विभक्तिः
Sanskrit Vibhakti — The 8 Grammatical Cases
विभक्ति (vibhakti, "division") is Sanskrit's case system — the word-endings that show a noun's grammatical role in a sentence, replacing much of what English does with word order and prepositions.
| Case | English | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st — Prathama प्रथमा | Nominative | The subject of the sentence. | रामः गच्छति (Rāmaḥ gacchati) — "Rama goes." |
| 2nd — Dwitiya द्वितीया | Accusative | The direct object. | रामः फलं खादति (Rāmaḥ phalaṃ khādati) — "Rama eats a fruit." |
| 3rd — Tritiya तृतीया | Instrumental | "By" or "with" whom/what an action is done. | रामेण लिखितम् (Rāmeṇa likhitam) — "written by Rama." |
| 4th — Chaturthi चतुर्थी | Dative | "To" or "for" whom something is done. | रामाय ददाति (Rāmāya dadāti) — "gives to Rama." |
| 5th — Panchami पञ्चमी | Ablative | "From" — separation or source. | ग्रामात् आगच्छति (Grāmāt āgacchati) — "comes from the village." |
| 6th — Shashthi षष्ठी | Genitive | Possession — "of" or "'s." | रामस्य गृहम् (Rāmasya gṛham) — "Rama's house." |
| 7th — Saptami सप्तमी | Locative | "In," "on," or "at" — location or time. | गृहे अस्ति (Gṛhe asti) — "is in the house." |
| 8th — Sambodhana सम्बोधन | Vocative | Direct address — calling someone. | हे राम! (He Rāma!) — "O Rama!" |
Why case endings instead of word order
Because each noun's ending already signals its role, Sanskrit sentence order is remarkably flexible — "Rama eats a fruit" can be rearranged in several ways without changing its meaning, since फलं (phalam, "fruit") will carry its accusative ending regardless of where it sits in the sentence.
Related pages
See the wider Sanskrit Vyakaran (grammar) overview, or the Varnamala (alphabet) these words are built from.