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Ancient Sanskrit Online

Lesson 3

Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum

The lesson text is from III, 33 (267), a poem of thirteen verses, which takes the form of a dialogue between the poet and the streams of two ancient rivers, which are named, in verse 1 of the poem, vípâç and çutudrî´. These are believed to be the modern rivers Beas (Arrian's Hyphasis, Ptolemy's Bibasis) and Sutlej, two of the five mighty rivers of the Punjab which meet in the great river system of the Indus (the name 'Indus' comes from the Sanskrit síndhu 'river'). The poem opens with a description of the rivers rushing down from the mountains like horses delighting in their freedom. The poet has reached the bank of the first river, and calls out to the streams to rest for a moment to allow him to cross safely.

Reading and Textual Analysis

The metre is again tristubh, as in the first lesson text. The five verses of the lesson, 4-8, lie at the heart of the poem, and celebrate the myth that tells how, in the beginning, the mighty god Indra liberated the waters from the monstrous snake holding them prisoner, and brought fertility to the world. The relationship between gods and men is reciprocal in the Rigveda, and Indra's heroic deeds, his vîryâ`ni, are repeatedly praised. By doing so the poets guarantee that the rivers will always flow, and that fertility is constantly renewed.

enâ´ vayám páyasâ pínvamânâ
ánu yónim devákrtam cárantîh
ná vártave prasaváh sárgataktah
kimyúr vípro nadíyo johavîti

rámadhvam me vácase somiyâ´ya
r´tâvarîr úpa muhûrtám évaih
prá síndhum áchâ brhatî´ manîsâ´
avasyúr ahve kuçikásya sûnúh

índro asmâ´m aradad vájrabâhur
ápâhan vrtrám paridhím nadî´nâm
devó anayat savitâ´ supânís
tásya vayám prasavé yâma urvî´h

pravâ´ciyam çaçvadhâ´ vîríyam tád
índrasya kárma yád áhim vivrçcát
ví vájrena parisádo jaghâna
â´yann â´po áyanam ichámânâh

etád váco jaritar mâ´pi mrsthâ
â´ yát te ghósân úttarâ yugâ´ni
ukthésu kâro práti no jusasva
mâ´ no ní kah purusatrâ´ námas te

Lesson Text

enâ´ vayám páyasâ pínvamânâ
ánu yónim devákrtam cárantîh
ná vártave prasaváh sárgataktah
kimyúr vípro nadíyo johavîti

rámadhvam me vácase somiyâ´ya
r´tâvarîr úpa muhûrtám évaih
prá síndhum áchâ brhatî´ manîsâ´
avasyúr ahve kuçikásya sûnúh

índro asmâ´m aradad vájrabâhur
ápâhan vrtrám paridhím nadî´nâm
devó anayat savitâ´ supânís
tásya vayám prasavé yâma urvî´h

pravâ´ciyam çaçvadhâ´ vîríyam tád
índrasya kárma yád áhim vivrçcát
ví vájrena parisádo jaghâna
â´yann â´po áyanam ichámânâh

etád váco jaritar mâ´pi mrsthâ
â´ yát te ghósân úttarâ yugâ´ni
ukthésu kâro práti no jusasva
mâ´ no ní kah purusatrâ´ námas te

Translation

[The streams:] In this way we, swelling with plenty,
Are going to the home made by the god.
The flood in spate is not to be hindered.
The poet entreats the streams; what does he want?
[The poet:] Rest for my inspired speech, O holy ones,
For a moment in your courses;
A lofty poem goes out to the river.
Desiring help I, son of Kushika, have made the invocation.
[The streams:] Weapon-armed Indra dug us,
He struck away the demon imprisoner of the streams.
Lovely-handed Savitar conducted us,
At his impelling we broad ones go.
[The poet:] That heroic deed is evermore to be celebrated,
Indra's act that he cut the snake in pieces.
He struck apart the surrounding coils;
Off went the waters, longing to be gone.
[The streams:] Do not forget this speech, O singer,
Which future generations will resound for you.
Honour us in holy songs, O bard;
Do not let us down, as a man. Honour to you.

Grammar

11. The relative pronoun yá.

Forms not found in the Rigveda are in square brackets.

        Singular           Plural    
    Masculine       Feminine   Masculine       Feminine
Nom   yás       yâ´   yé       yâ´s
Acc   yám       yâ´m   yâ´n       yâ´s
Ins   yéna       yáyâ   yébhis       yâ´bhis
Dat   yásmai       [yásyai]   yébhyas       yâ´bhyas
Abl   yásmât       [yásyâs]   [yébhyas]       [yâ´bhyas]
Gen   yásya       yásyâs   yésâm       yâ´sâm
Loc   yásmin       yásyâm   yésu       yâ´su

The singular and plural neuter endings differ from the masculine only in the nominative/accusative, which are the same for both cases: singular yát, plural yâ´ or yâ´ni. The dual forms for the three genders are given below.

Dual   Masculine   Neuter   Feminine
Nom, Acc   yâ´, yaú   yé   yé
Ins, Dat, Abl   yâ´bhyâm   [yâ´bhyâm]   [yâ´bhyâm]
Gen, Loc   yáyos   [yáyos]   yáyos

The relative pronoun introduces a subordinate clause, and if there is a verb in the clause it retains its accent. The clause is however regularly without a verb, the verb 'be' being understood, as in the first two examples below. As in other Indo-European languages the relative pronoun appears in the case appropriate for its own clause, of which the first example is a straightforward illustration. The relative clause can precede or follow the main clause, as meaning or the craft of the poet dictates.

As examples 50, 52 and 55 show, the relative pronoun does not have to stand at the head of its clause, although there are seldom more than a couple of words preceding it.

11.1. Use of yát as conjunction.

The neuter singular yát has acquired special use as a conjunction, with three main functions. It can introduce a clause that describes the purpose or result of the main clause, 'so that', as in the first example below, in which case it always follows the main clause. It can expand and explain what has gone before, 'that', as in the second example (taken from the lesson text), when again it always follows the main clause. And it also regularly introduces a temporal clause, 'when', as in the third example, when it may also precede the main clause. Once again, yát does not have to stand at the head of its clause. The verb in every case is accented.

12. The demonstrative pronouns.
12.1. sás, sâ´, tát 'that', esás, esâ´, etát 'this'.

The demonstrative pronoun sás, sâ´, tát 'that' also supplies the 3rd person of the personal pronoun, 'he, she, it'. It follows the declension of the relative pronoun throughout, as if from a stem tá-, with the important exceptions of the nominative singular masculine and feminine, sás (not *tás), and sâ´ (not *tâ´). Compare Greek o, ê, to, Gothic sa, so, thata. There is in addition a derivative pronoun, meaning 'this', which declines exactly like sás, sâ´, tát with prefixed e-, which causes retroflexion of the s: esás, esâ´, etát.

The nominative masculine singular sás occurs twice as often as any other form. Its sandhi is exceptional: the final letter is dropped before all consonants. sás is regularly repeated in the Rigveda as a rhetorical device, generally to reiterate the power of a deity. There was an example of this in the first lesson text: sá no dívâ sá risáh pâtu náktam 'may he protect us day and night from harm': literally, 'he us by day, he from harm may protect by night'. Even when only used once sás 'he' is emphatic, as the inflected verb does away with the need for a first person pronoun; one might translate 'he it is', or, when it concludes an enumeration of qualities, 'being such'.

The neuter singular tát occasionally appears as correlative to yát 'when' meaning 'then', as in the third example below.

12.2. ayám, iyám, idám 'this'.

More frequently used than esás, esâ´, etát to mean 'this' is the irregular pronoun ayám, feminine iyám, neuter idám.

        Singular           Plural    
    Masculine       Feminine   Masculine       Feminine
Nom   ayám       iyám   imé       imâ´s
Acc   imám       imâ´m   imâ´n       imâ´s
Ins   enâ´       ayâ´   ebhís       âbhís
Dat   asmaí       asyaí   ebhyás       âbhyás
Abl   asmâ´t       asyâ´s   [ebhyás]       [âbhyás]
Gen   asyá       asyâ´s   esâ´m       âsâ´m
Loc   asmín       asyâ´m   esú       âsú

The singular and plural neuter endings differ from the masculine only in the nominative/accusative, which are the same for both cases: singular idám, plural imâ´ or imâ´ni. The dual forms for the three genders are given below.

Dual   Masculine   Neuter   Feminine
Nom, Acc   imâ´, imaú   imé   imé
Ins, Dat, Abl   âbhyâ´m   [âbhyâ´m]   [âbhyâ´m]
Gen, Loc   ayós   [ayós]   ayós

The pronoun is regularly used to mean 'this here', referring to the home of mankind as opposed to that of the gods. In example 49 the neuter idám agreed with jágat 'this moving world', but in the first lesson text idám occurred alone, víçvam idám ví caste 'he perceives all this (world)', and jágat is understood. In the first example below the feminine pronoun also carries this sense: a noun is understood, here perhaps prthivî´m 'earth'. Oblique cases of ayám, that is, those other than the nominative and accusative, regularly lose their accent when they refer to a subject that is apparent from the context, as in the final example in this section, where ayám is also used simply as equivalent to the personal pronoun.

13. The verb.

There is remarkable variety in the ways in which verb forms in early Sanskrit are composed. Grammarians describe four distinct 'systems' to explain how endings can be attached to the verbal root in different ways forming moods, like the imperative and optative, and participles, like those in -ant described in Lesson 2. These four 'systems' are named after four tenses of the verb: the present, the perfect, the aorist and the future. The most important of these systems, even in the earliest text, is the Present System, based on the present tense, whose forms occur more frequently than those of the other three put together.

The familiar names given to the tenses and moods of the verb by western grammarians can be misleading. They are based on parallel formations in other Indo-European languages, but the meaning that these parts of the verb convey in Sanskrit is often different. The 'present' tense, as in other languages, is used to convey present time, but the so-called 'imperfect' tense, for example, is the past tense of story-telling (ahan vrtrám 'he struck the demon'), never having the continuous or unfinished sense ('I was running') that it has in English or in Latin. The 'subjunctive' mood, in early Sanskrit, is used much more frequently than the future tense simply to express future time: â´ yát te ghósân úttarâ yugâ´ni 'which future generations will resound for you' (lesson text). The name 'present system' is also potentially confusing: while based on the present tense, and forming moods and participles accordingly, it also includes the imperfect tense, and the subjunctive form just quoted. The Present System is given here with capital letters, to distinguish it from the tense of the same name.

13.1. Present System: thematic and athematic conjugations.

Verbs were classified by the ancient grammarians according to how the present tense is formed, a classification that relates only to the Present System. This classification may be simplified into two basic conjugations, thematic and athematic.

The 'thematic' conjugation [I] is characterised by the addition of a connecting a, known as the 'thematic' vowel, to the verbal root, to which the endings of the present tense, as given in section 4 of the first lesson, are attached. From the root /inv 'set in motion' the third person singular active is ínv-a-ti, and from /srj 'let go', srj-á-ti; from /jus 'enjoy' the third person singular middle is jus-á-te. Sometimes the root is 'strengthened', that is, it shows gradation of the vowel: /ruh 'spring up' róh-a-ti; and sometimes a y precedes the a, the accent then always falling on the root: /man 'think' mán-ya-te, /mrs 'forget' mr´s-ya-te. Before endings beginning with m or v this vowel becomes long: srj-â´-mi, sác-â-vahe.

The 'athematic' conjugation [II] connects the endings with the root differently, and in a variety of ways. Some verbs simply attach them directly to the root: /pâ 'protect' pâ´-ti, /as 'be' ás-ti. Others add a nasal and a vowel: /kr 'make' kr-nó-ti, /gr 'sing' gr-nâ´-ti, /vr 'choose' vr-nî-té. A few verbs insert the nasal into the root: /bhuj 'turn to account' bhuñjáte.

An important subgroup of athematic verbs was mentioned in the last lesson, in section 7. These verbs 'reduplicate' the root, as in the example given in that lesson: /dâ 'give' dá-dâ-ti. See section 13.2 below for the general rules of reduplication. This subgroup exceptionally drops the n of the ending of the third person plural of the present active voice, giving -ti instead of -nti: /pâ, pâ´nti 'they protect', but /dhâ, dádhati 'they place'.

There are some general differences between the endings of the thematic [I] and athematic [II] conjugations. In the table of present indicative active and middle endings given in section 4 of the first lesson, for example, alternatives were shown for the middle forms of the second and third persons dual, and the third person plural. These represent the different endings of the two conjugations: -ethe, -ete, -nte [I], -âthe, -âte, -ate [II].

In these lessons a third person singular present form of the verb is given, if possible, at its first occurrence. This serves to distinguish verbs that have the same root, like /vr, vrnóti 'hinder', which occurs in this lesson text, and /vr, vrnîté 'choose' from the two previous lessons. Many verbs however form their present tense in more than one way, and sometimes in more than one conjugation: from /is 'send', for example, both ísyati [I] and isnâ´ti [II] are found.

13.2. General rules of reduplication.

Reduplication is an ancient phenomenon, occurring in many languages, and it is found in Sanskrit not only in a group of verbs of the Present System, but elsewhere, most importantly in the formation of the perfect. There are certain general rules about how reduplication occurs. The verb repeats the first consonant and vowel, which is usually shortened (sometimes a becomes i). But if the root begins with a sibilant followed by a hard consonant, the latter is reduplicated: /sthâ 'stand', ta-sthé (a perfect form). Aspirated letters reduplicate as the corresponding unaspirated sound, /dhâ 'place' dá-dhâ-ti; and g and h both reduplicate as j, /gâ 'go' jí-gâ-ti, /hâ 'leave' já-hâ-ti.

14. The imperative mood.

Many of the examples given to illustrate the relative and demonstrative pronouns in section 11 have imperative verbs, in both the active (54, 59, 62, 64 and 66) and the middle (55, 69) voice. Both the imperatives in the lesson text were in the middle voice, rámadhvam and jusásva. Below are examples of both voices in tabular form. Active forms are quoted for /inv, ínvati 'set in motion', and middle forms for /jus, jusáte 'enjoy', both verbs of the thematic [I] conjugation.

As in the present tense, athematic [II] verbs, in the 2nd and 3rd persons dual of the middle voice, connect the endings to the root with -â- not -e-. In addition, again as in the present tense, they drop the -n- from the 3rd person plural of the middle voice. With the exception of the second person dual imperative of /yuj 'yoke, harness', yuñjâ´thâm, an imperative addressed to the Ashvins 'the two horsemen', these forms are uncommon.

There is a further difference between the two conjugations in the imperative that is more frequently encountered. In the thematic conjugation the usual ending of the second person singular active imperative is simply the thematic vowel: bháva! 'be!', but in the second conjugation the usual ending is -dhi or -hi: pâhí 'protect!', stuhí 'praise!', daddhí 'give!', dhehí 'place!', çrnudhí or çrnuhí 'hear!'. As in the present tense, verbs that reduplicate the root exceptionally drop the -n- in the active third person plural: ínvantu [I] 'let them set in motion', pâ´ntu [II] 'let them protect' but dádatu [II, reduplicating] 'let them give'. All these examples belong to the Present System.

        Active           Middle    
    Singular   Dual   Plural   Singular   Dual   Plural
2   ínva   ínvatam   ínvata, ínvatana   jusásva   juséthâm   jusádhvam
3   ínvatu   ínvatâm   ínvantu   jusátâm   jusétâm   jusántâm

The final -a of the 2nd person singular and plural active is regularly long in the Rigveda (there are examples of this in the Lesson 5 text).

The verbs /inv 'set in motion' and /jus 'enjoy' exemplify the difference in meaning that regularly underlies the active and the middle voice. The term used by Sanskrit grammarians for the active voice, literally translated, means 'a word for another' (like 'set in motion'), and, for the middle voice, 'a word for oneself' (like 'enjoy'). Forms of /inv are always in the active voice, and of /jus usually in the middle.

Many verbs are however found in both voices, and often the difference in meaning appears to be slight. In the Lesson 2 text the verb /raks 'protect' with preverb abhí occurs both in the active and in the middle voice: vratâ´ni deváh savitâ´bhí raksate 'divine Savitar guards the holy laws' (verse 4); tribhír vrataír abhí no raksati tmánâ 'by his nature he guards us with the three holy laws' (verse 5). This may simply be poetic variation. But the use of the different voices may also convey a subtle difference in sense: Savitar guards the holy laws for his own sake in verse 4 (abhí raksate), enabling him to guard us, for our benefit (abhí raksati), with those same laws in the verse that follows.

There are in addition a few ancient second person singular imperative forms with the ending -si added directly to the root: /râ 'grant', râ´si, /mad, 'delight' mátsi.

15. Present middle participles, past participles, and future passive participles.

These non-finite verb forms ending in -a follow the declension of other adjectives in -a, as described in section 6 in Lesson 2.

15.1. Present middle participles.

The present middle participle in the Present System has the distinguishing suffix -mâna for thematic verbs [I] and -âna for athematic verbs [II] in the Present System. Some middle participles are reflexive or passive in sense, as in the last two examples given below, but most often they can be translated simply as if active, as with pínvamâna 'swelling' and ichámâna 'desiring' in the lesson text.

15.2. Past participles.

Adjectives that are in form past participles usually have the suffix -tá, as in the examples from the first lesson, jâtá 'born', prstá 'invoked'. We have also seen past participles as elements of compounds: in the second lesson text dhrtá-vrata 'firm- (past participle of /dhr 'hold fast') -command(ed)', and in this lesson devá-krta 'god-made', where the second element is the past participle of /kr 'make, do', and the accent has moved to the first element. Some examples of past participles from verbs already encountered are: /jus 'enjoy' justá; /dhâ 'place' (irregular) hitá; /is 'long for' istá; /vas 'shine' ustá, /viç 'enter' vistá. A few roots add a connecting -i-, /rad 'dig' raditá, and a small number form the past participle with the alternative ending -ná: /tud 'urge' tunná. The formation of these participles is independent of the tense system.

15.3. Future passive participles.

The formation of this participle is also independent of the tense system. The usual ending of the future passive participle in the Rigveda is unaccented -iya, given in grammars as -ya, as in the later language. It corresponds in meaning to the Latin gerundive in -ndus, from which English referendum 'to be referred' derives. We have so far encountered three examples: in the second lesson text vâ´rya 'to be chosen' and ádâbhya 'not to be deceived'; and in the penultimate verse of this lesson pravâ´cya 'to be celebrated'. As with present middle participles and past participles, these follow the adjectival declension in -a in all cases: in X, 118, 7 Agni burns ádâbhyena çocísâ 'with flame that is not to be deceived'.

An alternative form of the future passive participle made with the ending -tva is regularly juxtaposed with the past participle: abhí paçyati krtâ´ni yâ´ ca kártvâ (I, 25, 11) 'he discerns which things are done and which are yet to do'.