Simple Sanskrit / Lesson 14

Simple Sanskrit – Lesson 14

सरलं संस्कृतम् – चतुर्दशः पाठः |

Having studied how one verbal root धातु can yield various new प्रत्ययान्त धातु-s, I think it is time to complete all commonly used लकार-s for at least one most-used धातु. As most-used धातु, one which comes to mind is कृ (८ उ). Note, what is detailed in the parantheses here is गण and पद of the धातु, e.g. ८ उ = अष्टमगण, उभयपद.

Actually the गण of a धातु is also given a name from that धातु, which is considered to be foremost (most representative) of the particular गण. Names for गण-s by that consideration are –
१ भ्वादि (भू + आदि) २ अदादि (अद् + आदि) ३ जुहोत्यादि (जुहोति + आदि) ४ दिवादि (दिव् + आदि)
५ स्वादि (सु + आदि) ६ तुदादि (तुद् + आदि) ७ रुधादि (रुध् + आदि) ८ तनादि (तन् + आदि)
९ क्र्यादि (क्र्य + आदि) १० चुरादि (चुर् + आदि)
Note,

• आदि = starting from. भू + आदि = starting from भू or with भू as the foremost.
• Only for the third गण the name has the inflection of the root verb जुह् in वर्तमानकाले, प्रथम-पुरुषे एकवचनम्
• This may also provoke a deliberation as to, why a particular धातु is considered as the foremost for a particular गण. But this will get into the realm of grammarians’ logic. That would be beyond the scope of ‘Simple Sanskrit’,

Before detailing forms of कृ (८ उ) in commonly used लकार-s, the ten लकार-s are
(1) लट् = वर्तमानकाल = Present Tense
(2) लङ् = अनद्यतन-भूतकाल = Past tense
(3) लुङ् = तृतीय-(अथवा सामान्य)-भूतकाल = Aorist Past tense
(4) लिट् = परोक्ष-भूतकाल = Past unseen by the speaker
(5) विधिलिङ् = विध्यर्थ = Mood equivalent to “should” in English
(6) लोट् = आज्ञार्थ = Imperative Mood
(7) आशीर्लिङ् = आशीर्वादार्थ = Benedictive Mood, as in “May God bless you !”
(8) लृट् = द्वितीय-(अथवा स्य)-भविष्यत्काल = Future Tense
(9) लुट् = प्रथमभविष्यत्काल = Future Tense not in common use
(10) लृङ् = भविष्यत्काल = Future Tense not in common use

Out of the ten लकार-s, we have studied the following four.
(1) लट् = वर्तमानकाल = Present Tense – See Lesson 1 for परस्मैपदी Lesson 10 for आत्मनेपदी धातु-s
(2) लङ् = अनद्यतन-भूतकाल = Past tense – See Lessons 9 and 10
(4) लिट् = परोक्ष-भूतकाल = Past unseen by the speaker – See Lessons 9 and 10
(6) लोट् = आज्ञार्थ = Imperative Mood – See Lesson 2 for परस्मैपदी Lesson 10 for आत्मनेपदी धातु-s

Three more as below shall now be detailed –
(5) विधिलिङ् = विध्यर्थ = Potential Mood equivalent to “should” in English
(7) आशीर्लिङ् = आशीर्वादार्थ = Benedictive Mood, as in “May God bless you !”
(8) लृट् = द्वितीय-(अथवा स्य)-भविष्यत्काल = Future Tense

Because कृ is उभयपदी धातु, its inflections are tabulated as below –

An interesting example of use of लट्-भविष्यत्काल of various धातु-s is found in the सुभाषितम्

रात्रिर्गमिष्यति भविष्यति सुप्रभातम् !

भास्वानुदेष्यति हसिष्यति पन्कजश्रीः !

इत्थं विचारयति कोषगते द्विरेफे !

हा हन्त हन्त नलिनीं गज उज्जहार !!

Detailed study of this सुभाषितम् can be seen in Lesson No. 8 of “Learning Sanskrit by fresh Approach” at संस्कृताध्ययनम् । http://slabhyankar.wordpress.com

It can be seen that study of all inflections of even one धातु becomes quite an involving study. A bookseller Mr. T. R. Krishnachar once spent his time in compiling forms/inflections of a large number (662) धातु-s. It became a book with the title बृहद्धातुरूपावलिः ! Recently the book has been re-published by शारदा-पीठम्, शृङ्गेरी.

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