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Welcome to the 13th session of the #LearnSamskritam through Twitter chats. In this session the focus will be on the use of passive verb forms in Sanskrit. The passive forms are also considered as one of the derived (व्युत्पन्न vyutpanna) verb forms. 13/1
The passive verb forms are needed when one wishes to express in passive voice. There are three voices in Sanskrit: 1. Active (कर्तृनिष्ठ kartṛniṣṭha), 2. Passive (कर्मनिष्ठ karmaniṣṭha), and 3. Impersonal (भावनिष्ठ bhāvaniṣṭha). 13/2
In active voice it is the agent or the कर्ता kartā that is expressed by the verb. Here the agent is in the Nominative case (prathamā vibhakti) and the object in Accusative (dvitīyā). The number and person of the verb is according to the number and person of the agent. 13/3
In a Passive sentence the agent is in the Instrumental case (tṛtīyā vibhakti) and the object in Nominative (prathamā vibhakti) with the verb in its Passive form. Here the verb is always in the third person and the number is according to the number of the object. 13/4
In an Impersonal construction the agent is in the Instrumental case and the verb is in its Passive form. Here the verb is always in third person singular. While passive sentence is possible with transitive verbs, impersonal voice is for the intransitive verbs. 13/5
A transitive verb has a direct object and an intransitive verb like stand, laugh, sleep does not have direct object. For example ‘he sleeps’ cannot have a passive form. While this is the case in other languages, Sanskrit uses passive forms even for the intransitive verbs. 13/6
In Sanskrit all transitive verbs are conjugated in the Active and Passive forms, and all intransitive verbs are conjugated in the Active and Impersonal forms. 13/7
Examples: Active Voice, बालकः सत्यं भाषते 'the boy speaks the truth'; Passive Voice, बालकेन पुस्तकं पठ्यते 'the book is being read by the boy'; Impersonal Voice, बालकेन हस्यते 'the act of laughing is being performed by the boy'. 13/8
Use of passive forms for even intransitive verbs is very natural to Sanskrit. In other languages, even languages derived from Sanskrit this is not possible. So to frame a sentence in passive for intransitive verbs would be ridiculous. 13/9
The users of Sanskrit, on the other hand, were conscious of this fact that one is not the real doer of all that one does. One is just an instrument and all activities are done by the Prakriti by using the doer as an instrument (see bhagavadgita.org.in/Chapters/3/27). 13/10
Sanskrit is full of passive usages. The choice of passive by the ancient Indian Rishis was not for achieving any rhetorical effect in their expression. The idea of non-doership was so natural to their consciousness that they were more comfortable with passive expressions. 13/11
That’s all for today. In the next session I will throw some more light on the use of passive forms in Sanskrit. पुनर्दर्शनाय punardarśanāya. 13/12
