ko'rthas

ka

ká

andﾠ cf. the following words in which the interrogative base ka appears,
katama, katara, kati, katham, kadā, karhi, kā, etc.),
who? which? what?
In its declension ka follows the pronoun tad except in nom. acc. sing. neut.,
where kim has taken the place of kad orﾠ kat in classical Sanskṛit;
but the old form kad is found in the Veda ( seeﾠ Gram. 227);
+ cf. Zd. ka, kô, kâ̱, kat;
Gk. πόθεν, πῶς, (Ion. κόθεν, κῶς,) τίς, τί;
Lat. quis, quid;
Lith. kas ká;
Goth. hvas, hvô, hva,
Angl. Sax. hwā, hwaet;
Eng. who, what
The interrogative sentence introduced by ka is often terminated by iti
(e.g.. kasyasaputraitikathyatām, let it be said, « whose son is he?»),
but iti may be omitted andﾠ the sentence lose its direct interrogative character
(e.g.. kasyasaputronajñāyate, it is not known whose son he is)
ka with orﾠ without 1. as may express « how is it possible that?», « what power have I, you, they, etc.?»
(e.g.. kemamadhanvino'nye, what can the other archers do against me?
keāvāmparitrātum, what power have we to rescue you?)
ka is often connected with a demonstrative pron.
(e.g.. ko'yamāyāti, who comes here?)
orﾠ with the potential (e.g.. kohariṉnindet, who will blame Hari?)
ka is sometimes repeated
(e.g.. kaḥko'tra, who is there?
kānkān, whom? whom? i.e. which of them? cf. Gram. 54),
andﾠ the repetition is often due to a kind of attraction
(e.g.. keshāṉkiṉṡāstramadhyayanīyam, which book is to be read by whom?
Gram. 836. a)
When kim is connected with the inst. c. of a noun orﾠ with the indecl. participle it may express « what is gained by doing so, etc.?»
(= ko'rthas);
(e.g.. kiṉvilambena, what is gained by delay?
kimbahunā, what is the use of more words?
dhanenakiṉyonadadāti, what is the use of wealth to him who does not give?
with inst. andﾠ gen.,
nīrujaḥkimaushadhaiḥ, what is the use of medicine to the healthy?)
ka is often followed by the particles iva, u, nāma, nu, vā, svid,
some of which serve merely to generalize the interrogation
(e.g.. kimivaetad, what can this be?
kauṡravat, who can possibly hear?
konāmajānāti, who indeed knows?
konvayam, who, pray, is this?
kiṉnukāryam, what is to be done?
kovādevādanyaḥ, who possibly other than a god?
kasyasvidhṛidayaṉnâ̱sti, of what person is there no heart?)
ka is occasionally used alone as an indefinite pronoun, especially in negative sentences
(e.g.. nakasyakovallabhaḥ, no one is a favourite of any one;
nâ̱nyojānātikaḥ, no one else knows;
kathaṉsaghātayatikam, how does he kill any one?)
Generally, however, ka is only made indefinite when connected with the particles ca, caná, cid, vā, andﾠ ápi, in which case ka may sometimes be preceded by the relative ya
(e.g.. yekeca, any persons whatsoever;
yasyaikasyaicadevatāyai, to any deity whatsoever;
yānikānicamitrāṇi, any friends whatsoever;
yatkiṉca, whatever)
The particle cana, being composed of ca andﾠ na, properly gives a negative force to the pronoun
(e.g.. yasmādindrādṛitekiṉcana, without which Indra there is nothing),
but the negative sense is generally dropped
(e.g.. kaṡcana, any one;
nakaṡcana, no one), andﾠ a relative is sometimes connected with it (e.g.. yatkiṉcana, anything whatsoever). Examples of cid with the interrogative are common;
vā andﾠ api are not so common, but the latter is often found in classical Sanskṛit (e.g.. kaṡcid, any one;
kecid, some;
nakaṡcid, no one;
nakiṉcidapi, nothing whatsoever;
yaḥkaṡcid, any one whatsoever;
kecit - kecit, some - others;
yasminkasminvādeṡe, in any country whatsoever;
nako'pi, no one;
nakimapi, nothing whatever). ka may sometimes be used, like 2. kad, at the beginning of a compound. seeﾠ ka-pūya, etc.
3) m. (according to native authorities) N. of Prajāpati orﾠ of a Prajāpati
VS. XX, 4; XXII, 20 TS. I ṠBr. etc.. ;
of Brahman MBh. I, 32 BhP. III, 12, 51; XII, 13, 19; 20 ;
of Daksha BhP. IX, 10, 10 ;
of Vishṇu L. ;
of Yama L. ;
of Garuḍa;
the soul Tattvas. ;
a particular comet VarBṛS. ;
the sun L. ;
fire L. ;
splendour, light L. ;
air L. ;
a peacock L. ;
the body L. ;
time L. ;
wealth L. ;
sound L. ;
a king L. ;
= kāma-granthi (?);
(am) n. happiness, joy, pleasure ChUp. IV, 10, 5 Nir. etc.. ;
water MaitrS. I, 10, 10 ṠBr. X Yājñ. etc.. ;
the head;
hair, a head of hair L. ;
( alsoﾠ regarded as ind.;
cf. 1. kam.)
4) a Taddhita affix (much used in forming adjectives;
it may alsoﾠ be added to nouns to express diminution, deterioration, orﾠ similarity e.g.. putraka, a little son;
aṡvaka, a bad horse orﾠ like a horse)