[INDOLOGY] Sanskrit perfect first person

[Raffaele Torella]

An article of mine, “Devī uvāca, or the theology of the perfect tense”, might be of some interest to you.
https://www.academia.edu/4610814/Dev%C4%AB_uv%C4%81ca_or_the_theology_of_the_perfect_tense
Devī uvāca, or the theology of the perfect tense
academia.edu


Cari saluti,
Raffaele Torella

> Il giorno 1 ott 2025, alle ore 19:37, JAMES RYAN via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> ha scritto:
> 
> George,
>  
> You have an example of the first person perfect usage in your Rapid Sanskrit Method, p. 174.
> The quotation is from Śiśupālavadha 11.39. Spoken by a woman who had been drunk:
>  
> bahu jagada purastāt tasya mattā kila aham
> cakara ca kila cāṭu prauḍhayoṣidvad asya
> viditam iti sakhibhyo rātrivṛttaṃ vicintya
> vyapagatamadayā ahni vrīḍitam mugdhavadhvā
>  
> I used it to teach Sanskrit for 35 years and remember it well. (I separated words for easier scanning.)
>  
> Jim Ryan
> Asian and Comparative Studies (Emeritus)
> California Institute of Integral Studies
>  
>  
>> On 10/01/2025 6:55 AM PDT 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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Prof. Raffaele Torella
Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit
Sapienza University of Rome
wwwuniroma1.academia.edu/raffaeletorella


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