Maharashtra SSC Sanskrit (MSBSHSE) flashcards

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Savarṇa-dīrgha sandhi

When a simple vowel is followed by a similar simple vowel, both merge into the corresponding long vowel: a/ā + a/ā → ā; i/ī + i/ī → ī; u/ū + u/ū → ū. Example: rāma + āgacchati → rāmāgacchati.

Guṇa sandhi

A or ā followed by i/ī becomes e; before u/ū becomes o; before ṛ becomes ar. Example: nara + indra → narendra; na + upa → nopa; pitṛ + ṛṇa → pitaraṇa.

Vṛddhi sandhi

A or ā followed by e/ai becomes ai; before o/au becomes au. Example: eka + eka → aikya; kadā + api → kadāpi (with shortening). Used commonly in taddhita derivation.

Visarga sandhi (aḥ)

Final aḥ before a voiced sound becomes o (before sonorants) or r before other vowels. Example: rāmaḥ gacchati → rāmo gacchati; rāmaḥ vadati → rāmo vadati; rāmaḥ āgacchati → rāma āgacchati.

Rāma-declension endings

A-stem masculine: rāmaḥ, rāmau, rāmāḥ (nom.); rāmam, rāmau, rāmān (acc.); rāmeṇa, rāmābhyām, rāmaiḥ (instr.); rāmāya, rāmābhyām, rāmebhyaḥ (dat.); rāmāt, rāmābhyām, rāmebhyaḥ (abl.); rāmasya, rāmayoḥ, rāmāṇām (gen.); rāme, rāmayoḥ, rāmeṣu (loc.).

Lat (present) parasmaipada

Endings: -mi, -si, -ti (sing.); -vaḥ, -thaḥ, -tha (dual); -maḥ, -tha, -anti (plural). Example: likhati, likhataḥ, likhanti. Vowel gradation applies to roots of the sixth and first classes.

Lat (present) ātmanepada

Endings: -e, -se, -te (sing.); -vahe, -āthe, -ete (dual); -mahe, -dhve, -ante (plural). Example: sevate, sevete, sevante. Roots like sev, bhaj, labh, and vṛt commonly take ātmanepada.

Loṭ (imperative)

Commands: -tu, -tām, -antu (3rd); -hi/-tāt, -tam, -ta (2nd); -āni, -āva, -āma (1st). Example: likhatu, likhatam, likhantu. Negative commands use mā with the imperative or aorist.

Liṅ (optative)

Expresses wish or possibility: -et, -etām, -eyuḥ (3rd); -eḥ, -etam, -eta (2nd); -eyam, -eva, -ema (1st). Example: bhavet ('may be'), syāt ('might be').

Lṛṭ (simple future)

Endings: -syāmi, -syasi, -syati, -syāvaḥ, -syathaḥ, -syatha, -syāmaḥ, -syatha, -syanti. Example: likhiṣyati ('will write'). Guṇa or vṛddhi of the root precedes the -sya suffix.

Karmani prayoga (passive)

Passive is formed with the ātmanepada endings added to the present stem with -ya-: likh → likhyate ('is written'). The logical object becomes the grammatical subject in the nominative; the agent appears in the instrumental.

Ktvā (absolutive)

Indeclinable participle formed with -tvā after a prefixless root (kṛtvā, gatvā) and -ya after a prefixed root (anugamya, āgatya). Denotes an action preceding the main verb: 'having done'.

Tavya and anīya gerundives

Formed from the root with -tavya or -anīya to express obligation or fitness: kartavya ('to be done'), paṭhanīya ('worth reading'). The agent appears in the instrumental case.

Kāraka: prathamā vibhakti

Nominative case. Used for the kartā (agent) with an active verb, for the karman (object) with a passive verb, and after forms of the verb as in 'rāmaḥ paṭhati'.

Kāraka: dvitīyā vibhakti

Accusative case. Marks the direct object (karman) after transitive verbs, and also duration of time or extent of space: 'grāmaṃ gacchati' ('goes to the village').

Kāraka: tṛtīyā vibhakti

Instrumental case. Marks the means or instrument (karaṇa) and accompaniment with saha/sārdham: 'kareṇa likhati' ('writes with the hand'); 'rāmeṇa saha' ('together with Rāma').

Kāraka: caturthī vibhakti

Dative case. Marks the recipient (sampradāna) of an action, and purpose: 'gurubhyaḥ namaskaroti' ('salutes the teachers'); 'phalam khādituṃ gacchati' ('goes to eat the fruit').

Kāraka: pañcamī vibhakti

Ablative case. Marks the source or point of separation (apādāna): 'grāmāt āgacchati' ('comes from the village'); also used with prepositions like 'vinā' and in comparative constructions.

Kāraka: ṣaṣṭhī vibhakti

Genitive case. Marks possession or relation (sambandha): 'rāmasya putraḥ' ('Rāma's son'). Also used after words expressing knowledge, recollection, and in compound resolution.

Kāraka: saptamī vibhakti

Locative case. Marks the locus or substratum (adhikaraṇa): 'grāme vasati' ('lives in the village'). Also used with words expressing time, subject-matter, and reference.

Tatpuruṣa samāsa

Determinative compound in which the first member is in a case relation to the second: 'rājaputraḥ' ('king's son' = genitive). Subtypes include dvitīyā, tṛtīyā, caturthī, pañcamī, ṣaṣṭhī and saptamī tatpuruṣa.

Dvandva samāsa

Copulative compound joining two or more coordinate members: 'rāmalakṣmaṇau' ('Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa'). The gender and number follow the last member or the group collectively.

Bahuvrīhi samāsa

Possessive compound whose meaning points to an outside referent: 'dīrghabāhuḥ' ('long-armed one' = a person). The compound itself functions as an adjective agreeing with the noun it qualifies.

Avyayībhāva samāsa

Compound whose first member is an indeclinable (prefix or particle) and which functions as a neuter singular indeclinable: 'yathāśakti' ('according to ability'), 'upagrāmam' ('near the village').

Dvigu samāsa

A tatpuruṣa whose first member is a numeral: 'tribhujaḥ' ('triangle', 'three-sided figure'), 'daśānanaḥ' ('ten-faced Rāvaṇa'). Often functions as a bahuvrīhi or as a noun.

Kṛt pratyaya: -in

Suffix -in forms agent nouns from roots: 'kārin' ('one who does'), 'bhāgin' ('sharer'), 'jñānin' ('possessor of knowledge'). The stem takes the appropriate nominal endings.

Taddhita: -mat/-vant

Possessive suffixes meaning 'possessing': 'buddhimat' ('having intellect'), 'yaśasvin' ('famous'). They form adjectives agreeing with the noun they qualify.

Anuṣṭubh metre

A four-quarter metre with eight syllables per quarter. Its pattern is flexible, but the fifth syllable of each quarter is typically laghu and the sixth guru. The most common metre in Sanskrit epics.

Vasantatilakā metre

A four-quarter metre of fourteen syllables per quarter, with gaṇas ta-bha-ja-ja-ga-ga. Each quarter ends with two gurus. Common in classical Sanskrit kāvya and quoted in SSC anthologies.

Upamā alaṅkāra

Simile: an explicit comparison of two unlike things using iva, vat, yathā, or sadṛśa. Example: 'mukhaṃ candra iva' ('face like the moon'). Distinguished from rūpaka, which identifies rather than compares.

Rūpaka alaṅkāra

Metaphor: the upamāna is superimposed on the upameya without an explicit comparison word. Example: 'caraṇakamalam' ('lotus-feet') identifies the feet with a lotus rather than comparing them.

Anuprāsa alaṅkāra

Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant or consonant cluster in close proximity, producing musical effect. Example: 'rāmo rājā rājarāmaḥ'. Distinct from yamaka, which repeats whole syllable groups.