Book Title: Makaranda Madhukar Anand Mahendale Festshrift
Author(s): M A Dhaky, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre
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Meaning of the Accusative in Desiderative
V. P. Bhatta
Introduction
Sanskrit, perhaps, is the only language which has a large number of finite non-periphrastic desideratives (sannantas). For instance consider, 'He wishes or desires to do' (cikīrṣati), and 'He wishes or desires to eat' (bubhukṣate). These desideratives are found to be used with the accusatives such as 'cooking' (pākam) in 'He desires to do cooking', (pākam cikīrsṣati) and 'rice' (odanam) in 'He desires to eat rice' (odanam bubhukṣate) etc. When the desideratives are used, the agent (speaker) generally wishes to accomplish an object, and therefore, wishes to accomplish the actions as well. Consider for instance 'pākam cikīrṣati' and 'odanam bubhukṣate' once again. Here the person wishes to accomplish the cooking and the rice; and therefore, wishes to accomplish the action of doing and the action of eating respectively. Recognising this fact, Panini has assigned the desiderative affix (san) optionally in the sense of the wishing (desiring) after a simple root expressing the (accomplishment of the) action, i. e. the object wished for, and having the same agent as the wisher there of (p. iii. 1. 7). Thus the desiderative 'cikīrṣati' in 'pākam cikīrṣati' can denote the desire to accomplish the action of doing which has the same agent as that of the desire and functions as the object of desire.
A point to be noted here is that Sanskrit allows desiderative constructions such as 'cikīrṣati' only optionally; and hence periphrastic phrases such as 'kartum icchati' can be freely used to express the same sense of desire as the finite desiderative form 'cikīrṣati' in 'pākam cikīrṣati' etc.
Also, it should be noted that Sanskrit restricts the desiderative affixes to the roots which are intended to express the objects of accomplishment; for instance the desiderative affix (san) is used after 'gam' in 'gantum icchati'
