-at participles · bhavant

	bhavant Masculine · “being, the one who is”
Nom.	bhavan	bhavantau	bhavantaḥ
Acc.	bhavantam	bhavantau	bhavataḥ
Ins.	bhavatā	bhavadbhyām	bhavadbhiḥ
Dat.	bhavate	bhavadbhyām	bhavadbhyaḥ
Abl.	bhavataḥ	bhavadbhyām	bhavadbhyaḥ
Gen.	bhavataḥ	bhavatoḥ	bhavatām
Loc.	bhavati	bhavatoḥ	bhavatsu
Voc.	bhavan	bhavantau	bhavantaḥ

Coral marks the strong stem bhavant-, used in the same four slots as other strong/weak consonant stems: nom. sg./du./pl., acc. sg./du., and the whole vocative. The weak stem bhavat- fills every other cell. Before consonant endings (-bhyām, -bhiḥ, -bhyaḥ, -su) the final t assimilates to d: bhavat + bhyām → bhavadbhyām.

	bhavantī Feminine · declined like nadī
Nom.	bhavantī	bhavantyau	bhavantyaḥ
Acc.	bhavantīm	bhavantyau	bhavantīḥ
Ins.	bhavantyā	bhavantībhyām	bhavantībhiḥ

The feminine is formed by adding -ī to the strong stem: bhavantī. It then follows the long-ī feminine paradigm (nadī) exactly. Only the first three rows shown; the rest is identical to nadī.

	bhavat Neuter · “being” (n.)
Nom.	bhavat	bhavantī	bhavanti
Acc.	bhavat	bhavantī	bhavanti

Neuter nom./acc. sg. is the bare weak stem: bhavat. Plural is strong + neuter -i: bhavanti. The weak-case forms (ins., dat., abl., gen., loc.) follow the masculine column — identical.

1. The rule

The Sanskrit present active participle is formed by adding the suffix -at / -ant to the present stem of a verb (Whitney §443; MacDonell §80). From √bhū “to be” (present stem bhava-) you get bhavant “being, one who is”. From √gam “to go” (present stem gaccha-) you get gacchant “going”. From √dā “to give” (present stem dada-) you get dadat “giving”. Every present-stem verb produces its own participle in this way.

The declension is a straightforward strong/weak consonant stem: strong -ant- (with the nasal) in the same four slots where all Sanskrit strong/weak stems show their strong form; weak -at- (without the nasal) elsewhere. Future and desiderative stems form participles the same way (bhaviṣyant “about to be”, cikīrṣant “desirous of doing”).

2. How to remember

i Nasal in, nasal out. Strong stem has the nasal -nt; weak stem loses it and keeps just -t. Memorise the four strong slots: nom. sg./du./pl., acc. sg./du., and the whole vocative. Exactly the same slots as every other strong/weak consonant stem.
ii Nom. sg. is -an, not -ant. The final t is lost word-finally: bhavant + s → bhavān → bhavan. Don't let it trip you — the bare nom. sg. looks like an -an stem, but the rest of the paradigm gives it away.
iii Feminine in -antī is just a nadī-stem. Take the strong stem bhavant-, add -ī: bhavantī. From that point on it declines exactly like nadī — a paradigm you already know. No new endings to learn.
iv Assimilation before consonants. When the weak stem bhavat- meets -bh- / -s- endings, t voices to d before bh: bhavadbhyām, bhavadbhiḥ, bhavadbhyaḥ. Before s it stays: bhavatsu. Standard Sanskrit internal sandhi.

3. Exercise — bhavant masculine

Fill in all 24 forms of the masculine paradigm. Watch the nom. sg. -an (not -ant) and the t → d assimilation before consonant endings.

	bhavant Masculine · “being”
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.
Voc.

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