The Upaniṣads / Kaṭha / 1.4 To Death
1.4
स होवाच पितरं तत कस्मै मां दास्यसीति ।
द्वितीयं तृतीयम् ।
तं होवाच मृत्यवे त्वा ददामीति sa hovāca pitaraṃ tata kasmai māṃ dāsyasīti |
dvitīyaṃ tṛtīyam |
taṃ hovāca mṛtyave tvā dadāmīti
The line
He said to his father: Father, to whom will you give me? A second time, a third. He said: to Death I give you.
नेपालीमा
तिनले बाबुलाई भने, बाबा, मलाई कसलाई दिनुहुन्छ, दोस्रो पटक, तेस्रो। तिनले भने, मृत्युलाई म तिमीलाई दिन्छु।
Where it sits
The anger is in the answer, not in an extra adjective. The boy takes the word as a real gift. 1.5 is his own reckoning of what that means.
Split: saḥ (सः) + ha (ह) + uvāca (उवाच) + pitaram (पितरम्) + tata (तत) + kasmai (कस्मै) + mām (माम्) + dāsyasi (दास्यसि) + iti (इति) + dvitīyam (द्वितीयम्) + tṛtīyam (तृतीयम्) + tam (तम्) + uvāca (उवाच) + mṛtyave (मृत्यवे) + tvā (त्वा) + dadāmi (ददामि) + iti (इति)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| saḥ (सः) | nominative singular, masculine | He. The boy. Heard sa (स). |
| ha (ह) | indeclinable | The tale's particle. Joins uvāca (उवाच): hovāca (होवाच). |
| uvāca (उवाच) | perfect, third person singular | He said. From vac (वच्). |
| pitaram (पितरम्) | accusative singular, masculine | To the father. |
| tata (तत) | vocative singular, masculine | Father. A familiar vocative of tata (तत). |
| kasmai (कस्मै) | dative singular, masculine | To whom. |
| mām (माम्) | accusative singular | Me. Heard māṃ (मां). |
| dāsyasi (दास्यसि) | future, second person singular | You will give. From dā (दा). Heard dāsyasīti (दास्यसीति). |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | Closes the quotation. |
| dvitīyam (द्वितीयम्) | accusative singular, neuter | A second time. Heard dvitīyaṃ (द्वितीयं). |
| tṛtīyam (तृतीयम्) | accusative singular, neuter | A third time. |
| tam (तम्) | accusative singular, masculine | Him. Heard taṃ (तं). |
| uvāca (उवाच) | perfect, third person singular | He said. The father, this time. |
| mṛtyave (मृत्यवे) | dative singular, masculine | To Death. |
| tvā (त्वा) | accusative singular | You. |
| dadāmi (ददामि) | present, first person singular | I give. Heard dadāmīti (ददामीति). |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | Closes the father's quotation. |
The phrases
The boy asks three times. The father's answer is a dative, mṛtyave (मृत्यवे), and a gift of the boy.
Sanskrit in this line
Sa ha uvāca (स ह उवाच) is sa hovāca (स होवाच). Mām dāsyasi iti (माम् दास्यसि इति) is māṃ dāsyasīti (मां दास्यसीति). i (इ) plus i (इ) is ī (ई).
Say it back
Say the question, how many times, and the father's dative.