Reading: Bhagavad Gītā 1.1-1.2

At the beginning of Starting Out, I mentioned that we would eventually be able to understand the highlighted words in the first two verses of the Bhagavad Gita:

• धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः ।
  मामकाः पाण्ड्वाश्चैव किमकुर्वत संजय ॥

  dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ ।
  māmakāḥ pāṇḍvāścaiva kimakurvata saṃjaya ॥

• दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस् तदा ।
  आचार्यम् उपसंगम्य राजा वचनम् अब्रवीत् ॥

  dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṃ vyūḍhaṃ duryodhanas tadā ।
  ācāryam upasaṃgamya rājā vacanam abravīt ॥

First, study the new vocabulary below:

धृ

dhṛ

धरति

dharati

bear, carry, preserve [firm, throne]

धर्म

dharma

m

fundamental nature; law, conduct, virtue, character

This word is formed with the primary suffix ma, which does not usually have a strong meaning. Most often, it denotes an abstract quality. It is derived from a suffix we will study later on.

धर्म्य

dharmya

mfn

just, virtuous, righteous

Now, give the fullest explanation of those words that you can. Leave no detail out. If you want to get an idea of how much detail is expected, try reading the explanation for dharmakṣetre below.

An illustrated manuscript of the Mahabharata showing the battle at Kurukshetra. The manuscript is from about the 18th century, but it looks much older. Due to the hot and humid climate of India, printed material decays quickly. Volumes and volumes of Sanskrit texts have been devoured by white ants, lost to us forever. For more information about Sanskrit manuscripts and their preservation, visit the manuscripts library web page at the Kerala University web site. (Image source: wikipedia.org)

Answers

These answers all start with a chunk from the verse and reduce it to basic parts. Read the rules in each box in order. Non-reducible forms are highlighted.

Note that nouns are abbreviated with three symbols: the gender (m, f, n), the case (1 through 8), and the number (singular, dual, plural). Note also that if an analysis involves a word ending that we haven't studied, then the word is featured with a single question mark (?).

धर्मक्षेत्रे

• धर्मक्षेत्रे → धर्मस्य क्षेत्रम्

  dharmakṣetre → dharmasya kṣetram

  in the field of dharma (n7s) → the field (n1s) of dharma (m6s)

  This is a case 6 tatpurusha compound.

• धर्मः → धृ (धरति) + म

  dharmaḥ → dhṛ (dharati) + ma

  dharma → bear, carry, support (a+ class) + ma, which usually makes nouns abstract.

• क्षेत्रम् → क्षि (???) + त्र

  kṣetram → kṣi (???) + tra

  field, land → stay, dwell, reside (unknown class) + tra, which specifies the means of doing something.

कुरुक्षेत्रे

• कुरुक्षेत्रे → कुरु? + क्षेत्रम्

  kurukṣetre → kuru? + kṣetram

  in the field of the Kurus → the field (n1s) of the Kurus (m6p)

• कुरु? → कुरु

  kuru? → kuru

  Kuru (m6p) → Kuru (stem)

• क्षेत्रम् → क्षि (???) + त्र

  kṣetram → kṣi (???) + tra

  field, land → stay, dwell, reside (unknown class) + tra, which specifies the means of doing something.

मामकाः

• मामकाः → मामक

  māmakāḥ → māmaka

  mine (m1p) → mine (stem)

• मामक → मम + क

  māmaka → mama + ka

  mine → my (6s) + ka, which expresses either smallness or descent.

• मम → मद्

  mama → mad

  my (6s) → the first-person pronoun base

पाण्डवाश्चैव

• पाण्डवाश्चैव → पाण्डवाः च एव

  pāṇḍavāścaiva → pāṇḍavāḥ ca eva

  And (uninflected) indeed (uninflected), the Pandavas (m1p)

• पाण्दवाः → पाण्डव

  pāṇdavāḥ → pāṇḍava

  Pandavas (m1p) → Pandava (stem)

• पाण्डव → पाण्डु + अ

  pāṇḍava → pāṇḍu + a

  Pandava → Pandu + a, which sometimes specifies descent from something.

संजय

• संजय → संजय

  saṃjaya → saṃjaya

  Sanjaya (m8s) → Sanjaya (stem)

• संजय → संजि + अ

  saṃjaya → saṃji + a

  Sanjaya, or "complete victory" → be completely victorious + a, which has various meanings.

• संजि → सम् + जि (जयति)

  saṃji → sam + ji (jayati)

  be completely victorious → together, completely (prefix) + be victorious (a+ class)

दृष्ट्वा

• दृष्ट्वा → दृश् + त्वा

  dṛṣṭvā → dṛś + tvā

  having seen → see + tvā, the gerund suffix used by verbs without prefixes.

तु

• तु

  tu

  but (uninflected word)

पाण्डवानीकं

• पाण्डवानीकं → पाण्डवानाम् अनीकम्

  pāṇḍavānīkaṃ → pāṇḍavānām anīkam

  army of the Pandavas (m2s) → army (m2s) of the Pandavas (m6p)

• पाण्डवानाम् → पाण्डव

  pāṇḍavānām → pāṇḍava

  Pandavas (m6p) → Pandava (stem)

• पाण्डव → पाण्डु + अ

  pāṇḍava → pāṇḍu + a

  Pandava → Pandu + a, which sometimes specifies descent from something.

• अनीकम् → अनीक

  anīkam → anīka

  army (m2s) → army (stem)

• अनीक → अन् (???) + ईक

  anīka → an (???) + īka

  army → breathe, gasp (unknown class) + īka, which does not have any particular meaning.

दुर्योधनस् तदा

• दुर्योधनस् तदा → दुर्योधनः तदा

  duryodhanas tadā → duryodhanaḥ tadā

  Then (uninflected word) Duryodhana (m1s)

  (tadā is actually reducible to an even smaller word. We will study how this happens in the next unit of the guide.)

• दुर्योधनः → दुर्योधन

  duryodhanaḥ → duryodhana

  Duryodhana (m1s) → Duryodhana (stem)

• दुर्योधन → दुस् + योधन

  duryodhana → dus + yodhana

  Duryodhana, or "difficult in battle" → difficult, hard + war, battle (n)

• योधन → युध् (युध्यति) + अन

  yodhana → yudh (yudhyati) + ana

  war, battle → fight, wage war (ya class) + ana, which defines the act of doing something.

आचार्यम्

• आचार्यम् → आचार्य

  ācāryam → ācārya

  teacher, master (m2s) → teacher, master (stem)

• आचार्य → आचार + य

  ācārya → ācāra + ya

  master, knower of the rules of conduct → rules of conduct + ya, which does not have any specific meaning when masculine.

• आचार → आचर् + अ

  ācāra → ācar + a

  rules of conduct → practice, perform

• आचर् → आ + चर् (चरति)

  ācar → ā + car (carati)

  practice, perform → to (prefix) + walk, dwell, act, practice, be engaged in

उपसंगम्य

• उपसंगम्य → उपसंगम् + य

  upasaṃgamya → upasaṃgam + ya

  having approached (gerund) → approach + ya, the gerund suffix used by verbs with prefixes.

• उपसंगम् → उप + सम् + गम् (गच्छति)

  upasaṃgam → upa + sam + gam (gacchati)

  approach → up to (prefix) + together + go (a+ class)

वचनम्

• वचनम् → वचन

  vacanam → vacana

  word, speech (n2s) → word, speech (stem)

• वचन → वच् (???) + अन

  vacana → vac (???) + ana

  word, speech → speak (unknown class) + ana, which defines the act of doing something. In this situation, "act of speaking" has somehow come to mean "a speech."

With that, the last lesson of Starting Out comes to a close. Continue to the next page to review the material we've studied so far.