Kāraka choices in a translation exercise: grammatical but wrong
Class 12 Sanskrit composition paper, 15 marks: ten short Hindi/Punjabi sentences to be turned into Sanskrit. Forty scripts. The scheme gives 1 mark for a correct form and 1 for the right vibhakti, but lists no acceptable alternatives. Three sentences dominate the errors. (1) He goes to the village: 24 students wrote ग्रामाय गच्छति, 9 wrote ग्रामे गच्छति, the rest ग्रामं गच्छति. (2) He cooks with wood: 18 wrote काष्ठं पचति, 15 wrote काष्ठैः पचति, 7 wrote काष्ठेन पचति. (3) The student reads the book for the teacher: 29 wrote गुरोः पुस्तकं पठति, 8 wrote गुरवे, 5 wrote गुरुं. The second examiner argues that only one answer can be right, because the Sanskrit must match the source sentence exactly. You must settle the key and the partial-credit rule before second marking.
1. Settle sentences (1) and (2). Which forms are correct, and how do you mark the others?
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(1) The goal of motion is the karma of गच्छति and takes dvitīyā: ग्रामं गच्छति. ग्रामे would mean he goes while in the village (adhikaraṇa, location), which is a different statement; the 9 scripts built the form correctly but chose the wrong relation, so 1 of 2. ग्रामाय is caturthī, used for purpose or recipient, not for destination - likely carried over from the Punjabi postposition - so 0 of 2.
(2) 'With wood' is an instrument: काष्ठैः (plural) or काष्ठेन (a single piece) are both faithful, so both earn full marks; the source itself is ambiguous between mass and piece, and the second examiner's demand for one answer is wrong on this item. काष्ठं पचति is grammatical but says he cooks the wood - the wood is the object, not the instrument - so the meaning has changed: 1 of 2 at most, for a well-built form. The principle to write into the scheme: grammaticality and fidelity are separate marks, and an answer is wrong only against the source meaning, not against the setter's preferred wording.
2. Settle sentence (3). What relation does 'for the teacher' express, and how do the three answers score?
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'For the teacher', in the sense of for his sake or on his account, is prayojana and takes caturthī: गुरवे पुस्तकं पठति. The 29 गुरोः answers turn the sentence into 'reads the teacher's book', making the teacher the owner rather than the beneficiary - a different sentence, though the genitive form itself is correctly built, so 1 of 2. गुरुं (dvitīyā) makes the teacher the thing read, so 0 of 2.
The examiner's real problem is that the key quotes only the Sanskrit, not the source. If the source had been 'he reads the teacher's book', गुरोः would be right; the key must therefore print the Hindi/Punjabi sentence beside each Sanskrit answer, so the relation can be checked instead of guessed. Add a note that caturthī also serves sampradāna (recipient), which is why गुरवे looks familiar to students and why the distinction between 'for' and 'to' has to be taught explicitly.
3. Write the partial-credit rule for all ten sentences, and say what must never happen twice.
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Two marks per sentence: 1 for accidence (the nominal or verbal form correctly built) and 1 for the kāraka relation (the vibhakti matching the source meaning). The two are independent, which is what makes the scheme usable: काष्ठं and गुरोः are well-formed but misrelated, so they keep the form mark and lose the relation mark; a mangled form with the right relation keeps the relation mark and loses the form mark.
Accept any rendering that preserves the source meaning, even where the setter had another in mind; refuse any rendering that is grammatical but changes a relation. What must never happen twice is a double deduction for one fault: a wrong vibhakti already costs the relation mark, so the accidence mark still stands if the form itself is correctly built. Add one line per sentence listing the accepted alternatives, attach the source sentences to the key, and have both examiners mark ten scripts together before the remaining thirty so the standard is fixed in practice, not only on paper.