380. It is employed almost as a participle of the past.

But in its most common employment the gerund may be said to do duty as a past participle of the active. Like the absolute locative and the other participial employment it enables the speaker to cut short subordinate sentences and to avoid the accumulation of finite verbs (14, I). Indeed, it has the full function of a participle. As a rule, it denotes the prior of two actions, performed by the same subject. {P. 3, 4, 21.} Accordingly its subject is that of the chief action. So it usually refers to a nominative, if the chief verb is active, or to an instrumental, if it is a passive. Nothing, however, prevents its being referred to other cases, since the main subject may occasionally be a gen., locat., dative etc.

1. Instances of the gerund referring to a nominative or to an instrumental are so common as to be found on almost every page. Panc. 3 athāsau rājā tāṃ pratijñāṃ śrutvā… tasmai sādaraṃ tān kumārān samarpya parāṃ nirvṛtim ājagāma (then the king having heard this promise, entrusted the princes to him and was highly satisfied with this), here śrutvā and samarpya refer to rājā; — Panc. 70 atha tena taṃ śatruṃ matvātmānaṃ tasyopari prakṣipya prāṇāḥ parityaktāḥ, the gerunds matvā and prakṣipya refer to tena.

2. Instances of the gerund referring to other noun-cases: 1. to an accus. R. 3, 41, 18 ātmānaṃ ca hataṃ viddhi hṛtvā sītām (be aware that yourself will be lost, when seizing Sîtâ); — 2. to a genitive. Nala. 3, 14 tasya dṛṣṭvaiva vavṛdhe kāmastāṃ cāruhāsinīm (his love increased as soon as he had beheld the fair one), Panc. 69 na yujyate svāminastasya sāmarthyamaviditvā gantum (it does not befit mylord to go before having explored his strength); — 3. to a dative. Kumâras. 2, 18 svāgataṃ svān adhīkārān prabhāvair avalamvya vaḥ / … yugabāhubhyaḥ (welcome to you, mighty ones, who uphold your offices by your power); — 4. to a locative. Panc. 125 vānare vyajanaṃ nītvā vāyuṃ vidadhati, the loc. is the absolute one: »as the monkey having brought the fan, was fanning”. — The subject of the gerund is comparatively often a genitive or a locative, owing to the frequent employment of the dative-like genitive (129) and of the absolute locative. For the rest, it is only from the context, that the subject of a given gerund is to be known. That f. i. Bhoj. 96 ekadā rājā dhārāmagare vicaran kvacit pūrṇakumbhaṃ dhṛtvā samāyāntīṃ pūrṇacandrānanāṃ kāṃcid dṛṣṭvā… prāha, the gerund dhṛtvā refers to kāñcit, but dṛṣṭvā to rājā, can be learned no otherwise.

3. The gerund may even refer to a subject not expressed, but understood. Utt. IV, p. 72 svayam upetya vaideho draṣṭvyaḥ, from the context it is plain, that tvayā is implied. Likewise Nâgân. V, p. 91 hā kumāra kvemaṃ prāṇebhyo ‘pi vallabhaṃ janaṃ parityajya gamyate [sc. tvayā]. Or to a general subject, as f. i. R. 3, 48, 23. Cp. 379 b).

Rem. Like the participles, the gerund may serve to express different logical relations, as is evident from these examples. Daç. 149 nāham idaṃ tattvato nāvabudhya mokṣyāmi bhūmiśayyām (I shall not rise before having learned what this really is), R. 3, 21, 10 tān bhūmau patitān dṛṣṭvā… mahāṃstrāso ‘bhavan mama (when I saw… great fear arose within me), Panc. III, 77 ulūkaṃ nṛpatiṃ kṛtvā kā naḥ siddhir bhaviṣyati (what profit shall we have, if we make the owl our king?). Cp. 362.

380. ほぼ過去分詞として用いられるもの

しかしながら、最も一般的な用法では、絶対分詞は能動態の過去分詞としてはたらく、と言いうる。絶対処格や他の分詞用法と同様に、話者は短い従属文を省き、定動詞を重ねることを避けることができる（14-1）。実際、これは分詞のすべての機能を持っている。原則として、同一の主語が行う2つの行為のうち先行する方を記述する（P. 3, 4, 21）。したがって、その〔分詞の〕主語は文の主行為の主語である。なので、ふつう主動詞が能動態であればnom.を、受動態であればinst.を指す。けれども、主語がgen.やlocat.やdat.等になることもあるので、他の格を指すことを妨げるものはない。

1. nom.やinst.を指す絶対分詞の用例は、ほとんどすべてのページにごく普通に見られる。
Panc. 3 athāsau rājā tāṃ pratijñāṃ śrutvā… tasmai sādaraṃ tān kumārān samarpya parāṃ nirvṛtim ājagāma (then the king having heard this promise, entrusted the princes to him and was highly satisfied with this) （ここでśrutvāとsamarpyaはrājāに係る）
Panc. 70 atha tena taṃ śatruṃ matvātmānaṃ tasyopari prakṣipya prāṇāḥ parityaktāḥ （絶対分詞matvāとprakṣipyaはtenaに係る）

2. 名詞-格を指す絶対分詞
1. acc.
R. 3, 41, 18 ātmānaṃ ca hataṃ viddhi hṛtvā sītām (be aware that yourself will be lost, when seizing Sîtâ)
2. gen.
Nala. 3, 14 tasya dṛṣṭvaiva vavṛdhe kāmastāṃ cāruhāsinīm (his love increased as soon as he had beheld the fair one)
Panc. 69 na yujyate svāminas tasya sāmarthyamaviditvā gantum (it does not befit mylord to go before having explored his strength)
3. dat.
Kumâras. 2, 18 svāgataṃ svān adhīkārān prabhāvair avalamvya vaḥ / … yugabāhubhyaḥ (welcome to you, mighty ones, who uphold your offices by your power)
4. loc.
Panc. 125 vānare vyajanaṃ nītvā vāyuṃ vidadhati （ここのloc.は絶対処格；as the monkey having brought the fan, was fanning）

dat.的gen.（129）と絶対処格が頻繁に使用されるため、絶対分詞の主語は比較的多くgen.やloc.である。その他に関して、与えられた絶対分詞の主語が知られるのは文脈に依ってのみである。
Bhoj. 96 ekadā rājā dhārāmagare vicaran kvacit pūrṇakumbhaṃ dhṛtvā samāyāntīṃ pūrṇacandrānanāṃ kāṃcid dṛṣṭvā… prāha

ここで絶対分詞dhṛtvāはkāñcitを指すが、dṛṣṭvāがrājāを指す、というのは〔文脈の〕他からは知られない。

3. 暗黙の主語を指す絶対分詞
Utt. IV, p. 72 svayam upetya vaideho draṣṭvyaḥ （文脈に依れば明らかにtvayāが暗示されている）
Nâgân. V, p. 91 hā kumāra kvemaṃ prāṇebhyo ‘pi vallabhaṃ janaṃ parityajya gamyate [sc. tvayā]

一般的な〔ことがらを指す〕主語についてはR. 3, 48, 23を参照。379-bをみよ。

【補足】
分詞と同様に、絶対分詞は、以下の例から例証されるような異なる論理的関係を表す。362を参照せよ。
Daç. 149 nāham idaṃ tattvato nāvabudhya mokṣyāmi bhūmiśayyām (I shall not rise before having learned what this really is)
R. 3, 21, 10 tān bhūmau patitān dṛṣṭvā… mahāṃstrāso ‘bhavan mama (when I saw… great fear arose within me)
Panc. III, 77 ulūkaṃ nṛpatiṃ kṛtvā kā naḥ siddhir bhaviṣyati (what profit shall we have, if we make the owl our king?)