Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/170

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. duh-śás-u- 'malignant, vi-bhind-ú- 'splitting', pra-yiy-u- 'used for driving', go- vind-i- 'seeking cows', pari-tatn-i- (AV.) 'encompassing', pums-cal-ú- (VS.) 'prostitute'; pīva-sphā-ká-¹ (AV¹.) ‘abounding in fat', ni-há-kā- 'whirlwind'; vi- bhanj-ani- 'shattering'; pra-cet-úna- 'affording a wide prospect'; div-i-tmant- 'going to heaven'; tuvi-kūrm-i(n)- 'stirring mightily'; vasaḥ-palpul-i- (VS.) 'washing clothes'. 160 = a. The meaning of these agent-nouns restricted in use as final members is chiefly active. But in those of them which consist of the bare root (with or without the determi- native -t) it is often intransitive; e. g. namo-výdh- 'growing by adoration'; it is not in- frequently passive, as mano-yúj- 'yoked at will', su-yúj 'well-yoked'; yama-hú- 'called by entreaties', indra-pa-tama- 'most eagerly drunk by Indra', tivra-su-t- 'pressed from the fermenting mass', hrdaya-vidh- 'pierced to the heart' 2 (AV.). The passive meaning also appears in one derivative formed with -a: pari-mar-á- (TS.) 'died around' 'around whom people die'. Final members formed with -a, -ana, (i)-tu when compounded with su- or dus- also have a passive (gerundive) meaning expressive of the ease or difficulty with which the verbal action is performed; e. g. su-kár-a- easy to be done', su-mán-tu- 'easily recognisable', su-ved-aná ‘easily acquired'; dur-ap-aná- 'hard to attain'; dur-ni- yán-tu- 'hard to restrain', dur-dhár-ī-tu- 'irresistible', dž-dábha- 'hard to deceive'; also an isolated derivative with -i, dur-grbh-i- 'hard to catch', and one with -na, su-śru-na- ‘easily heard' (beside su-śrú-t- ‘hearing easily'). 271. A certain number of verbal nouns restricted to employment as final members which are formed from the simple root (with or without deter- minative t) or with the suffixes -a, -ana, -tha are nouns of action; e.g. śrad-dhà- "belief’, āšīr-dá- (VS. TS.) 'fulfilment of wishes', úpa-stu-t- 'invocation', pari-pád- 'snare', sam-nám- (AV.) 'affection'; kṣudhā-mār-á- (AV.) 'death by hunger, papa-vad-á- (AV.) 'evil cry'; deva-héd-ana- 'offence against the gods', baddhaka-móc-ana- (AV.) ‘release of a prisoner'; go-pi-thá- 'drink of milk', putra-kr-thá- ‘procreation of sons', sam-i-thá- 'conflict'. kama-pr-á- is both a noun of action, 'fulfilment of desires' (AV.) and an agent-noun, 'fulfilling desires' (RV.) ³. a. A class of secondary nouns of action is here formed by adding the suffixes -ya and -yá to agent nouns formed from the simple root (with or without -t). These are abstracts (neuter and feminine respectively); e. g. havir-ád-ya-'enjoyment of the oblation';; pūrva-páy-ya- and pūrva-pé-ya- ‘preced- ence in drinking' (pūrva-på- ‘drinking first'), nr-pay-ya- 'protection of men', bahu-pắy-ya- ‘protection of many', 'large hall', deva-yáj-ya- n. and -yaj-ya- f. 'adoration of the gods' (deva-yáj- 'adoring the gods', VS.), nr-sáh-ya- 'over- coming of men' (nr-sáh- 'overcoming men'), raja-sú-ya- (AV.) 'royal con- secration' (rāja-sú- 'creating a king', VS.), madhyama-sthéy-ya- 'standing in the middle' (madhyama-sthá- adj., VS.); su-krt-yá- ‘righteousness' (su-ky-t- ‘righteous'). 272. The close verbal connexion of these final members with the roots from which they are derived, shows itself formally. Thus they retain the palatal of the verb where the guttural would otherwise appear4. Again, agent nouns of this kind are formed from almost every kind of present stem. The following are examples of such nouns from present stems of: 1. the first class: cakram-ā-sajá- ‘stopping 5 the wheel'; 2. the sixth class: ut-tudá- (AV.) 'instigator' (tudá-ti), sam-gird- (AV.) 'swallowing' (sám girāmi). 3. stems with -cha: go-vyacchá- (VS.) 'cow-tormentor' (from a lost present stem *yaccha-) ¹For pīvas-sphāká.; the Mss. read pībasphāká-m 4 See WACKERNAGEL 2³, 76. Exceptions (Pada pībaḥ-phākám): see WHITNEY on AV. to this would be tuvi-kurmí-(n)- and divā kará- (AV.) ‘sun', if these words are derived from car fare'. 5 From á sajāmi 'I attach'. IV. 73. 2 But 'heart-piercing' (RV.). 3 Isolated examples of nouns of action formed with other suffixes are su-papt-ani- 'good flight', sam-śreş-iná- (AV.) *conflict'(?).