Sanskrit action verbs ‘worship’ in the Bhagavad Gītā: A natural semantic metalanguage approach

Abstract

The semantic understanding of Sanskrit action verbs of worship involves nuances of meaning that frequently overlap, reflecting significant cultural and religious values in Hindu practices worldwide. Despite growing interest in Sanskrit linguistic studies due to the structural and functional complexity of its verbal system, semantic analyses that specifically focus on worship verbs using the semantic primes framework remain limited. Therefore, this research examines Sanskrit action verbs ‘worship’ through the framework of Wierzbicka’s Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach, supported by van Valin and Lapolla’s semantic macroroles theory as the methodological combination that has rarely been applied to Classical Sanskrit texts. The data were taken from Chapters IX, X, and XI of the Bhagavad Gītā and were collected through documentation and note-taking techniques, subsequently analyzed using qualitative methods. The findings revealed several Sanskrit action verbs related to acts of ‘worship’, namely upāsate, bhajante, praṇamya, gṛṇanti, and stuvanti, which are classified under the types DO, DO and MOVE, also DO and SAY. In addition, the semantic macroroles of actor and undergoer were identified across the data, which are indicated as AGENT, RECIPIENT, and GOAL. The findings carry significant implications for both cultural and semantic inquiry, deepening understanding of how ‘worship’ is conceptualized in Hindu thought and indicating the potential to expand the application of NSM and semantic macroroles across languages worldwide.