The command mood

Also known as: the imperative mood, ājñā (“command”), loṭ

The present tense and the command mood use similar endings. So, let's learn about the command mood next.

Basic meaning

The command mood is used for commands. We commonly see the command mood in the second person:

• नय
  naya
  Lead!
  

• नयत
  nayata
  (You all) lead!
  

But in other persons, the command mood has many more subtle meanings. In the third person, it can have the sense of a suggestion, a demand, or a request:

• रामो वनं गच्छतु।
  rāmo vanaṃ gacchatu.
  Rama could go to the forest. (suggestion)
  Send Rama to the forest. (demand or request)

The command mood is rarely used in the first person. When it is used, it usually has the sense of fulfilling another's need:

• किं करवाणि ते?
  kiṃ karavāṇi te?
  What may I do for you?
  

Endings

Here are the endings of the command mood as used with the stem naya:

Let's take a moment to compare these endings to the ones used in the present tense. Notice that the first-person endings still use a long ā. There are other similarities as well: nayati is replaced by nayatu, and nayanti by nayantu.

But there are also some major differences. In particular, notice these five endings:

These five endings will repeat in the next two tense-moods.