ASSEB Higher Secondary Skill Subject Advance Sanskrit flashcards

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Aṣṭādhyāyī

Pāṇini's grammar in eight adhyāyas of four pādas each, containing about 3,959 sūtras; it is the foundational text of Sanskrit vyākaraṇa and includes the Śiva-sūtras and dhātupāṭha.

Pratyāhāra

A shorthand sound-class formed by combining a Śiva-sūtra segment with an anubandha vowel or consonant, e.g., 'ak' = all simple vowels and 'hal' = all consonants; it lets rules be stated compactly.

Kāraka

The semantic roles governing Sanskrit case endings: kartṛ (agent), karma (object), karaṇa (instrument), sampradāna (recipient), apādāna (source) and adhikaraṇa (locus), with genitive expressing relation rather than kāraka.

Guṇa and vṛddhi

Strengthened vowel grades: guṇa changes i/u/ṛ/ḷ to e/o/ar/al and a/ā to a/ā; vṛddhi changes them to ai/au/ār/āl and a/ā to ā; certain suffixes trigger them.

Samāsa types

Four main Sanskrit compounds: avyayībhāva (adverbial), tatpuruṣa (determinative, including dvigu), bahuvrīhi (possessive and exocentric) and dvandva (coordinative); the type depends on the relation between members.

Tiṅ endings

Verb endings added to roots: parasmaipada tip tas jhi / sip thas tha / mip vas mas; ātmanepada ta ātām jha / thās āthām dhvam / iṭ vahi mahiṅ. They mark person, number and pada.

Kathā and ākhyāyikā

The two Sanskrit prose narrative genres: kathā is an invented story, while ākhyāyikā claims a historical or real basis; Daṇḍin's Kāvyādarśa discusses both.

Kādambarī

Bāṇa's 7th-century Sanskrit prose romance, an ornate kathā known for elaborate compounds and descriptions; its unfinished second part was completed by his son Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa.

Pañcatantra

Viṣṇuśarman's collection of animal fables framed as political instruction for princes; it has five tantras and was widely translated, influencing the Hitopadeśa.

Mahākāvya

A Sanskrit epic poem in sargas (cantos), traditionally at least eight, with a noble hero, descriptions of cities, seasons, love and war, and a concluding benediction.

Meghadūta

Kālidāsa's sandeśa-kāvya in two cantos and mandākrāntā metre, in which an exiled yakṣa asks a cloud to carry his message to his beloved.

Kirātārjunīya

Bhāravi's Sanskrit mahākāvya in eighteen cantos on the Pāṇḍava Arjuna's combat with Śiva disguised as a Kirāta; it is famed for verbal ingenuity.

Ten rūpakas

The ten major Sanskrit dramatic forms: nāṭaka, prakaraṇa, aṅka, vyāyoga, bhāṇa, samavakāra, vīthī, ḍima, īhāmṛga and prahasana, as classified by Bharata and the Daśarūpaka.

Five sandhis

The five plot-junctures of Sanskrit drama: mukha (opening), pratimukha (progression), garbha (development), vimarśa (crisis) and nirvahaṇa (resolution).

Abhinaya types

Four modes of dramatic presentation: āṅgika (gesture), vācika (speech), āhārya (costume and make-up) and sāttvika (emotional expression), described in the Nāṭyaśāstra.

Mṛcchakaṭika

Śūdraka's ten-act Sanskrit prakaraṇa about Cārudatta, Vasantasenā and the wicked Śakāra; it is noted for low-life characters and extensive Prakrit dialogue.

SOV to SVO

Sanskrit and Assamese normally place the verb last (SOV), while English requires SVO; translation therefore moves the Sanskrit finite verb forward and reorders objects and adjuncts.

Vibhakti mapping

Sanskrit case endings translate: nominative→subject, accusative→object, instrumental→by/with, dative→to/for, ablative→from, genitive→of/'s, locative→in/on/at.

Absolutive -tvā

The Sanskrit indeclinable participle in -tvā (or -ya after prefixes) means 'having done X' and is normally translated by a coordinated verb or a 'when/after' clause.

Upasarga

A verbal prefix modifying a root's meaning, e.g., pra-, vi-, anu-, sam-, ava-, ud-, nir-, abhi-, adhi-, upa-, apa-, ati-, su- and dus-; it may also change the pada.

Iti

Sanskrit particle marking the end of a quotation and meaning 'thus' or 'these words'; it follows the quoted material and often precedes a verb of saying such as uvāca.

√bhū

The Sanskrit root meaning 'to be' or 'become', with present forms bhavati, bhavataḥ and bhavanti; it often serves as a copula translating English 'is' or 'are'.

Visarga sandhi

Final -aḥ before a voiced sound becomes -o, and -aḥ + a becomes -o ' (rāmaḥ asti → rāmo 'sti); before voiceless consonants it remains or changes to s.

Anuṣṭubh

The common Sanskrit śloka metre of four eight-syllable pādas; in even pādas the fifth syllable is laghu and the cadence follows set patterns; it is the epic metre.

Vasantatilakā

A fourteen-syllable akṣaravṛtta metre much used in Sanskrit kāvya; it is counted by syllables rather than mātrās and appears frequently in lyric and narrative verse.

Upamā alaṅkāra

A figure of comparison in which one thing is likened to another using iva, vat, yathā or sadṛśa, with the shared property either stated explicitly or implied.

Rūpaka

A metaphor in which the subject is identified with the image without a marker of comparison, e.g., 'the moon is a face'; it contrasts with upamā, which uses a comparative particle.

Nibandha structure

A Sanskrit essay is conventionally arranged in three parts: prastāvanā (introduction), viṣaya or vivaraṇa (body) and upasaṃhāra (conclusion), each with its own sentence patterns.

Liṅ

The Sanskrit optative mood, used for wishes, advice and hypothetical situations; it is translated by 'should', 'may' or 'would' and is distinct from the imperative loṭ.

Pāṇini's date

Pāṇini is usually placed in about the 6th to 4th century BCE; his Aṣṭādhyāyī is the earliest surviving complete Sanskrit grammar and the basis of the vyākaraṇa tradition.

Dhvanyāloka

Ānandavardhana's 9th-century treatise on dhvani, or suggestion, as the soul of poetry; Abhinavagupta wrote the commentary Dhvanyālokalocana on it.

Kālidāsa

Classical Sanskrit poet and dramatist, usually placed in the 4th-5th centuries CE Gupta period; his works include Raghuvaṃśa, Kumārasambhava, Meghadūta and Abhijñānaśākuntalam.