ASSEB HSLC Elective Sanskrit flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Anvaya

The rearranged prose order of a Sanskrit verse, restoring subject–object–verb sequence so the sentence can be parsed and translated; the first step in explaining any prescribed verse.

Upamā alaṅkāra

Simile, a figure of speech comparing two things of different classes using markers such as iva, yathā, or sadṛśa; e.g. 'the face is like the moon'.

Rūpaka alaṅkāra

Metaphor, where the compared thing is directly identified with the object without a comparison marker; e.g. 'the face is a moon' rather than 'like a moon'.

Anuṣṭubh metre

The most common Sanskrit metre: four quarters of eight syllables each, used in the epics and in many prescribed textbook verses; also called śloka.

Indravajrā metre

A classical metre of eleven syllables per quarter, each quarter ending with the pattern ⏑–⏑––; combined with upendravajrā it forms upajāti.

Rasa in poetry

The aesthetic sentiment evoked in the reader; the classical set includes vīra (heroism), karuṇa (compassion), śānta (peace), bhakti (devotion), and hāsya (humour).

Iti marker in prose

A particle placed after a quoted clause to close direct speech; the speech verb (uvāca, abravīt) often follows it, as in 'rājā uvāca' patterns.

Kṛta-jñatā theme

Gratitude, a frequent moral in prescribed Sanskrit fables: a character repays a kindness even at personal cost, illustrating that ingratitude is the worst vice.

Pañcatantra

A Sanskrit collection of animal fables attributed to Viṣṇuśarman, framed as instruction in nīti (statecraft) for princes; a common source of prescribed prose.

Hitopadeśa

A Sanskrit fable collection by Nārāyaṇa drawing on the Pañcatantra, organized into four sections on friendship, discord, war, and peace; often used in school prose.

Imperfect tense (laṭ past)

The narrative past tense in Sanskrit prose (abhavat, agacchat), used for the main sequence of events, distinct from the perfect used for reported speech.

Prathamā vibhakti

The nominative case, marking the subject of a finite verb and the predicate nominative; endings for a-stem masculine are -ḥ, -au, -āḥ.

Dvitīyā vibhakti

The accusative case, marking the direct object of a transitive verb and the goal of motion; a-stem masculine endings are -am, -au, -ān.

Tṛtīyā vibhakti

The instrumental case, marking the means or instrument (karaṇa) and the agent in passive constructions; a-stem masculine endings are -eṇa, -ābhyām, -aiḥ.

Ṣaṣṭhī vibhakti

The genitive case, marking possession and relation (sambandha); a-stem masculine endings are -sya, -yoḥ, -āṇām, as in rāmasya 'of Rāma'.

Saptamī vibhakti

The locative case, marking place or occasion (adhikaraṇa); a-stem masculine endings are -e, -yoḥ, -eṣu, as in grāme 'in the village'.

Sambodhana

The vocative case, used for direct address; for a-stem masculine it is rāma (singular), rāmau (dual), rāmāḥ (plural), often with he or bhoḥ added.

Savarṇa-dīrgha sandhi

The rule that a like vowel followed by a like vowel becomes long: a + a → ā, i + i → ī, u + u → ū, e.g. rāma + ājñā → rāmājñā.

Guṇa sandhi

The rule that a or ā followed by i/ī becomes e, by u/ū becomes o, and by ṛ becomes ar; e.g. upa + ita → upeta, na + upa → nopa.

Visarga sandhi

Rules for final -aḥ: before a voiced sound it becomes o (rāmaḥ gacchati → rāmo gacchati), and before a it becomes o plus elision (rāmaḥ api → rāmo 'pi).

Tatpuruṣa samāsa

A compound in which the first member stands in a case relation to the second; e.g. rāja-putra 'king's son' (genitive) or grāma-gata 'gone to the village'.

Dvandva samāsa

A copulative compound joining members in coordination, translatable with 'and'; e.g. rāma-lakṣmaṇau 'Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa', often taking dual or plural number.

Bahuvrīhi samāsa

A possessive compound denoting something characterized by its members; e.g. mahā-bāhuḥ 'one whose arms are great', functioning as an adjective on an outside noun.

Kāraka roles

The semantic roles of nouns in a sentence - kartā (agent), karma (object), karaṇa (instrument), sampradāna (recipient), apādāna (source), adhikaraṇa (locus) - which determine case choice.

Parasmaipada present endings

The active present endings: -mi, -si, -ti, -vaḥ, -thaḥ, -tha, -maḥ, -tha, -nti; e.g. paṭhāmi, paṭhasi, paṭhati 'I read, you read, he reads'.

Ātmanepada present endings

The middle-voice present endings: -e, -se, -te, -vahe, -āthe, -dhve, -mahe, -dhve, -nte; used with roots like sev, bhaj, and labh.

Karmani prayoga (passive)

The passive construction in which the object becomes nominative and the agent takes the instrumental; formed with the past participle, e.g. tena pustakaṃ paṭhitam.

Asti possessive pattern

To express 'X has Y', Sanskrit uses the genitive of the possessor with asti: rāmasya putraḥ asti 'Rāma has a son'; no verb 'have' exists.

Nominal sentence

A Sanskrit sentence with no copula in the present tense: subject and predicate both in nominative, e.g. rāmaḥ rājā 'Rāma is a king'.

Connectives for composition

Words that link sentences in a paragraph: atha (now, then), tataḥ (thereupon), api (also), eva (indeed), iti (thus), and tataḥ param (after that).

Sandeśa-kāvya

The messenger-poem genre; Kālidāsa's Meghadūta is the model, in which a yakṣa sends a cloud to carry a message to his separated beloved.

Kālidāsa's major works

The plays Abhijñānaśākuntalam, Mālavikāgnimitram, and Vikramorvaśīyam, plus the poems Raghuvaṃśa, Kumārasambhava, Meghadūta, and Ṛtusaṃhāra.