328. Actual past and historical past.

In defining the employment of the past tenses one must distinguish between such past facts, as have not lost their actuality, and such as have, and therefore belong to history. The historical past may be expressed by any past tense, but the actual past not. In other terms, as a rule, English he did and he had done may be rendered by Sanskrit aorist, imperfect, perfect or the participle (kṛtavān, kṛtamanena), but English he has done only by the aorist or the participle, not by the imperfect or by the perfect.

Historical past expressed by any past tense.

I. For expressing the historical past, the four past tenses are used almost promiscuously, and the historical present (326, 327) may be added to them as a fifth.

Examples: Kathâs. 24, 10 it is told, one asked (apṛcchat imperf.), vs. 11 the other replied (avādīt aor.), vs. 13 the former asked again (papracch perf.). Ibid. vs. 214 (bhayānna te / yadā tasyāśakanvaktuṃ dṛtānvisasṛjustadā / te ca… tam abruvan »as they could not tell it him [themselves], they sent messengers, who told him”) is an other instance of aor., perf and imperf. used promiscuously and without the slightest difference of meaning. Panc. 276 we have this succession of facts: bhāryām abhihitavān (participle)… ity abhidhāya prāyāsīt (aorist) / atha tasyāṃ puṣpavāṭikāyām paṅgurgītam udgirayati (histor. pres. with durative meaning »was singing)”, / tac chrutvā tayābhihitam (partic.)… paṅgur abravīt (imperf.) and so on. In an other story Panc. 51, we have this succession of facts: a weaver and a cartwright dwelled (prativasataḥ sma) in the same town and lived always together (kālaṃ nayataḥ). One day a great festival took place (saṃvṛttaḥ) and a procession, in the midst of which they beheld (dṛṣṭvantau) a maiden of great beauty. On seeing her, the weaver fell in love with her and swooned (sahasā bhūtale nipapāta). His friend the cartwright got him carried home (svagṛhamānāyayat) and by proper treatment he soon recovered (sacetano babhūva). — Upon the whole, there seems to be a tendency to alternate the past tenses in literary compositions.

328. 現存する過去と史的過去

過去時制の用法を定義する際には、現存性（actuality）を失っていない過去の事実と、それを失ってしまい歴史に属するものとを区別しなければならない。史的過去（historical past）はいかなる過去時制でも表現しうるが、現存する過去（actual past）はそうではない。言い換えれば、英語の"he did"と"he had done"はaor.・impf.・Pf.、あるいは分詞（kṛtavān、kṛtamanena）によって翻訳されるが、"he has done"はimpf.やPf.によってではなくaor.か分詞によってしか翻訳できない、ということである。

○任意の過去時制で表される史的過去

史的過去を表すにあたって、4つの過去時制はほとんど無差別に用いられる。史的現在（326, 327）を5番目として加えることもできよう。例を引いてみると、Kathâs. 24, 10ではapṛcchat（impf.）、11ではavādīt（aor.）、13ではpapracch（Pf.）が用いられる、など。

例：
Ibid. vs. 214 (bhayānna te / yadā tasyāśakanvaktuṃ dṛtānvisasṛjustadā / te ca… tam abruvan »as they could not tell it him [themselves], they sent messengers, who told him”)
Panc. 276 bhāryām abhihitavān (participle)… ity abhidhāya prāyāsīt (aorist) / atha tasyāṃ puṣpavāṭikāyām paṅgurgītam udgirayati (histor. pres. with durative meaning »was singing”), / tac chrutvā tayābhihitam (partic.)… paṅgur abravīt (imperf.)

またPanc. 51では以下のような一連の事例がある：
織工と車大工が同じ町に住んでいて（prativasataḥ sma）、共に生活していた（kālaṃ nayataḥ）。ある日、大きな祭が開かれた（saṃvṛttaḥ）。2人はその祭の行列の中に、とても美しい乙女を見た（dṛṣṭvantau）。織工は彼女を見て恋に落ち、気絶した（sahasā bhūtale nipapāta）。友人である車大工は彼を家に担いで帰り（svagṛhamānāyayat）、適切な介抱をした（sacetano babhūva）。
—全体として、文学的な構文では、〔異なる〕過去時制が交互にされる傾向があるようである。