kā

kä- ‘Erde’, 5.0. 1285 s.v. ka-!, kämsya-, s. kamsd-. — [Mayrhofer, s.v. kä-, p. 389]

2. ka kas, kā, kim, interrog. pron. (see kim and 2. kad, and cf. 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 Sanskṛt ; but the old form kad is found in the Veda (see Gram. 227 );

The interrogative sentence introduced by ka is often terminated by iti ( e.g. kasyasaputraitikathyatām, let it be said, ‘whose son is he?’), but iti may be omitted and the sentence lose its direct interrogative character ( e.g. kasyasaputronajñāyate, 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. kemamadhanvinonye, what can the other archers do against me? keāvāmparitrātum, what power have we to rescue you?) ka is often connected with a demonstrative pron. ( e.g. koyamāyāti, who comes here?) or with the potential ( e.g. kohariṃnindet, who will blame Hari ?) ka is sometimes repeated ( e.g. kaḥkotra, who is there? kānkān, whom? whom? i.e. which of them? cf. Gram. 54 ), and the repetition is often due to a kind of attraction ( e.g. keṣāṃkiṃśāstramadhyayanīyam, 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.?’ (= korthas); ( e.g. kiṃvilambena, what is gained by delay? kimbahunā, what is the use of more words? dhanenakiṃyonadadāti, what is the use of wealth to him who does not give? with inst. and gen. , nīrujaḥkimauṣadhaiḥ, what is the use of medicine to the healthy?)

ka is occasionally used alone as an indefinite pronoun, especially in negative sentences ( e.g. nakasyakovallabhaḥ, no one is a favourite of any one; nA nyo jAnAti kaH , no one else knows; kathaṃsaghātayatikam, how does he kill any one?) Generally, however, ka is only made indefinite when connected with the particles ca, cana, cid, vā, and api, in which case ka may sometimes be preceded by the relative ya ( e.g. yekeca, any persons whatsoever; yasyaikasyaicadevatāyai, to any deity whatsoever; yānikānicamitrāṇi, any friends whatsoever; yatkiṃca, whatever). The particle cana, being composed of ca and na, properly gives a negative force to the pronoun ( e.g. yasmādindrādṛtekiṃcana, without which Indra there is nothing), but the negative sense is generally dropped ( e.g. kaścana, any one; nakaścana, no one), and a relative is sometimes connected with it ( e.g. yatkiṃcana, 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 Sanskṛt ( e.g. kaścid, any one; kecid, some; nakaścid, no one; nakiṃcidapi, nothing whatsoever; yaḥkaścid, any one whatsoever; kecit — kecit, some — others; yasminkasminvādeśe, in any country whatsoever; nakopi, no one; nakimapi, nothing whatever). ka may sometimes be used, like 2. kad, at the beginning of a compound. See kapūya, &c.