Gadya: Reading Prescribed Sanskrit Prose
The Gadya (prose) section of the Kerala +2 Sanskrit Sahitya course tests whether you can read a prescribed classical prose passage closely, not merely recall its story. Question types are stable: short content answers, Sanskrit-word glosses (artham), compound splitting (vigraha), identification of alaṃkāra, and rendering two or three lines into Malayalam or English.
Genres you must be able to name
- Ākhyāyikā - prose narrative on a real or royal biography, long compounds, inserted verses; Bāṇa's Harṣacarita is the model.
- Kathā - invented plot, lighter syntax, epigrammatic verses; Bāṇa's own Kādambarī and Daṇḍin's Daśakumāracarita are the models.
- Campū - prose and verse alternating, e.g. Trivikrama's Nalacampū.
- Vyākhyā - Kerala's strongest prose tradition is commentary, where śabdārtha (word meaning) is followed by bhāvārtha (sense).
How to read a prose paragraph in the exam
- Split long compounds right-to-left and mark the head word.
- Find the finite verb; note prayoga (active/passive) and tense.
- Underline absolutes (ktvā, lyap) and read them as "after/while" clauses.
- Only then translate, keeping Malayalam word order natural.
Worked example
Compare rājaputraḥ and candramauliḥ. rājaputraḥ = rājñaḥ putraḥ, a ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa, since the head putra is inside the compound. candramauliḥ = candraḥ maulau yasya saḥ, a bahuvrīhi naming Śiva, since the head lies outside. Identical surface pattern, different class: only the vigraha decides.
Traps that cost marks
- Word-for-word translation of idiom (kṛtānta is Death, not "done end").
- Losing the passive: tena gṛham gatam is "he went home", not "by him gone".
- Calling every long compound a bahuvrīhi, or every prose work an ākhyāyikā.
- Giving the story but not the vigraha when the question asks for vyākaraṇa.