Page:Sanskrit Grammar by Whitney p1.djvu/127

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equivalence (city of Rome), and of characteristic (man of honor), do not occur, and hardly that of material (house of wood). Examples are: índrasya vájraḥ Indra's thunderbolt; pitā putrāṇām father of sons; putraḥ pituḥ son of the father; pituḥ kāmaḥ putrasya the father's love of the son; ke naḥ which of us; çataṁ dāsīnām a hundred female slaves.

a. The expression of possession etc. on the part of pronouns is made almost entirely by the genitive case, and not by a derived possessive adjective (516).

b. Exceptional cases like nagarasya mārgaḥ the road to the city (cf. le chemin de Paris), yasyā ’haṁ dūta īpsitaḥ (MBh.) as messenger to whom I am wanted, are occasionally met with.

296. The genitive is dependent on an adjective:

a. A so-called partitive genitive with a superlative, or another word of similar substantival value: thus, çreṣṭhaṁ vīrāṇām best of heroes; vīrúdhāṁ vīryàvatī (AV.) of plants the mighty (mightiest) one.

b. Very often, by a transfer of the possessive genitive from noun to adjective, the adjective being treated as if it had noun-value: thus, tasya samaḥ or anurūpaḥ or sadṛçaḥ resembling him (i. e. his like); tasya priyā dear to him (his dear one); tasyā ’viditam unknown to him (his unknown thing); hávyaç carṣaṇīnā́m (RV.) to be sacrificed to by mortals (their object of sacrifice); īpsito naranārīṇām (MBh.) desired of men and women (their object of desire); yasya kasya prasūtaḥ (H.) of whomsoever born (his son); hantavyo ‘smi na te (MBh.) I am not to be slain of thee; kim arthināṁ vañcayitavyam asti (H.) why should there be a deceivlng[errata 1] of suppliants?

  1. Correction: deceivlng should be amended to deceiving: detail

c. In part, by a construction similar to that of verbs which take a genitive object: thus, abhijñā rājadharmāṇām (R.) understanding the duties of a king.

297. The genitive as object of a verb is:

a. A possessive genitive of the recipient, by pregnant construction, with verbs signifying give, impart, communicate, and the like: thus, varān pradāyā ’sya (MBh.) having bestowed gifts upon him (made them his by bestowal); rājño niveditam (H.) it was made known to the king (made his by knowledge); yad anyasya pratijñāya punar anyasya dīyate (M.) that after being promised to one she is given to another. This construction, by which the genitive becomes substitute for a dative or locative, abounds in the later language, and is extended sometimes to problematic and difficult cases.

b. A (in most cases, probably) partitive genitive, as a less complete or less absolute object than an accusative: thus, with verbs meaning partake (eat, drink, etc.), as píba sutásya (AV.) drink (of) the soma; mádhvaḥ pāyaya (RV.) cause to drink the sweet draught; — with verbs meaning mpart[errata 1] (of the thing imparted) etc., as dádāta no amṛ́tasya (RV.) bestow upon us immortality; — with verbs meaning enjoy, be satisfied or filled

  1. Correction: mpart should be amended to impart: detail