# Sanskrit Grammar (Whitney)/Chapter X

CHAPTER X.
THE PERFECT-SYSTEM.
780. The perfect-system in the later language, as has been seen above (535), consists only of an indicative tense and a participle — both of them in the two voices, active and middle.
a. In the oldest language, the perfect has also its modes and its augment-preterit, or pluperfect, or is not less full in its apparatus of forms than is the present-system (see 808 ff.).
781. The formation of the perfect is essentially alike in all verbs, differences among them being of only subordinate consequence, or having the character of irregularities. The characteristics of the formation are these:
1. a stem made by reduplication of the root;
2. a distinction between stronger and weaker forms of stem, the former being used (as in presents of the First or non-a-conjugation) in the singular active, the latter in all other persons;
3. endings in some respects peculiar, unlike those of the present;
4. the frequent use, especially in the later language, of a union-vowel इ i between stem and endings.
782. Reduplication. In roots beginning with a consonant, the reduplication which forms the perfect-stem is of the same character with that which forms the present-stem of the reduplicating conjugation-class (see 643) — but with this exception, that radical अ a and आ ā and ऋ ṛ (or अर् ar) have only अ a, and never इ i, as vowel of the reduplicating syllable: thus, from √पृ pṛ fill comes the present-stem पिपृ pipṛ, but the perfect-stem पपृ papṛ; from √मा mā ​measure comes the present-stem मिमा mimā, but the perfect-stem ममा mamā; and so on.
a. Irregularities of roots with initial consonants will be given below, 784.
783. For roots beginning with a vowel, the rules of reduplication are these:
a. A root with initial अ a before a single final consonant repeats the अ a, which then fuses with the radical vowel to आ ā (throughout the whole inflection): thus, आद् ād from √अद् ad eat; and in like manner आज् āj, आन् ān, आस् ās, आह् āh. The root ऋ ṛ forms likewise throughout आर् ār (as if from अर् ar).
b. A root with इ i or उ u before a single final consonant follows the same analogy, except in the strong forms (sing. act.); here the vowel of the radical syllable has guṇa, becoming ए e or ओ o; and before this, the reduplicating vowel maintains its independent form, and is separated from the radical syllable by its own semivowel: thus, from √इष् iṣ comes ईष् īṣ in weak forms, but इयेष् iyeṣ in strong; from √उच् uc, in like manner, come ऊच् ūc and उवोच् uvoc. The root इ i, a single vowel, also falls under this rule, and forms ईय् īy (y added before a vowel) and इये iye.
c. Roots which begin with vowels long by nature or by position do not in general make a perfect-system, but use instead a periphrastic formation, in which the perfect tense of an auxiliary verb is added to the accusative of a verbal noun (see below, chap. XV.: 1070 ff.).
d. To this rule, however, √āp obtain (probably originally ap: 1087 f) constitutes an exception, making the constant perfect-stem āp (as if from ap: above, a). Also are met with īḍé (RV.) and īḍire from √īḍ, and īriré (V.) from √īr.
e. For the peculiar reduplication ān, belonging to certain roots with initial vowels, see below, 788.
784. A number of roots beginning with va and ending with a single consonant, which in various of their verbal forms and derivatives abbreviate the va to u, do it also in the perfect, and are treated like roots with initial u (above, 783 b), except that they retain ​the full form of root in the strong persons of the singular active. Thus, from √vac speak come ūc and uvac; from √vas dwell come ūṣ and uvas; and so on.
a. The roots showing this abbreviation are vac, vap, vad, vaç, vas, vah; and vā weave is said to follow the same rule.
b. A single root beginning with ya, namely yaj offer, has the same contraction, forming the stems iyaj and īj.
c. Occasional exceptions are met with: as, vavāca and vavakṣé (RV.); vavāpa and vavāha and vavāhatus (E. and later); yejé (V.).
785. A number of roots having ya after a first initial consonant take i (from the y) instead of a in the reduplicating syllable: thus, from √vyac comes vivyac; from √pyā comes pipyā.
a. These roots are vyac, vyath, vyadh, vyā, jyā, pyā, syand; and, in the Veda, also tyaj, with cyu and dyut, which have the root-vowel u. Other sporadic cases occur.
b. A single root with va is treated in the same way: namely svap, which forms suṣvap.
c. These roots are for the most part abbreviated in the weak forms: see below, 794.
786. A considerable number of roots have in the Veda a long vowel in their reduplication.
a. Thus, of roots reduplicating with ā: kan, kḷp, gṛdh, tṛp, tṛṣ, dṛh, dhṛ, dhṛṣ, nam, mah, mṛj, mṛç, ran, radh, rabh, vañc, van, vaç, vas clothe, vāç, vṛj, vṛt, vṛdh, vṛṣ, çad prevail, sah, skambh. Some of these occur only in isolated cases; many have also forms with short vowel. Most are Vedic only; but dādhāra is common also in the Brāhmaṇa language, and is even found later. As to jāgṛ, see 1020 a.
b. Of roots reduplicating with ī: the so-called roots (676) dīdhī and dīdī, which make the perfect from the same stem with the present: thus, dīdétha, dīdā́ya; dīdhima, dīdhyus (also dīdhiyus, dīdiyus). But pīpī has pipye, pipyus, etc., with short i. In AV. occurs once jīhīḍa, and in AB. (and AA.) bībhāya.
c. Of roots reduplicating with ū: tu, jū, and çū (or çvā).
787. A few roots beginning with the (derivative: 42) palatal mutes and aspiration show a reversion to the more original guttural in the radical syllable after the reduplication: thus, √ci forms ciki; √cit forms cikit; √ji forms jigi; √hi forms jighi; √han forms jaghan (and the same reversions appear in other reduplicated forms of these roots: 216 l). A root dā protect is said by the grammarians to form digi; but neither root nor perfect is quotable.
788. A small number of roots with initial a or ṛ (ar) show the anomalous reduplication ān in the perfect.
a. Thus (the forms occurring mainly in the older language only):
​√añj or aj, which forms the pres. anákti, has the perfect ānañja and ānajé etc. (with anajā and anajyāt);
√aç attain (from which comes once in RV. anáçāmahāi), has the weak forms ānaçma etc. (with opt. ānaçyām), ānaçé etc. (and LÇS. has ānaçadhve), and the strong forms ānáṅça and ānāça — along with the regular āça etc.;
√ṛdh (from which comes once ṛṇádhat) has ānṛdhús and ānṛdhe;
√ṛc or arc has ānṛcús and ānṛcé, and later ānarca and ānarcus;
√arh has (in TS.) ānṛhús;
anāha (RV., once) has been referred to a root ah, elsewhere unknown, and explained as of this formation; but with altogether doubtful propriety.
b. The later grammar, then, sets up the rule that roots beginning with a and ending with more than one consonant have ān as their regular reduplication; and such perfects are taught from roots like akṣ, arj, and añc or ac; but the only other quotable forms appear to be ānarchat (MBh.) and ānarṣat (TA.); which are accordingly reckoned as "pluperfects".
789. One or two individual cases of irregularity are the following:
a. The extremely common root bhū be has the anomalous reduplication ba, forming the stem babhū; and, in the Veda, √sū forms in like manner sasū.
b. The root bhṛ bear has in the Veda the anomalous reduplication ja (as also in intensive: 1002); but RV. has once also the regular babhre, and pple babhrāṇá.
c. The root ṣṭhīv spew forms either tiṣṭhīv (ÇB. et al.) or ṭiṣṭhīv (not quotable).
d. Vivakvā́n (RV., once) is doubtless participle of √vac, with irregular reduplication (as in the present, 660).
790. Absence of reduplication is met with in some cases. Thus:
a. The root vid know has, from the earliest period to the latest, a perfect without reduplication, but otherwise regularly made and inflected: thus, véda, véttha, etc., pple vidvā́ṅs. It has the meaning of a present. The root vid find forms the regular vivéda.
b. A few other apparently perfect forms lacking a reduplication are found in RV.: they are takṣathus and takṣus, yamátus, skambháthus and skambhus, nindima (for ninidima?), dhiṣe and dhire (? √dhā), and vidré and arhire (? see 613). And AV. VS. have cetatus. The participial words dāçvā́ṅs, mīḍhvā́ṅs, sāhvā́ṅs are common in the oldest language; and RV. has once jānúṣas (√jñā), and khidvas (voc.), perhaps for cikhidvas.
c. A few sporadic cases also are quotable from the later language, especially from the epics: thus, karṣatus, ceṣṭa and ceṣṭatus, bhrājatus, sarpa, çaṅsus and çaṅsire, dhvaṅsire, sraṅsire, jalpire, edhire; also the pples çaṅsivāṅs and darçivāṅs, the latter being not infrequent.
791. For an anomalous case or two of reduplicated preposition, see below, 1087 f.
792. Strong and weak stem-forms. In the three persons of the singular active, the root-syllable is accented, and exhibits usually a stronger form than in the rest of the tense-inflection. The difference is effected partly by strengthening the root in the three persons referred to, partly by weakening it in the others, partly by doing both.
793. As regards the strengthening:
a. A final vowel takes either the guṇa or vṛddhi change in 1st sing. act., guṇa in 2d, and vṛddhi in 3d: thus, from √भी bhī, 1st बिभे bibhé or बिभै bibhāí; 2d बिभे bibhé; 3d बिभै bibhāí; from √कृ kṛ, 1st चकर् cakár or चकार् cakā́r, 2d चकर् cakár, 3d चकार् cakā́r.
b. But the ū of √bhū remains unchanged, and adds v before a vowel-ending: thus, babhū́va etc.
c. Medial अ a before a single final consonant follows the analogy of a final vowel, and is lengthened or vriddhied in the 3d. sing., and optionally in the first: thus, from √तप् tap, 1st ततप् tatáp or तताप् tatā́p, 2d ततप् tatáp, 3d तताप् tatā́p.
d. In the earlier language, however, the weaker of the two forms allowed by these rules in the first person is almost exclusively in use: thus, 1st only bibháya, tatápa; 3d bibhā́ya, tatā́pa. Exceptions are cakāra and jagrā́ha (doubtful reading) in AV., cakāra in AÇS. and BAU. (ÇB. cakara), jigāya in AÇS., as first persons.
e. A medial short vowel has in all three persons alike the guṇa-strengthening (where this is possible: 240): thus, from √द्रुह् druh comes दुद्रोह् dudróh; from √विश् viç comes विवेश् vivéç; from √कृत् kṛt comes चकर्त् cakárt.
f. An initial short vowel before a single final consonant is to be treated like a medial, but the quotable examples are very few: namely, iyeṣa from √iṣ seek, uvocitha and uvoca from √uc, uvoṣa from √uṣ. As to roots i and ṛ, whose vowels are both initial and final, see above, 783 a, b.
g. These rules are said by the grammarians to apply to the 2d sing. always when it has simple tha as ending; if it has itha (below, 797 d), ​the accent is allowed to fall on any one of the syllables of the word, and the root-syllable if unaccented has sometimes the weak form (namely, in contracted stems with e for medial a: below, 794 e; and in certain other verbs, as vivijitha). The earlier language, however, affords no example of a 2d sing., whatever its ending, accented on any other than the radical syllable, or failing to conform to the rules of strengthening as given above (in a, c, e).
h. Occasional instances of strengthening in other than the singular persons are met with: thus, yuyopima and viveçus (RV.), pasparçus (KeU.), and, in the epics, cakartus and cakartire, cakarṣatus, jugūhire, nanāmire, bibhedus, vavāhatus, viveçatus, vavarṣus. The roots dṛ, pṛ, and çṛ, and optionally jṛ, are said by the grammarians to have the strong stem in weak forms; but no examples appear to be quotable. AV., however, has once jaharus (probably a false reading); and in the later language occur caskare (√kṛ scatter) and tastare.
i. The root mṛj has (as in the present-system: 627) vṛddhi instead of guṇa in strong forms: thus, mamā́rja; and √guh (also as in present: 745 c) has ū instead of o (but also juguhe E.).
794. As regards the weakening in weak forms:
a. It has been seen above (783 b) that roots beginning with i or u fuse reduplicating and radical syllable together to ī or ū in the weak forms; and (784) that roots contracting va and ya to u or i in the reduplication do it also in the root in weak forms, the two elements here also coalescing to ū or ī.
b. A few roots having ya and va after a first initial consonant, and reduplicating from the semivowel (785), contract the ya and va to i and u: thus, vivic from √vyac, vividh from √vyadh (but vivyadhus MBh.), suṣup from √svap. The extended roots jyā, pyā, vyā, çvā, hvā show a similar apparent contraction, making their weak forms from the simpler roots jī, pī, vī, çū, hū, while hvā must and çvā may get their strong forms also from the same (and only jijyāú is quotable from the others).
c. The root grabh or grah (if it be written thus: see 729 a) contracts to gṛh, making the three forms of stem jagráh (1st and 2d sing. act.), jagrā́h (3d), and jagṛh; but prach (if it be so written: see 756 a) remains unchanged throughout.
d. Some roots omit in weak forms of this tense, or in some of them, a nasal which is found in its strong forms: thus, we have cakradé etc. (RV.) from √krand; tatasré (RV.) from √taṅs; dadaçvā́ṅs (RV.) from √daṅç; bedhús, bedhé, etc. (AV.) from √bandh; sejus (ÇB.) from √sañj; caskabhāná (AV.) from √skambh; tastabhús etc. (V.), tastabhāná (V.B.), from √stambh. Compare also 788 a.
e. A number of roots having medial a between single consonants drop that vowel. These are, in the later language, gam, khan, jan, ​han, ghas; they form the weak stems jagm, cakhn, jajñ, jaghn (compare 637), jakṣ (compare 640): but RV. has once jajanús.
f. In the old language are found in like manner mamnāthe and mamnāte from √man; vavné from √van; tatne, tatniṣe, tatnire from √tan (beside tatane, and tate, as if from √tā); paptima and paptús and paptivā́ṅs from √pat (beside pet-forms; below, g); papné from √pan; saçcima and saçcus, saçce and saçciré, from √sac.
g. Roots in general having medial a before a single final consonant, and beginning also with a single consonant that is repeated unchanged in the reduplication — that is, not an aspirate, a guttural mute, or h — contract their root and reduplication together into one syllable, having e as its vowel: thus, √sad forms the weak stem sed, √pac forms pec, √yam forms yem; and so on.
h. Certain roots not having the form here defined are declared by the grammarians to undergo the same contraction — most of them optionally; and examples of them are in general of very rare occurrence. They are as follows: rāj (E.C.) and rādh (radh?), notwithstanding their long vowel; phaṇ, phal (phelire C.), bhaj (occurs from RV. down), though their initial is changed in reduplication; trap, tras (tresus E.C.), çrath, syam, svan, though they begin with more than one consonant; dambh (debhús, RV., from the weaker dabh), though it ends with more than one; and bhram (bhremus etc. KSS.), bhrāj, granth, svañj, in spite of more reasons than one to the contrary. And ÇB. has sejus from √sañj, and KB. has çremus from √çram. On the other hand, RV. has once rarabhmá, and R. has papatus, for petus, from √pat.
i. This contraction is allowed also in 2d sing. act. when the ending is itha: thus, tenitha beside tatantha (but no examples are quotable from the older language).
j. The roots çaç and dad (from dā: 672) are said to reject the contraction; but no perfect forms of either appear to have been met with in use.
k. From √tṛ (or tar) occurs terus (R.); and jerus from √jṛ is authorized by the grammarians — both against the general analogy of roots in ṛ.
l. Roots ending in ā lose their ā before all endings beginning with a vowel, including those endings that assume the union-vowel i (796) — unless in the latter case it be preferred to regard the i as a weakened form of the ā.
795. Endings, and their union with the stem. The general scheme of endings of the perfect indicative has been already given (553 c); an dit has also been pointed out (543 a) that roots ending in आ ā have औ āu in 1st and 3d sing. active.
​a. The ending mas instead of ma is found in çuçrumas (E.C.). For the alleged occurrence of ḍhve instead of dhve in 2d pl. mid., see 226 c.
796. Those of the endings which begin with a consonant — namely थ tha, व va, म ma in active; से se, वहे vahe, महे mahe, ध्वे dhve, रे re in middle — are very often, and in the later language usually, joined to the base with the help of an interposed union-vowel इ i.
a. The union-vowel i is found widely used also in other parts of the general verbal system: namely, in the sibilant aorist, the futures, and the verbal nouns and adjectives (as also in other classes of derivative stems). In the later language, a certain degree of correspondence is seen among the different parts of the same verb, as regards their use or non-use of the connective; but this correspondence is not so close that general rules respecting it can be given with advantage; and it will be best to treat each formation by itself.
b. The perfect is the tense in which the use of i has established itself most widely and firmly in the later language.
797. The most important rules as to the use of इ i in the later language are as follows:
a. The रे re of 3d pl. mid. has it always.
b. The other consonant-endings, except थ tha of 2d sing. act., take it in nearly all verbs.
c. But it is rejected throughout by eight verbs — namely kṛ make, bhṛ bear, sṛ go, vṛ choose, dru run, çru hear, stu praise, sru flow; and it is allowably (not usually) rejected by some others, in general accordance with their usage in other formations.
d. In 2d sing. act., it is rejected not only by the eight verbs just given, but also by many others, ending in vowels or in consonants, which in other formations have no इ i; but it is also taken by many verbs which reject it in other formations; — and it is optional in many verbs, including those in आ ā (of which the आ ā is lost when the ending is इथ itha), and most of those in इ i, ई ī, and उ u.
e. The rules of the grammarians, especially as regards the use of tha or itha, run out into infinite detail, and are not wholly consistent with one another; and, as the forms are very infrequent, it is not possible to criticise the statements made, and to tell how far they are founded on the facts of usage.
f. With this i, a final radical i or ī is not combined, but changed into y or iy. The ū of √bhū becomes ūv throughout before a vowel.
798. In the older language, the usage is in part quite otherwise. Thus:
a. In the RV., the union-vowel i is taken by roots ending in consonants provided the last syllable of the stem is a heavy one, but not otherwise: thus, ā́sitha, uvócitha, vivéditha, but tatántha and vivyáktha; ūcimá, paptima, sedima, yuyopimá, but jaganma, jagṛbhmá, yuyujma; ūçiṣé, jajñiṣé, sasāhiṣe, but vivitse and dadṛkṣé; bubhujmáhe and çāçadmahe etc. (no examples of ivahe or imahe chance to occur, nor any of either idhve or dhve); ījiré, jajñiré, yetiré, tataksiré, but cākḷpré, vividré, duduhré, paspṛdhré, tatasré (and so on: twenty-two forms). The only exception in RV. is véttha from √vid, without i (in Br., also āttha from √ah: below, 801 a). The other Vedic texts present nothing inconsistent with this rule, but in the Brāhmaṇas 3d pl. forms in ire are made after light syllables also: thus, sasṛjire, bubudhire, yuyujire, rurudhire.
b. In roots ending with a vowel, the early usage is more nearly like the later. Thus: for roots in ā the rule is the same (except that no 2d sing. in itha is met with), as dadhimá, dadhiṣé, dadhidhvé, dadhiré (the only persons with i quotable from RV. and AV.; and RV. has dadhre twice); — roots in ṛ appear also to follow the later rule: as cakṛṣé, papṛṣe, vavṛṣé, vavṛmáhe, but dadhriṣe and jabhriṣe, and in 3d pl. mid. both cakriré and dadhrire; — √bhū has both babhū́tha (usually) and babhū́vitha, but only babhūvimá (AV.). But there are found, against the later rules, suṣuma, cicyuṣe, juhuré, and juhūré, without i: the instances are too few to found a rule upon.
799. The ending riré of 3d pl. mid. is found in RV. in six forms: namely, cikitrire, jagṛbhriré, dadrire, bubhujriré, vividrire, sasṛjrire; to which SV. adds duduhrire, and TB. dadṛçrire.
800. Examples of inflection. By way of illustration of the rules given above may be given in full the perfect indicative inflection of the following verbs:
a. As example of the normal inflection of a root with final consonant, we take the root बुध् budh know: its strong form of perfect-stem is बुबोध् bubódh; weak form, बुबुध् bubudh.
| | active. | active. | active. | middle. | middle. | middle. |
| | s. | d. | p. | s. | d. | p. |
| 1 | बुबोध bubódha | बुबुधिव bubudhivá | बुबुधिम -dhimá | बुबुधे bubudhé | बुबुधिवहे -dhiváhe | बुबुधिमहे -dhimáhe ​ |
| 2 | बुबोधिथ bubódhitha | बुबुधथुस् -dháthus | बुबुध -dhá | बुबुधिषे bubudhiṣé | बुबुधाथे -dhā́the | बुबुधिध्वे -dhidhvé |
| 3 | बुबोध bubódha | बुबुधतुस् -dhátus | बुबुधुस् -dhús | बुबुधे bubudhé | बुबुधाते -dhā́te | बुबुधिरे -dhiré |
b. The asserted variety of possible accent in 2d sing. act. (above, 793 g) needs to be noted both in this and in the remaining paradigms.
c. As example of the normal inflection of a root with final i or u-vowel, we may take the root नी nī lead: its forms of stem are निनय् nináy or निनाय् ninā́y, and निनी ninī.
| 1 | निनय, निनाय nináya, ninā́ya | निन्यिव ninyivá | निन्यिम ninyimá | निन्ये ninyé | निन्यिवहे ninyiváhe | निन्यिमहे ninyimáhe |
| 2 | निनेथ, निनयिथ ninétha, nináyitha | निन्यथुस् ninyáthus | निन्य ninyá | निन्यिषे ninyiṣé | निन्याथे ninyā́the | निन्यिध्वे ninyidhvé |
| 3 | निनाय ninā́ya | निन्यतुस् ninyátus | निन्युस् ninyús | निन्ये ninyé | निन्याते ninyā́te | निन्यिरे ninyiré |
d. The root krī would make (129 a) in weak forms cikriyivá, cikriyátus, cikriyús, etc.; and √bhū is inflected as follows in the active (middle forms not quotable):
| 1 | babhū́va | babhūvivá | babhūvimá |
| 2 | babhū́tha, babhū́vitha | babhūváthus | babhūvá |
| 3 | babhū́va | babhūvátus | babhūvús |
Other roots in ū or u change this to uv before the initial vowel of an ending.
e. As example of the inflection of a root ending in आ ā, we may take दा dā give: its forms of stem are ददा dadā́ and दद् dad (or ददि dadi: see above, 794 l).
| 1 | ददौ dadāú | ददिव dadivá | ददिम dadimá | ददे dadé | ददिवहे dadiváhe | ददिमहे dadimáhe |
| 2 | ददाथ, ददिथ dadā́tha, dadithá | ददथुस् dadáthus | दद dadá | ददिषे dadiṣé | ददाथे dadā́the | ददिध्वे dadidhvé |
| 3 | ददौ dadāú | ददतुस् dadátus | ददुस् dadús | ददे dadé | ददाते dadā́te | ददिरे dadiré |
f. The RV. has once paprā́ for paprāú (and jahā́ for jahāú?).
g. As example of a root with medial अ a showing fusion of root and reduplication, resulting in medial ए e, in the weak forms (794 g), we may take तन् tan stretch: its forms of stem are ततन् tatán or ततान् tatā́n, and तेन् ten.
| 1 | ततन, ततान tatána, tatā́na | तेनिव tenivá | तेनिम tenimá | तेने tené | तेनिवहे teniváhe | तेनिमहे tenimáhe |
| 2 | ततन्थ, तेनिथ tatántha, tenithá | तेनथुस् tenáthus | तेन tená | तेनिषे teniṣé | तेनाथे tenā́the | तेनिध्वे tenidhvé |
| 3 | ततान tatā́na | तेनतुस् tenátus | तेनुस् tenús | तेने tené | तेनाते tenā́te | तेनिरे teniré |
h. The root jan, with the others which expel medial a in weak forms (794 e), makes jajántha or jajñithá, jajñivá, jajñús; jajñé, jajñimáhe, jajñiré; and so on.
i. As example of a root with initial व va contracted to उ u in the reduplication, and contracted with the reduplication to ऊ ū in weak forms (784), we may take वच् vac speak: its forms of stem are उवच् uvác or उवाच् uvā́c, and ऊच् ūc.
| 1 | उवच, उवाच uváca, uvā́ca | ऊचिव ūcivá | ऊचिम ūcimá | ऊचे ūcé | ऊचिवहे ūciváhe | ऊचिमहे ūcimáhe |
| 2 | उवक्थ, उवचिथ uváktha, uvácitha | ऊचथुस् ūcáthus | ऊच ūcá | ऊचिषे ūciṣé | ऊचाथे ūcā́the | ऊचिध्वे ūcidhvé |
| 3 | उवाच uvā́ca | ऊचतुस् ūcátus | ऊचुस् ūcús | ऊचे ūcé | ऊचाते ūcā́te | ऊचिरे ūciré |
j. In like manner, √yaj forms iyája or iyā́ja, iyáṣṭha or iyájitha; ījé, ījiṣé, and so on; √uc has uvóca and uvócitha in the strong forms, and all the rest like vac.
k. Of the four roots in ऋ ṛ mentioned at 797 c, the inflection is as follows:
| 1 | चकर, चकार cakára, cakā́ra | चकृव cakṛvá | चकृम cakṛmá | चक्रे cakré | चकृवहे cakṛváhe | चकृमहे cakṛmáhe |
| 2 | चकर्थ cakártha | चक्रथुस् cakráthus | चक्र cakrá | चकृषे cakṛṣé | चक्राथे cakrā́the | चकृध्वे cakṛdhvé |
| 3 | चकार cakā́ra | चक्रतुस् cakrátus | चक्रुस् cakrús | चक्रे cakré | चक्राते cakrā́te | चक्रिरे cakriré |
| 1 | दधर, दधार dadhára, dadhā́ra | दध्रिव dadhrivá | दध्रिम dadhrimá | दध्रे dadhré | दध्रिवहे dadhriváhe | दध्रिमहे dadhrimáhe |
m. We may further add here, finally, the active inflection (the middle is not in use) of the perfect of as be, which (like babhū́va and cakā́ra, given above) is frequently employed as an auxiliary.
| 1 | ā́sa | āsivá | āsimá |
| 2 | ā́sitha | āsáthus | āsá |
| 3 | ā́sa | āsátus | āsús |
801. A few miscellaneous irregularities call still for notice:
a. The root ah speak occurs only in the perfect indicative, and only in the 3d persons of all numbers and in the 2d sing. and du., in active (and in 2d sing. the h is irregularly changed to t before the ending): thus, āttha, ā́ha; āhathus, āhatus; āhús (in V., only ā́ha and āhús are met with).
b. From √vā weave, the 3d pl. act. ūvus occurs in RV., and no other perfect form appears to have been met with in use. It is allowed by the grammarians to be inflected regularly as vā; and also as vay (the present-stem is váya: 761 f), with contraction of va to u in weak forms; and further, in the weak forms, as simple u.
c. The root vyā envelop has in RV. the perfect-forms vivyathus and vivyé, and no others have been met with in use; the grammarians require the strong forms to be made from vyay, and the weak from vī.
d. The root i go forms in RV. and AV. the 2d sing. act. iyátha beside the regular iyétha; and beside īriré from √īr, RV. has several times eriré.
e. RV. has an anomalous accent in dádṛçe and dádṛçre (beside dadṛkṣé) and the pple dádṛçāna. And cíketa (once, beside cikéta) is perhaps a kindred anomaly.
f. Persons of the perfect from the ir-forms of roots in changeable ṛ (242) are titirus and tistire (both RV.); and they have corresponding participles.
g. The bastard root ūrṇu (713) is said by the grammarians to make the perfect-stem ūrṇunu; the roots majj and naç are said to insert a nasal in the 2d sing. active, when the ending is simple tha: thus, maman̄ktha, nanaṅṣṭha (also mamajjitha and neçitha).
h. Further may be noted sasajjatus (MBh.: √sañj, which has in passive the secondary form sajj), rurundhatus (R.), and dudūhus (BhP).
i. The anomalous ajagrabhāiṣam (AB. vi. 35) seems a formation on the perfect-stem (but perhaps for ajigrabhiṣan, desid.?).
Perfect Participle.
802. The ending of the active participle is वांस् vā́ṅs (that is to say, in the strong forms: it is contracted to उष् úṣ in the weakest, and replaced by वत् vát in the middle forms: see above, 458 ff.). It is added to the weak form of the perfect stem — as shown, for example, in the dual and plural of the active inflection of the given verb; and, mechanically, the weakest participle-stem is identical with the 3d pl. active. Thus, बुबुध्वांस् bubudhvā́ṅs, निनीवांस् ninīvā́ṅs, चकृवांस् cakṛvā́ṅs.
803. If the weak form of the perfect stem is monosyllabic, the ending takes the union-vowel इ i (which, however, disappears in the weakest cases): thus, तेनिवांस् tenivā́ṅs, ऊचिवांस् ūcivā́ṅs, जज्ञिवांस् jajñivā́ṅs, आदिवांस् ādivā́ṅs (from √अद् ad: 783 a), and so on; ददिवांस् dadivā́ṅs and its like, from roots in आ ā, are to be reckoned in the one class or the other according as we view the इ i as weakened root-vowel or as union-vowel (794 l).
a. But participles of which the perfect-stem is monosyllabic by absence of the reduplication do not take the union-vowel: thus, vidvā́ṅs, and in V., dāçvā́ṅs (SV. dāçivā́ṅs), mīḍhvā́ṅs, sāhvā́ṅs, khidvāṅs (?); and RV. has also dadvā́ṅs (AV. dadivā́ṅs and once dadāvā́ṅs) from √dā (or dad: 672); and án-āçvāṅs (√aç eat) occurs in TS. and TB. But AV. has viçivā́ṅs and varjivāṅs (in negative fem. ávarjuṣī).
804. Other Vedic irregularities calling for notice are few. The long vowel of the reduplication (786) appears in the participle as in the indicative: thus, vāvṛdhvā́ṅs, sāsahvā́ṅs, jūjuvā́ṅs. RV. and AV. have sasavā́ṅs from √san or sā. RV. makes the participial forms of √tṛ or tar from different modifications of the root: thus, titirvā́ṅs, but tatarúṣas. Respecting the occasional exchanges of strong and weak stem in inflection, see above, 462 c.
805. a. From roots gam and han the Veda makes the strong stems jaganvā́ṅs (as to the n, see 212 a) and jaghanvā́ṅs; the later language allows either these or the more regular jagmivāṅs and jaghnivā́ṅs (the weakest stem-forms being everywhere jagmúṣ and jaghnúṣ). RV. has also tatanvā́ṅs.
b. From three roots, vid find, viç, and dṛç, the later language allows strong participle-stems to be made with the union-vowel, as well as in the regular manner without it: thus, viviçivāṅs or viviçvāṅs; dadṛçivāṅs occurs in KṭhU. PB. has once cicchidivāṅs.
806. The ending of the middle participle is āná. It is added to the weak form of perfect-stem, as this appears in the middle inflection: thus, बुबुधान bubudhāná, निन्यान ninyāná, ददान dadāná, तेनान tenāná, जज्ञान jajñāná, ऊचान ūcāná.
a. In the Veda, the long reduplicating vowel is shown by many middle participles: thus, vāvṛdhāná, vāvasāná, dādṛhāṇá, tūtujāná, etc. RV. has çaçayāná from √çī (with irregular guṇa, as in the present-system: 629); tistirāṇá from √stṛ; and once, with māna, sasṛmāṇá from √sṛ. A few participles with long redupl. vowel have it irregularly accented (as if rather intensive: 1013): thus, tū́tujāna (also tūtujāná), bā́badhāna, çā́çadāna, çū́çujāna, çū́çuvāna.
807. In the later language, the perfect participles have nearly gone out of use; even the active appears but rarely, and is made from very few verbs, and of the middle hardly any examples are quotable, save such as the proper name yuyudhāna, the adjective anūcāna learned in scripture, etc.
Modes of the Perfect.
808. Modes of the perfect belong only to the Vedic language, and even are seldom found outside of the Rig-Veda.
a. To draw the line surely and distinctly between these and the mode-forms from other reduplicated tense-stems — the present-stem of the reduplicating class, the reduplicated aorist, and the intensive — is not possible, since no criterion of form exists which does not in some cases fail, and since the general equivalence of modal forms from all stems (582), and the common use of the perfect as a present in the Veda (823), deprive us of a criterion of meaning. There can be no reasonable doubt, however, that a considerable body of forms are to be reckoned here; optatives like ānaçyām and babhūyās and babhūyā́t, imperatives like babhūtu, subjunctives like jabhárat, show such distinctive characteristics of the perfect formation that by their analogy other similar words are confidently classed as belonging to the perfect.
809. The normal method of making such forms would appear to be as follows: from a reduplicated perfect-stem, as (for example) mumuc, an imperative would be made by simply appending, as usual, the imperative endings; the derived subjunctive mode-stem would be mumóca (accented after the analogy of the strong forms ​of the perfect indicative), and would take either primary or secondary endings; and the optative mode-stems would be mumucyā́ in the active, and mumucī (accent on personal endings) in the middle.
And the great majority of the forms in question (about three quarters) are made in these ways. Thus:
810. Examples of the regular subjunctive formation are:
a. with secondary endings, active: 2d sing., papráthas, cākánas, māmáhas, pipráyas, bubodhas, rāráṇas; 3d sing., cākánat, jabhárat, rāráṇat, sāsáhat, paspárçat, pipráyat; 1st pl., cākánāma, tatánāma, çūçávāma; 3d pl., tatánan, papráthan (other persons do not occur). This is the largest class of cases.
b. with primary endings, active: here seem to belong only dadhárṣati and vavártati: compare the formation with different accent below, 811 a.
c. of middle forms occur only the 3d sing., tatápate, çaçámate, yuyójate, jujóṣate (SV.; RV. has jújoṣate); and the 3d pl. cākánanta, tatánanta (and perhaps two or three others: below, 811 b, end).
811. But not a few subjunctives of other formation occur; thus:
a. With strengthened root-syllable, as above, but with accent on the reduplication (as in the majority of present-forms of the reduplicating class: above, 645). Here the forms with primary endings, active, preponderate, and are not very rare: for example, jújoṣasi, jújoṣati, jújoṣathas, jújoṣatha (other persons do not occur). With secondary endings, jújoṣas, jújoṣat, and jújoṣan are the forms that belong most distinctly here (since dádāças and súṣūdas etc. are perhaps rather aorists). And there is no middle form but jújoṣate (RV.: see above, 810 c).
b. With unstrengthened root-syllable occur a small body of forms, which are apparently also accented on the reduplication (accented examples are found only in 3d pl. mid.): thus, active, for example, mumucas; vavṛtat, vividat, çūçuvat; the only middle forms are dadhṛṣate, vāvṛdhate, 3d sing.; and cákramanta, dádhṛṣanta, rúrucanta (with dadabhanta, paprathanta, māmahanta, juhuranta, which might also belong elsewhere: 810 c).
c. Accented on the ending are vāvṛdhánta and cakṛpánta (which are rather to be called augmentless pluperfects).
d. As to forms with double mode-sign, or transfers to an a-conjugation, see below, 815.
812. Examples of the regular optative formation are:
a. In active: 1st sing., ānaçyām, jagamyām, papṛcyām, riricyām; 2d sing., vavṛtyās, viviçyās, çuçrūyā́s, babhūyās; 3d sing., jagamyāt, vavṛtyāt, tutujyā́t, babhūyā́t; 2d du., jagmyātam, çuçrūyā́tam; 1st pl., sāsahyāma, vavṛtyāma, çūçuyāma; 3d pl., tatanyus, vavṛjyús, vavṛtyus. The forms are quite numerous.
b. In middle, the forms are few: namely, 1st sing., vavṛtīya; 2d sing., vāvṛdhīthā́s, cakṣamīthās; 3d sing., jagrasīta, vavṛtīta, māmṛjīta, dudhuvīta, çuçucīta; 1st pl., vavṛtīmahi. And sāsahīṣṭhās and ririṣīṣṭa appear to furnish examples of precative optative forms.
c. There is no irregular mode of formation of perfect optatives. Individual irregularities are shown by certain forms: thus, cakriyās, papīyāt, çuçrūyā́s and çuçrūyā́tam, with treatment of the final as before the passive-sign yá (770); anajyāt with short initial; çiçrītá from √çri; jakṣīyāt is anomalous: ririṣes is the only form that shows a union-vowel a (unless also siṣet, from √sā).
813. Of regular imperative forms, only a very small number are to be quoted: namely, active, cākandhi, rārandhí, cikiddhi, titigdhi, mumugdhí, çuçugdhí, and piprīhí; cākantu, rārantu, mumoktu, and babhūtu; mumuktam and vavṛktam; jujuṣṭana and vavṛttana (unless we are to add mamaddhí, mamattu, mamáttana); — middle, vavṛtsva and vavṛddhvam. AV. has once dadṛçrām.
814. As irregular imperatives may be reckoned several which show a union-vowel a, or have been transferred to an a-conjugation. Such are, in the active, mumócatam and jujoṣatam (2d du.), and mumócata (2d pl.); in the middle, pipráyasva (only one found with accent), and māmahasva, vāvṛdhasva, vāvṛṣasva (2d sing.), and māmahantām (3d pl.: probably to be accented -ásva and -ántām).
815. Such imperatives as these, taken in connection with some of the subjunctives given above (and a few of the "pluperfect" forms: below, 820), suggest as plausible the assumption of a double present-stem, with reduplication and added a (with which the desiderative stems would be comparable: below, 1026 ff.): for example, jujoṣa from √juṣ, from which would come jújoṣasi etc. and jújoṣate (811 a) as indicative, jújoṣas etc. as subjunctively used augmentless imperfect, and jujoṣatam as imperative. Most of the forms given above as subjunctives with primary ending lack a marked and constant subjunctive character, and would pass fairly well as indicatives. And it appears tolerably certain that from one root at least, vṛdh, such a double stem is to be recognized; from vāvṛdha come readily vāvṛdhate, vāvṛdhánta, and from it alone can come regularly vāvṛdhasva, vāvṛdhéte and vāvṛdhāti (once, RV.) — and, yet more, the participle vavṛdhánt (RV.; AV. vāvṛdhánt: an isolated case): yet even here we have also vāvṛdhīthā́s, not vāvṛdhéthās. To assume double present-stems, however, in all the cases would be highly implausible; it is better to recognize the formation as one begun, but not carried out.
a. Only one other subjunctive with double mode-sign — namely, papṛcāsi — is found to set beside vāvṛdhāti.
816. Forms of different model are not very seldom made from the same root: for example, from √muc, the subjunctives mumócas, ​múmocati, and mumucas; from √dhṛṣ, dadhárṣati and dadhṛṣate; from √prī, the imperatives piprīhí and pipráyasva.
Pluperfect.
817. Of an augment-preterit from the perfect-stem, to which the name of pluperfect is given on the ground of its formation (though not of its meaning), the Veda presents a few examples; and one or two forms of the later language (mentioned above, 788 b) have also been referred to it.
a. There is much of the same difficulty in distinguishing the pluperfect as the perfect modes from kindred reduplicated formations. Between it and the aorist, however, a difference of meaning helps to make a separation.
818. The normal pluperfect should show a strong stem in the singular active, and a weak one elsewhere — thus, mumoc and mumuc — with augment prefixed and secondary endings added (us in 3d pl. act., ata in 3d pl. mid.).
a. Of forms made according to this model, we have, in the active: 1st sing., ajagrabham and acacakṣam (which, by its form, might be aorist: 860); 2d sing. ájagan; 3d sing., ajagan and aciket; 2d du., amumuktam; 2d pl. ájaganta, and ájagantana and ajabhartana (a strong form, as often in this person: 556 a); 3d pl. (perhaps), amamandus and amamadus. To these may be added the augmentless cākán and rārán, cikétam and cakaram. In the middle, the 3d pl. acakriran and ajagmiran (with iran instead of ata), and the augmentless 2d sing. jugūrthās and suṣupthās, are the most regular forms to be found.
819. Several forms from roots ending in consonants save the endings in 2d and 3d sing. act. by inserting an ī (555 b): thus, ábubhojīs, aviveçīs; arirecīt, ájagrabhīt (avāvarīt and avāvaçītām are rather intensives); and the augmentless jíhiṅsīs (accent?) and dadharṣīt belong with them.
820. A few forms show a stem ending in a: they are, in the active: 3d sing., asasvajat, acikitat, acakrat; in the middle: 3d sing., ápiprata; 2d du., ápaspṛdhethām; 3d pl., atitviṣanta (which by its form might be aorist), ádadṛhanta; and cakradat, cakṛpánta, vāvṛdhánta, juhuranta, would perhaps be best classified here as augmentless forms (compare 811, above).
Uses of the Perfect.
821. Perfects are quotable as made from more than half the roots of the language, and they abound in use at every period and in almost all branches of the literature, though not always with the same value.
a. According to the Hindu grammarians, the perfect is used in the ​narration of facts not witnessed by the narrator; but there is no evidence of its being either exclusively or distinctively so employed at any period.
b. In the later language, it is simply a preterit or past tense, equivalent with the imperfect, and freely interchangeable or coördinated with it. It is on the whole less common than the imperfect, although the preferences of different authors are diverse, and it sometimes exceeds the imperfect in frequency (compare (927).
c. The perfects veda and āha are everywhere used with present value. In the Brāhmaṇas, also others, especially dādhāra, also dīdāya, bibhāya, etc.
822. In the Brāhmaṇas, the distinction of tense-value between perfect and imperfect is almost altogether lost, as in the later language. But in most of the texts the imperfect is the ordinary tense of narration, the perfect being only exceptionally used. Thus in PB., the imperfects are to the perfects as more than a hundred to one; in the Brāhmaṇa parts of TS. and TB., as over thirty-four to one; and in those of MS. in about the same proportion; in AB., as more than four to one, the perfect appearing mostly in certain passages, where it takes the place of imperfect. It is only in ÇB. that the perfect is much more commonly used, and even, to a considerable extent, in coördination with the imperfect. Throughout the Brāhmaṇas, however, the perfect participles have in general the true "perfect" value, indicating a completed or proximate past.
823. In the Veda, the case is very different. The perfect is used as past tense in narration, but only rarely; sometimes also it has a true "perfect" sense, or signifies a completed or proximate past (like the aorist of the older language: 928); but oftenest it has a value hardly or not at all distinguishable in point of time from the present. It is thus the equivalent of imperfect, aorist, and present; and it occurs coördinated with them all.
a. Examples are: of perfect with present, ná çrāmyanti ná ví muñcanty éte váyo ná paptuḥ (RV.) they weary not nor stop, they fly like birds; sé ’d u rā́ja kṣayati carṣaṇīnā́m arā́n ná nemíḥ pári tā́ babhūva (RV.) he in truth rules king of men; he embraces them all, as the wheel the spokes; — of perfect with aorist, úpo ruruce yuvatír ná yóṣā...ábhūd agníḥ samídhe mā́nuṣāṇām ákar jyótir bā́dhamānā támāṅsi (RV.) she is come beaming like a young maiden; Agni hath appeared for the kindling of mortals; she hath made light, driving away the darkness; — of perfect with imperfect, áhann áhim ánv apás tatarda (RV.) he slew the dragon, he penetrated to the waters. Such a coordination as this last is of constant occurrence in the later language: e. g. mumude ‘pūjayac cāi ’nām (R.) he was glad, and paid honor to her; vastrānte jagrāha skandhadeçe ‘sṛjat tasya srajam (MBh.) she took hold of the end of his garment, and dropped a garland on his shoulders.