ka 1
ka the first consonant of the alphabet, and the first guttural letter (corresponding in sound to k in keep or king)
ka 2
ká kas, kā, kim, interrog. pron. ( kim and 2. kad, and the. following words in which the interrogative base ka appears, katama, katara, kati, katham, kadā, karhi, kā, &c.), 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 or kat in classical Sanskṛit
• but the old form kad is found in the Veda ( Gram. 227) ; [Zd. ka, kô, kâ, kat
• Gk. ?, ?, (Ion. ?, ?,) ?, ? ; Lat. quis, [240, 2] 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. kasya sa putra iti kathyatām, let it be said, 'whose son is he?'), but iti may be omitted and the sentence lose its direct interrogative character (e.g. kasya sa putro na jñāyate, it is not known whose son he is). ka with or without √1. as may express 'how is it possible that?' 'what power have I, you, they, &c.?' (e.g. ke mama dhanvino'nye, what can the other archers do against me? ke āvām paritrātum, what power have we to rescue you?) ka is often connected with a demonstrative pron. (e.g. ko'yam āyāti, who comes here?) or with the potential (e.g. ko hariṃ nindet, who will blame Hari?) ka is sometimes repeated (e.g. kaḥ ko'tra, who is there? kān kān, whom? whom? i.e. which of them? Gram. 54), and the repetition is often due to a kind of attraction (e.g. keṣāṃ kiṃ śāstram adhyayanīyam, which book is to be read by whom? Gram. 836. a). When kim is connected with the inst. c. of a noun or with the indecl. participle it may express 'what is gained by doing so, &c.?' (= ko'rthas) [Page 240, Column 3]
• (e.g. kiṃ vilambena, what is gained by delay? kim bahunā, what is the use of more words? dhanena kiṃ yo na dadāti, what is the use of wealth to him who does not give? with inst. and gen., nīrujaḥ kim auṣadhaiḥ, 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. kim iva etad, what can this be? ka u śravat, who can possibly hear? ko nāma jānāti, who indeed knows? ko nv ayam, who, pray, is this? kiṃ nu kāryam, what is to be done? ko vā devād anyaḥ, who possibly other than a god? kasya svid hṛdayaṃ nâsti, of what person is there no heart?) ka is occasionally used alone as an indefinite pronoun, especially in negative sentences (e.g. na kasya ko vallabhaḥ, no one is a favourite of any one
• nânyo jānāti kaḥ, no one else knows
• kathaṃ sa ghātayati kam, how does he kill any one?) Generally, however, ka is only made indefinite when connected with the particles ca, caná, cid, vā, and ápi, in which case ka may sometimes be preceded by the relative ya (e.g. ye ke ca, any persons whatsoever
• yasyai kasyai ca devatāyai, to any deity whatsoever
• yāni kāni ca mitrāṇi, any friends whatsoever
• yat kiṃca, whatever). The particle cana, being composed of ca and na, properly gives a negative force to the pronoun (e.g. yasmād indrād ṛte kiṃcana, without which Indra there is nothing), but the negative sense is generally dropped (e.g. kaścana, any one
• na kaścana, no one), and a relative is sometimes connected with it (e.g. yat kiṃcana, anything whatsoever). Examples of cid with the interrogative are common
• vā and api are not so common, but the latter is often found in classical Sanskṛit (e.g. kaścid, any one
• kecid, some
• na kaścid, no one
• na kiṃcid api, nothing whatsoever
• yaḥ kaścid, any one whatsoever
• kecit - kecit, some - others
• yasmin kasmin vā deśe, in any country whatsoever
• na ko'pi, no one
• na kimapi, nothing whatever). ka may sometimes be used, like 2. kad, at the beginning of a compound. ka-pūya, &c
ka 3
ká m. (according to native authorities) N. of Prajāpati or of a Prajāpati VS. xx, 4 ; xxii, 20 TS. i ŚBr. &c
• 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. &c
• water MaitrS. i, 10, 10 ŚBr. x Yājñ. &c
• the head
• hair, a head of hair L
• (also regarded as ind
• 1. kam.)
ka 4
ka a Taddhita affix (much used in forming adjectives
• it may also be added to nouns to express diminution, deterioration, or similarity, e.g. putraka, a little son
• aśvaka, a bad horse or like a horse)