyátē “he performs penance” (KyaṄ)
  • varivas- n. “honor” → varivasyáti “he honors” (KyaC)

-īya- (KyaC). This suffix, which replaces the final a of a nominal stem with ī, primarily has a desiderative meaning (to desire x) when intransitive Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.8 and a simultative meaning (to treat someone like x when transitive Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.10):

  • putra- m. “son”
    • putrīyati “he desires a son” (KyaC, desiderative intransitive)
    • putrīyati “he treats (someone) like a son” (KyaC, simultative transitive)
  • prāvāra- m. “cloak”
    • prāvārīyati “he desires a cloak” (KyaC, desiderative intransitive)
    • prāvārīyati “he uses as a cloak” (KyaC, simultative transitive)

The sense of “desiring x” is also found in the suffix kāmyaC, e.g., putrakāmyati “he desires a son,” which transparently builds denominatives from a compound noun x-kāmaḥ “desire for x.”

-āya- (KyaṢ/KyaṄ). This is the most common desiderative suffix. It has resultative and performative meanings, both transitive (generally with parasmaipadám endings, using the suffix KyaṢ) and intransitive (generally with ātmanēpadám endings, using the suffixes KyaṢ and KyaṄ). In the resultative (but not performative) meanings, a final consonant of a stem is usually lost, and the preceding vowel is lengthened.

  • lōhita- adj. “red” → lōhitāyatē “he becomes red” (KyaṢ, resultative intransitive)
  • sumanas- adj. “well-disposed” → sumanāyatē “he becomes well-disposed” (KyaṄ, resultative intransitive)
  • śaśvat- adj. “eternal” → śaśvāyatē “he becomes eternal” (KyaṄ, resultative intransitive)
  • śīghra- adj. “quick” → śīghrāyatē “he becomes quick” (KyaṄ, resultative intransitive)
  • karuṇā- adj. “compassion” → karuṇāyatē “he becomes compassionate” (KyaṢ, resultative intransitive)
  • kr̥pā- f. “pity” → kr̥pāyatē “he take pity” (KyaṢ, resultative intransitive)
  • nidrā- f. “sleep” → nidrāyatē “he sleeps” (KyaṢ, performative intransitive)
  • śabda- m. “sound” → śabdāyatē “he makes a sound” (KyaṄ, performative intransitive)
  • vaira- n. “hostility” → vairāyatē “he is hostile” (KyaṄ, performative intransitive)
  • kalaha- m. “quarrel” → kalahāyatē “he quarrels” (KyaṄ, performative intransitive)

The most productive meaning of this suffix, however, is an intransitive simultative (“to act like x”). In this meaning, the final consonant of a nominal stem is usually lost, and the preceding vowel is lengthened.

  • druma- m. “tree” → drumāyatē “it acts as a tree” (KyaṄ, simultative intransitive)
  • rājan- m. “king” → rājāyatē “he acts like a king” (KyaṄ, simultative intransitive)
  • apsaras- f. “apsaras” → apsarāyatē “she is like an apsaras” (KyaṄ, simultative intransitive)
  • śyēna- m. “hawk” → śyēnāyatē “it acts like a hawk” (KyaṄ, simultative intransitive)
§26. Verbal prefixes gátiḥ.

Sanskrit has several classes of indeclinable words (avyayāni)—words that do not change their form based on their grammatical category. One important class of such words can be called verbal prefixes, so called because they occur before, and modify the meaning of, verbal forms.

Pāṇini actually distinguishes between several categories of verbal prefixes. The smaller category is called upasargā́ḥ or “preverbs.” These are basically unanalyzeable particles. There are about twenty of them, and nearly all of them are familiar from other Indo-European languages. Many of these preverbs are also used in a different syntactic function, namely, as adpositions karmapravacanī́yāni. The larger category, which includes preverbs, is called gátiḥ in Pāṇini’s technical terminology. We will refer to it as “verbal prefixes” in general, since it includes the preverbs alongside a wide range of other words—mostly indeclinables—that immediately precede a verbal form and either modify its meaning or, in a few cases, supply its primary meaning.

§26.1.Preverbs upasargā́ḥ

The smaller category of preverbs is taught as a list beginning with prá. Hence they are called prādi “[the list which] begins with pra” (mentioned in Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.4.58). When they are used with verbs, they receive the technical term “preverb” upasargáḥ according to Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.4.59. But they are also all considered verbal prefixes gátiḥ, which has consequences for the accentuation of prefixed forms.

As to their meaning, the general senses of all of the prefixes have been listed below. In many cases, however, the preverb can change the meaning of the verb entirely. As to their form, prefixes will sometimes trigger the application of certain phonological or morphological rules in the following verbal form. One important example is the selection of the converb ending: verbs with a prefix gátiḥ take the converb ending ya LyaP, as opposed to tvā Ktvā, which is only used for unprefixed verbs.

Preverbs can also combine with each other. Usually no more than three preverbs are to be found on any one form. There is a strong tendency towards certain orders of preverbs. The preverb ā́, for example, is almost always closest to, or most interior to, the verb. For a study of preverb ordering, see the dissertation of Julia Papke.

For the retroflexion of a root-initial s or n by a trigger in a preverb, see the discussion of retroflexion in internal sandhi above.

  • prá “forth”
  • párā “away, beyond”
  • ápa “away”
  • sám “together with”
  • ánu “after”
  • áva “down”
  • níḥ “out of, away from”
  • dúḥ “bad, difficult”
  • “apart, in different directions”
  • ā́ (taught as ā́Ṅ by Pāṇini) “near, in this direction”
  • “down”
  • ádhi “over”
  • ápi “close, near”
  • áti “beyond”
  • “good”
  • úd “up”
  • ábhi “towards”
  • práti “against”
  • pári “around”
  • úpa “close by”
§26.2.Other verbal prefixes

A wide range of other indeclinable forms can be used as verbal prefixes. Here is a selection:

A number are only used with kr̥ (following Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.4.72):

  • sākṣā́t
  • hástē
§26.3.“Honorary prefixes” Cvi

Most nominal stems can be turned into a verbal prefix by adding a suffix that Pāṇini calls Cvi (Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.4.61). He assigns this suffix the sense of “becoming something which it was previously not.” The prefixes so formed are used only with the verbs kr̥ and bhū, which mean “make [something] x” or “become x.” The suffix Cvi replaces the final -a or of a nominal stem with the long vowel (Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.4.32).

  • śukla- “white” → śuklīkarōti “he makes white, whitens”; śuklībhavati “it becomes white”
  • ghaṭa- “pot” → ghaṭīkarōti “he turns [something] into a pot”; ghaṭībhavati “it becomes a pot”
  • sānūni gandhaḥ surabhīkarōti “The scent makes fragrant the peaks.” Kumārasambhavaḥ 1.19
§27. The infinitive.

The infinitive is an indeclinable verbal noun that is primarily used as the complement of another verb or an adjective, similar to the “to” infinitive in English (“he is able to read,” “he wants to read,” etc.).

The infinitive of all verbs is formed directly from the verbal root by the addition of the suffix tumUN, i.e., -tum with full grade of the verbal root and an accent on the first syllable of the resulting form. The only variable in the formation of the infinitive in -tum is whether the root takes the augment iṬ before such an ending or not. As noted above, the rules for the augment iṬ are one of the trickiest parts of Sanskrit grammar, and generally they should be known inductively.

Here are some verbs that do not take the augment:

  • Most roots ending in vowels, apart from ū and r̥̄:
    • “give” → dā́tum
    • jñā “know” → jñā́tum
    • ji “conquer” → jḗtum
    • “lead” → nḗtum
    • śru “hear” → śrṓtum
    • smr̥ “remember” → smártum
  • tyaj “abandon” → tyáktum
  • bhuj “enjoy” → bhṓktum
  • vac “speak” → váktum
  • śak “be able” → śáktum
  • vid “find” → vḗttum
  • han “kill” → hántum
  • tap “heat” → táptum
  • labh “obtain” → lábdhum
  • ram “enjoy” → rántum
  • gam “go” → gántum
  • dr̥ś “see” → dráṣṭum
  • vah “carry” → vṓḍhum

Roots that optionally take the augment:

  • sah “put up with” → sṓḍhum or sáhitum
  • “give birth” → sṓtum or sávitum
  • iṣ “desire” → ḗṣṭum or ḗṣitum
  • śās “discipline” → śā́stum or śā́situm

Most other roots do take the augment:

  • Most roots ending in the vowel ū or r̥̄:
    • bhū “become” → bhávitum
    • “cut” → lávitum
    • khād “eat” → khā́ditum
    • īkṣ “see” → prḗkṣitum
    • vad “speak” → váditum
    • grah “grasp” → gráhītum (with special lengthening of the augment)

There are two primary usages of the infinitive. The first, and most common, is as a complement to a verb (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.4.65: these include śak “be able, poterearh “be deserving, debereiṣ “want, volere”, sah “be capable,” jñā “know,” rabh or upa-kram “begin”) or adjective (adjectival forms of all of the preceding as well as samartha- “capable”) or the indeclinable álam “enough, sufficient, capable”:

  • rāmaḥ śatrūñ jētuṁ alam “Rāma is capable of conquering his enemies”
  • rāmaḥ śatrūñ jētuṁ samarthaḥ “id.”
  • rāmaḥ śatrūñ jētuṁ śaknōti “id.”
  • tad vaktuṁ na śaknōmi “I am not able to say that.”
  • sā jñātum icchati “She wants to know.”
  • āsitum arhasi “You ought to sit down.”
  • kavī racitum ārabhatē “The poet begins to compose.”
  • na nivārituṁ sahantē “They are not capable of resisting.”

The infinitive is not marked for agreement with either an agent or a patient; it inherits its construction from the form that governs it. That is, if an infinitive is governed by a verb in the karmáṇi prayōgáḥ, it should be understood as referring to the patient of the verbal action:

  • rāmaḥ śatrubhir jētuṁ na śakyatē “Rāma cannot be conquered by his enemies”
  • tad vaktum nēṣyatē “That is not desired to be said.”
  • hētir na nivārituṁ śakyatē “The missile cannot be resisted.”

This restriction means that the construction cannot shift from the main verb to its infinitive complement, i.e., you cannot literally say “he does not want this to be said,” and instead you must say “by him this is not wanted to be said” (tēna nēdaṁ vaktum iṣyatē).

One other use of the infinitive is to express the purpose with which an action is undertaken by a particular agent (Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.3.10). As in the previous case, the agent of the infinitive is identical with the agent of the verbal form that governs it:

  • bhōktuṁ vrajati “He is going to eat.”
§28. The converb.

Sanskrit has a verbal form called a “converb” that is unfamiliar to speakers of Indo-European languages but identical in function to certain forms in Dravidian languages (such as the Tamil viṉaiyeccam). European grammar have come up with various names: “gerunds” (Müller, Whitney, Macdonell, followed by Deshpande, the Goldmans, and Maurer); “absolutives” (Shulman and Priya Hart, Ruppel); “continuatives” (George Hart); as well as “adverbial,” “indeclinable,” or “conjunctive participles.” To avoid confusion with other forms, and align with the emerging literature in linguistic typology, I call these forms “converbs.”

Converbs are non-finite verbal forms. They do not express the categories of person, number, tense, or diathesis, and accordingly they are uninflected. In this sense they are similar to “infinitives” tumUN. Similarly both converbs and infinitives (in normal circumstances) must be used with another verbal form. And similarly both converbs and infinitives are “controlled” by this other verbal form, which supplies the agent for both. (Note that the requirement is for the verbal predicate to have the same agent as the converb, not the same subject.) Whereas infinitives are generally the complement of another verb, however, converbs are adverbial modifiers of another verb. A verb without its infinitive complement is incomplete; a verb without a converb is not. Since they are adverbial, converbs (and the phrases they govern) answer the question “how” the agent performs the action expressed by the main verb. Pāṇini’s rule Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.4.21 says that converbs are used to express the temporally prior of two actions that have the same agent. Hence they can generally be translated, at least at a first pass, as “having xed.” Adverbial clauses in English (“after having...,” “when...,” “once...”) will generally be good translation options.

Converbs are, like infinitives, essentially agentless verbs, and they can take any of the arguments or modifiers that the corresponding verb form can take, except those that express the agent. They can also be used in sequence, i.e., a single sentence may have more than one converb phrase. The converbs are typically not connected with ca.

  • āpr̥cchya gataḥ “Having taken his leave, he left.”
  • matvā prativakti “Having thought, he responds.”
  • bhūtaṁ dr̥ṣṭvā trasati “Having seen a ghost, he is afraid.”
  • lēkhaṁ likhitvā gatā “Having written a letter, she left.”
  • rājyaṁ mantriṇi ārōpya sukham anubhavati “Having made over the kingdom to his minister, he experiences pleasure.”

The requirement of having the same agent is relaxed in cases of metonymy, e.g., taṁ dr̥ṣṭvā hr̥dayaṁ dravati “my heart melts when I see him” (the agent of dravati is not the same as the agent of dr̥ṣṭvā, but the former is located inside the latter).

Note that multiple converbs can be used in a sentence:

  • pathikō grāmaṁ prāpya tatraiva uṣitvā prātaḥ buddhvā sāmagrīm samādāya niragāt “The traveller reached the village, stayed the night there, woke up in the morning, gathered his belongings and left.”

Sanskrit has a number of converb forms. The most common one is formed with the suffixes -tvā́ Ktvā and -ya LyaP, which are in complementary distribution with each other. Another, formed with -am ṆamUL, is used less frequently in Classical Sanskrit, but is common in Vedic prose.

§28.1.-tvā́ Ktvā

This suffix is used when the verbal root is not prefixed. (When a verbal prefix, or gátiḥ, appears, the suffix -ya is used instead.) The suffix is added onto the zero grade of the root (as indicated by the marker K); if the root is capable of undergoing saṁprasā́raṇam, it does. See the discussion of vowel gradation. The accent is on the suffix.

  • kr̥ + tvā́kr̥tvā́ “having done”
  • + tvā́yātvā́ “having gone”
  • prach + tvā́pr̥ṣṭvā́ “having asked” (with samprasā́raṇam)
  • vac + tvā́uktvā́ “having said” (with samprasā́raṇam)

Because the suffix begins with a consonant, the augment i iṬ will be added between the root and the suffix in some verbs. Fewer roots take the augment with -tvā́ than they do with the infinitive suffix -tum: hence bhávitum, but bhūtvā́. Most roots ending in vowels do not take this augment, the one exception being śī “lie,” which forms śayitvā́. Among the roots ending in consonants, recall that some always take the augment: all of those that are “superheavy” and therefore not susceptible to vowel gradation (including roots with a long vowel followed by a consonant, such as jīv “live” and sēv “serve,” as well as roots with two final consonants, such as cumb “kiss” and majj “sink”); and those that end in retroflex consonants (paṭh “read”), voiceless aspirate stops (likh “write”), or the sound li (mil “meet”).

Generally a root goes into the full grade, or guṇáḥ, when it takes the augment i. Consider vartitvā́ from vr̥t “turn.” But there are several important exceptions. Roots that start with a consonant, have the vowel i/ī or u/ū, and end in a consonant other than y or v have the option of taking guṇáḥ or not before the augment; the same option extends to the roots kr̥ś “grow thin,” mr̥ṣ “put up with,” and tr̥ṣ “be thirsty” Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.2.25:

  • dyut + tvā́dyutitvā́ or dyōtitvā́ “having shone”
  • tr̥ṣ + tvā́tr̥ṣitvā́ or tarṣitvā́ “having felt thirst”

A short but important list of verbs always takes zero grade before the suffix, namely, rud “cry,” vid “know,” muṣ “steal,” grah “grasp,” mr̥d “delight,” and gudh “cover,” kliś “afflict,” vad “speak,” and vas “stay (in a place).” Of these roots, note that grah exceptionally takes ī rather than i as its augment.

  • grah + tvā́gr̥hītvā́ “having grasped”
  • vad + tvā́uditvā́ “having spoken”
  • vas + + tvā́uṣitvā́ “having stayed”
§28.2.-ya LyaP

This suffix is used when the verbal root has any prefix gátiḥ, including but not limited to a preverb upasargáḥ. It, too, is added to the zero grade of the root (but see the complications below). If the weight of the verbal root itself is light, that is, if it has a short vowel that is not followed by a consonant, then the augment t tuK is added between the verbal root and the suffix. The accent is on the syllable before the suffix, as indicated by the marker L.

  • adhi + kr̥ + yaadhikŕ̥tya “having made the topic”
  • va + gāh + yavagā́hya “having plunged into”
  • pari + prach + yaparipŕ̥cchya “having inquired”

Verbs that end in -am or -an, which would generally form their zero grade by simply dropping the nasal (i.e., not those verbs, like śram, dam, and kram, which historically ended in a laryngeal and formed their zero grade by lengthening the vowel before the nasal), have the option of counting either as “light roots,” by dropping the nasal and taking the suffix -tya, or “heavy roots,” by keeping the nasal and taking the suffix -ya:

  • ava + gam + yaavagátya or avagámya “having understood”
  • pra + nam + yapraṇátya or praṇámya “having bowed”

The augment i iṬ is never used before this suffix. There are, however, a number of complications regarding the gradation of the root that ought to be noted. The root standardly appears in the zero grade, with samprasā́raṇam if applicable, as shown above. But roots that end in a long (or -ai) do not take their standard zero-grade form in -i or . Rather, they retain their long vowel Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.69:

  • vi + jñā + yavijñā́ya “having discerned”
  • niḥ + + yanirmā́ya “having created”

Among causative verbs, those in which the root ends in a short vowel followed by a consonant, like gam, keep the causative suffix -áy- before the suffix , while all others drop it:

  • ava + gam + ay + yaavagamáyya “having caused to understand”
  • pra + tr̥̄ + ay + yapratā́rya “having caused to advance”
§28.3.-am ṆamUL

The suffix ṆamUL is, parallel to Ktvā and LyaP, used to form a converb. A root lengthened by Ṇ-vr̥ddhi takes the suffix -am. When it does occur, it is often repeated in a distributive sense (vīpsāyām).

The accent is on the syllable before the suffix (due to the anubandha L).

  • kr̥ + ṆamULkā́ram “having done”
  • smr̥ + ṆamULsmā́ram “having remembered”
  • + ṆamULpā́yam “having drunk”
§28.4.Negating the converb

The converb, as an indeclinable, is considered a nominal form, and therefore it is not negated with the proclitic particle na, but rather with the nominal prefix a- (before consonants) and an- before vowels.

  • akr̥tvā “without having done”
  • anuktvā “without having said”
  • aparipr̥cchya “without having inquired”