[INDOLOGY] a question about the āśīrliṅ

Fri Mar 20 17:15:41 UTC 2026

Further on the ātmanepada of precative/āśīr-liṅ: as is often the case,
Louis Renou's *Grammaire sanscrite *contains information that is
absent other standard grammars (Whitney, etc.). On p. 451, he says: “la
formation est ancienne et des précatifs de type véd. subsistent dans les
S[ūtras] … *en particulier au moyen*,” citing forms such as *bhakṣīṣ**ṭa*
and *janiṣīṣṭa*.
Renou also notes that the precative appears "productivement dans l'épigraphie
de style kāvya." In my experience this  typically occurs in introductory
maṅgala-ślokas, often with *bhūyāt *or *kriyāt*. But I don't know of any
epigraphic examples with ātmanepada forms.

Rich Salomon

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 2:48 AM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> 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://urldefense.com/v3/__https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6bhnczLgA$>
>
> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6azfQxkuA$>
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/*bookTabs=1__;Iw!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6ZM0IeEpQ$>
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/*bookTabs=1__;Iw!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6br22YxEQ$>
>
> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6bE6JrN4Q$>
>
> Sent with Proton Mail
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> secure email.
>
> On Friday, March 20th, 2026 at 12:51 AM, Harry Spier <
> vasishtha.spier at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear list members,
>
> Matthew Kapstein and ( David Reigle using edition 1929 by Stcherbatsky
> and Obermiller) spell the word as *vīkṣiṣīraṃs* . Same text in GRETIL
> (different editions) spell it *vīkṣīṣīraṃ*s and *vīkṣiṣiraṃs*
>
> Are these misprints or alternate spellings in GRETIL? *pratipatsīrann* is
> spelled the same in these etexts
>
> *Matthew Kapstein and ( David Reigle)*
>
> sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo'tra deśitaḥ|
> dhīmanto vīkṣiṣīraṃs tam anālīḍhaṃ parair iti ||1||
>
> smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām |
> sukhena pratipatsīrann ity ārambhaprayojanam ||2||
>
> --------------------------
>
> *GRETIL abhisamayālaṃkaranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstram *
>
>
> https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_maitreyanAtha-abhisamayAlaMkaranAmaprajJApAramitopadezazAstra.htm
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_maitreyanAtha-abhisamayAlaMkaranAmaprajJApAramitopadezazAstra.htm__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6YVIDpyqA$>
> 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 <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_abhisamayAlaMkAra.htm__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6YqzE73GQ$>Data entry: members of the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Input Project
> Based on the ed. by Ramsankar Tripathi: Abhisamayalankaravrttih Sphutartha.
> Sarnath : Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), 1977.
> grānthārambhaprayojanam sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo 'tra deśitaḥ /
> dhīmanto vīkṣiṣiraṃstamanālīḍhaṃ parairiti // asa_1.2 //smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām /
> sukhena pratipatsīrannityārambhaprayojanam // asa_1.3 //
>
> Harry Spier
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Many thanks to all who replied on- and off-list. I am sorry that I was
>> not aware of David Reigle's paper, addressing my query so precisely,
>> beforehand, and I am grateful to him and to Asko Parpola for sharing it.
>> Walter Slaje's helpful remarks lend some support to my thought that the
>> benedictive form may have had an intentionally archaic nuance.
>>
>> Matthew
>>
>> Matthew T. Kapstein
>> Professor emeritus
>> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
>>
>> Associate
>> The University of Chicago Divinity School
>>
>> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
>>
>> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6bhnczLgA$>
>>
>> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6azfQxkuA$>
>>
>>
>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/*bookTabs=1__;Iw!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6ZM0IeEpQ$>
>>
>>
>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/*bookTabs=1__;Iw!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6br22YxEQ$>
>>
>> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6bE6JrN4Q$>
>>
>> Sent with Proton Mail
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://proton.me/mail/home__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6aNUGTtcw$>
>> 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://urldefense.com/v3/__https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6bhnczLgA$>
>>>
>>> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6azfQxkuA$>
>>>
>>>
>>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/*bookTabs=1__;Iw!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6ZM0IeEpQ$>
>>>
>>>
>>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/*bookTabs=1__;Iw!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6br22YxEQ$>
>>>
>>> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6bE6JrN4Q$>
>>>
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>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Asko Parpola, aparpola at gmail.com
>> http://www.helsinki.academia.edu/AskoParpola
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.helsinki.academia.edu/AskoParpola__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!gt43BClrfshXyiAYm9Yt4WT7Cpd2Wd9clZdHTpzd3c9Up9WzTiM9I1U_9ovIzJLV5qLpi8pePS3TJBvlh6ZES61naA$>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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