Sanskrit (Subject Content) - PSEB Senior Secondary: Vyākaraṇa Applied to Text and Composition
The Senior Secondary Sanskrit paper rewards formal accuracy: marks come from vyākaraṇa applied inside real sentences - sandhi, śabda and dhātu rūpa, kāraka-vibhakti, samāsa - and from gadya-padya comprehension, anuvāda, patra-lekhana and nibandha, where the same grammar is assessed silently. Learn each rule with one clean example you can reproduce under pressure.
Sandhi
- Savarṇa-dīrgha: like vowels merge into the long vowel. ca + api → cāpi.
- Guṇa: a/ā + i/ī → e; a/ā + u/ū → o; a/ā + ṛ → ar. nara + indra → narendra.
- Vṛddhi: a/ā + e/ai → ai; a/ā + o/au → au. sadā + eva → sadaiva.
- Yaṇ: i/ī → y, u/ū → v, ṛ → r before a dissimilar vowel. iti + api → ity api.
Śabda and dhātu rūpa
- rāma (a-kārānta puṃliṅga): rāmaḥ, rāmau, rāmāḥ; rāmam, rāmau, rāmān; rāmeṇa, rāmābhyām, rāmaiḥ.
- latā (ā-kārānta strī): latā, late, latāḥ; latayā, latābhyām, latābhiḥ.
- phalam (a-kārānta napuṃsaka): phalam, phale, phalāni.
- Present tense: bhū → bhavati, bhavataḥ, bhavanti; as → asti, staḥ, santi.
Kāraka-vibhakti
kartā → prathamā; karma → dvitīyā; karaṇa → tṛtīyā; sampradāna → caturthī; apādāna → pañcamī; adhikaraṇa → saptamī; sambandha → ṣaṣṭhī. saha and sākam govern tṛtīyā (rāmeṇa saha); namaḥ governs caturthī.
Worked example
Join nara + indra. The first word ends in short a, the second begins with i; a and i are not savarṇa, so guṇa applies and a + i → e: narendra, “king of men”. Not narindra (that pattern needs i + i), and not naraindra (vṛddhi needs e, ai, o or au).
Traps
Applying vṛddhi instead of guṇa before i; writing a + a as “aa” instead of ā; using dvitīyā after saha; confusing dvandva (mātā-pitarau, both members counted) with karmadhāraya (nīlotpalam, one thing described); calling dīrgha-bāhuḥ a tatpuruṣa when it names the person, not the arms (bahuvrīhi).