kRudanta affixes

Note that participles must be considered as having an Adjectival role, and must agree with its Subject (which is not always the Subject of the clause) in respect of Number, Gender, and Case features. We must also look for arguments for participles, as these are derived from underlying verbs that may require arguments. In this process, one must disentangle the arguments of the participles from the arguments of the clause verb.

There are a number of these affixes for different purposes. We list the major ones with examples of their use (and comments on linkages) from the Srimad Bhagavad Gita:

Present Participle 'shatRu':

han + shatRu ==> ghnat (one who is killing). See Stanza 1.35

NOTE: The declension rules for some 'shatRu' present participles differ to some extent from those applicable to other nominals ending with 'at'. These special rules require awareness of the fact that the word is a 'shatRu' derived nominal, the verb root, verb class, verb voice, the derivative type, and certain other features. These participles also have some optional declined forms.

NOTE: This participle is sometimes read with a 'who while' for e.g. in Stanza 2.64 '[who while] perceiving the objects of the five senses'.

Passive Past Participle 'kta':

vi-Uh + kta ==> vyUDha (those who are assembled). See Stanza 1.2

NOTE: The Agent of the participle is usually in Instrumental Case (but occasionally in Genitive Case). The participle phrase is sometimes expressed in the impersonal sense (i..e the participle does not modify a Subject in such cases). If the participle has 'Active' force, then it must be read as a past tense verb.

Active Past Participle 'ktavat':

pra-vach + ktavat ==> proktavat ([who] taught). See Stanza 4.1

NOTE: If the verb is transitive, the participle can be expected to have a complement. In Stanza 4.1, 'ACC-S:idam:this' is marked as a complement of the participle proktavAn. An ACC-S term would not otherwise have been expected for copula verb.

Passive Potential Participle 'yat':

'yat':

yat: jnA + yat ==> jnyeya (that which must be known). See Stanza 1.39

'tavyat':

yudh + tavyat ==> yoddhavya (that which must be fought). See Stanza 1.22

'NNyat':

a-vi-kRu+ NNyat ==> avikArya(that which is not changeable). See Stanza 2.25, and notice the lengthening of the penultimate 'a' vowel.

'kyap':

shAs+ kyap ==> shiSHya (one who is fit to be taught). The term 'shiSHya' occurs in Stanza 1.3, but has not been shown as a participle.

NOTE: The Agent of the participle is usually in Instrumental Case (but occasionally in Genitive Case). If the participle has Neuter and Singular features, consider the impersonal sense for the phrase.

Future Participle 'shAnach':

yudh + shAnach ==> yotsyamAna (one who will fight). See Stanza 1.23

As mentioned earlier, participles are derived from underlying verbs, and may have arguments of their own. We need to disentangle the arguments of each participle from the complements and adjuncts of the clause verb (as well as each other).

See the following example that has three types of participles (passive past, passive potential, and present) in a single clause, and requires some care in disentangling the arguments of each participle.

See Stanza 2.64

See also the following example with two types of participles in the stanza. It is complicated because we need to split the stanza into two clauses after figuring out that there is an elided verb that must be inserted.

See Stanza 1.22

See also the following example with three types of participles in the stanza. It is complicated because we need to split the stanza into two clauses after figuring out that there is an elided verb that must be inserted. Unless the arguments of each participle are determined clearly, the internal structure cannot be figured out correctly.

See Stanza 1.39

See another interesting example with a passive past participle embedded inside a bahuvrIhi samAsa (compound word). The embedded participle is crucial to understand the internal structure of the clause (it binds an internal complement and is also bound by an external Subject).

See Stanza 1.44