The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit

Just as the active imperfect indicative and present potential use the same set of endings everywhere except for the 1st SG and the 3rd PL (–› Chapter 12), so do their middle counterparts.

Middle imperfect indicatives and present potentials are also formed from the present tense stem, and, again, the imperfect is marked by the augment a- added before the verbal stem, while the potential marker -e- (originally: stem-final -a- + potential marker -ī- > -e-; –› Chapters 7 and 31) appears at the end of the stem. Note that in the 2nd and 3rd Du, -i- (imperfect) and -(y)ā- (potential) are unexpectedly added between stem and ending.

Passives are formed by adding these endings to the passive stem (–› Chapter 21). (They are rare, though: past passives are usually expressed by means of ta-participles.)

LEXICAL NOTE: √युज्, युक्त-, योग-

The verb √यजु basically means ‘to link’. It is related to the English word ‘yoke’, and can be used in exactly this sense. Yet it is used far more widely, and specifically in instances where English would employ a different verb. On the one hand, one may link things so that they fulfil a function they cannot on their own: one arranges them, prepares them, makes them ready for something. On the other, one may link things that belong to one another – yoke pairs of oxen, unite owners with their possessions, honour a god with the worship (s)he deserves, pair a bow with an arrow, equip soldiers with weapons, or ‘link’ the mind with the past (and thus remember it).

The past participle युक्त- has various specialised meanings that result from this basic idea of being ‘linked’: it may refer to material things linked to one another; it may refer to anyone engaged in or occupied with something, and therefore experienced in it; on the level of (well-fitted) objects, it can mean suitable or appropriate; when referring to the mind, it means concentrated or absorbed (e.g. in meditation). The noun योग-, finally, also expresses any kind of ‘link’, including the ideas of ‘control over’ and ‘focus on’.