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Ancient Sanskrit Online

Lesson 1

Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum

Agni, the god of fire whose name also means fire itself, is the messenger god, mediating between mankind and the other gods. He traditionally appears first in the Rigvedic pantheon: agníṃ dūtám puró dadhe 'I place Agni the ambassador at the head' (VIII, 44, 3), and agním īḷe puróhitam 'I praise Agni, who is placed first', the opening line of the Rigveda (I, 1, 1). The word agní is cognate with Latin ignis, from which English ignite and igneous derive. Agni represents fire in all its forms, and in this poem is invoked as the universal fire of heaven, which at dawn signals the approach of day and the renewal of life, which Agni also represents: "fire has entered all the plants" (verse 2).

Reading and Textual Analysis

This short poem, I, 98 (98), is from the first book of the Rigveda. The metre is triṣṭubh, verses of four lines of eleven syllables each, which is the most common metre in the Rigveda. The poem concludes with a refrain: nineteen of the poems in Book I end with the same two lines. Also characteristic of the style of the Rigveda is the repetition of sás 'he' in the last line of the second verse, literally 'He us by day, he from harm may protect by night'. In a highly inflected language the nominative form of the pronoun is rarely required by the grammar, but it is repeated here to both to stress Agni's importance and to give the line symmetry. In this first lesson the frequent parallels with more familiar Indo-European languages (English, Latin and Greek) are noted.

vaiśvānarásya sumataú siyāma
rā́jā hí kam bhúvanānām abhiśrī́ḥ
itó jātó víśvam idáṃ ví caṣṭe
vaiśvānaró yatate sū́riyeṇa

pr̥ṣṭó diví pr̥ṣṭó agníḥ pr̥thivyā́m
pr̥ṣṭó víśvā óṣadhīr ā́ viveśa
vaiśvānaráḥ sáhasā pr̥ṣṭó agníḥ
sá no dívā sá riṣáḥ pātu náktam

vaíśvānara táva tát satyám astu
asmā́n rā́yo maghávānaḥ sacantām
tán no mitró váruṇo māmahantām
áditiḥ síndhuḥ pr̥thivī́ utá dyaúḥ

Lesson Text

vaiśvānarásya sumataú siyāma
rā́jā hí kam bhúvanānām abhiśrī́ḥ
itó jātó víśvam idáṃ ví caṣṭe
vaiśvānaró yatate sū́riyeṇa

pr̥ṣṭó diví pr̥ṣṭó agníḥ pr̥thivyā́m
pr̥ṣṭó víśvā óṣadhīr ā́ viveśa
vaiśvānaráḥ sáhasā pr̥ṣṭó agníḥ
sá no dívā sá riṣáḥ pātu náktam

vaíśvānara táva tát satyám astu
asmā́n rā́yo maghávānaḥ sacantām
tán no mitró váruṇo māmahantām
áditiḥ síndhuḥ pr̥thivī́ utá dyaúḥ

Translation

May we be in the favour of the Universal One
For indeed he is king, sustainer of beings.
Born from here he views all this world,
The Universal One takes his place with the sun.
Agni, invoked in heaven, invoked on earth,
Invoked, he has entered all the plants.
The Universal One, Agni is mightily invoked,
Let him protect us day and night from harm.
O Universal One, of you may it be true,
May gracious treasures attend us.
May Mitra, Varuna, Aditi, Sindhu
Earth and Heaven, effect that for us.

Grammar

1. An introduction to the verb √as 'be'.

The fundamental words of a language, like the verb 'be', are the least liable to change, and offer the most valuable evidence in establishing relationships between languages. Compare the singular of the present tense of the Sanskrit verb 'be', ásmi, ási, ásti, with Homeric Greek εἰμί, ἐσσί (later εʼι̃), ἐστί or ʼέστι, and with Latin est, Gothic ist, and English am and is.

Present Indicative   Singular   Dual   Plural
1   ásmi   [svás]   smási
2   ási   sthás   sthá
3   ásti   stás   sánti
             
Optative   Singular       Plural
1   syā́m       syā́ma
             
Imperative   Singular       Plural
3   ástu       sántu

In addition to the usual forms of the present tense, a sample of frequently occurring optative and imperative forms is given above. These 'moods' of the verb express wishes, entreaties, or even commands. In the poems of the Rigveda appeals to the gods are common. The most frequently occurring form of the optative, the mood of wishing, is found in the first line of the lesson text, syā́ma 'may we be'. The third person singular imperative in the first line of verse 3, ástu, is also a common form: táva tát satyám astu 'of you may it be true'.

These forms of the verb 'be' are worth committing to memory, as the endings are largely standard for the active voice (compare, for example, the third person singular imperative pā́tu in the last line of verse 2). There are exceptions, but this is a guide to the endings:

Present Indicative   Singular   Dual   Plural
1   -mi   [-vas]   -masi, -mas
2   -si   -thas   -tha
3   -ti   -tas   -anti
             
Optative   Singular       Plural
1   -īyam or -yām       -īma or -yāma
             
Imperative   Singular       Plural
3   -tu       -antu

The plural is only used where the subject numbers three or more. The use of the dual is obligatory, as observed in the penultimate line of the poem, where the plural verb māmahantām leads the reader to look for further subjects in the last line. The gods are addressed singly and as a group, as in this poem, but also in pairs: yuváṃ kavī́ ṣṭhaḥ [sthaḥ] 'you two are sages' (X, 40, 6). (The retroflexion of the initial s and then of the following dental of the verb is caused by the preceding vowel, as described in section 7.3 of the Series Introduction.)

In the table the accented forms of the verb √as 'be', are given. In the lesson text, however, as in the example just quoted, the verbs are unaccented. The verb tends to lose its accent when it is the principal verb in the sentence; in other words, when it is not in a subordinate clause. Being able to identify the main verb is helpful when first looking at a passage.

2. The personal pronoun.

Although the verb is highly inflected, nominative forms of the personal pronoun occur frequently, unlike in Latin. In the example just given 'you two are sages', the personal pronoun yuvám 'you two' is not strictly necessary: kavī́ ṣṭhaḥ would have conveyed the same meaning. The personal pronoun and the verb 'be' are often interchangeable, and the verb is frequently omitted. yuváṃ kavī́ would have meant the same: 'you two (are) sages'.

The table shows a number of enclitic forms in addition to the accented forms. These often do duty for more than one case, as, for example, me, used for both the dative and genitive of ahám 'I'. There are clear parallels in English, Latin, and Greek. vayám and English we are related, as are asmā́n and us, and yūyám and you. Compare also nas and vas with Latin nos and vos, and the dative singular forms máhya and túbhya with mihi and tibi. me and te are cognate with Greek μοι and τοι, and English me and thee have the same origin.

1st Person   Singular   Plural
Nom   ahám 'I'   vayám 'we'
Acc   mā́m, mā   asmā́n, nas
Ins   máyā   asmā́bhis
Dat   máhya, máhyam, me   asmábhyam, asmé, nas
Abl   mát   asmát
Gen   máma, me   asmā́kam, nas
Loc   máyi   asmā́su, asmé
         
2nd Person   Singular   Plural
Nom   tvám 'you (sing)'   yūyám 'you (pl)'
Acc   tvā́m, tvā   yuṣmā́n, vas
Ins   tváyā   [yuṣmā́bhis]
Dat   túbhya, túbhyam, te   yuṣmábhyam, vas
Abl   tvát   yuṣmát
Gen   táva, te   yuṣmā́kam, vas
Loc   tvé   yuṣmé

Duals of the first person are uncommon, but duals of the second person occur frequently, as the gods are often invoked in pairs: nominative yuvám, as in the example yuváṃ kavī́ ṣṭhaḥ 'you two are sages', accusative yuvā́m, instrumental yuvábhyām and yuvā́bhyām, ablative yuvát, genitive/locative yuvós, and accusative/dative/genitive vām. Some forms that will soon become familiar are given in the sample passages below, which can also serve to illustrate the use of the oblique cases (instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative). The use of the cases is parallel to their use in other ancient languages, with the addition of the instrumental, which is also found in Old Norse, Old English and Russian. This 'with' case indicates accompaniment, association, or means: see example 10 below, and 27 in section 4. Many of the words in these sentences can be found in the lesson text. Where the effect of sandhi might be confusing the word form is given in square brackets. The verbs are all unaccented.

The simple unaccented forms occur the most frequently. vas 'you', the form that serves as the accusative, genitive and dative plural, as in the last example, appears over 500 times in the Rigveda.

Note that in all the above examples the object of the sentence, when there is one, precedes the verb, unlike in English. The verb is most often found at the end of the line, as in the last example: 'Indra (subject) to you (indirect object) shelter (object) may he extend (verb)'.

3. Nominal stems in -i and -u.

The masculine declension of the adjective śúci 'pure, bright', a frequent epithet of Agni, is given to illustrate the forms usually found.

    Singular   Dual   Plural
Nom   śúcis   śúcī   śúcayas
Acc   śúcim   śúcī   śúcīn
Ins   śúcyā, śúcinā   śúcibhyām   śúcibhis
Dat   śúcaye   śúcibhyām   śúcibhyas
Abl   śúces   śúcibhyām   śúcibhyas
Gen   śúces   śúcyos   śúcīnām
Loc   śúcau   śúcyos   śúciṣu
Voc   śúce   śúcī   śúcayas

Many nouns follow the -i declension, the majority of which are masculine, like agní 'fire' and kaví 'sage', or feminine, like sumatí 'good opinion' and áditi 'Aditi' in the lesson text. Most of the feminine endings are the same as the masculine, although the instrumental singular shows irregularity, with alternative forms śúcī and śúci, and the feminine accusative plural ending is -īs, not -īn. The neuter forms differ from the masculine only in the nominative/accusative/vocative singular and plural: singular śúci, plural śúcī, śúci or śúcīni.

The declension of nominal stems in -u, like síndhu 'river' (m/f) in the third verse of the lesson text, is parallel to the -i declension in the masculine and feminine. Compare the singular forms occurring of mánu (m) 'man, mankind': nominative mánus, accusative mánum, instrumental mánunā, dative mánave, ablative/genitive mános, locative mánau, and the plural forms mánavas (nominative) and genitive mánūnām. The parallel vowel gradation shown in the declension, -i (-e, -ay) -u (-o, -av), has been described in section 8 of the Series Introduction.

There is some variation in the neuter endings of the -u declension. In addition to the parallel forms for the dative, ablative/genitive and locative singular, -ave, -os, -au, the following are also found: from mádhu 'sweet, sweetness' dative mádhune and ablative/genitive mádhunas, and from sā́nu 'top, summit' the locative sā́nuni. These alternative endings, -ne, -nas, -ni, come to prevail in the later language.

4. Verb inflection: active and middle forms of the present tense.

Half of the finite verbs in the lesson text, caṣṭe, yatate, sacantām and māmahantām, are in the middle, not the active voice. Middle forms of the verb occur as frequently as active forms, and some verbs are only found in the middle voice. The usual endings of the present active tense have already been given above, and here they are repeated with the usual endings of the middle voice in parallel.

        Active           Middle    
    Singular   Dual   Plural   Singular   Dual   Plural
1   -mi   [-vas]   -masi, -mas   -e   -vahe   -mahe
2   -si   -thas   -tha   -se   -ethe or -āthe   -dhve
3   -ti   -tas   -anti   -te   -ete or -āte   -ante or -ate

Some examples follow of verbs in the present tense together with nouns and adjectives from the -i and -u declensions. Parts of the verb 'be' and some personal pronouns will also by now be familiar.

5. The Rigvedic accent.

Most words in the Rigveda carry an accent, which had disappeared by the time of Classical Sanskrit. The accent is an integral part of the word, and has nothing to do with the verse form. It frequently falls on the same syllable as in Greek, as for example, pátnī, πότνια 'lady', tatás, τατός, 'stretched', suggesting that the language from which these two derive may have been similarly accented. The accent is described as 'musical' by grammarians; that is, it represents vocal pitch, not stress.

Some accented words lose their accent under certain circumstances. The verb usually loses its accent when it is the main verb in the sentence, as we have seen. In all but the last three examples above the verb is in a main clause, and is unaccented. In the last two the verb is in a subordinate clause following hí 'for, because'. In VIII, 5, 2, however, sácethe aśvinoṣásam [aśvinā uṣásam] 'O Ashvins, you two accompany the dawn' (26), although the verb is the main verb in the sentence it keeps its accent because it is the first word in the verse line. A main verb also retains the accent if it is the first word in the grammatical sentence - often, but not necessarily, the same thing.

Vocatives are usually unaccented, like the dual aśvinā in the line just quoted, and indra in I, 63, 3, tváṃ satyá indra 'you (are) true, O Indra' (example number 3). But, as with main verbs, if the vocative is the first word in the verse line or grammatical sentence, it carries an accent. When a vocative is accented the accent invariably falls on the first syllable: the vocative of agní is ágne. So in the lesson text the word vaiśvānará 'the universal one' is usually accented on the fourth syllable (verse 1 lines 1 & 4, and verse 2 line 3). But at the beginning of the last verse the word is in the vocative case: vaíśvānara táva tát satyám astu 'O Universal One, of you may it be true' and the accent has moved to the first syllable.

As described in section 2, some monosyllabic forms of the personal pronoun are unaccented. They are enclitic, and cannot stand first in the sentence. There are a few other short words that never carry an accent and are enclitic. Two examples that occur very frequently are ca 'and' (compare Greek τε, Latin -que), and iva 'like'. iva always follows the word with which the comparison is made, and is treated in the Pada text of the Rigveda as if it were suffixal: mánus tókmeva [tókma iva, Pada tókma-iva] rohatu (X, 62, 8) 'let mankind spring up (√ruh, róhati) like young corn'.