Karnataka II PUC Sanskrit (KSEAB) cheat sheet

Devanagari varnamala order: vowels (svara) first - a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, ṛ, ṝ, ḷ, e, ai, o, au - then consonants (vyañjana) by place of articulation: ka-varga (velar), ca-varga (palatal), ṭa-varga (retroflex), ta-varga (dental), pa-varga (labial), then semivowels ya, ra, la, va and sibilants śa, ṣa, sa, ha.

Sandhi classification: savarṇa-dīrgha (a/ā + a/ā → ā; i/ī + i/ī → ī; u/ū + u/ū → ū), guṇa (a + i/ī → e; a + u/ū → o; a + ṛ → ar), vṛddhi (a + e/ai → ai; a + o/au → au), yaṇ (i/ī → y; u/ū → v; ṛ → r; ḷ → l before a vowel), and visarga sandhi (aḥ + a → o '; aḥ + voiced consonant → r).

Case (vibhakti) order in Indian grammar: prathamā (nominative), dvitīyā (accusative), tṛtīyā (instrumental), caturthī (dative), pañcamī (ablative), ṣaṣṭhī (genitive), saptamī (locative), sambodhana (vocative).

Declension patterns to recognise: a-kāra stems (rāma, phala, kavi, śiva - masculine/neuter), ā-kāra stems (ramā, latā, sītā - feminine), i/ī-kāra (muni, nadī), u/ū-kāra (guru, vadhū), and ṛ-kāra (pitṛ, mātṛ). Neuter a-stems take -am/-āni in prathamā and dvitīyā.

Ten gaṇas of verbs: bhvādi (bhū), adādi (ad), juhotyādi (hu), divādi (div), svādi (su), tudādi (tud), rudhādi (rudh), tanādi (tan), kryādi (krī), curādi (cur). Parasmaipada and ātmanepada endings differ in prathamā-puruṣa: -ti/-nti versus -te/-nte.

Ten lakāras: laṭ (present), laṅ (imperfect), liṭ (perfect), lṛṅ (conditional), lṛṭ (simple future), luṭ (periphrastic future), leṭ (Vedic subjunctive), āśīrliṅ (benedictive), liṅ (optative/imperative sense in optative), lṛṅ/loṭ (imperative). Core memory: laṭ = present, loṭ = imperative, liṅ = optative, lṛṭ = future, liṭ = perfect.

Kāraka analysis: kartṛ (agent, prathamā), karma (object, dvitīyā), karaṇa (instrument, tṛtīyā), sampradāna (recipient, caturthī), apādāna (source, pañcamī), adhikaraṇa (locus, saptamī), and sambandha expressed by ṣaṣṭhī. Passive (karmaṇi) promotes karma to prathamā and takes tṛtīyā for the agent.

Alaṃkāra (poetic figures) tested in PUC: upamā (comparison with iva/vat/yathā), rūpaka (metaphor, identity), utprekṣā (ascription of imagined action), atiśayokti (hyperbole), anuprāsa (alliteration), yamaka (repetition of identical syllables), śleṣa (double meaning), arthāntaranyāsa (general maxim illustrated).

Chandas essentials: anuṣṭubh = 8 syllables × 4 pādas; indravajrā = 11 syllables (ta-ta-ja-ga-ga); upendravajrā = 11 syllables (ja-ta-ja-ga-ga); vasantatilakā = 14 syllables (ta-bha-ja-ja-ga-ga); śārdūlavikrīḍita = 19 syllables (ma-sa-ja-sa-ta-ta-ga); mālinī = 15 syllables.

Major authors and works: Kālidāsa (Abhijñānaśākuntala, Raghuvaṃśa, Meghadūta, Ṛtusaṃhāra), Bhavabhūti (Uttararāmacarita, Mālatīmādhava), Bhāsa (Svapnavāsavadatta, Pratijñāyaugandharāyaṇa), Viśākhadatta (Mudrārākṣasa), Śūdraka (Mṛcchakaṭika), Bāṇa (Kādambarī, Harṣacarita), Daṇḍin (Daśakumāracarita), Kṣemendra (Bṛhatkathāmañjarī).

Rāmāyaṇa: seven kāṇḍas (Bāla, Ayodhyā, Araṇya, Kiṣkindhā, Sundara, Yuddha, Uttara), attributed to Vālmīki; Mahābhārata: eighteen parvas, attributed to Vyāsa, with the Bhagavadgītā in the Bhīṣma-parvan.

Vedāṅga list: śikṣā (phonetics), vyākaraṇa (grammar), chandas (metre), nirukta (etymology), jyotiṣa (astronomy), kalpa (ritual). Four Vedas: Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, Atharva.

Narrative devices and terms: kathā, ākhyāyikā, campū (prose-verse mix), nāṭaka (drama), prahasana (farce), bhāṇa (monologue), vīthi; rasa theory's nine rasas - śṛṅgāra, hāsya, karuṇa, raudra, vīra, bhayānaka, bībhatsa, adbhuta, śānta.

Sandhi of a final -a/-ā with a following vowel: before a simple vowel, a/ā + i/ī → e (guṇa); a/ā + u/ū → o (guṇa); a/ā + ṛ → ar; a/ā + e/ai → ai (vṛddhi); a/ā + o/au → au (vṛddhi).

Guṇa and vṛddhi substitution table for the vowel ṛ: ṛ → ar (guṇa) → ār (vṛddhi); for i/ī → e → ai; for u/ū → o → au. Apply when a suffix or sandhi requires strengthening.

Internal sandhi in verbal roots: √bhū + -ta → bhūta (no change); √kṛ + -ta → kṛta; √labh + -ta → labdha (voice assimilation); √budh + -ta → buddha. Note the cerebralisation of n → ṇ after r, ṣ, ṛ (ruki rule).

Noun declension a-stem rāma, masculine: rāmaḥ, rāmam, rāmeṇa, rāmāya, rāmāt, rāmasya, rāme (sg); rāmau, rāmau, rāmābhyām, rāmābhyām, rāmābhyām, rāmayoḥ, rāmayoḥ (dual); rāmāḥ, rāmān, rāmaiḥ, rāmebhyaḥ, rāmebhyaḥ, rāmāṇām, rāmeṣu (plural).

Feminine ā-stem latā: latā, latām, latayā, latāyai, latāyāḥ, latāyāḥ, latāyām (sg); late, late, latābhyām, latābhyām, latābhyām, latayoḥ, latayoḥ (dual); latāḥ, latāḥ, latābhiḥ, latābhyaḥ, latābhyaḥ, latānām, latāsu (plural).

Pronoun declension: aham (I) - mām, mayā, mahyam, mat, mama, mayi; tvam (you) - tvām, tvayā, tubhyam, tvat, tava, tvayi; saḥ/tat (that) - tam/tat, tena, tasmai, tasmāt, tasya, tasmin.

Present-tense paradigm of √bhū (bhvādi, parasmaipada): bhavāmi, bhavasi, bhavati; bhavāvaḥ, bhavathaḥ, bhavataḥ; bhavāmaḥ, bhavatha, bhavanti.

Present-tense paradigm of √as (adādi, parasmaipada): asmi, asi, asti; svaḥ, sthaḥ, staḥ; smaḥ, stha, santi. The root √as is the copula and takes no object.

Present-tense paradigm of √kṛ (tanādi, parasmaipada): karomi, karoṣi, karoti; kurvaḥ, kuruthaḥ, kurutaḥ; kurmaḥ, kurutha, kurvanti.

Imperative (loṭ) of √bhū: bhavāni, bhava/bhavatāt, bhavatu; bhavāva, bhavatam, bhavatām; bhavāma, bhavata, bhavantu. Second person singular in -a is the ordinary command form.

Optative (liṅ) of √bhū: bhaveyam, bhaveḥ, bhavet; bhaveva, bhavetam, bhavetām; bhavema, bhaveta, bhaveyuḥ. Note the -e- infix before the personal endings.

Future (lṛṭ) of √bhū: bhaviṣyāmi, bhaviṣyasi, bhaviṣyati; bhaviṣyāvaḥ, bhaviṣyathaḥ, bhaviṣyataḥ; bhaviṣyāmaḥ, bhaviṣyatha, bhaviṣyanti. The marker is -iṣya- (or -sya- after some roots).

Perfect (liṭ) of √bhū: babhūva, babhūvitha, babhūva; babhūviva, babhūvathuḥ, babhūvatuḥ; babhūvima, babhūva, babhūvuḥ. Reduplication of the initial syllable marks the perfect.

Kāraka-to-vibhakti mapping in active voice: kartṛ → prathamā; karma → dvitīyā; karaṇa → tṛtīyā; sampradāna → caturthī; apādāna → pañcamī; adhikaraṇa → saptamī; ṣaṣṭhī marks the possessor.

Passive (karmaṇi) transformation: karma takes prathamā, the agent takes tṛtīyā, and the verb takes ātmanepada endings with -ya- (e.g., rāmeṇa phalaṃ khādyate).

Compound (samāsa) types: tatpuruṣa (case relation, e.g., rājaputra), dvigu (numeral, e.g., tridaśa), dvandva (coordination, e.g., rāmalakṣmaṇau), bahuvrīhi (possessive, e.g., dīrghabāhuḥ), avyayībhāva (indeclinable preverb, e.g., pratyaham).

Kṛt and taddhita suffixes: -tum (infinitive), -tvā/-ya (absolutive/gerund), -ta/-na (past participle), -anīya/-ya/-tavya (gerundive); -in, -vat, -mat (possessive); -tva, -tā (abstract); -ya (relational).