[INDOLOGY] a question about the āśīrliṅ

Fri Apr 17 10:42:28 UTC 2026

If I may be permitted to add this brief postscript:

In his statistical analysis, the author of the aforementioned dissertation
concludes that Kalhaṇa uses approximately 10,000 different words in his
Rājataraṅgiṇī (Stein edition), which comprises around 100,000 words. In
doing so, Kalhaṇa employs 1,728 distinct finite verb forms, which, due to
repeated usage, occur a total of 8,232 times. The active verb repertoire of
Kalhaṇa is constituted by verbs formed from 297 verbal roots and
denominatives, numbering 753 when including prefixes. Consequently, it
would signify an authentic inventory of forms in 12th-century Sanskrit
verbal conjugation, yet it would surpass the customary lexicon of the
spoken language.

So far Jachertz (1986).

Kalhaṇa was a Mahākavi. It may be hypothesised that the complex and
intricate metres of *kāvya* require greater verbal dexterity than ordinary
anuṣṭubhs, and that this fact also explains the necessity of the
comparatively frequent formation of the passive aorist. However, this is
not the case. For Kalhaṇa, the Anuṣṭubh is the predominant metre, employed
in a natural and fluid manner, with other metres chosen for specific
reasons only (for details, see Bernhard Kölver: Textkritische und
philologische Untersuchungen zur Rājataraṅgiṇī des Kalhaṇa. Wiesbaden 1971,
pp. 89–103).

>From a purely metrical perspective, there is therefore no significant
difference from the epic and purāṇic texts, so that metre can hardly be
decisive for the phenomenon of the passive aorist. In terms of both form
and diction, however, Kalhaṇa displays a quite distinct linguistic style.

In my view, the discrepancy in the matter under discussion can probably be
explained by the different literary and intellectual milieus from which
these authors (kavis, śāstris, bards, etc.) came and by whose
characteristic language and forms of expression they were each profoundly
shaped.

Regards, WS

Am Fr., 17. Apr. 2026 um 10:00 Uhr schrieb Dermot Killingley via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info>:

> I think Walter has put his finger on a point about rarity and frequency.
> I've noticed before that kāvya writers, and presumably their intended
> readership (which did not include second-year students!) like rare
> grammatical forms, and they also like rare words, so what is rare elsewhere
> becomes somewhat frequent in kāvya — not very frequent, however, because
> there are other rare forms and rare words to choose from.
>
> I've found this exchange of observations very interesting.
>
> Dermot
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
> Walter Slaje via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Sent:* 16 April 2026 15:21
> *To:* Christophe Vielle <christophe.vielle at uclouvain.be>
> *Cc:* Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject:* Re: [INDOLOGY] a question about the āśīrliṅ
>
>
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> provide your login details.
> Dear Christophe,
>
> thank you! This enlarges my collection. I found the juxtaposition "of the
> *rarely* used" aorist passive with the phrase "it is *frequently* met
> with" to be a intriguing subject :-). Because I fear we are falling into a
> cliché here. It is probably all down to the genre. In Kāvya, one cannot
> really speak of ‘rarity’ in this regard, whereas in epic-Purāṇic and Bhāṣya
> Sanskrit, one presumably can. It seems to be a matter of generalising a
> probably too often cited rarity and applying it without further ado to all
> types of text.
>
> Best wishes, Walter
>
> Am Do., 16. Apr. 2026 um 15:57 Uhr schrieb Christophe Vielle <
> christophe.vielle at uclouvain.be>:
>
> Dear Walter,
>
> This abundance of usage is also found with the (9th c.?) Keralan poet Vāsudeva
> to whom are ascribed four *yamaka-k**āvyas *(see Kunjunni Raja, CKSL pp.
> 19-30
> <https://archive.org/details/swcr_the-contribution-of-kerala-sanskrit-literature-by-k.-k.-raja-1980-university-of-madras/page/18/mode/2up>
> ).
> Here attached the page from Suneson's ed. of the *Śaurikathodaya* listing
> the aorist passive forms in this work. Like the * Yudhiṣṭhiravijaya *and
> *Tripuradahana*, the *Nalodaya* possibly also by the same displays
> several examples too, see for instance 1.2 below with no less than two
> forms.
>
> yo ’jani nāgopītaś  cacāra yo vallavāṅganāgopītaḥ |
>
> bhūr yenāgopītaḥ  kaṃsād yo dveṣam eva nāgo ’pītaḥ || NaU_1.2 ||
>
> yaḥ – ajani – nā – agopītaḥ – cacāra – yaḥ – vallava+aṅganā-go-pītaḥ —
> bhūḥ – yena – agopi – itaḥ – kaṃsāt – yaḥ –dveṣam – eva – na – āgaḥ – api –
> itaḥ | NaU_pch_1.2 |
>
> *ya* eṣa bhagavān *agopīto* vasudevabhāryāyā devakyākhyāyā na yaśodāyā
> gopyā nandagopagṛhiṇyā * nā* puruṣo *’jani* prādurbhūtaḥ, *yaś* ca
> *cacāra* parivavṛte * vallavāṅganāgopītaḥ* - vallavavadhūnāṃ gopīnāṃ
> gobhir netraiḥ pītaḥ parītaḥ sānurāgaṃ kaṭākṣitaḥ, yad uktaṃ śaurikathodaye
> (1,2): “papuś ca gopyo dṛśā yadūrvābhogam” iti; *yena* ca *bhūḥ* pṛthivy
> *agopi* rakṣitā, *yaś* ca *ito* ’smāt *kaṃsād* devakībhrātuḥ kṛṣṇamātulād
> *dveṣam* aprītim *eva* kevalam, *na* tv *āgo* ’parādhaṃ pratyakṣam
> abhighātam *api*, *itaḥ* prāptaḥ | NaU_ad_1.2 |
> Best wishes,
>
> Christophe
>
>
>
> [image: IMG_7854.jpg]
>
> Le 16 avr. 2026 à 15:00, Walter Slaje via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> a écrit :
>
> Just a brief follow-up comment on the ‘rarity’ of the passive aorist.
> Personally, it did not strike me as being really that rare, but without an
> objective basis I did not wish to remark on it. In the meantime, however, I
> extracted instances of the passive aorist from Thomas Jachertz’s
> dissertation “Das finite Verbum in Kalhaṇas Rājataraṅgiṇī alphabetisch und
> nach Wurzelparadigmata geordnet” (Cologne 1986) and noted a surprising
> abundance of such usage in Kalhaṇa. A subsequent, mere cursory search among
> also his successors Jonarāja (JRT), Śrīvara (ŚRT) and Śuka (ŚuRT) revealed
> that the passive aorist remained in ordinary use from the 12th well into
> the 16th century:
>
> āji (aj) 1x
> āśi (aś) 2x; ŚRT
> āpi (āp) 12x
> eṣi (iṣ) 3x
> aikṣi (īkṣ) 1x
> akāri (kṛ) 7x; JRT, ŚRT, ŚuRT
> agāmi (gam) 1x; ŚuRT
> agrāhi (gṛh) 8x; JRT
> acchedi (chid) 1x
> ajani (jan) 1x; ŚRT; ŚuRT
> ajñāyi (jñā) 15x; ŚRT, ŚuRT
> [atyāji (tyaj) ŚRT]
> adāyi (dā) 4x
> adhāyi (dhā) 5x; ŚRT
> [adhāri (dhṛ) JRT]
> apādi (pad) 1x
> abhoji (bhuj) 2x
> abhāvi (bhū) 5x; JRT
> amāyi (mā) 2x
> amoci (muc) 1x
> ayoji (yuj) 4x
> arambhi (rambh) 3x
> alekhi (likh) 1x
> avāci (vac) 1x
> avādi (vad) 4x
> avadhi (vadh) 2x
> avāri (vṛ) 1x
> aśāsi (śās) 1x
> aśrāvi (śru) 1x; JRT, ŚRT
> aṣedhi (sidh) 1x
> astambhi (stambh) 1x
> asnāyi (snā) 3x; JRT; ŚuRT
> asvāpi (svap) 1x; JRT;
> aghāni (han) 1x
> ahāsi (has) 1x
> ahāri (hṛ) 1x
>
> Regards, WS
>
> Am So., 22. März 2026 um 13:34 Uhr schrieb Uskokov, Aleksandar <
> aleksandar.uskokov at yale.edu>:
>
> The benedictive is taught in Deshpande. In my teaching practice at an
> American university, student will not be introduced to it in the
> introductory course, along with other rare forms like the passive of the
> aorist; they WILL learn in when first encountered in a text, which is
> likely to happen in high intermediate, for instance in a course on Vedic,
> or advanced Sanskrit.
>
> Best wishes
> Aleksandar
>
> Get Outlook for iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
> Walter Slaje via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Sent:* Sunday, March 22, 2026 8:16:58 AM
> *To:* Matthew Kapstein <mattkapstein at proton.me>
> *Cc:* Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject:* Re: [INDOLOGY] a question about the āśīrliṅ
>
> Inspired by David Reigle’s insightful article, which suggests that it is
> unlikely to encounter the benedictive in Sanskrit programs at (presumably
> American?) universities,* I decided to browse through some German-language
> textbooks.
> The benedictive mood is evidently taught there, but most thoroughly by
> Bühler.** He, in turn, draws on Kielhorn’s grammar, where the rules of
> benedictive formations are described in great detail (§§ 380–385).***
>
>
> What is interesting here, particularly regarding the question of whether
> *vīkṣ**ī**ṣīraṃs* could be a variant worth considering at all, is that
> both authors explicitly point out that the interposed vowel of *seṭ*-roots
> in the Ātmanepada appears as a long -*ī*- exclusively in formations from
> the root *grah* (e.g., *grah**ī**ṣīṣṭa*), but must otherwise always be
> short (Kielhorn § 382c; Bühler p. 95, 20).
>
>
> As if to confirm Riegle’s observation regarding the exclusion of the
> benedictive from English-language Sanskrit programs and textbooks,
> Perry—who otherwise bases his textbook strictly on Bühler and follows him
> even in the exercises****—also excludes any treatment of the benedictive
> with the following words:
> “[...] it is so rare that its formation need not be explained here.” (p.
> 188).
>
>
> As said, this is merely an observation regarding trends in Sanskrit
> textbooks from different scholarly traditions.
>
>
> Regards,
> WS
>
>
> *
> “It is possible to go through university Sanskrit programs without ever
> encountering the benedictive. […] Readings in classical Sanskrit texts
> typically follow this in the programs, so that unless one specifically
> takes up Pāṇinian grammar (or Vedic texts, where a few benedictives do
> occur), one is quite unlikely to encounter the benedictive.” (Reigle 1997,
> p. 127).
>
>
> **
> *https://uvhw.de/studia-indologica/product/200922_08-228-8.html*
> <https://uvhw.de/studia-indologica/product/200922_08-228-8.html>
>
>
> ***
> *https://uvhw.de/studia-indologica/product/200921_08-227-1.html*
> <https://uvhw.de/studia-indologica/product/200921_08-227-1.html>
>
>
> ****
> “The Primer [...] is based upon an excellent little work by Professor
> Georg Bühler of Vienna: Leitfaden für den Elementarcursus des Sanskrit,
> Vienna 1883. I became acquainted with this book while in Germany, and after
> using it with a class at Columbia College was convinced of its great
> practical value.” (Preface to the 1936 edition).
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Am Fr., 20. März 2026 um 10:48 Uhr schrieb Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info>:
>
> Dear Harry,
>
> I was following the text given by Amano:
> Abhisamayālaṃkārakārikāśāstravivṛti by Haribhadra. Skt.
> ed. Koei H. Amano, Kyoto: Heirakujishoten, 2000.
> and consulting the earlier editions as well.
>
> I think that the readings you find in GRETIL are simply typos and not
> genuine variants.
>
> Matthew
>
> Matthew T. Kapstein
> Professor emeritus
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
>
> Associate
> The University of Chicago Divinity School
>
> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
>
> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>
> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>
> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>
> Sent with Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> secure email.
>
> On Friday, March 20th, 2026 at 12:51 AM, Harry Spier <
> vasishtha.spier at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear list members,
>
> Matthew Kapstein and ( David Reigle using edition 1929 by Stcherbatsky and
> Obermiller) spell the word as *vīkṣiṣīraṃs* . Same text in GRETIL
> (different editions) spell it *vīkṣīṣīraṃ*s and *vīkṣiṣiraṃs*
>
> Are these misprints or alternate spellings in GRETIL? *pratipatsīrann* is
> spelled the same in these etexts
>
> *Matthew Kapstein and ( David Reigle)*
>
> sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo'tra deśitaḥ|
> dhīmanto vīkṣiṣīraṃs tam anālīḍhaṃ parair iti ||1||
>
> smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām |
> sukhena pratipatsīrann ity ārambhaprayojanam ||2||
>
> --------------------------
>
> *GRETIL abhisamayālaṃkaranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstram*
>
>
> https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_maitreyanAtha-abhisamayAlaMkaranAmaprajJApAramitopadezazAstra.htm
> input by Christian Coseru (no source book given) has;
>
> sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo 'tra deśita /
>
> dhīmantī vīkṣīṣīraṃstamanālīḍhaṃ parairiti // Abhs_1.1 //
>
> smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryā daśātmikā /
>
> sūkhena pratipatsīrannityārambhaprayojanam // Abhs_1.2 //
>
> --------------------------------------
>
> GRETIL Abhisamayālaṃkāra https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_abhisamayAlaMkAra.htm
> Data entry: members of the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Input Project
> Based on the ed. by Ramsankar Tripathi: Abhisamayalankaravrttih Sphutartha.
> Sarnath : Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), 1977.
> grānthārambhaprayojanam sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo 'tra deśitaḥ /
> dhīmanto vīkṣiṣiraṃstamanālīḍhaṃ parairiti // asa_1.2 //
> smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām /
> sukhena pratipatsīrannityārambhaprayojanam // asa_1.3 //
>
> Harry Spier
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Many thanks to all who replied on- and off-list. I am sorry that I was not
> aware of David Reigle's paper, addressing my query so precisely,
> beforehand, and I am grateful to him and to Asko Parpola for sharing it.
> Walter Slaje's helpful remarks lend some support to my thought that the
> benedictive form may have had an intentionally archaic nuance.
>
> Matthew
>
> Matthew T. Kapstein
> Professor emeritus
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
>
> Associate
> The University of Chicago Divinity School
>
> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
>
> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>
> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>
> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>
> Sent with Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> secure email.
>
> On Thursday, March 19th, 2026 at 3:39 PM, Asko Parpola <aparpola at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Dear Matthew, David Reigle ha written a paper (attached) on these very two
> occurrences of the benedictive.
> With best wishes, Asko
>
> On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 11:39 AM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Dear friends,
>
> In the opening verses (given below) of the *Abhisamayālamkāra-śāstra *(ASA),
> an important Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise (said to have been revealed to
> Asaṅga by the bodhisattva Maitreya), we find two instances of verbs that I
> take to be examples of “precatives” or “benedictives” (*āśīrliṅ*) in the
> middle voice (*ātmanepāda*) third person plural. Whitney (925) and
> Macdonell (150) both flatly state that the precative middle, though current
> in Vedic, does not occur in Classical Sanskrit. Renou (330-331) does not
> affirm this categorically, but suggests that the *āśīrliṅ *(without
> specifying voice) is commonly met with in kāvya and epigraphy, though
> unknown to Buddhist usage. Edgerton, BHS Grammar, has nothing at all to say
> about the *āśīrliṅ*, probably due to its absence in the corpus that he
> consulted, though the ASA is not in any case written in “hybrid” Sanskrit;
> its terminology is distinctly Buddhist, of course, but without peculiarly
> BHS grammatical forms.
>
> Conze, in the vocabulary accompanying his summary translation of the ASA
> (SOR VI) offers no grammatical analysis, but treats *vīkṣiṣīran* as an
> aorist optative, “have been able to behold,” and *pratipatsīran* as a
> future optative, “will be able to make progress.” (It seems simpler to me
> to adopt a mildly benedictive reading of both, “that the wise may behold…
> and that they may easily master…”)
>
> What I wish to ask the vyākaraṇa specialists, however, is whether I am
> correct to take these verbs as middle voice *āśīrliṅ* third person
> plural? And, if so, are there other instances, whether in Buddhist or
> non-Buddhist works, that similarly call into question Whitney and
> Macdonell’s assertions? I would welcome any other observations about this
> apparently unusual form that you may be able to share. In particular, I am
> wondering if it is plausible to take its use here as a deliberately
> archaizing gesture.
>
>
> sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo'tra deśitaḥ|
>
> dhīmanto *vīkṣiṣīraṃs* tam anālīḍhaṃ parair iti ||1||
>
> smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām |
>
> sukhena *pratipatsīrann* ity ārambhaprayojanam ||2||
>
> with thanks in advance for your observations and insights,
> Matthew
>
> Matthew T. Kapstein
> Professor emeritus
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
>
> Associate
> The University of Chicago Divinity School
>
> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
>
> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>
> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>
> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>
> Sent with Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> secure email.
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Asko Parpola, aparpola at gmail.com
> http://www.helsinki.academia.edu/AskoParpola
>
>
>
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>
> –––––––––––––––––––
> Christophe Vielle <https://www.uclouvain.be/en/people/christophe.vielle>
> Louvain-la-Neuve
>
> [image: GraphiqueCollé-2.png]
>
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