[INDOLOGY] a question about the āśīrliṅ

[Walter Slaje]

As far as tendencies toward archaization are concerned, I can point to the
following passages, though without the use of the middle voice: In footnote
96 (p. 466 of my edition of Śrīvara

[https://uvhw.de/studia-indologica/product/211230_08-252-3.html])

there is the following remark on „the *deliberately archaic style*“ that
Śrīvara sought to create through the use of the benedictive in his
*Rājataraṅgiṇī* :



„Śrīvara bedient sich hier [= ŚRT I.1.79] eines *gewollt archaisierenden
Stils*, indem er die seltene Imperativendung °*tāt *(an die schwache Form
der Wurzel √*as *gefügt) in der Bedeutung eines Benediktivs so verwendet,
als segnete er hier die Kanonen. Vgl. auch oben I.1.75d (Benediktiv *kriyāt*)
sowie I.1.113 (Benediktiv *kriyā**ḥ*).“



Here they are:



yadanugraheṇa rājnāṃ

samayo līlāvilāsamayaḥ |

samayaś ca yantratantrais

sthirām pratiṣṭhāṃ *kriyāt* sa Mayaḥ ‖ I.1.75 ‖



sāraṃ surītibaddhaṃ

ghanaghoṣaṃ śilpikalpitam ahāryam |

navam iva nagaraṃ nṛpateẖ

kalpaṃ *stād* yantrabhāṇḍam idam ‖ I.1.79 ‖



tvam evākaṇṭakaṃ rājyaṃ *kriyā* dharmakriyā bhajan |

vairiṇo vimukhā yāntu raṇe labdhaparābhavāḥ ‖ I.1.113 ‖



Regards, WS



Am Do., 19. März 2026 um 10:39 Uhr schrieb Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info>:

> 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
>
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>
>
> 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
>
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