About the Extinction of the Vedic Injunctive

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 3.33.8: ए॒तद्वचो॑ जरित॒र्मा पि॑ मृष्ठा॒ (etád vaco jaritar mā́ pi mṛṣṭhā́), translated as "This word, O singer, do not (mā) forget (mṛṣṭhā́)".
Or in Ṛgveda 10.108.9: मा पुन॑र्गा॒ (mā punar gā́), translated as "do not (mā) go back (gā́) again (punar)"
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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