The instrumental agent in a passive clause
A grammar exercise supplies “रामः फलं खादति” and “रामेण फलं खाद्यते.” Both concern Rama eating a fruit, but they organize the grammatical presentation differently. A learner sees the instrumental form रामेण and decides that Rama must be a physical utensil used by someone else. Another learner changes the fruit into the eater while translating the passive sentence. The task asks for the action’s participants and the role of the relevant forms, without requiring an unrelated literary interpretation. It also asks why a rule stating that every instrumental form names a tool would be inadequate. The answer should preserve the eating relation while distinguishing case form, semantic role and voice.
1. Explain the relation in both clauses.
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Rama is the eater and the fruit is what is eaten. In the passive clause, रामेण expresses the agent in the instrumental form; the fruit is presented as the grammatical subject.
2. What should the learner avoid?
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Do not turn Rama into a utensil or reverse who eats what. The instrumental ending must be interpreted within the actual passive construction.