Welcome to Lesson 4.

A short YouTube version is available here. [Expand to the full article to be able to click on the link]

In this lesson, we will look at a story from the Hitopadeśa and see how what we studied so far has been applied in actual sentence construction. Of course, there will be many constructs that we have not touched upon so far. We will mention these in passing and take up detailed analysis of these in later lessons. Don’t worry too much if you do not understand everything in detail now.

Analysis

What do we mean when we say analyse a text? The process involved is given below.

• Remove the Sandhis and get separate individual words
• If the text is in verse, convert to prose form.
  • This means we will have to reshuffle the order of the words to get a readable text in the natural order. Remember we said that in Sanskrit, the words in a sentnce proclaim their function by means of inflectional diferences [declensions and conjugations]
• For each word we need to
  • Figure out if it is a verb or noun, pronoun, numeral, adjective, adverb, particle, conjunction, pre-position, etc.
  • Figure out the grammatical function of the word (what case, gender, number, what tense, what mode, what person, what voice etc.) –declensional and conjugational forms
  • If compound word , figure out what type of compound it is and separate out the constituent words
  • Determine the root from which each word (or each constituent word of a compound) is derived from
  • Trace the derivation of each word from the root.
    • figure out if the word is a participle, gerund, infinitive, gerundive or other derivation and what are the affixes and pre-positions that have been added
  • Find the meaning of the word
• Figure out the connection between the words in the sentence (semantics)
• Figure out if there are any special constructs like phrases, absolute contructions etc.
  • Look in particular for phrases with the copula (forms of the verb “be” like is, was etc.) omitted. For example: vyāpāditaḥ gardabhaḥ can mean “killed donkey” or “donkey (was) killed”
• Find the meaning of the sentence

Whew! Don’t worry. It is not as complicated as it looks. After some practice it will come naturally to you. In fact, learning Sanskrit itself looks very complicated at first, but over times it gets very simple.

The Hitopadeśa

The Hitopadeśa is an ethico-didactic literary work that is a collection of ancient material put together by a person called Narāyaṇa. The set of stories that make up the collection is supposed to be a device used by a wise man named Viṣṇuśarman to reform some ignorant Princes. The stories consists of mixed prose and verse. The verses are mostly maxims and proverbs, whose message is illustrated by the stories in prose. Many stories of the Hitopadeśa are sourced from the Pañcatantra.

The story below, The donkey in the tiger skin appears also in the Pañcatantra. A similar story also appears in Aesop’s Fables.

The donkey in the tiger skin – A story from the Hitopadeśa

अस्ति हस्तिनापुरे कर्पूरविलासो नाम रजकः । तस्य गर्दभोऽतिभारवाहनाद्दुर्बलो मुमूर्षुरिवाभवत् । ततस्तेन रजकेनासौ व्याघ्रचर्मणा प्रच्छाद्यारण्यसमीपे सस्यक्षेत्रे मोचितः । ततो दूरादवलोक्य व्याघ्रबुद्ध्या क्षेत्रपतयः सत्वरं पलायन्ते । स च सुखेन सस्यं चरति । अथैकदा केनापि सस्यरक्षकेण धूसरकम्बलकृततनुत्राणेन धनुष्काण्डं सज्जीकृत्यावनतकायेनैकान्ते स्थितम् । तं च दूरे दृष्ट्वा गर्दभः पुष्टाङ्गो गर्दभीयमिति मत्वा शब्दं कुर्वाणस्तदभिमुखं धावितः । ततस्तेन सस्यरक्षकेण गर्दभोऽयमिति ज्ञात्वा लीलयैव व्यापादितः । अतोऽहं ब्रवीमि ।

• सुचिरं हि चरन्मौनं श्रेयः पश्यत्यबुद्धिमान् ।
• द्वीपिचर्मपरिच्छन्नो वाग्दोषाद्गर्दभो हतः |

asti hastināpure karpūravilāso nāma rajakaḥ | tasya gardabho’tibhāravāhanāddurbalo mumūrṣurivābhavat | tatastena rajakenāsau vyāghracarmaṇā pracchādyāraṇyasamīpe sasyakṣetre mocitaḥ | tato dūrādavalokya vyāghrabuddhyā kṣetrapatayaḥ satvaraṃ palāyante | sa ca sukhena sasyaṃ carati | athaikadā kenāpi sasyarakṣakeṇa dhūsarakambalakr̥tatanutrāṇena dhanuṣkāṇḍaṃ sajjīkr̥tyāvanatakāyenaikānte sthitam | taṃ ca dūre dr̥ṣṭvā gardabhaḥ puṣṭāṅgo gardabhīyamiti matvā śabdaṃ kurvāṇastadabhimukhaṃ dhāvitaḥ | tatastena sasyarakṣakeṇa gardabho’yamiti jñātvā līlayaiva vyāpāditaḥ | ato’haṃ bravīmi |

• suciraṃ hi caranmaunaṃ śreyaḥ paśyatyabuddhimān |
• dvīpicarmaparicchanno vāgdoṣādgardabho hataḥ |

The same with Sandhis removed

अस्ति हस्तिनापुरे कर्पूरविलासः नाम रजकः । तस्य गर्दभः अतिभारवाहनात् दुर्बलः मुमूर्षुः इव अभवत् । ततः तेन रजकेन असौ व्याघ्रचर्मणा प्रच्छाद्य अरण्यसमीपे सस्यक्षेत्रे मोचितः । ततः दूरात् अवलोक्य व्याघ्रबुद्ध्या क्षेत्रपतयः सत्वरम् पलायन्ते । सः च सुखेन सस्यम् चरति । अथ एकदा केन अपि सस्यरक्षकेण धूसरकम्बलकृततनुत्राणेन धनुष्काण्डम् सज्जीकृत्य अवनतकायेन एकान्ते स्थितम् । तम् च दूरे दृष्ट्वा गर्दभः पुष्टाङ्गः गर्दभी इयम् इति मत्वा शब्दम् कुर्वाणः तदभिमुखम् धावितः । ततः तेन सस्यरक्षकेण गर्दभः अयम् इति ज्ञात्वा लीलया एव व्यापादितः । अतः अहम् ब्रवीमि ।

• सुचिरम् हि चरन् मौनम् श्रेयः पश्यति अबुद्धिमान् ।
• द्वीपिचर्मपरिच्छन्नः वाग्दोषात् गर्दभः हतः |

asti hastināpure karpūravilāsaḥ nāma rajakaḥ | tasya gardabhaḥ atibhāravāhanāt durbalaḥ mumūrṣuḥ iva abhavat | tataḥ tena rajakena asau vyāghracarmaṇā pracchādya araṇyasamīpe sasyakṣetre mocitaḥ | tataḥ dūrāt avalokya vyāghrabuddhyā kṣetrapatayaḥ satvaram palāyante | saḥ ca sukhena sasyam carati | atha ekadā kena api sasyarakṣakeṇa dhūsarakambalakr̥tatanutrāṇena dhanuṣkāṇḍam sajjīkr̥tya avanatakāyena ekānte sthitam | tam ca dūre dr̥ṣṭvā gardabhaḥ puṣṭāṅgaḥ gardabhī iyam iti matvā śabdam kurvāṇaḥ tadabhimukham dhāvitaḥ | tataḥ tena sasyarakṣakeṇa gardabhaḥ ayam iti jñātvā līlayā eva vyāpāditaḥ | ataḥ aham bravīmi |

• suciram hi caran maunam śreyaḥ paśyati abuddhimān |
• dvīpicarmaparicchannaḥ vāgdoṣāt gardabhaḥ hataḥ |

Meaning

asti (there is) hastināpure (in Hastināpura) karpūravilāsaḥ (Karpūravilāsa) nāma (by name) rajakaḥ (washerman) | tasya (his)  gardabhaḥ (donkey)  atibhāravāhanāt (due to heavy load carrying) durbalaḥ (feeble) mumūrṣuḥ (wishing to die) iva (as) abhavat (became) | tataḥ (then) tena (by that) rajakena (by washerman) asau (that) vyāghracarmaṇā (by tiger skin) pracchādya (covered) araṇyasamīpe (near woods) sasyakṣetre (grain field) mocitaḥ (released) | tataḥ (then) dūrāt (from afar) avalokya (having seen) vyāghrabuddhyā (with tiger-belief) kṣetrapatayaḥ (farmers) satvaram (fast) palāyante (fled) | saḥ (he) ca (also) sukhena (with pleasure) sasyam (grain) carati (grazes) | atha (then) ekadā (once) kena api (by some ) sasyarakṣakeṇa (by farmer)  dhūsarakambalakr̥tatanutrāṇena (covered with a gray blanket) dhanuṣkāṇḍam (bow and arrow) sajjīkr̥tya (having made ready) avanatakāyena (with bent, bowed body) ekānte (in a lonely place)  sthitam (stood)| tam (him) ca (also) dūre (far away) dr̥ṣṭvā (having seen) gardabhaḥ (the donkey) puṣṭāṅgaḥ (well-fed) gardabhī (she-donkey) iyam (this) iti (as) matvā (thinking) śabdam (sound) kurvāṇaḥ (making) tadabhimukham (towards him) dhāvitaḥ (ran) | tataḥ (then) tena (by that) sasyarakṣakeṇa (by farmer) gardabhaḥ (a donkey) ayam (this) iti (as) jñātvā (knowing) līlayā (with ease) eva (even) vyāpāditaḥ (killed)| ataḥ (therefore) aham (I) bravīmi (say) |

• suciram (long time) hi (even) caran (going) maunam (silently) śreyaḥ (good things) paśyati (sees) abuddhimān (unwise) |
• dvīpicarmaparicchannaḥ (covered in a tiger-skin) vāgdoṣāt (by speech-fault)  gardabhaḥ (donkey) hataḥ (was killed) |

In Hastināpura there is (was) a washerman named Karpūravilāsa. His donkey became weak and was almost dying due to carrying heavy load. Therefore he (the donkey) was released into the grain-field near the woods by that washerman after covering him with a tiger-skin. Seeing (the donkey) from afar, the farmers, thinking that it was a tiger, quickly fled. He (the donkey) grazed happily on the grain. Then, once a farmer covered himself in a gray blanket and stood bent down with bow and arrow ready. Seeing him from afar and thinking that it was a she-donkey, the well-fed donkey, ran towards him, braying. Then, the farmer knowing (by the braying) that it was a donkey, killed him easily. Therefore I say,

Moving (grazing) silently for a long time (being lulled into a false sense of security), the unwise person sees goodness (only).
Even though covered in tiger-skin, the donkey was killed because of his braying.

[Meaning; Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security when you are at peace for a long time. Don’t open your mouth unnecessarily. Even if you have a tiger skin on you, if you bray like a donkey, you will be found out.]

Analysis of the Text

[Note: All visargas in the lesson represent a final “s”]

1. asti hastināpure karpūravilāso nāma rajakaḥ
asti hastināpure karpūravilāsaḥ nāma rajakaḥ
“In Hastināpura there is (was) a washerman named Karpūravilāsa”

• asti – pres(ent)., ind(icative)., active, (laṭ parasmai padam) 3rd person, singular of class 2 √as – “is”

√as is a class 2 root meaning “be”. Class 2 roots add the endings directly to the root (ie. the verb stem is the root itself). So

as + ti –> asti.

We will look at this in detail in later lessons.

• hastināpure – loc(ative). sing(ular). neu(ter). Hastināpura – “in Hastināpura” (a town)

We learned that the locative case is the “in-case”.

Hastināpura is an “a” ending neuter noun.

It is  a compound word hastin (elephant) +  pura (town). [The town was the capital of the Kauravas]

• karpūravilāsaḥ – nom(inative). sing. mas(culine). karpūravilāsa – “Karpūravilāsa” (a name)

Karpūravilāsa is a compound word karpūra (camphor) + vilāsa (bright).

Note the Sandhi here. In front of voiced consonants, the visarga becomes o. Hence,

karpūravilāsaḥ nāma –> karpūravilāso nāma

We will look at visarga sandhis in detail in a later lesson

• nāma – indeclinabe (adverb) – “by name”

An indeclinable word is not subject to any declensions. That is it does not different case endings in different contexts. It stays the same in all contexts. All adverbs are indeclinable.

This is an adverb meaning “by name”. The word is the accusative case of neuter “n” ending noun nāman, “name”. In Sanskrit, many case-forms get used adverbially. We will see some more in this story later. The instrumental nāmnā is also used adverbially to mean “by name”.

• rajakaḥ – nom. sing. mas. rajaka – “washerman”

The nominative case is used as the subject of the sentence. The noun is an “a” ending masculine.

We said in lesson 1 that all words in Sanskrit can be derived from roots. As an example, the word rajaka is derived from Class 4 root √raj or √rañj (“to colour” – washermen were also dyers!) and adding the suffix “aka” to the unmodified root to get the word stem rajaka. Case endings are then added to the stem so that it can be used in a sentence.

√raj + aka –> rajaka

Note that the bare stem can never be used in a sentence.

Note also that all declinable stems are formed by adding one suffix or more to modified or unmodified roots. {We will look at some of these suffixes and their uses in later lessons]

In this lesson we will try to look at some of the words to trace their derivation from roots

2. tasya gardabho’tibhāravāhanāddurbalo mumūrṣurivābhavat
tasya gardabhaḥ atibhāravāhanāt durbalaḥ mumūrṣuḥ iva abhavat
“His donkey became weak and was almost dying due to carrying heavy load”

• tasya – gen(itive). sing. mas. of pronoun tad – “his”

tad is a demonstrative pronoun as well as the personal pronoun of the third person. That is, it can mean he/she/it and its derivatives as well as this/that etc. Here it is used as a personal pronoun and tasya means “his”.

The declensional paradigms for pronouns are given here.

• gardabhaḥ – nom. sing. mas. gardabha – “donkey”

Derived from root √gard (“to shout”) by addition of suffix “abha” to unmodified root meaning “shouter” (brayer).

• atibhāravāhanāt – abl(ative). sing. mas. ati+bhāra+vāhana – “from great-weight-carrying””from the carrying of great load”

Note here the Sandhi. In front of “a” the visraga becomes “o” and the “a” is dropped and not pronounced. The dropped “a” is indicated in Devanagiri by the sign ऽ which is called the avagraha. In Roman script the symbol ‘ is used. So,

गर्दभः + अति –>  गर्दभोऽति

gardabhaḥ + ati –> gardabho’ati

We will look at this in detail in another lesson.

The word atibhāravāhana is the combination of three words – ati+bhāra+vāhana. ati is an indeclinable word normally prefixed to nouns and adjectives meaning “excessive” etc.

The word bhāra meaning “load” is derived from the class 3 root √bhr̥  √भृ meaning “to bear” by adding the suffix “a” to the vriddhied root. So,

bhr̥ –> vriddhied –> bhār + a –> bhāra.

The word vāhana (“carrying”) is derived likewise from the class 1 root √vah “to carry”.

So the stems ati (“excessive”),  bhāra (“load”) and vāhana (“carrying”) are combined to form one word atibhāravāhana which means the carrying of excessive weight. This word stem can then be declined like any other “a” ending noun or adjective.

Here atibhāravāhanāt is the ablative singular of the word.

In Sanskrit, you can combine declinable stems with one another to form compounds which are then treated as simple stems with respect to inflection and construction. Sanskrit grammarians define six types of compounds. We will look at these in detail in a later lesson.

Note also the Sandhi: atibhāravāhanāt + durbalaḥ –> atibhāravāhanāddurbalaḥ [the final “t” becomes “d” before “d”. We will see this in detail in later lessons]

• durbalaḥ – nom. sing. mas (adj) durbala – “feeble”

durbala is an adjective meaning “feeble”, “weak” etc.

An adjective always follows the person, gender, number and case form of the noun it describes. Therefore

durbalaḥ gardabhaḥ in the nominative case meaning “weak donkey”
durbalena gardabhena in the instrumental means “by a weak donkey”
durbalasya gardabhasya in the genitive means “the weak donkey’s” etc.

bala is a neuter noun meaning “power”, “strength” etc. To this is added the prefix “dus” meaning “bad” or “difficult”. This is combined to form the adjective durbala.

dus + bala –> durbala

We will learn more about this kind of formation in a later lesson.

• mumūrṣuḥ – nom. sing. mas (adj) mumūrṣu – “dying” (wishing for death)

This is a “u” ending adjective meaning “wishing for death”. The word mumūrṣu is a very complicated derivation from the class 1 root √mr̥  √मृ “to die”. We will see this in a later lesson.

Note the Sandhi. The visarga (not preceded by an “a” or “ā”) becomes “r” before voiced sounds including vowels.

mumūrṣuḥ + iva –> mumūrṣuriva.

• iva – indeclinable (particle) – “like”

Note the Sandhi. Two like vowels become the corresponding long vowel. So “a” or “ā” + “a” or “ā” becomes “ā”. So,

mumūrṣuriva + abhavat –> mumūrṣurivābhavat.

Similarly i or ī + i or ī becomes ī and u or ū + u or ū becomes ū.

• abhavat – imperfect ind. active,( laṅ parasmai padam)  3rd person, sing. of class 1 √bhū – “became”

This is the imperfect indicative active of the root √bhū. Imperfect indicates the past tense. The imperfect is formed by gunating the root, adding “a” (since √bhū is class 1) as in the present and adding the endings. These endings are called secondary endings. These ending are like the endings we saw before for the present indicative, but briefer. So instead of “ti” we just have “t”. And, the imperfect normally adds an augment “a” at the beginning. So we have,

bhū –> gunated –> bho +a –> bhava + ending t –> bhavat –> add “a” at the beginning –> abhavat (meaning “became”)

3. tatastena rajakenāsau vyāghracarmaṇā pracchādyāraṇyasamīpe sasyakṣetre mocitaḥ |
tataḥ tena rajakena asau vyāghracarmaṇā pracchādya araṇyasamīpe sasyakṣetre mocitaḥ |
“Therefore he (the donkey) was released into the grain-field near the woods by that washerman after covering him with a tiger-skin.”

• tataḥ – indeclinable (adverb) – “therefore”

Note Sandhi. The visarga before t becomes “s”.

tataḥ + tena –> tatastena.

We will see this in detail later.

• tena – inst. sing. mas. of pronoun (adj) tad – “by that”
• rajakena – inst. sing. mas. rajaka – “by the washerman”
• asau – nom. sing. mas. pronoun adas – “that”
• vyāghracarmaṇā – inst. sing neu. vyāghra+carman – “with tiger skin”
• pracchādya – indeclinable (continuative – lyabanta) – “having covered”

In Sanskrit, pre-positions called “upasarga” can be added to roots to sometimes change the meaning of the root. Some of these are ā  आ, pra  प्र, pari  परि, vi  वि etc. There are many such pre-positions or upasargas.

In this word, the upasarga pra  प्र has been pre-fixed to the class 1 root √chad “to cover” to get pra-√chad which also means “to cover”.

Continuatives: The continuative is used to express an action prior in time to the action of the main verb. A series of continuatives may be used in a sentence before the main verb.

Continuatives are indeclinables.

Sanskrit has two kinds of continuatives.

To a simple root a “va” or a “tva” or “itva” is added to a sometimes modified root.
To a root pre-fixed with an upasarga (see above) is added a “ya” or a”tya” to a sometimes modified root.
In Sanskrit, these are called “ktvānta” and “lyabanta” respectively.

We will see these continuatives in detail in a later lesson.

So, pracchādya is the continuative form of pra-√chad meaning “having covered”. (The continuative is derived from chād which is the causative form of the root chad)

• araṇyasamīpe – loc. sing. neu. (adj) araṇya+samīpam – “woods-near”,“near the woods”
• sasyakṣetre – loc. sing. neu. sasya+kṣetra – “grain field”
• mocitaḥ – nom. sing. mas. (past passive participle) mocita – “released”

One very common feature of the language is the use of the past passive participle. The past passive participle is used as an adjective qualifying a noun. The past passive participle is formed by adding a “ta”, “ita” or “na” to a mostly unstrengthened root. It is always declined like an “a” ending masculine or neuter, or an “ā” ending feminine. We will learn more about this in later lessons.

mocitaḥ is the past passive participle of the  causative of the class 6 root √muc (“to release”) [We will look at causatives later]

So mocitaḥ gardabhaḥ means “released donkey” or “the donkey has been released”

Note the frequent use of the passive construction. “The donkey was released by the washerman” instead of “The washerman released the donkey”. This type of construction, using the past passive participle,  is very common in classical Sanskrit.

4. tato dūrādavalokya vyāghrabuddhyā kṣetrapatayaḥ satvaraṃ palāyante |
tataḥ dūrāt avalokya vyāghrabuddhyā kṣetrapatayaḥ satvaram palāyante |
“Seeing (the donkey) from afar, the farmers, thinking that it was a tiger, quickly fled.”

• tataḥ – indeclinable (adverb) – “then”
• dūrāt – indeclinable (adverb) – “from afar”

This is the case of an ablative case dūrāt of the adjective dūra being used as an adverb.

Note aslo the Sandhi. Before any voiced sound (voiced consonants or vowels) “t” becomes “d”. This is why,

dūrāt + avalokya –> dūrādavalokya

• avalokya – indeclinable (continuative – lyabanta of ava + √lok) – “having seen”

• vyāghrabuddhyā – inst. sing. fem. vyāghra+buddhi – “with tiger-belief” “thinking it was a tiger”
• kṣetrapatayaḥ – nom. pl. mas. kṣetra+pati – “field-masters” “farmers” “
• satvaram – indeclinable (adverb) – “quickly” “fast”
• palāyante – pres. indicative middle (laṭ atmane padam) 3^rd person plural of class 1 root √palāy – “run”

Notice the interchangeable use here of the past and present tenses. asti, palāyante etc. is in the present. abhavat etc. are in the past.

5. sa ca sukhena sasyaṃ carati |
saḥ ca sukhena sasyam carati |
“He (the donkey) grazed happily on the grain”

• saḥ – nom. sing. mas. of pronoun tad – “he”

Note the sandhi: The word saḥ loses its visarga (“s” ) before all consonants and becomes sa.

• ca – indeclinable (conjunction) – “and”
• sukhena – inst. sing. neu. (adj) sukha [used adverbially] – “with pleasure”
• sasyam – acc. sing. neu. sasya – “crop”

The accusative is used as the object of the verb (in this case, carati)

• carati – pres.ind. active (laṭ parasmai padam) 3^rd person sing of class 1 root √car – “moves”

6. athaikadā kenāpi sasyarakṣakeṇa dhūsarakambalakr̥tatanutrāṇena dhanuṣkāṇḍaṃ sajjīkr̥tyāvanatakāyenaikānte sthitam |
atha ekadā kena api sasyarakṣakeṇa dhūsarakambalakr̥tatanutrāṇena dhanuṣkāṇḍam sajjīkr̥tya avanatakāyena ekānte sthitam |
“Then, once a farmer covered himself in a gray blanket and stood bent down with bow and arrow ready.”

• atha – indeclinable (adverb) – “then”

Note sandhi: a or  ā + e becomes ai. So,

atha + ekadā –> athaikadā.

Similarly a or  ā + o becomes au.

• ekadā -indeclinable (adverb) –“once”
• kena – inst. sing. mas. of pronoun (adj) kim – “by some”
• api – indeclinable – “even”
• sasyarakṣakeṇa – inst. sing. mas. sasya+rakṣaka – “by grain-protector”, by farmer”
• dhūsarakambalakr̥tatanutrāṇena – inst. sing. neu. dhūsara+kambala+kr̥ta+tanu+trāṇa – “with a gray-blanket-made-body-cover” “covered in a gray blanket”

This word is a compound made from five simple words.

• dhanuṣkāṇḍam – acc. sing. neu. dhanuṣkāṇḍa – “bow-arrow” “bow and arrow”

Note the retroflexion of the “s” to “ṣ”

dhanus + kāṇḍam –> dhanuṣkāṇḍam.

We will look at this in later lessons.

• sajjīkr̥tya – indeclinable (continuative – lyabanta of sajjī + √kr̥ ) – “(bow) strung-made”, “made ready”
• avanatakāyena- inst. sing. mas. (adj) avanata+kāya – “with bowed-body”

avanata is past passive participle of ava + √nam (“to bow”)

• ekānte – loc. sing. mas ekānta – “in a lonely place”
• sthitam – nom. sing. neu (past passive participle of √stha) sthita – “stood”

Note again the use of the passive construction. “By the farmer was stood” meaning “the farmer stood”

7. taṃ ca dūre dr̥ṣṭvā gardabhaḥ puṣṭāṅgo gardabhīyamiti matvā śabdaṃ kurvāṇastadabhimukhaṃ dhāvitaḥ |
tam ca dūre dr̥ṣṭvā gardabhaḥ puṣṭāṅgaḥ gardabhī iyam iti matvā śabdam kurvāṇaḥ tadabhimukham dhāvitaḥ |
“Seeing him from afar and thinking that it was a she-donkey, the well-fed donkey ran towards him, braying”

• tam – acc.sing. mas. of pronound tad – “him”
• ca – indeclinable (conjunction) – “and”
• dūre – indeclinable (adverb) – “far”
• dr̥ṣṭvā – indeclinable (continuative – ktvānta of √drś – “to see”) – “having seen”
• gardabhaḥ – nom. sing. mas. gardabha – “donkey”
• puṣṭāṅgaḥ – nom. sing. mas.(adj)  puṣṭa+aṅgaḥ – “fat-body”

puṣṭa is the past passive participle of √puṣ (“to thrive”)

• gardabhī – nom. sing. fem. gardabh ī – “she-donkey”
• iyam – nom. sing. fem. of pronoun idam – “this”
• iti – indeclinable (adverb) – “as, thus”
• matvā – indeclinable (continuative – ktvānta of √man – “to think”) – “having thought”
• śabdam – acc. sing. mas. śabda – “sound”
• kurvāṇaḥ – nom. sing. mas.  present middle participle kurvāṇa – “making”

This is a present middle participle.

Present middle participles are formed by adding “ana” (athematic verbs) or “mana” (thematic verbs) to the modified root.

Present active participles are formed by adding “at” (class 3 roots) or “ant” (other roots) to the modified root. [An easy way to remember this is: Remove the “i” from the present indicative active 3rd person plural. So from paśyanti we get paśyant etc.

They are used as adjectives qualifying the noun. It is equivalent to the “reading” in “the man reading a book”.

Present middle participles are declined like “a” ending masculine, neuters and “ā” ending feminines. Present active participles are declined like “ant” ending masculines and neuters. The feminines make it antī  or atī  and are declined like “ī” ending feminines.

We will learn more about present participles in a later lesson.

• tadabhimukham – indeclinable (adverb) – “towards his/her”
• dhāvitaḥ – nom. sing. mas.  past passive participle dhāvita  (class 1 root √dhāv) – “ran”

8. tatastena sasyarakṣakeṇa gardabho’yamiti jñātvā līlayaiva vyāpāditaḥ |
tataḥ tena sasyarakṣakeṇa gardabhaḥ ayam iti jñātvā līlayā eva vyāpāditaḥ |
“Then, the farmer knowing (by the braying) that it was a donkey, killed him easily”

• tataḥ – indeclinable (adverb) – “then”
• tena – tena – inst. sing. mas. of pronoun (adj) tad – “by that”
• sasyarakṣakeṇa – inst. sing. mas. sasya+rakṣaka – “by grain-protector”, by farmer”
• gardabhaḥ – nom. sing. mas. gardabha – “donkey”
• ayam – nom. sing. mas. of pronoun adas – “this”
• iti – indeclinable (adverb) – “as, thus”
• jñātvā -indeclinable (continuative – ktvānta of √jñā – “to know”) – “having known”
• līlayā – inst. sing. fem. līlā – “with play” “with ease”
• eva – indeclinable (adverb) – “even”
• vyāpāditaḥ – nom. sing. mas.  (past passive participle) vyāpādita – “killed”

This is the past participle of vi+ā+(causative of) class 4 root √pad. We will look at causative conjugation in a later lesson.

Note again the passive construction. “By the farmer…the donkey was killed”

9. ato’haṃ bravīmi |
ataḥ aham bravīmi |
“Therefore I say”

• ataḥ – indeclinable (adverb) – “therefore”

• aham – nom. sing. of pronoun asmad – “I”
• bravīmi – pres.ind. active (laṭ parasmai padam) 1^st  person sing of class 2 root √brū  – “speak”. “say”

10. suciraṃ hi caranmaunaṃ śreyaḥ paśyatyabuddhimān |
suciram hi caran maunam śreyaḥ paśyati abuddhimān |
“Moving (grazing) silently for a long time (being lulled into a false sense of security), the unwise person sees goodness (only).”

• suciram – indeclinable (adverb) – “very long” “long time”
• hi – indeclinable (particle) – “indeed” “surely”
• caran – nom. sing. mas. (present active participle of √car – “to move”) carant (carat) – “moving”
• maunam – acc. sing. neu. mauna – “silence”
• śreyaḥ – acc. sing. neu śreyas – “welfare” “good state”
• paśyati – – pres.ind. active (laṭ parasmai padam) 3^st  person sing of class 4 root √paś (√dr̥ś )

Note Sandhi: i or ī  + vowel. The i or ī beomes “y”. Similarly u or ū + vowel becomes “v” and r̥ + vowel becomes “r”.

So paśyati + abuddhimān –> paśyatyabuddhimān.

• abuddhimān – nom. sing. mas. (adj) abuddhimant – “unwise”

11. dvīpicarmaparicchanno vāgdoṣādgardabho hataḥ |
dvīpicarmaparicchannaḥ vāgdoṣāt gardabhaḥ hataḥ |
“Even though covered in tiger-skin, the donkey was killed because of his braying”

• dvīpicarmaparicchannaḥ – nom. sing. mas. (adj) dvīpi+carma+paricchanna – “tiger-skin-covered”

paricchanna is the past passive participle of pari-√chad

• vāgdoṣāt – abl. sing. mas. vāc+doṣa – “speech-fault” “making sound unnecessarily”

Note internal Sandhi: The collision of voiced and unvoiced is avoided normally. So,

vāc+doṣa –> vāgdoṣa

• gardabhaḥ – nom. sing. mas. gardabha – “donkey”
• hataḥ – nom. sing. mas. (past passive participle of √han – “to kill”)  hata – “ was killed”