Absolutive / Gerund / Indeclinable Past Participle (pubbakiriyā)

Absolutive / Gerund / Indeclinable Past Participle (pubbakiriyā)¶

You’ll be happy to hear that one of the most common forms of verbal adjectives in Pāli has no declensions.

atha kho aññataro brāhmaṇo yena bhagavā tena upasaṅkami. upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṃ sammodi (AN2.16)

Then a certain Brahman approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he exchanged polite conversation with the Blessed One.

The gerund denotes a completed or continuing action and can be translated according to the context as:

having approached, ...

he approached then …

he approached and …

while approaching, ...

after approaching, ...

From now on you will be dealing with complex sentences which have a subordinate clause and a main clause.

ahaṃ odanaṃ bhuñjitvā, pattaṃ dhovitvā, dante sodhetvā, sālaṃ āgacchiṃ

Lit.: Having eaten food, having rinsed bowl, having cleaned teeth, I come to the hall.

Can be translated as: I ate food, rinsed my bowl, cleaned my teeth and came to the hall.

what is the main clause?

what are the subordinate clauses?

ahaṃ odanaṃ bhuñjitvā, pattaṃ dhovitvā, dante sodhetvā, sālaṃ āgacchissāmi.

Lit.: Having eaten food, having rinsed bowl, having cleaned teeth, I will come to the hall.

Can be translated as: I will eat food, rinse my bowl, clean my teeth and come to the hall.

Absolutive ending in tvā are very common and extensively used.

7800 times in Vinaya¹⁹

1800 times in Dīgha Nikāya

3300 times in Majjhima Nikāya

2700 times in Saṃyutta Nikāya

3100 times in Aṅguttara Nikāya

9200 times in Khuddaka Nikāya

In the Mūla part

How to form pubbakiriyā¶

1. tvā added to the root¶


√gam	to go	√gam + tvā	gantvā	having gone
√dā	to give	√dā + tvā	datvā	having given
√hū	to be	√hū + tvā	hutvā	having been
√kar	to do	√kar + tvā	katvā	having done
√ñā	to know	√ñā + tvā	ñatvā	having known
√su	to hear	√su + tvā	sutvā	having heard
√vad	to speak	√vad + tvā	vatvā	having spoken

2. itvā added to the root¶


√tar	to cross	√tar + itvā	taritvā	having crossed
√vad	to speak	√vad + itvā	vaditvā	having said
√ruh	to ascend	√ruh + itvā	ruhitvā	having climbed
√bhuj	to bend	ā + √bhuj + itvā	ābhujitvā	having folded
√car	to walk	√car + itvā	caritvā	having walked
√hā	to abandon	√hā + itvā	hitvā	having abandoned
√labh	to get	√labh + itvā	labhitvā	having obtained

3. tvā added to the verbal base¶

Mostly group 8 verbs and causative verbs.


√cint	cinte	cinte + tvā	cintetvā	having thought
√mar	māre	māre + tvā	māretvā	having killed
√vas	vāse	ni + vāse + tvā	nivāsetvā	having dressed
√mant	mante	ā + mante + tvā	āmantetvā	having addressed
√nud	node	vi + node + tvā	vinodetvā	having driven out
√vad	vāde	abhi + vāde + tvā	abhivādetvā	having paid respect

4. itvā added to the verbal base¶


√bhuj	bhuñja	bhuñja + itvā	bhuñjitvā	having eaten
√chid	chinda	chind + itvā	chinditvā	having cut off
√gah	gaṇhā	gaṇhā + itvā	gaṇhitvā (=gahetvā)	having grabbed
√lu	lāya	lāya + itvā	lāyitvā	having reaped
√sad	sīda	ni + sīda + itvā	nisīditva	having sat down
√dis	passa	passa + itvā	passitvā	having seen

5. -ya added to the root¶

There is very often sandhi that takes place, please refer to the “assimilation of y” from the Class 4.


√gam	to go	√gam + ya	gamma	having gone
√vic	to separate	vi + √vic + ya	vivicca	having separated
√ñā	to know	ā + √ñā + ya	aññāya	having understood
√ruh	to ascend	abhi + √ruh + ya	abhiruyha	having climbed
√ādā	to take	√ādā + ya	ādāya	having taken
√kam	to go	ati + √kam + ya	atikamma	having surpassed
√sad	to sit	ni + √sad + ya	nisajja	having sat down
√hā	to abandon	pa + √hā + ya	pahāya	having abandoned

6. -tya added to the root¶

This is another form of -ya, occurring in only a few words, but which are commonly used.

The result from sandhi is the ending tya > cca


√i	to come	abhi + sam + √i + tya	abhisamecca	having completely understood
√i	to come	paṭi + √i + tya	paṭicca	having leaned back
√i	to come	saṃ + √i + tya	samecca	having met
√vid	to know	anu + vid + tya	anuvicca	having investigated

7. -tvāna -tūna -(i)yāna¶

These forms mostly occur in poetry, often for metrical reasons, but occasionally you can find them in suttas.

	-tvāna	-tūna	-(i)yāna
VIN²⁰	43
DN	35	0	1
MN	15	0	0
SN	48	0	1
AN	51	0	1
KN	>1000	4	17

In the Mūla part

Examples: disvāna ; vatvāna ; sutvāna ; ovariyāna ; akātūna

Practical Distinction between Absolutives and Gerunds¶

DPD is based on the study of hundreds of verbal forms found throughout the Tipiṭaka over the last decade. From this material, a fairly clear practical conclusion has emerged: there appears to be a functional distinction between two types of forms.

Completed actions — absolutives, typically ending in -tvā, -itvā, -tvāna, etc.

(clear example free from interpretations which can not be doubt)

Ongoing or contemporaneous actions — gerunds, typically ending in -ya, -iya, -eyya, etc.

In some contexts gerunds can be translated the same as absolutives - as completed actions.

(clear example free from interpretations which can not be doubt)

The commentaries, of course, regularly gloss verbs ending in -ya with equivalent -tvā forms, without making any explicit distinction between them.

Here, however, we invite you to put this distinction to the test. Please observe the usage carefully and let us know if you encounter examples that do not fit this pattern.

There are certainly exceptions. DPD already includes dictionary entries that indicate the contextual meaning in such cases.