Lesson 2

Lesson 2
2.1 The accusative case (acc)
2.2 The ablative case (abl)
2.3 Accusative and ablative case of m nouns ending in -a: buddha
2.4 Neutral nouns ending in -a: phala (partial declension)
2.5 Sanskrit verbs
2.6 Verbal prefixes
2.7 Conjugation of Class I
2.8 Particle iti
2.9 The emphatic particle eva

2.1 The accusative case (acc)

2.1.1 The acc indicates the grammatical object, goal/destination of
motion and object of reference (‘with reference to’, ‘about’).
Examples:
• buddhaḥ dharmam deśayati |
nom (subj) acc (obj) 3rd, sg ‘teach’
The Buddha teaches the doctrine (object).
• aham buddham gacchāmi |
(subj) ‘I’ acc (obj/destination) 1st, sg, ‘go’
I go to the Buddha (destination).
2.1.2 Double accusatives
An action may involve more than one object.
Examples:
• aham buddham śaraṇam gacchāmi |
sg,m,acc sg,n,acc
I go to theBuddha as the refuge(or: I go to the Buddha, the refuge).
In this case, ‘buddha’ and ‘śaraṇa’ are taken as being in
apposition.
Alternatively, buddham may be considered as the direct
object and śaraṇam, the indirect: “I go to the Buddha for
refuge”
• buddhaḥ śrāvakān dharmam diśati (/deśayati)1 |
pl,m,acc sg,m,acc √diś, ‘teach’
The Buddha teaches the disciples the dharma.
Both ‘śrāvakān’ and ‘dharmam’ are objects, though they are
not in apposition to each other (i.e., they do not refer to each
other).

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2.1.3 Acc used as adverb

An adjective, in its sg,n,acc form, can be used as an adverb.
Examples:
• ekam samayam |
‘once’ or ‘at one time’.
• sukham viharati | (sukha, adj: ‘happy/comfortable’)
He dwells happily/comfortably.
• dīrgham tiṣṭhanti | (dīrgha, adj: ‘long’)
They remain/stay for a long time.
2.2 The ablative case (abl)
The ablative case indicates the sense ‘from’. It has the following
major uses:

2.2.1 It refers to the point of reference in time/space, a motion away

from which is intended to be indicated.
Example:
• aham agārāt (‘from house’) gacchāmi |
sg,m,abl
I go from the house.
• buddhaḥ āsanāt (‘from seat’) uttiṣṭhati |
sg,n,abl (3, sg, √sthā ‘stand’)
The Buddha rises from the seat.
• śrāvakaḥ grāmāt (‘from village’) āgacchati |
sg,m,abl
The disciple comes from the village.
2.2.2 It often expresses a cause (“abl of reason”): ‘from the fact
that ...’ = ‘because of X (X in abl)’.
Example:
• svalakṣaṇa-dhāraṇāt dharmaḥ | 能持自性故，名為法。
sg,n,abl
(svalakṣaṇa: ‘intrinsic characteristic’; dhāraṇa: ‘holding/maintaining’)
Because of (/from) the sustaining of the intrinsic characteristic,
it is a dharma.
(Because it sustains its intrinsic characteristic, it is a dharma).2
2.2.3 It is sometimes used adverbially:
Examples:
• dūrāt (dūra: ‘far’): from afar.
• antikāt: in the vicinity (of).

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• tathāgatam dūrāt paśyāmāḥ |

We see the Tathāgata from afar.
• buddhasya antikāt | (antikam: vicinity, proximity)
In (from) the vicinity of the Buddha.

2.2.4 The abl suffix -tas expresses an adverbial sense:

X-tas: ‘from the point of view of X’, ‘in terms of X’ or ‘as X’.
(Also cf. next lesson)
Example:
• bodhisattvaḥ rūpāṇi śūnyataḥ paśyati |
(śūnya: ‘empty’; śūnya-tas: ‘as empty’)
The bodhisattva sees forms as being empty.

2.3 Accusative and ablative cases of m nouns ending in -a:

buddha
case sg du pl
acc buddham buddhau buddhān
abl buddhāt buddhābhyām buddhebhyaḥ

2.4 Partial declension (nom, acc, abl, gen, loc) of neutral nouns
ending in -a: phala ‘fruit’
case sg du pl
nom phalam phale phalāni
acc ” ” ”
abl phalāt phalābhyām phalebhyaḥ
gen phalasya phalayoḥ phalānām
loc phale ” phaleṣu

Note that:
(i) the nom and acc have the same form for all three numbers;
(ii) the du has the same form for gen and loc.
2.5 Sanskrit verbs
Sanskrit verbs are derived from a root (called the dhātu), plus a
verb ending differentiable in respect of the person (3rd, 2nd, 1st)
and number (sg, du, pl), etc. It is therefore highly recommended
that the beginners start to always search for a verb’s root, which
indicates the basic sense of the action intended. Often, one
or more prefixes are added to the root, which may—but not
necessarily—further articulate or in some way modify the
meaning of the action.
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Example:
• From √gam ‘go’, prefixes ava-, ā-, prati-, etc are added, resulting
in various meanings: ava-gacchati ‘understands’; ā-gacchati
‘comes’; prati-gacchati ‘goes back’/‘returns’.
However, in some cases, the historical root has been obscured.
Moreover, in a few cases, the verb was evolved from an
original noun; such verbs are called denominatives, for which
no historical roots have evolved.
2.5.1 Sanskrit verbs have three numbers: sg, du, pl.
2.5.2 They have three persons: 3rd, 2nd, 1st.
2.5.3 There are three voices: active (act), middle (mid) and passive
(pas).
2.5.4 They have three modes: indicative (ind), optative (opt) and
imperative (ipv).
2.5.5 They have seven tenses: present (pre), imperfect (ipf), perfect
(pf), aorist (aor), periphrastic future (peri fut), simple future
(fut) and conditional (cond).
2.5.6 They are grouped into ten conjugational classes (gaṇa). This
classification refers to the present tense system. As can be seen
in the following examples, each verb class has certain specific
conjugational features. For instance, classes I, IV, VI and X all
have a connecting or thematic -a before the verb ending; in the
class II verbs, the verb ending is added directly to the root; in
the class IV verbs, -y(a) is added to the root before the verb
ending, etc.
(I) bodhati (√budh I) he knows.
(II) asti (√as II) he/it is/exists.
(III) dadāti (√dā III) he gives.
(IV) naśyati (√naś IV) he perishes.
(V) śṛṇoti (√śru V) he listens.
(VI) likhati (√likh VI) he writes.
(VII) yunakti (√yuj VII) he joins.
(VIII) karoti (√kṛ VIII) he does.
(IX) jānāti (√jñā IX) he knows.
(X) kathayati (√kath X) he tells.

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2.6 Verbal prefixes (upasarga)

Prefixes are commonly added to Sanskrit verbs, enriching their
connotations. But, sometimes, the added prefix(es) does not
substantially modify the basic meaning of the verb. Moreover,
in some cases, when a prefix is added, the verb acquires
a particular meaning that is not easily recognizable as the
expected outcome of the prefix–root combination.

The following are some common prefixes to verbal roots:

ā near, up to, fully/greatly; reversing an action (e.g,
gacchati ‘goes’ → ā-gacchati ‘comes’) .
abhi directly, facing, excellent.
adhi above (/higher), from above, upon, concerning.
antar between.
anu after, following, according.
apa away, off.
api on.
ati exceedingly, over.
ava off, down.
ni down, into.
nis out, decisively.
parā away.
pra forth, very much.
prati towards, against, individually.
sam together, completely, perfectly.
ud up, upward.
vi separately, differently, distinctly.

2.7 The conjugation of bodhati (Class I, < √budh ‘know’): Present

Indicative, Active Voice:
person sg du pl
(saḥ) (tau) (te)
3rd bodhati bodhataḥ bodhanti
(he knows) (the two know) (they know)
(tvam) (yuvām) (yūyam)
2nd bodhasi bodhathaḥ bodhatha
(you know) (you two know) (you know)
(aham) (āvām) (vayam)
1st
bodhāmi bodhāvaḥ bodhāmaḥ
(I know) (we two know) (we know)
Pronouns in nom, sg: saḥ: ‘he’, ‘that one’; tvam: ‘you’; aham: ‘I’.
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2.7.1 Examples of Class I Verbs in the Present Tense

• śrāvakāḥ (nom, pl) śilāni (acc, pl) rakṣanti |
The disciples protect the precepts.
• sacet [bodhisattvaḥ] rūpe tiṣṭhati ..., sacet vijñāne tiṣṭhati, ... na
carati [dharme] | (sacet (indec): ‘if’. Aṣṭa-Vaidya, 4)
If a bodhisattva abides (clings to) in matter, ... if he abides in
consciousness, ... he does not course in the doctrine.
• dharmāḥ pratyayebhyaḥ bhavanti |
(pratyayebhyaḥ (abl,m,pl) 緣; bhavanti (3,pl < √bhū ‘become’, ‘arise’))
Dharma-s arise from conditions.

2.8 The indeclinable particle iti

iti has several uses:
(a) To mark a quotation:
Examples:
• iti vadāmi | I say “.....”
• tathāgataḥ vadati sarva-dharmāḥ śūnyāḥ iti |
The Tathāgata says: “all dharma-s are empty.”

(b) To indicate a thought or an idea:

Examples:
• na me (‘to me’) bhavati arhan asmi (‘I am’) aham iti |
sg,1st,dat sg,m,nom 1st,sg “…”
It does not occur to me: “I am an arhat.”
(c) To give a definition or an elaboration (of a term, etc):
Examples:
• cinoti (‘accumulates’ 集起) iti cittam | (cittam: ‘thought’, is the definiendum)
< √ci ‘gather’ sg,n,nom
Thought is what accumulates (/It is “thought” because it
accumulates 集起故名心). 3

2.9 The emphatic particle eva

It is translatable as ‘indeed’, ‘only’, ‘just’, ‘that very’, ‘itself’,
etc.
Examples:
• evam eva |
In just the same way.

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• kṣaṇikāḥ eva dharmāḥ |

Momentary indeed are factors of existence.
• prajñapte eva āsane | (prajñapta: ‘prepared’)
On that very seat which has been prepared.

Vocabulary
m nouns
agāraḥ 家 (m/n; = āgāraḥ) house, home
ahaṃ-kāraḥ 我心, 著我, 我執, 我持, 我計執 ‘I-making’, clinging to “I”
an-agārikaḥ 非家 (also f: anagārikā, anāgārikā; n: anāgāram. Also:
anagāriyam, n, which is truly hybrid Sanskrit) homelessness, homeless life
ārya-avalokiteśvaraḥ 聖觀自在(菩薩) the Noble Lord (bodhisattva) who
looks down
dveṣaḥ 瞋 hatred
ekāntaḥ a single part, one side
kula-putraḥ 善男子 son of a good family
mama-kāraḥ 我所心, 我所執, 著我所, 於我執 ‘mine-making’, clinging to
“mine”
mohaḥ 癡 delusion
pādaḥ foot
piṇḍa-pātaḥ 乞食 alms collecting, alms offering, food dropped into a monk’s
alms-bowl, the alms round
pradeśaḥ region, place, location, a part, a limited part/extent (分, 一分, 少分)
pratyayaḥ 緣 condition, causal condition
rāgaḥ 貪 greed, attachment
samyak-saṃbuddhaḥ 正等覺, 正等正覺, 正徧知 Perfectly Fully Enlightened
One
te (pronoun) they/those (pl,3rd pron,nom of saḥ)

n nouns
antikam vicinity, proximity
āsanam seat
duḥkham 苦 unsatisfactoriness, suffering, pain (duḥkha is adj); duḥkha-kṣayaḥ:
destruction/exhaustion of unsatisfactoriness
cittam 心 thought
Jeta-vanam 祇樹, 祇林, 祇樹林 the Jeta Grove
kuśala-mūlam 善根 root of skilfulness/wholesomeness
lakṣaṇam 相 characteristic, definition
mūlam 根 root, foundation

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rūpam 色 form, physical matter

śaraṇam 依 refuge, protection, shelter
śīlam 戒 discipline, ethics, precept, ethical alignment
sukham 樂 happiness (sukha is adj)
sūtram 經, 契經 a discourse by the Buddha
tri-ratnam 三寶 the three jewels, triple-gem
vacanam 言, 說 word
vi-jñānam 識 consciousness
yānam 乘 vehicle, a Buddhist school (e.g.: Mahāyāna: ‘Great Vehicle’, the
Mahāyāna school); yāna-trayam 三乘 the threefold vehicle, the vehicle-
triad (śrāvaka-, pratyeka-buddha- and bodhisattva-yānam/ buddha-yāna.
Mahāyāna is synonymous with bodhisattva-yāna and buddha-yāna)

Pronouns
aham (1,sg,nom; personal pronoun) I
tvam (2,sg,nom; personal pronoun) you

Adjectives
kṣaṇika 刹那住, 有刹那 momentary, lasting a single moment
prajñapta arranged, prepared (PPP — see §4.9)
sarva all, the whole of; also used as pronoun
traya threefold, consisting of three, triple; trayam (n) a triad

Class I verbs
ava-gacchati (√gam ‘go’) understands
ā-gacchati (√gam ‘go’) comes
bhavati (√bhū ‘become’) arises, becomes, be, exists
carati (√car ‘move’) moves, courses, moves about, walks, practises, does or
acts in general
gacchati (√gam ‘go’) goes
ni-ṣīdati (√sad ‘sit’) sits down
prati-krāmati (< √kram ‘step’) goes back, returns
paśyati (√paś ‘see’) sees, observes, beholds
pravrajati 出,出家 (√vraj ‘proceed’) goes forth, leaves home (to be a monk/
novice), renounces the world
rakṣati (√rakṣ ‘protect’) protects, guards
saṃ-sarati (√sṛ I ‘flow/move’) 流轉, 馳流, 往來 flows around, moves about,
roams
tiṣṭhati (√sthā; orig. III ‘stand’) 立, 住, 止 stands, stays, remains, abides, stops,
fixates (on); na rūpe tiṣṭhati 不住色: does not abide in or become fixated on
visual form; ut-tiṣṭhati: stands up, gets up, rises (from)
vadati (√vad ‘speak’) says, speaks, asserts (a theory / doctrine)
vandati (√vand ‘worship’) salutes, worships
vi-harati (√hṛ ‘carry away’, ‘take’) stays, dwells
vi-nayati (√nī ‘lead’) 調伏, 教化, 化導 disciplines, instructs, trains

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Class VI verb
diśati (√diś ‘point’) points out
pṛcchati (√prach ‘ask’) asks

Indeclinables/adverbs
atha (indec; introductory / connecting particle) then, now, next
dīrgha-rātram for a long night, for a long time (in saṃsāra)
evam thus, in this way, in the same way; evam eva: ‘in just the same way’; evam
etad: ‘this is so’
ekānte (loc of ekāntaḥ) at one side
eva (enclitic) only, just, very, itself, indeed (emphatic)
iti thus, so, therefore, “……”
khalu (confirmatory/emphatic particle) indeed, etc.
kutas from where? whence?
kutra where? in which case
sma a particle joined with a present tense to give it a past sense.
E.g.: viharati sma ‘He dwelled (in a certain place)’
tad-yathā for instance, as, just as, as follows, namely, viz (enumeration of items
follows) (see also Ex 3a); tad-yathāpi nāma: just as if, even as (see Ex 4a)

Exercise 2a
(Note: Sandhi rules are not applied in the exercise)

Translate into English:

1. tri-ratnāni | tadyathā buddhaḥ dharmaḥ saṅghaḥ ca iti |
2. akuśala-mūlāni | tadyathā rāgaḥ dveṣaḥ mohaḥ ca iti |
3. aham kulaputram pṛcchāmi | kutaḥ te tathāgatāḥ āgacchanti kutra te
tathāgatāḥ gacchanti iti | (Cf. Aṣṭa-Vaidya, 252)
4. tvam ... śīlam rakṣasi | (Aṣṭa-Vaidya, 146)
5. vayam śīlam rakṣāmaḥ | (PSP 4: 125)
6. aham ... tathāgatam ... samyak-saṃbuddham śaraṇam gacchāmi |
dharmam ca bhikṣu-saṅgham ca | (A-av, 14)
7. sattvāḥ saṃsāre saṃsaranti |4 (Aṣṭa-Vaidya, 198)
8. dīrgha-rātram sattvāḥ ahaṃkāre mamakāre caranti |5 (Aṣṭa-Vaidya,
198)

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9. vayam buddhasya pādau vandāmaḥ | ekānte ca niṣīdāmaḥ |

10. kulaputraḥ ... yānatraye sattvān vinayati |6 (Aṣṭa-Vaidya, 25)
11. bodhisattvaḥ ... na rūpe carati | ... na saṃskāreṣu na vijñāne carati
|7 (Aṣṭa-Vaidya, 199)
12. vayam agārāt anagārikam pravrajāmaḥ | (vayam: ‘we’, pronoun, nom, pl
of aham)

Exercise 2b
(Adapted from the Hṛdaya-sūtra and the Vajracchedikā prajñāpāramitā)

1. tasmin pradeśe tathāgataḥ viharati | (tasmin ‘in that’, sg,m,loc; adj to

pradeśe) (Cf. Vajra, 37)
2. ekasmin samaye buddhaḥ jetavane anāthapiṇḍadasya ārāme
viharati | prajñapte eva āsane niṣīdati sma | (Cf. Vajra, 27)
3. bodhisattvaḥ āsanāt ut-tiṣṭhati | tathāgatam ca evam vadati | (Cf. Vajra,
27)
4. atha khalu tathāgataḥ piṇḍa-pātāt pratikrāmati | (Cf. Vajra, 27)
5. ārya-avalokiteśvaraḥ bodhisattvaḥ skandhān svabhāva-śūnyān
paśyati | (Cf. Hṛdaya)

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Notes

1
On the meaning of “teaching” for diśati and deśayati, see comment in the
vocabulary of L3.
2
能持自性故,名為法. Cf. AKB, 2. This is the Ābhidharmika definition of a
“dharma” (法 an ultimate real/existent). E.g., rūpa (‘matter’) is a dharma because
it is always characterized by resistance and visibility.
3
This is one of the standard definitions on citta.
4
Cf.《大般若波羅蜜多經》〈善友品22〉 T07, no. 220, 840b17–18: 「諸有情類
... 流轉生死.」
Cf. Aṣṭa(E), 155.
5
Cf.《大般若波羅蜜多經》〈善友品22〉T07, no. 220, 840b11–12 (Also: T07,
220, 653c20–21, 653c20–21, 288c27–28; T06, no. 220, 710c4): 「有情長夜有
我、我所心, 執著我、我所」
《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》卷18〈夢誓品61〉T08, no. 223, 354a27–28: 「眾生長夜
行我、我所心.」
《小品般若波羅蜜經》〈深心求菩提品20〉T08, no. 227, 571c25: 眾生長夜著
我、我所.」
Cf. Aṣṭa(E), 155.
6
Cf. Aṣṭa(E), 21.
7
Cf. 《大般若波羅蜜多經》T07, no. 220, 840b26–28 若菩薩摩訶薩,能如是行,
則不行色,亦不行受想行識.
《小品般若波羅蜜經》T08, no. 227, 572a4: 若菩薩如是行，則不行色，不行
受、想、行、識.
Cf. Aṣṭa(E), 160.

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