[INDOLOGY] a question about the āśīrliṅ

Sun Mar 22 15:50:13 UTC 2026

I recall it being taught (by the late Prof. Edwin Gerow) in a second year
Sanskrit course (nearly a half-century ago!) with the delightful
appellation of the "rare precative." I found this expression amusing; after
all, one would expect something called the "precative" to be less than
common, to say the least.

*Herman Tull, PhD*
*Princeton, NJ*

On Sun, Mar 22, 2026 at 8:35 AM Uskokov, Aleksandar via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> 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
> *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
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20260322/7da1be29/attachment.htm>