Translation and Comprehension
What is tested
Translation and comprehension papers give an unseen Maharashtri passage, often a short gatha or prose sentence, and ask for a literal rendering plus short answers on meaning. The test is parsing under time pressure: case endings, verb person and particles.
Method
- Locate the finite verb; in Prakrit it usually stands at the end of the clause.
- Mark the case endings: -o nominative masc., -aṃ accusative, -ssa genitive, -hi instrumental plural, -e locative.
- Resolve sandhi before translating; do not translate a sandhi chunk as one word.
- Identify absolutives (-ia, -ūṇa) and infinitives (-iuṃ) because they control clause structure.
- Keep particles distinct: vi = “like/as”, viṇa = “without”, puna = “again/but”, tā = “then”.
- Translate idiom by idiom; a literal word-for-word version that reverses subject and object loses marks.
Worked example
“sā jāi puttaṃ passiuṃ nagaraṃ.” Parse: sā = she (nom. sg. fem.); jāi = she goes (3 sg.); puttaṃ = son (acc.); passiuṃ = to see (infinitive); nagaraṃ = city (acc.). Translation: “She goes to the city to see her son.” Reasoning: the infinitive passiuṃ explains purpose; nagaraṃ is the goal of motion, puttaṃ the object of seeing. A careless reader might take nagaraṃ as object of jāi and produce “she goes to the son.”
Traps
Do not ignore the difference between -aṃ accusative and -aṃ neuter nominative; context and verb agreement decide. Do not translate a gerund as a finite verb. Do not leave technical terms untranslated unless the question asks for them.