About the Extinction of the Vedic Injunctive (Part I)

According to Kiparsky (1), the injunctive has no marked temporal or modal aspect. It is timeless, moodless.
The only marked aspect is its use to indicate prohibitions, accompanied by the prohibitive particle मा, mā.
For example, in Ṛgveda 1.24.10: मा नो हिरण्यरथो वि दा भूत् (mā no hiraṇyaratho vi dā bhūt), translated as "Let not (mā) the golden-chariot (hiraṇyaratho) be (bhūt, injunctive) to cause harm (vi dā, injunctive) to us (no)."
Or in Ṛgveda 10.1.5: मा त्वा तपतु सूर्यस्य रश्मिḥ (mā tvā tapatu sūryasya raśmiḥ), translated as "Let not (mā) the ray (raśmiḥ) of the sun (sūryasya) burn (tapatu, injunctive) you (tvā)."
Thus, the injunctive is the verb of nowhere, embodying the sense of prohibere ("to hold back, restrain, hinder, prevent")—not letting something be or happen. In its unmarked form (when occurring conjoined with verbs of tense/mood categories such as imperative, optative, or imperfect), it functions as a no-context verb, compatible with all of them.
The injunctive’s status as a no-context tense is evidenced by its eventual disappearance.

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(1) Paul Kiparsky The Vedic Injunctive: Historical and Synchronic

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