[INDOLOGY] a question about the āśīrliṅ

Sun Mar 22 12:16:58 UTC 2026

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
*vīkṣīṣīraṃs* 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., *grahīṣīṣṭa*), 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/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.htmData 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.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Asko Parpola, aparpola at gmail.com
>> http://www.helsinki.academia.edu/AskoParpola
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
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