Lesson 46 ----- The Active Past Participle. Part 2. Read Only Series. | Lesson Index

Lesson 46. The Active Past Participle. Part 2. Read Only Series.

We have worked with the प्रथमा विभक्ति of the Active Past Participle. Let's see how else it is used in the other vibhaktis.
Naturally the Past talks about an action that has already been done and is complete: I saw the boy who went.
How would i translate this? Since the boy is the object here, i use the द्वितीया विभक्ति. Naturally i must use the object form of the word गतवत् which is गतवन्तं , so that i may ensure that the adjective matches the noun.

अहं गतवन्तं बालकम् अपश्यम्।
अहं गतवन्तं बालकं दृष्टवान् ।
अहं गतवन्तं बालकं दृष्टवती ।

How does one translate sentences like: I saw the boy who had been going? I saw the boy who was going? I saw the boy who had gone?

First of all let's recall the English terms of Grammar.
1. Gone= simple past tense.
2. Has gone / Had gone = perfect past tense.
3. Was going = past continuous tense.
4. had been going = past perfect continuous tense.

Now, to get back to the topic on hand, Classical Sanskrit does not have separate verbs for the above four kinds of verbs. Continuous and perfect actions are represented by the simple tense itself.
For example, all the above past actions are translated in exactly the same way:

अहम् गतवन्तं बालकम् अपश्यम्।
अहं गतवन्तं बालकं दृष्टवान् ।
अहं गतवन्तं बालकं दृष्टवती । ................

If you remember our very first few lessons: अहं गच्छामि is translated both as " I am going" and " I go."
सः उपविष्टवता बालकेन सह पठितवान् । He studied with the boy who was sitting / He studied with the boy who had been sitting / He studied with the boy who sat./ He studied with the boy who had sat.

उक्तवत्याः लेखिकायाः नाम श्यामला । Shyamala is the name of the writer who was talking/ talked /who had been talking/ had talked.
Now let's have a look at something else:
I am talking to the girl who has spoken.
The 'has spoken" gives you the impression that the action has already been completed EVEN though the word " has" is in the sentence. Therefore it is translated as: अहम् उक्तवतीं बालिकां वदामि ।
सः क्रीडन्तं बालकं ताडितवान् । He hit the boy who played.
सा हसितवत्याः बालिकायाः मुखं दृष्टवती । She saw the face of the girl who laughed.

You can well imagine the forms the participle will take in the various vibhaktis, numbers and genders.
However, Sanskrit does accommodate the past continuous tense with the use of the Active Present Continuous Participles along with the Past tense forms of the अस् धातु । More about this later.

There is no need for exercises with this lesson. When we are through with our study of participles, we can go over all of it at one go and translate an entire story to see how they are all used. Please do go over the last three lessons again though. Then do write to me if you find that the topic needs re-teaching.

In the next Lesson 47, we study the Passive Past Participles
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Prev Lesson 45 B --- Answers to Lesson 45 A. ( Answers to Lesson 45 A.) Next Lesson 47 ----- The study of Passive Past Participles. (The study of Passive Past Participles.)