Sanskrit Grammar : Passive Causative

Raghavendra C.S csr at wipinfo.soft.net
Mon Nov 25 23:18:22 UTC 1996


namaste,

Please refer to Siddhaantakaumudii, karmakartruprakaraNam,
vibhaashhaa chiNNamuloH (Sec. 7-1-69) -

   gaUNe karmaNi duhyaadeH pradhAne nIhrukrushhvahaam.h ||
   buddhibhakshaarthayoH shabdakarmakANaaM nijecchayaa ||
   prayojyakarmaNyanyeshaaM NyantaanaaM laadayo mataaH ||

For duh.h series (12 roots) - gaUNa (secondary object) will be used
  in passive voice.

nii, hR^i, kR^ishh.h, vah.h - pradhAna (important object) will be used
  in passive voice.

In case of Nic.h pratyaya - nijecchaya - choice is yours

This is very crude meaning from my side. This shloka was given to me by a
Sanskrit scholar at Aksharam, Samskrita Bharathi Centre. I was told that
a complete analysis of this shloka will answer your question !

Hope it helps.

bhavadiiyah,
- rAghavendraH
   
>Dear colleagues,


>The question pertains to the formation of passive from causatives 
>of verbs which take two objects. To make clear what I have in mind,
>let me set down some examples:

>(1.0) Devadatta.h maa.navakam (maa.navake) panthaanam p.rcchati.
>(1.1) Devadatta is asking the boy the way.
>
>Passive is formed only with respect to maa.navaka (the boy), and 
>not with respect to panthaanam (the path).
>
>(2.0) maa.navaka.h Devadattena panthaanam p.rcchyate.
>(2.1) The boy is being asked the way by Devadatta.
>
>(3.0) *panthaa.h Devadattena maa.navakam (maa.navake) p.rcchyate.
>(3.1) *The way is being asked the boy by Devadatta.
>
>Now, consider the causative form of the sentence in (1.0).
>
>(4.0) Hari.h Devadattena maa.navakam (maa.navake) panthaanam pracchayati.
>(4.1) Hari has Devadatta ask the boy the way.
>
>The question is: what are the passive options of the sentence in (4.0)?
>On the general principle that the agent of the basic verb in active
>causative constructions becomes the subject of the passive causative
>construction, I conclude tha the first sentence below is correct. 
>
>(5.0) Devadatta.h Hari.naa maa.navakam (maa.navake) panthaanam pracchyate.
>(5.1) Devadatta is made by Hari to ask the boy the way.

>The question is: is it the only version which is correct. 
>Speijer reports that some passive causatives have as their subjects 
>objects of the non-causative version of the verb.

>(6.0) vi.sa-kanyayaa Raak.sasena dhaatita.h tapasvii Parvate'svara.h.
>      Rak\d{s}asa had a poison girl kill poor Parvate\'svara.
>		(Mudr. 1: cited in Speijer p. 38)

>(Presumably, this sentence is ambiguous.) Do these possibilities 
>extend to verbs with double objects. That is, is the following 
>acceptable?

>(7.0) maa.navaka.h Devadattena Hari.naa panthaanam pracchyate.

>Any help with this question will be greatly appreciated?

>Thanks in advance.\, 
>Brendan S. Gillon
>Dept. of Linguistics
>McGill University






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