(Passive) Past Participles

(Passive) Past Participles

The past participle is another verbal adjective which describes the action that a noun did (in the past). It is extremely common in the Tipiṭaka.

bhāsati	he speaks
bhāsita	(is) spoken
bhāveti	he cultivates
bhāvita	(is) cultivated
bhindati	he breaks
bhinna	(is) broken

Please note that the past participle is passive in meaning.

How to form a past participle

In theory the formation of past participles is very easy, just add -ta, -ita or -na to the root.

In practice, they can be quite tricky because many sandhi rules may apply, and their formation is heavily influenced by the Sanskrit roots from which they are derived.

Until you learn more about Sandhi and Sanskrit roots, you will have to just learn the forms of the past participle by heart.

There are, quite literally, thousands of examples...

1. root + ta

bhavati	√bhū	to be	+ ta	bhūta	became
passati	√dis	to see	+ ta	diṭṭha	seen
gacchati	√gam	to go	+ ta	gata	gone
hanati	√han	to kill	+ ta	hata	killed
karoti	√kar	to do	+ ta	kata	done
labhati	√labh	to get	+ ta	laddha	received
marati	√mar	to die	+ ta	mata	dead
mussati	√mus	to forget	+ ta	muṭṭha	forgotten
jānāti	√ñā	to know	+ ta	ñāta	known

When we study sandhi, we will study the rules related to the changes that happen with ta. Please refer to IPC class 18.

2. root + ita

bhāsati	√bhās	to speak	+ ita	bhāsita	spoken
carati	√car	to walk	+ ita	carita	walked
iñjati	√iñj	to move	+ ita	iñjita	moved
makkheti	√makkh	to smear	+ ita	makkhita	smeared
nandati	√nand	to delight	+ ita	nandita	delighted
pabbajati	√vaj	to go on	+ ita	pabbajita	ordained
ṭhahati	√ṭhā	to stand	+ ita	ṭhita	stood
vindati	√vid	to know	+ ita	vidita	known
yācati	√yāc	to beg	+ ita	yācita	begged

3. base + ita

bhāveti	√bhū	bhāve	+ ita	bhāvita	developed
deseti	√dis	dese	+ ita	desita	preached
kāreti	√kar	kāre	+ ita	kārita	had built
sevati	√si	seva	+ ita	sevita	associated
pakāseti	√kās	kāse	+ ita	pakāsita	explained
parisedati	√sid	sede	+ ita	parisedita	incubated
phasseti	√phus	phasse	+ ita	phassita	touched
ṭhapeti	√ṭhā	ṭhape	+ ita	ṭhapita	placed
vedayati	√vid	vedaya	+ ita	vedayita	experienced

4. root + na

chindati	√chid	to cut	+ na	chinna	cut
jirati	√jīr	to age	+ na	jiṇṇa	aged
khīyati	√khī	to destroy	+ na	khīna	destroyed
muyhati	√muh	to be confused	+ na	mūḷha	confused
nisīdati	√sad	to sink	+ na	nisinna	seated
pajahati	√hā	to abandon	+ na	pahīna	abandoned
pūrati	√pūr	to fill	+ na	puṇṇa	completed
upapajjati	√pad	to go	+ na	upapanna	appeared
vikirati	√kir	to scatter	+ na	vikiṇṇa	scattered

Again, sandhi rules regarding the assimilation of na will be studied in detail later. Please refer to IPC class 18.

Declension of Past Participles

Past participles are declined, just like nouns ending in -a in all three genders. In masculine like buddha, in feminine like vedanā, and neuter like cittaṃ.

Masculine ending in -a

1.nom	gato	gatā
2.acc	gataṃ	gate
3.inst	gatena	gatehi
4.dat	gatāya gatassa	gatānaṃ
5.abl	gatā gatamhā gatasmā	gatehi
6.gen	gatassa	gatānaṃ
7.loc	gate gatamhi gatasmiṃ	gatesu
8.voc	gata gatā	gatā

Feminine ending in -ā

1.nom	gatā	gatā gatāyo
2.acc	gataṃ	gatā gatāyo
3.inst	gatāya	gatāhi
4.dat	gatāya	gatānaṃ
5.abl	gatāya	gatāhi
6.gen	gatāya	gatānaṃ
7.loc	gatāya gatāyaṃ	gatāsu
8.voc	gate	gatā gatāyo

Neuter ending in -aṃ

1.nom	gataṃ	gatā gatāni
2.acc	gataṃ	gate gatāni
3.inst	gatena	gatehi
4.dat	gatāya gatassa	gatānaṃ
5.abl	gatā gatamhā gatasmā	gatehi
6.gen	gatassa	gatānaṃ
7.loc	gate gatamhi gatasmiṃ	gatesu
8.voc	gata gatā	gatāni

How to use Past Participles

1. They often get used as the verb in the sentence, having a past passive meaning.

evaṃ me sutaṃ

lit. thus - by me – heard

fig. Thus has been heard by me

Notice that the agent of the sentence “me” is in the instrumental case. This is a normal construction for passive verbs.

Active: He saw the tree (agent in nominative)

Passive: The tree was seen by him. (agent in instrumental)

2. Past participles are very often used as nouns

atthi dinnaṃ atthi yiṭṭhaṃ atthi hutaṃ MN41

lit. there is given, there is sacrificed, there is offered

there is (what is) given, there is (what is) sacrificed, there is (what is) offered

there is (what has been) given, there is (what has been) sacrificed, there is (what has been) offered

3. They are also very often used as adjectives, agreeing with the nouns in gender, case & number.

seyyathāpi suddhaṃ vatthaṃ apagataṃ kāḷakaṃ … DN14.14

lit. just like a cleaned cloth, gone away stains ...

How would you translate that into English?