[INDOLOGY] Sanskrit perfect first person

[Andrew Ollett]

Dear George,

I recall hearing the same thing when I first learned Sanskrit, and I'm sure
there is some śāstra-kāvya out there that illustrates the first person of
the perfect tense in this way, though someone else will have to tell you
what it is.

But the basic examples (suptō ’haṁ kila vilalāpa, mattō ’haṁ kila vilalāpa)
are from Patañjali’s *Mahābhāṣya* on 3.1.115. The examples were taken up,
with some modifications, in most other traditions of Sanskrit grammar
(Cāndra, Jainēndra, Hēmacandra, etc.).

The big AI chatbots have a lot of problems with questions like this, partly
because the available training data is much smaller and of much lesser
quality than many other fields, and partly as a consequence of that they
know less than in other fields what constitutes an acceptable answer to the
question.

Andrew

On Wed, Oct 1, 2025 at 8:56 AM George L Hart via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> In classical Sanskrit as I remember it, the perfect tense is supposed to
> be used for acts one has not witnessed. Obviously, this makes the use of
> the first person perfect problematic. There is a passage — in
> Śiśupālavadha? — in which the poet has a character describe lovemaking
> while he had drunk too much, using the first person perfect to describe
> acts he is not sure he did. Does anyone know where this episode appears? I
> asked ChatGPT and it made up a passage it said was from the 8th canto of
> the Kumārasaṃbhava. When I pointed out to it that the passage does not
> exist, ChatGPT apologized and gave me something from the Ṛgveda.
>
> Here’s what ChatGPT said. I’m not sure “hallucinating” is strong enough.
>
> The passage you’re recalling is likely from Kālidāsa’s Kumārasambhava (The
> Birth of Kumāra), specifically in Canto 8. In this section, the god Śiva
> recounts his experience and interactions with Pārvatī. Śiva, reflecting on
> his actions, uses the first-person perfect tense in the original Sanskrit.
>
>
> For instance, in verse 8.33, Śiva says:
>
>
> mattvā madīyāśayapūrvakāṇi
>
> (I, being intoxicated, performed actions…)
>
>
> This verse and others capture the reflective tone where Śiva recalls his
> past actions, often influenced by a state of intoxication or strong emotion.
>
>
> This particular use of the first-person perfect is famous for illustrating
> Śiva’s introspection and human-like vulnerabilities. Would you like to
> explore this verse in more detail?
>
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