This, however, is impossible, for Agni, the god of fire, is never represented in the Veda as a woman. If we took gnâḥ as a genitive, we might translate, “Agni sits down in the sacrifice of the lady of the house,” but this again would be utterly incongruous in Vedic poetry.
I believe the verse is corrupt, and I should propose to read:—
Utá agnấv agníḥ adhvaré.
“Agni sits down at the sacrifice in the fire, as lord in the house, and as a priest.”
The ideas that Agni, the god of fire, sits down in the fire, or that Agni is lighted by Agni, or that Agni is both the sacrificial fire and the priest, are familiar to every reader of the Veda. Thus we read, I. 12, 6, agnínâ agníḥ sám idhyate, “Agni is lighted by Agni;” X. 88, 1, we find Agni invoked as ấ-hutam agnáu, etc.
But whether this emendation be right or wrong, it must be quite clear how unsafe it would be to support the theory that feminine bases in â ended originally in s by this solitary passage from the Veda.
[NOTE C.][text]
Grammatical Forms in Sanskrit corresponding to so-called Infinitives in Greek and Latin.
There is no trace of such a term as infinitive in Sanskrit, and yet exactly the same forms, or, at all events, forms strictly analogous to those which we call infinitives in Greek and Latin, exist in Sanskrit. Here, however, they are treated in the simplest way.
Sanskrit grammarians when giving the rules according to which nouns and adjectives are derived from verbal roots by means of primary suffixes (Kṛt), mention among the rest the suffixes tum (Pâṇ., III. 3, 10), se, ase, adhyai, tavai, tave, shyai, e, am, tos, as (IV. 4, 9–17), defining their meaning in general by that of tum (III. 3, 10). This tum is said to express immediate futurity in a verb, if governed by another word conveying an intention. An example will make this clearer. In order to say he goes to cook, where “he goes” expresses an intention, and “to cook” is the object of that intention which is to follow immediately, we place the suffix tum at the end of the verb pak, to cook, and say in Sanskrit, vrajati pak-tum. We might also say pâcako vrajati, he goes as one who means to cook, or vrajati pâkâya, he goes to the act of cooking, placing the abstract noun in the dative; and all these constructions are mentioned together by Sanskrit grammarians. The same takes place after verbs which express a wish (III. 3, 158); e.g., icchati paktum, he wishes to cook, and after such words as kâla, time, samaya, opportunity, velâ, right moment (III. 3, 167); e.g., kâlaḥ paktum, it is time to cook, etc. Other verbs which govern forms in tum are (III. 4, 65) śak, to be able; dhṛsh, to dare; jñâ, to know; glai, to be weary; ghaṭ, to endeavor; ârabh, to begin; labh, to get; prakram, to begin; utsah, to endure; arh, to deserve; and words like asti, there is; e.g., asti bhoktum, it is (possible) to eat; not, it is (necessary) to eat. The forms in tum are also enjoined (III. 4, 66) after words like alam, expressing fitness, e.g., paryâpto bhoktum, alam bhoktum, kuśalo bhoktum, fit or able to eat.