Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/429

 VIII. INDECLINABLES. ADVERBIAL PREPOSITIONS. 419 áva 'down'. 602. In its adverbial use, áva generally means 'down'. e. g. áva gam- 'come down'; but is has also the extended sense of 'away', 'off', e. g. áva srj- 'discharge'. In its adnominal use, which is very rare and doubtful, it is connected with the ablative in the sense of 'down from'. In the following two examples, especially the second, the case seems to be directly dependent on the preposition: vrstim áva dívá invatam (VII. 64²) ‘send rain down from heaven'; yé te pánthāno áva diváḥ (AV. vII. 55') 'which (are) thy paths down from the sky'¹. a 'near'. 603. The adverbial use of á with verbs expressing either physical or mental motion is very common in the sense of 'near', 'hither', 'towards', 'to', 'upon'; e. g. á aj 'drive hither'; á krand- 'cry to'; á dhi- 'think upon', 'attend to'. Less commonly, when used with verbs expressing rest or occurrence, it means 'in' or 'at'; e. g. á kşi- 'dwell in', á jan- 'be born at' a place. When used adnominally, á regularly follows the case, excepting only one sense of the ablative. It is primarily and most commonly connected with the locative, when it has the sense of 'on', 'in', 'at', 'to'; e. g. upástha á 'on he lap'; dadhús ṭvā bhŕgavo mănușeșu á (1. 586) 'the Bhrgus brought thee to men'. a. From the locative its use extended to the ablative, with which it is used fairly often. It is generally used after this case, when it primarily has the compound sense of 'from on' (cp. ádhi); e. g. parvatád á 'from (on) the mountain'. It also means, secondarily, away from'; e. g. yáś cid dhí tvā bahúbhya á sutávām āvívāsati (1. 849) 'who entices thee away from many (others) with his Soma draught'. This secondary meaning is sometimes further extended to express preference; e. g. yás te sákhibhya á váram (1. 44) 'who is a boon to thee (in distinction) from friends', i. e. 'who is better to thee than friends'. a. In about a dozen instances in the RV., á is used before the ablative to express 'up to'; e. g. yatí giríbhya á samudrát (VII. 95²) 'going from the mountains up to the sea'; á nimrúcaḥ (1. 161¹0) 'till sunset' ³. This reversal of meaning is probably due to the reversal of the natural order of the words: samudrád á 'from the sea' thus becoming á samudrát 'to the sea'. b. The use of á is further extended to the accusative, with which it is least frequently connected, generally meaning 'to', 'upon', to express the goal with verbs of motion; e. g. antár iyase.. yuşmámś ca deván víśa á ca mártan (IV. 2³) 'thou goest mediating to you, the gods, and to the people, the mortals'; mātárā sídatām barhír á (1. 1427) 'may the two mothers seat themselves upon the litter'; éhy á nah (AV. I. 54) 'come hither to us'; devánām vaksi priyám á sadhástham (TS. v. 1. 11' =VS. XXIX. 1) bring (it) II¹ to the dear abode of the gods'. In closer connexion with nouns, á is used to express purpose in the phrases jóşam á 'for enjoyment', and váram á 'for pleasure'. úpa 'up to'. 604. In its adverbial use úpa is in sense akin to abhi and á, expressing 'near to'; e. g. úpa gam- 'go near to'. The fundamental meaning of close 1 Cp. DELBRÜCK p. 451. 2 With very few exceptions this is the only use of a to be found in B.; in C. also a is found only before the ablative, but with the old sense of 'from' as well as 'up to'. 3 It is occasionally found after the abla- tive in this sense; see GRASSMANN s. v. ắ. 27*