First, Second, etc.

Now that you're familiar with Sanskrit numbers, we can study words like "first" and "second." These words are derived from the numbers we just saw, and they are used as adjectives.

First to Tenth

प्रथम

mf(ā)n

first

द्वितीय

mf(ā)n

second

तृतीय

mf(ā)n

third

चतुर्थ

mf(ī)n

fourth

पञ्चम

mf(ī)n

fifth

षष्ठ

mf(ī)n

sixth

सप्तथ

mf(ī)n

seventh

अष्टम

mf(ī)n

eighth

सवम

mf(ī)n

ninth

दशम

mf(ī)n

tenth

As mentioned above, these numbers are used as adjectives. These words are often used to number the chapters of a work:

• अथ प्रथमो ऽध्यायः । अर्जुनविषादयोगः

  atha prathamo 'dhyāyaḥ । arjuna-viṣāda-yogaḥ

  Now starts the first chapter : the yoga of Arjuna's despair

In English, the words from "fourth" onward mostly use "-th", but the words from "first" to "third" do not. In the same way, the words from "fourth" onward use ī for the feminine, but the words from "first" to "third" do not. This correspondence is a coincidence, but it's a useful way to remember which consonants use ī in the feminine.

11^th to 19^th

The number remains the same. It is inflected like a noun ending in -a. The feminine uses ī.

• अथ षोडशो ऽध्यायः । दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोगः

  atha ṣoḍaśo 'dhyāyaḥ । daiva-asura-sampad-vibhāga-yogaḥ

  Now starts the sixteenth chapter : the yoga of the division between divine and demonic fates

20^th to 99^th

The number either has tama added to the end of it or is "contracted" to a shorter form.

• द्वाविंशतितम

  dvāviṃśatitama

  twenty-second

• एकविंश, चतुस्त्रिंश, नवचत्वारिंश, अष्टापञ्चाश, द्वाषष्ट, सप्तसप्तत, पञ्चाशीत, षड्णवत

  ekaviṃśa, catustriṃśa, navacatvāriṃśa, aṣṭāpañcāśa, dvāṣaṣṭa, saptasaptata, pañcāśīta, ṣaḍṇavata

  twenty-first, thirty-fourth, forty-ninth, fifty-eighth, sixty-second, seventy-seventh, eighty-fifth, ninety-sixth

100^th onward

The number either has tama added to the end of it or remains the same.