Unseen passage comprehension and prose translation
Unseen passage comprehension and prose translation asks you to handle Sanskrit you have never read: an unseen gadya with questions, and sentences or a short paragraph to render into Marathi or English (sometimes the reverse).
Method
- Read the whole passage once without stopping; then read it again sentence by sentence.
- Parse the verb first: class/gaṇa, lakāra, puruṣa, vacana, pada. Everything else hangs on it.
- Find the kartā (prathamā, agreeing with the verb), then the karma (dvifīyā), then karaṇa (tṛtīyā) and adhikaraṇa (saptamī).
- Split compounds from the right: the final member carries the gender and number.
- Answer comprehension questions in complete sentences, reusing the passage's own vocabulary and case endings.
Worked example
बालाः उद्याने क्रीडन्ति। क्रीड् is class 1, laṭ, prathama puruṣa, bahuvacana - "they play". बालाः is nominative plural, so it is the kartā. उद्याने is saptamī of adhikaraṇa, hence "in the garden", not "to the garden". Translation: "Children play in the garden" / "मुले बागेत खेळतात."
Traps
- Leaving Sanskrit words untranslated inside a Marathi answer.
- Rendering saptamī as dative ("to the garden").
- Changing tense - laṭ must stay present, laṅ past.
- Guessing an unknown word instead of inferring it from the sentence's logic and known compounds.
- Answering "yes/no" where the question expects a full sentence with a reason.