Lesson 16: The passive voice (कर्मणि प्रयोग, भावे प्रयोग)
1) Write a complete passive paradigm (present, past, imperative, and optative) for the following verbs: वद्, चुर्, वस्, यज्
2) Transform into passive the first 10 sentences in exercise 1 and 2 of lesson 12. Make sure you use the appropriate gerund or infinitive forms in your passive sentences.
१. यदाश्वास्तृणं खादन्ति, तदा ते पुष्यन्ति।
अश्वास्तृणं खादित्वा ते पुष्यन्ति।
खादित्वा तृणं पुष्यते अश्वैः।
२. यदा दासः कनकञ्चोरयति तदा नृपो दासन्तुदति।
यदा कनकं दासेन चोर्यते तदा दासः नृपेण तुद्यते।
३. यदाहं कमलान्यदिशम् तदा त्वं काकमपश्यः।
यदा मया कमलानि अदिशयनत तदा त्वया काकः अपश्यत।
४. यदा जना मां पश्येयुस्तदा ते सर्वतो धावेयुः।
When people see me then they run everywhere.
यदा जनैः अहं दृश्यन्ते तैः सर्वतः धाव्यते।
५. यदा बालाः पर्वतं प्रत्यधाबन् तदा तेऽश्राम्यन्।
When the boys ran towards the mountain then they beecame tired.
बालाः पर्वतं प्रति धावित्वा अश्राम्यन्।
पर्वतं प्रति धावित्वा बालैः अश्रामयत।
६. यदाहं कनकहदीव्यम् तदा त्वमतुष्य।
कनकं मया दीवयित्वा त्वया अतुषयत।
७. यदा जना नृपं पश्यन्ति, तदा ते तं पूजयन्ति।
When the people see the king then they worship him.
जना नृपं दृष्ट्वा तं पूजयन्ति।
नृपं दृष्ट्वा सः पूज्यते जनैः।
८. यदा जना ईश्वरस्य बलं चिन्तयन्ति, तदा ते ईश्वरं नमन्ति।
When people think of Ishwara’s strength then they salute him.
जना ईश्वस्य बलं चोन्तयित्वा ईश्वरं नमन्ति।
चोन्तयित्वा ईश्वरस्य बलः नम्यते जनैः।
९. यदा नृपः काव्यं लिखति, तदा स सुखं विन्दति।
When the king write poetry then he gets happiness.
नृपः सुखं वेत्तुम काव्यं लिखति।
नृपेण सुखं वेत्तुम काव्यं लिख्यते।
१०. यदा दासो वनं गच्छेत्, तदा स वृक्षान् कृन्तेत्।
When the servant goes to the forest then he may cut trees.
वनं गत्वा वृक्षाः कृन्तयन्ते दासेन।
3) Translate the following into English:
१. तेन पात्रेण जलं पीयते।
Water is drunk (by someone) with that vessel.
२. दासेन सह नृपेण गम्यते।
The going with the servant is done by the king.
३. नृपेण दासाय कनकं दीयते।
Giving of gold for/to the servant is done by the king.
४. जनकेन पुत्राय कुप्यते।
Being angry for the son was done by the father.
६. मया नृपस्य दासो दृश्यते।
The king's servant is seen by me.
७. मित्रस्य काव्यं दृष्ट्वा नृपेण तुष्यते।
Seeing the friend's poem the king is gladdened.
८. तेनाश्वेन कूपे पत्यते।
Falling into the well is done by that horse.
९. मांसं विना शृगालैर्न जीव्यते।
Without meat living cannot be done by jackals.
१०. गृहस्य पुरतो दासेन वीरस्य गुणा अघोष्यन्त।
In the house's front the virtues of the brave were announced/cried out (like a crier of news) by the servant.
११. दासेन वनं गम्यतां वृक्षाश्च कृत्यन्ताम्।
Going to the forest and cutting of trees was done by the servant
१२. नृपस्य कृते दासेन प्रासादस्यॊपरि कुसुमानि फलानि च नीयन्ताम्।
For the king's sake flowers and fruits were brought to the palace's top by the servant.
१३. हॆ तात, एतानि फलानि जलेन क्षालयित्वा भक्ष्यन्ताम्।
Oh father, these fruits, after being washed, maybe eaten by you.
१४. नृपस्य दासॆन स मुनिरदृश्यत।
The sage was seen by the king's servant.
१५. हे दास, मया तव नृपस्य गुरुणा भूयते।
Oh servant, I be your king's guru.
१६. भार्यया भक्त्या स गुरुरनम्यत।
भार्यया भक्त्या स गुरुोः अनम्यत।
With devotion the Guru is bowed to by the wife.
१७. जनकेन शिशुस्ताडयेत।
The boy was beaten by the father.
१८. यद्यपि भार्ययाहं निन्द्ये, तथापि मया सा न कदापि निन्द्यते।
Even though (my) wife blames/derides me, even then she is never ever blamed/derided by me.
१९. या नारी मया चिन्त्यते तयाहं न चिन्त्ये।
The woman who I am thought of by, she is not thought of by me.
२०. त्वया मरणं न बुध्यते, न वा जीवनमिति मुनिनाभाष्यत।
Your death is not known, nor your life - thus was said by the sages.
4) Translate the following into Sanskrit using passive verbs:
(These sentences may seem strange in English)
1. Fruits are eaten by the crows.
फलानि काकान् खाद्यन्ते।
2. Falling is done by water.
जलेन पत्यते।
3. Misery was remembered by the two boys.
दुःखं बालाभ्यां स्मर्यते।
4. Running toward that mountain is done by the horses.
अश्वैः सः पर्वतः प्रति धाव्यते।
5. Being around the village is done by those trees.
ग्रामेण सर्वतः वृक्षाः भूयन्ते।
6. Being without gold is done by me.
मया कनकं विना भूयते।
7. Between the two pots, a leaf is seen by the crow.
पात्रयोः मध्ये पत्रं काकान दृश्यते।
8. That lotus is taken by her.
तत् कमलं ताम् नीयते।
9. Those grasses should be seen by the two of us.
तानि तृणानि आवाभ्याम् दृश्येरन्।
10. The villages must be conquered by the king.
ग्रामाणि नृपेण जीयन्ताम्।
11. Standing around the king must be done by the servants.
नृपः सर्वतः दासैः स्थीयताम्।
12. Without a horse, going to town is done my me.
अश्वं विना मया नगरं गम्यते।
13. Those two girls were seen by those two boys.
ते बाले ताभ्यां बालाभ्यां अदृश्येताम्।
14. I should be remembered by the king.
नृपेण अहं स्मर्येत।
15. You were praised by me.
त्वम् मया श्लाघ्यते।
16. The king was spoken to by the servant.
नृपः दासेन अकथयत।
17. The woman should be saved by the sage.
मुनिना नारी रक्षयताम् ।
18. When the boy's body was seen by the mother, crying was done by her.
यदा बालस्य शरीरः मात्रा अदृश्यत, तया रोधनम् अभूयत।
19. All the houses were visited (lit. gone to) by that woman.
सर्वे गृहाणि तया नार्या अगम्यत।
5) Write any five passive sentences of your own in Sanskrit.
Notes
There are two kinds of passive voice in Sanskrit - कर्मणि प्रयोग and भावे प्रयोग
Transitive Passive Voice - कर्मणि प्रयोग
In these sentences the object of the transitive action is the syntactic focus, and not the agent of the action.
The verb is conjugated like it is an आत्मनेपदि verb and a य is also added. So the combination is - verb root + य + affix. Here are some examples.
| Constituents | Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| गम् + य + ते | गम्यते | is gone to |
| नी + य + ते | नीयते | is taken |
| जि + य + ते | जीयते | is won |
| गण् + य + ते | गण्यते | is counted |
| दा + य + ते | दीयते | is given |
| दृश् + य + ते | दृश्यते | is seen |
Note that the verbs undergo vocalic/consonantal changes in passive form. Examples: दा -> दी यज् -> इज् वद् -> उद्
In कर्मणि प्रयोग the verb agrees with the कर्मन् (object) in number and person. The object of a passive action takes nominative form and the agent takes the instrumental case. Example:
| प्रयोग (Voice) | Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | रामो गृहम् गच्छति | Rama goes home |
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) | रामेण गृहम् गम्यते | Home is gone to by Rama |
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | रामो भूमिम् खनति | Rama digs the ground |
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) | रामेण भूमिः खन्यते | Home is gone to by Rama |
In the above examples the word गृहम् when used in कर्तरि प्रयोग is in द्वितीया विभक्ति एकवचन. In the कर्मणि प्रयोग sentences is is प्रथमा विभक्ति एकवचन (nominative).
More examples:
| प्रयोग (Voice) | Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | अहम् पुत्रान् पश्यामि | I see (my) sons |
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) | मया पुत्राः दृश्यन्ते | (My) sons are seen by me |
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | त्वम् भार्याम् स्मरसि | You remember (your) wife |
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) | त्वया भार्या स्मर्यते | (Your) wife is remembered by you |
Note that all other items in the sentence, except adjectives of the object and the agent (and of course the verb), remain unaffected by the change in voice.
Transitive Passive Voice (कर्मणि प्रयोग) in Past imperfect (लङ् लकार), imperative (लोट् लकार) and optative (लिङ् लकार)
In these cases use the आत्मनेपदि (middle form) of the verb. Remember that the verb agrees with the कर्मन् (object) in number and person.
| प्रयोग (Voice) | Sentence | Translation | Tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | त्वम् भूमिम् अखनः | You dug the ground | Past (लङ् लकार) |
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) | त्वया भूमिः अखन्यत | The ground was dug up by you | Past (लङ् लकार) |
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | त्वम् भूमिम् खन | (You) dig up the ground | Imperative (लोट् लकार) |
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) | त्वया भूमिः खन्यताम् | The ground must be dug by you. | Imperative (लोट् लकार) |
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | त्वम् भूमिम् खनेः | You should dig the ground | Potential (लिङ् लकार) |
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) | त्वया भूमिः खन्येत | The ground should be dug by you. | Potential (लिङ् लकार) |
| प्रयोग (Voice) | Sentence | Translation | Tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| कर्तरि प्रयोग (Active voice) | |||
| कर्मणि प्रयोग (Transitive Passive Voice) |
Note that all passive forms are identical with the forms of a 4th conjugation middle verb such as मन्
Intransitive Passive - भावे प्रयोग
In Sanskrit one can have an intransitive passive construction for any intransitive verb, and for transitive verbs used without objects. The focus of the construction is neither the agent, nor the object (which does not exist in this case anyway), but the action (भाव) itself. Thus intransitive constructions can be rendered into English as:
- The action of going is done by Rama
- The action of going was done by my friends
- The action of eating should be done by the King
While strange in English, these sentences are frequent in Sanskrit and are often considered more polite than the corresponding active constructions.
In intransitive passive the agent takes the instrumental case (तृतीया विभक्ति) and the passive verb is always in third person singular.
List of verbs:
FIXME: complete the list
| Root | Active Voice (कर्तरि प्रयोग) | Passive Voice (कर्मणि/भावे प्रयोग) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| अर्थ् | अर्थयते | अर्थयते | plead, ask for, wish, strive to obtain, desire |
| इष् | इच्छति | इष्यते | wish, desire |
| कथ् | कथयति | कथ्यते | describe, tell, announce |
| कुप् | कुप्यति | कुप्यते | |
| कृष् | कृषति, कर्षति | कृष्यते | |
| कृन्त् | कृन्तति | कृत्यते | |
| क्लिश् | क्लिश्यते | क्लिश्यते | |
| क्षल् | क्षालयति | क्षाल्यते | |
| क्षिप् | क्षिपति | क्षिप्यते | |
| खन् | खनति | खन्यते |