सुष्ठु गृहीतः चौरःClass 9 Sanskrit Anand Chapter 1 Notes – Maharashtra Board

Summary: सुष्ठु गृहीतः चौरः

देवदत्तः, a rich man, finds that his money bag (धनस्यूतः) is missing. He has six servants and thinks one of them must be the thief, so he asks his friend वीरबलः for help.

Birbal calls all the servants to his house and gives each one a stick of exactly the same height. He tells them these are 'magic sticks' (मायायष्टिकाः): by next morning the thief's stick will grow longer by one finger-width.

At night everyone sleeps peacefully except the guilty servant. Afraid of being exposed, he cuts one finger-width off his own stick and then goes to sleep.

Next day Birbal sees the one shorter stick and knows at once who the thief is. The servant falls at Birbal's feet, admits the theft and returns the money bag — the thief was 'well caught' (सुष्ठु गृहीतः).

रम्यसंस्कृतम् (किं कृत्वा? / किं कर्तुम्?): joining two actions with पठित्वा, कृत्वा (-त्वा, no prefix) or आरुह्य, प्रणम्य (-य, with a prefix), and showing purpose with द्रष्टुम्, पातुम्, पठितुम् (-तुम्).

Key points to remember

• Characters: देवदत्तः (rich man), वीरबलः (his clever friend), six servants (भृत्याः)
• धनस्यूतः = money bag; यष्टिका = stick; मायायष्टिका = magic stick
• Trick: the thief's stick would 'grow' by an अङ्गुलिमात्र (finger-width)
• The guilty mind gives itself away — only the thief cut his stick
• Past forms in the story: आसीत्, अवदत्, अचिन्तयत्, अकुर्वन् (लङ् लकार)
• -त्वा (त्वान्त) = 'having done', used when the verb has NO prefix: गत्वा, दत्त्वा, पठित्वा
• -य (ल्यबन्त) = 'having done', used when the verb HAS a prefix: आनीय, प्रणम्य, आरुह्य
• -तुम् (तुमन्त) = 'to / in order to' (purpose): द्रष्टुम्, पातुम्, पठितुम्
• These forms are अव्यय — they never change for gender, number or case
• पठत बोधत: verses on पतञ्जलि, साष्टाङ्ग नमस्कार and सूर्यनमस्कार

सुष्ठु गृहीतः चौरः – Notes

1. The story step by step

• Problem: देवदत्तः's money bag disappears. Since six servants live in his house, he suspects one of them and asks Birbal (वीरबलः) for help.
• Plan: Birbal asks Devadatta to send all the servants to his house in the evening. There he hands each servant a stick of the same height (समानोन्नताः यष्टिकाः).
• The bluff: he says the sticks are magic; they must take them to Devadatta's house and bring them back next morning. The thief's stick will become one finger-width longer.
• The thief's mistake: lying awake, he thinks 'tomorrow my theft will be revealed', so he cuts his stick short by a finger-width and sleeps happily.
• Result: next day the one short stick (लघुयष्टिका) points straight to him. He confesses (अपराधम् अङ्गीकृतवान्) and gives the bag back (प्रत्यर्पितवान्).

2. Words and forms from the lesson

• धनिकः rich man; भृत्यः / सेवकः / दासः servant; चौरः thief; साहाय्यम् help; सायङ्काले in the evening; श्वः tomorrow; प्रभाते in the morning.
• अयाचत asked for; प्रेषय send (command); पश्यन्तु look (polite command to many); गन्तव्यम् / पुनरागन्तव्यम् 'should go' / 'should come back'.
• ऋते एकस्मात् = except one (ऋते takes the ablative). अन्येद्युः = on the next day.
• कर्तयामि I cut; सुप्तः slept; अङ्गीकृतवान् accepted, admitted; प्रत्यर्पितवान् gave back. The -वान् forms are past participles used like a past verb for a man.

3. रम्यसंस्कृतम् १: किं कृत्वा? (-त्वा and -य)

• When one person does two actions one after the other, the first action can be put in the 'having done' form: बालकः पुस्तकं पठित्वा पाठशालां गच्छति — having read the book, the boy goes to school.
• With a plain root (no उपसर्ग) the ending is -त्वा: गम् → गत्वा, दा → दत्त्वा, कृ → कृत्वा, पा → पीत्वा, स्ना → स्नात्वा, नम् → नत्वा.
• If the root has a prefix, the ending becomes -य: आ+नी → आनीय, प्र+नम् → प्रणम्य, आ+रुह् → आरुह्य, प्र+दा → प्रदाय, अप+हृ → अपहृत्य, सम्+ताडय् → सन्ताड्य.
• The book calls these पूर्वकालवाचक अव्यय (showing the earlier action): त्वान्त for -त्वा, ल्यबन्त for -य. Many actions can be chained: शुभदा आपणं गत्वा धनं दत्त्वा पुस्तकम् आनीय पठति.

4. रम्यसंस्कृतम् २: किं कर्तुम्? (-तुम्)

• -तुम् answers 'what for?' (किमर्थम्?). युवकः चित्रपटं द्रष्टुं चित्रपटगृहं गच्छति — the young man goes to the cinema to see a film.
• More: जलं पातुम् (to drink), पठितुम् (to study), वस्त्राणि प्रक्षालयितुम् (to wash clothes). The book calls them हेत्वर्थक तुमन्त अव्यय.
• -तुम् is also used with इच्छति (wants to), शक्नोति (is able to) and आरभते (begins to): शुनकाः खादितुम् इच्छन्ति; भारवाहकः भारं वोढुं शक्नोति.
• Some roots change shape: दृश् → द्रष्टुम्, लभ् → लब्धुम्, हन् → हन्तुम्, वह् → वोढुम्, पच् → पक्तुम्, वच् → वक्तुम्, त्रै → त्रातुम्.

5. पठत बोधत: three verses on yoga and namaskar

• The first verse salutes पतञ्जलि, the best of sages, who removed the impurity of the mind by yoga, of speech by grammar (पदेन) and of the body by medicine (वैद्यकेन).
• The second explains साष्टाङ्ग प्रणाम: touching the ground with eight parts — two feet, two hands, two knees, the chest and the forehead.
• The third says that those who do सूर्यनमस्कार (salutations to आदित्य, the Sun) every day do not meet poverty even in thousands of births.
• Link to grammar: प्राञ्जलिः आनतः अस्मि = 'I bow with folded hands'; दिने दिने = day after day.

'Having done' (-त्वा / -य) and 'in order to' (-तुम्) forms

Key terms

सुष्ठु गृहीतः चौरः – Flashcards

Read the question, answer it in your head, then tap the card to check. 20 cards.

सुष्ठु गृहीतः चौरः – MCQ Quiz

15 questions. Tap an option — you will see at once if it is right and why.

How to study सुष्ठु गृहीतः चौरः

⏱ About 40 minutes

1. Read the story (10 min)
   Read the passage aloud and tell the trick in four English sentences: the problem, the plan, the thief's mistake, the result.
2. Learn the forms (15 min)
   Make two lists: 10 -त्वा / -य words (marking which roots have a prefix) and 10 -तुम् words; use each in a short sentence.
3. Practice (15 min)
   Write the 'Try it yourself' answers, take the quiz, revise the flashcards and play the 🎮 Play game.