Another term for distant past tense is perfect tense, as the nearness of the verb is quite common in both of them. The word perfect Participles has its root in Latin word “perfectus” which means “finished” or “completed”
Let’s see the example of a perfect verb in English:
I do the work.
I have done the work.
However this concept does not exist in Sanskrit, but it appears occasionally.
व्यासप्रसादात् श्रुतवान् एतद्गुह्यमहं परम्
vyāsaprasādāt śrutavān etadguhyamahaṃ param
By the grace of Vyasa I have heard this supreme secret.
समवेता युयुत्सवः
samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
(They all) have assembled and want to fight
नरके ऽनियतं वासो भवतीत्य् अनुशुश्रुम
narake ‘niyataṃ vāso bhavatīty anuśuśruma
There is eternal dwelling in hell; thus we have heard.
Now we are going to learn perfect participles, which are formed from the verbs in the distant past tense.
तं तस्थिवांसं नगरोपकण्ठे
taṃ tasthivāṃsaṃ nagaropakaṇṭhe
Him who has stopped near the city
We can also rewrite the sentence using a gerund or the past parasmaipda/atmanepada
तं स्थित्वा नगरोपकण्ठे
taṃ sthitvā nagaropakaṇṭhe
Him who has stopped near the city
Usage
One thing to note is that Perfect participles are used rarely. The participles for verbs like kṛ, as, and bhū can be used with abstract nouns, just like regular perfect verbs.
दर्शयामास
darśayāmāsa
He displayed.
दर्शयाम् आसिवान्
darśayām āsivān
He has been displaying
Forming the participle stem
In order to form the stem, Parasmaipada uses vas and atmanepada use āna. vas sometimes uses i vowel
कृ → चकृ → चकृवस्
kṛ → cakṛ → cakṛvas
Do → having done
गम् → जग्म् → जग्मिवस्
gam → jagm → jagmivas
Go → having done
वच् → ऊच् → ऊचान
vac → ūc → ūcāna
Speak → having spoken
नी → निनी → निन्यान
nī → ninī → ninyāna
Lead → having led
श्रु → शुश्रु → शुश्रुवाण
śru → śuśru → śuśruvāṇa
Hear → having heard
(Note that internal sandhi produces the form above instead of *susruvana)
Feminine stems:
Here are some feminine suffixes:
| suffix | Feminine version |
| vas | usi |
| ivas | usi |
The stem follows the pattern of the sound nadi
Inflection
The atmanepada participle uses –a sound generally and –ā for feminine. Parasmaipada however, is a little complex than the former one as it is a consonant and uses multiple stems. The stems difference depends on whether the i vowel is used or not.
| Endings | Strong stem | Middle stem
|
Weak stem | Special stem |
| –vas | vāṃs | uṣ | vat | vān |
| -ivas | ivāṃs | uṣ | ivat | ivān |
Now let us see the vas endings in different forms
–vas (masculine)
| तस्थिवस् | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case 1 (subject) | तस्थिवान् tasthivān | तस्थिवांसौ tasthivāṃsau | तस्थिवांसः tasthivāṃsaḥ |
| Case 2 (object) | तस्थिवांसम् tasthivāṃsam | तस्थिवांसौ tasthivāṃsau | तस्थुषः tasthuṣaḥ |
| Case 3 ("with") | तस्थुषा tasthuṣā | तस्थिवद्भ्याम् tasthivadbhyām | तस्थिवद्भिः tasthivadbhiḥ |
| Case 4 ("for") | तस्थुषे tasthuṣe | तस्थिवद्भ्याम् tasthivadbhyām | तस्थिवद्भ्यः tasthivadbhyaḥ |
| Case 5 ("from") | तस्थुषः tasthuṣaḥ | तस्थिवद्भ्याम् tasthivadbhyām | तस्थिवद्भ्यः tasthivadbhyaḥ |
| Case 6 ("of") | तस्थुषः tasthuṣaḥ | तस्थुषोः tasthuṣoḥ | तस्थुषाम् tasthuṣām |
| Case 7 ("in") | तस्थुषि tasthuṣi | तस्थुषोः tasthuṣoḥ | तस्थिवत्सु tasthivatsu |
| Case 8 (address) | तस्थिवन् tasthivan | तस्थिवांसौ tasthivāṃsau | तस्थिवांसः tasthivāṃsaḥ |
Now let us take a look at the neuter form
-vas (neuter)
| तस्थिवस् | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case 1 (subject) | तस्थिवः tasthivaḥ | तस्थुषी tasthuṣī | तस्थिवांसि tasthivāṃsi |
| Case 2 (object) | तस्थिवः tasthivaḥ | तस्थुषी tasthuṣī | तस्थिवांसि tasthivāṃsi |
| Case 8 (address) | तस्थिवः tasthivaḥ | तस्थुषी tasthuṣī | तस्थिवांसि tasthivāṃsi |
Irregularities
In Parasmaipada, there are some irregularities, when the root is ending r, then it only functions after the suffix is added.
तॄ → तीर्वस् → तितीर्वस्
tṝ → tīrvas → titīrvas
Cross → having crossed
तॄ → ततॄ → ततिराण
tṝ → tatṝ → tatirāṇa
Cross → having crossed
