BSEH Secondary Sanskrit cheat sheet

Savarna-dirgha: a/ā + a/ā → ā; i/ī + i/ī → ī; u/ū + u/ū → ū (vidyā + ālayah = vidyālayah).

Guna sandhi: a/ā + i/ī → e; a/ā + u/ū → o; a/ā + r → ar; a/ā + l → al (rāma + iti = rāmeti).

Vriddhi sandhi: a/ā + e/ai → ai; a/ā + o/au → au (ekā + ekam = ekāikam → ekekam context-dependent; sadā + eva = sadaiva).

Yan sandhi: i/ī + any vowel → y; u/ū → v; r → r; l → l (iti + api = ityapi; madhu + api = madhvapi).

Ayava/avaya (aco'ntyādi): e/o before a vowel become ay/av (te + api = te 'pi; so + api = so 'pi).

Visarga sandhi: -ah + voiced sound → -o (rāmah + gacchati = rāmo gacchati); -ah + a → -o ' (rāmah + api = rāmo 'pi).

Anusvara/parasavarna: final -m before consonant becomes anusvara or class nasal (rāmam + ca = rāmaṃ ca; rāmaṃ + gacchati).

Schwa deletion rule of thumb: internal -a- between consonants is often dropped (rāma + janma = rāmajanma); never apply to final or initial syllables.

Eight cases: prathamā (nominative), dvitīyā (accusative), tṛtīyā (instrumental), caturthī (dative), pañcamī (ablative), ṣaṣṭhī (genitive), saptamī (locative), sambodhana (vocative).

a-stem masculine rāma: rāmaḥ, rāmam, rāmeṇa, rāmāya, rāmāt, rāmasya, rāme, he rāma; plural rāmāḥ, rāmān, rāmaiḥ, rāmebhyaḥ, rāmebhyaḥ, rāmāṇām, rāmeṣu, he rāmāḥ.

ā-stem feminine latā: latā, latām, latayā, latāyai, latāyāḥ, latāyāḥ, latāyām, he late; plural latāḥ, latāḥ, latābhiḥ, latābhyaḥ, latābhyaḥ, latānām, latāsu, he latāḥ.

a-stem neuter phala: phalam, phalam, phalena, phalāya, phalāt, phalasya, phale, he phala; plural phalāni, phalāni, phalaiḥ, phalebhyaḥ, phalebhyaḥ, phalānām, phaleṣu, he phalāni.

i/u-stems: muni (muniḥ, munim, muninā, munaye, muneḥ, muneḥ, munau); śatru (śatruḥ, śatrum, śatruṇā, śatrave, śatroḥ, śatroḥ, śatrau).

Pronoun aham/tvam: aham, mām, mayā, mahyam, mat, mama, mayi; tvam, tvām, tvayā, tubhyam, tvat, tava, tvayi.

Pronoun tad (saḥ): saḥ/tat/sā, tam/tat/tām, tena/tayā, tasmai/tasyai, tasmāt/tasyāḥ, tasya/tasyāḥ, tasmin/tasyām; plural te/tāni/tāḥ, tān/tāni/tāḥ, taiḥ/tābhiḥ.

Case-number agreement: adjective matches noun in gender, number, case (mahān rāmaḥ, mahat phalam, mahatī latā).

Present (laṭ) parasmaipada of bhū: bhavāmi, bhavasi, bhavati, bhavāvaḥ, bhavatha, bhavanti; ātmanepada sevate: seve, sevase, sevate, sevāvahe, sevethe, sevante.

Imperfect (laṅ) adds augment a- and secondary endings: abhavam, abhavaḥ, abhavat, abhavāma, abhavata, abhavan.

Imperative (loṭ): bhava/bhavatu, bhavata/bhavantu; potential (vidhiliṅ): bhaveyam, bhaveḥ, bhavet, bhavema, bhaveta, bhaveyuḥ.

Perfect (liṭ) of kṛ: cakāra, cakartha, cakāra, cakṛva, cakṛta, cakruḥ; of as: āsa, āsitha, āsa, āsiva, āsitha, āsuḥ.

Future (lṛṭ) adds -sya-: bhaviṣyāmi, bhaviṣyasi, bhaviṣyati; periphrastic future (luṭ) uses -tā with copula: bhavitā asmi.

Kridanta: ktvā (absolutive) = -tvā/-ya (kṛtvā, gatvā, dṛṣṭvā); tumun (infinitive) = -tum (draṣṭum, gantum).

Kṛdanta participles: present -at/-māna (bhavat, kurvat, paśyan, gacchan); past passive -ta/-na (kṛta, gata, dṛṣṭa, likhita).

Kartari kṛdanta: -aka/-tṛ (kārakaḥ, kartā, dātā, netā); ṇic passive stems: kāryate, likhyate, paṭhyate.

Kartari vibhakti: agent in active construction takes prathamā (rāmaḥ phalaṃ khādati); passive reverses this (rāmeṇa phalam khādyate).

Karmaṇi: object takes dvitīyā in active, prathamā in passive; karaṇa takes tṛtīyā (likhati lekhanyā).

Sampradāna = caturthī for recipient (gurūya dadāti, rāmāya likhati); apādāna = pañcami for source (grāmāt āgacchati).

Adhikaraṇa = saptamī for locus (grāme vasati, pṛthivyām); sambandha = ṣaṣṭhī for possession/relation (rāmasya putraḥ).

Tatpuruṣa: prior member in case relation to latter (rājaputraḥ = rājñaḥ putraḥ; grāmāgataḥ = grāmāt āgataḥ).

Dvandva: coordinate members joined, often dual/plural (rāmalakṣmaṇau, mātāpitarau, aśvamahiṣāḥ); final -a/-ā stem governs gender.

Bahuvrīhi: compound denotes an outside referent (pītāmbaraḥ = 'one whose garment is yellow'); the whole is an adjective agreeing with its noun.

Avyayībhāva: indeclinable prior member (pratidinam, upagrāmam, yathāśakti); samāsa vigraha is the test - split the compound to identify type.

Order shift: Sanskrit is SOV; English is SVO - reorder subject, verb, object while preserving case roles.

Identify the verb first (person, number, tense, voice); then map nominative to subject, accusative to object, instrumental to agent/instrument.

Passive (karmaṇi) Sanskrit → active English: rāmeṇa gr̥haḥ kriyate = 'Rama builds a house' (or 'A house is built by Rama').

Hindi equivalents: prathamā→कर्ता/कर्म, dvitīyā→को, tṛtīyā→से/के द्वारा, caturthī→के लिए, pañcamī→से, ṣaṣṭhī→का/की/के, saptamī→में/पर.

Participles and absolutives become clauses: iti kṛtvā = 'having done this'; gacchan = 'while going'; kṛtaḥ = 'was done'.

Quotative iti closes quoted speech: rāmaḥ uvāca 'sukhaṃ jīvati' iti - translate the quote first, then the frame.

Sandhi must be split before parsing: sandhi-viccheda of unknown forms is the first step in any translation passage.

Numbers and ordinals: eka, dvi, tri, catvāri, pañca; prathamaḥ, dvitīyaḥ, tṛtīyaḥ - match gender of the counted noun.

Rasa and alaṅkāra identification: upamā (comparison with iva/yathā), rūpaka (metaphor), anuprāsa (alliteration), śleṣa (double meaning).

Metre recognition: anuṣṭubh = 8 syllables per quarter; indravajrā = 11; upajāti mixes indravajrā/upendravajrā; śārdūlavikrīḍita = 19.

Yati (caesura) and gaṇa counting are the practical tools for scanning a verse - count syllables per pāda first.

Common kāvya constructions: 'na ... api' = 'not even'; 'kim ... na' = rhetorical 'what is not'; 'yathā ... tathā' = 'as ... so'.

Kāvya verses typically have four pādas; the last pāda carries the phalaśruti or conclusion.

Prose passages in pañcatantra/hitopadeśa frame a moral in the final sentence - locate the upadeśa line.

Sandhi-viccheda of verse is the first parsing step; then padaccheda (word division) and anvaya (prose order).

Anvaya order for verse: subject → object → verb → modifiers; restore to SOV before translating.

Subhashita formula: 'vidyā dadāti vinayaṃ' - a general truth expressed in a single verse with a phalaśruti closing line.

Common subhashita themes: vidyā (learning), satya (truth), dāna (giving), kāla (time), mātrā (moderation).

Riddle (prahelikā) structure: a question or paradox requiring identification of an object (e.g., 'what has no mouth but speaks?').

Idioms: 'kāka-tāliya' (crows and palms - coincidence), 'aṇḍa-kāraka' (one who destroys the egg), 'gṛha-kakṣa' (house-lizard - one who stays home).

Letter format: place and date (sthānam, dināṅkaḥ), salutation (priya/ārya), body, closing (bhavadīyaḥ / āśiṣaḥ), signature.

Formal letter openings: 'mahodaya' (sir), 'suhṛdaya' (friend); closing 'iti śubham' or 'bhavadīyaḥ' + name.

Paragraph writing: topic sentence (viṣayaḥ), supporting points, conclusion - use simple present and passive where natural.

Proverb translation: match Sanskrit idiom to Hindi/English equivalent meaning, not word-for-word (e.g., 'aṇḍa-kāraka' = 'नष्ट करने वाला').