Dear Matthew,

Several such instances are recorded in Renou's Grammaire sanscrite, § 134 on p. 175 (see under "a-/an- avant les formes personnelles du verbe"). The occurrences recorded there cover practically all types of Sanskrit literature, including Epic, Kāvya, Śāstra and Buddhist texts. Furthermore, 'un Vārt. connait le tour péjoratif et sans doute vulgaire akaroṣi Pat.' (with further reading).

Best,

Walter


Am Sa., 11. Okt. 2025 um 11:29 Uhr schrieb Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>:
Dear colleagues,

In the 2500-line Prajñapāramitā i find expressions such as:

nâtra kiMcid vidhyate nâvidhyate, “here nothing is penetrated nor unpenetrated”.

So far as I can determine, in avidhyate the initial a can only be taken as privative. 
Is this uniquely a peculiar Buddhist usage?

thank you for your thoughts,
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







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