Rattibha

1. I suddenly felt an urge to retweet some Sanskrit lessons I put out years ago. Let me the outset admit I am no teacher but a student too at some varying level. If I was not thrown out into a Sanskrit-less desert some 60 years ago, I would have been a Sanskrit professor.

2. Now on to my lesson at random. Here we go! Let’s talk about सम्भाषणम् or Listening and Speaking Sanskrit. Initially, when Sanskrit existed, it was not even called Sanskrit, instead it was called भाषा (Bhasha).

3. The Root sound of भाषा is भाष् (Bhash), which means to speak, later on it acquired the name Sanskrit. Also, Sanskrit is actually called संस्कृतम् (Sanskritam).

4. The root sound is सम् (Sam), which means totality, sum, completeness, togetherness, integrity, perfectness and कृतम् (Kritam) means sculpted or created. So, संस्कृतम् (Sanskritam) essentially means sculpted to perfection.

5. When learning any language, the first step is संभाषणम् (SambhashaNam), which basically listening first – श्रवणम् and then speaking – वदनम्. First, we got introduced to 2 words मम and तव
(i). मम (Mama) means mine or belongs to me.

6.
ii). तव (Tava) means thine or belongs to you.(iii). मम शरीरम् (Mama Shariiram) means my body.
(iv). मम मुखम् (Mama Mukham) means my face. (viii).
मम वक्षः (Mama Vakshah) means my chest.
(v). मम मुण्डम् (Mama Mundam) means my head.

7.
(vi). मम नासिका (Mama Nasikaa) means my nose.
(vii). मम ग्रीवा (Mama Grivaa) means my neck.
(viii). मम वक्षः (Mama Vakshah) means my chest.
(ix). मम ऊदरम् (Mama Udaaram) means my stomach.
(x). मम पादः (Mama Paadah) means my leg.

8.
(xi) In the above, Neuter Gender ends with अम् (Am) as in शरीरम्, मुखम्, मुण्डम्, ऊदरम्;
Feminine Gender ends with आ (Aa) as in नासिका, ग्रीवा; and Masculine Gender ends with अः (Ah) as in पादः. The word वक्षः (Vakshah) is a ‘s’ ending word in neuter gender.

9.
(i) कनिष्ठिका (Kanishtika) means Pinky finger.
(ii) अनामिका (Anamika) means Anonymous finger.
(iii) मध्यमा (Madhyama) means the Middle finger.
(iv) तर्जनि (Tarjani) means the First finger and comes from the word तर्जन (Tarjan) which means to threaten.

10.
(v) अङ्गुष्ठ (Angushtha) means Thumb.
Then further, a verb was added. We learnt the verb – अस्ति (Asti) and नास्ति (Nasti) – means it is about presence and absence respectively. Example usage in sentence would be:

11.
(i) मम पिता अस्ति (Mama Pitaa Asti) means my father is present.
(ii) मम माता नास्ति (Mama Mataa Naasti) means my mother is absent.

12.
नास्ति means Not Present, that is absent. नास्ति = न + अस्ति (Naasti = Na + Asti). In English न would translate to No). न is negation in Sanskrit. Use of नो (No) is also perfectly valid in Sanskrit.

13. Questioning is an important part of conversation. An example question is – किं तव पिता अस्ति (Kim Tava Pita Asti?) means – Is your father present?
Let’s take yet another question – किं तव नाम कृष्णः In

14. English it would translate to – Is your name, Krishna? In response to a question having binary answer, one can respond either with affirmation or a negation.
(i) affirmative answer – आम् मम नाम कृष्णः means Yes, My name is Krishna.

15.
(ii) If you are not Krishna, negative answers could be (a). मम नाम कृष्णः नास्ति means my name is not Krishna (b) न मम नाम सम्पद् (Na Mama naama Sampad) means No, my name is Sampad.
The place of its production or pronunciation.
The effort required to produce it.

16. The duration for which it is produced.
The quality of the sound.
When asking a question here the order needs to be maintained, else its inappropriate and can mean something else.

17. Now we are really going into the basics. Just as every language has its own alphabet system, so does Sanskrit.
However, in Sanskrit we find a very systematized, highly scientific system of sound arrangement of alphabets.

18. In Sanskrit, alphabets are called:
(i) वर्णमाला (Varnamala). Literally speaking, वर्ण (Varna) represents letters and माला (Mala) means a garland. So Varnamala means garland of letters.

19.
(ii) अक्षर-समाम्नाय (Aksharasamaamnaaya) – Yet another term in Sanskrit for alphabets. अक्षर (Akshara) refers to letters and समाम्नाय (Samaamnaaya) means tradition, instruction. So अक्षर-समाम्नाय may mean the tradition of or instruction on the basic sounds of the language.

20. Going to the root sounds आम्ना means to repeat, so समाम्नाय means well-repeated or mentioned together. So, composition leads to अक्षर-समाम्नाय meaning – where the basic sounds of the language are well repeated or mentioned together.

21. Why these fundamental unit of sounds were called अक्षर (Akshara) or वर्ण (Varna). The word अक्षर = अ (a) + क्षर (Kshara). The अ is negation and prefixed in front of क्षर. क्षर (Kshara) means perishable or to die. So, Akshara means Not Perishable.

22. So, why was this property given to the sound?
Our ancestors say that the moment a स्पन्द् (Spanda) means Vibration is created, it is imperishable. The moment one thinks, one creates vibration.

23. Once created the sound of vibration is permanent, it never dies, it does not decay, instead it gets absorbed in the आकाश (Akasha) means Space and it remains there. So the स्पन्द् is imperishable.

24. This realization of the Sages and Rishis resulted the word Akshara, attributing the imperishable property of sound. It refers to the philosophy of शब्दो नित्यः meaning the eternity of sounds.

25. However, the word अक्षर (Akshara) got confined to the speech sounds, the fundamental sounds of the language. Again, I would like to emphasize that, Akshara is not the gross sound that we hear, listen, speak or write, it essentially means स्पन्दन (Spandana) or vibration.

26. Why is it called वर्णमाला? There are 2 ways to look at this. वर्णमाला comes from the root sound वर्ण. Varna means to describe. Varna also means color. For example, पीतवर्ण (Pitavarna) means yellow color or रक्तवर्ण (Raktavarna) means red color.

27. It is about looking at the sounds as color packets. This again is from the realization of ancient rishis wherein the deeper philosophy is about the gradation of the sound. At the gross-most level, what we humans speak, is the gross sound.

28. In order to grasp sound in its truest sense, one needs to have access to subtler levels. According to Tantric scriptures, at the subtlest level, it is called परा वाक् (Para Vak).

29. परा वाक् (Para Vak) means the Supreme Speech, that which is bright, effulgent, shining without any color. When sound descends down to become gross speech, it absorbs colors on the way.

30. Here they saw the connection of sound with light and described it so, both at the subtlest and at the grossest levels. So, light is not free from sound and sound is not free from light.

31. In their experience, they saw that a particular sound had a particular quality of a color and hence they associated sound with color. Also, if one looks at Sanskrit dictionary, and find out all about the root-sounds referring “to sound” – they also refer to light.

32. One will find sound and light described together in root sound. One cannot separate sound and light. As sound was also seen associated with different colors the word Varna is used.

33. There are 48 basic sounds in Sanskrit alphabets. Like any other language, in Sanskrit these sounds are categorized into vowels and consonants.
Many of us exposed to the Western system of education define vowels and consonents as follows:

34. Vowels are independent sounds and Consonants are dependent sounds.
However, there is a problem with this definition. Using this definition, one cannot distinguish between all the vowels and consonants in other foreign languages.

35. Let’s say, we ask someone to speak/sing out all the alphabets of a language not known to us, how will you (not knowing that language) then be able to distinguish between vowels and consonants using the above definition?

36. However, Sanskrit offers a specific way to differentiate them. The terminology used for vowels is अस्पृष्ट (Asprushta) means Untouched. स्पृष्ट (Sprushta) means touched and prefixing अ before स्पृष्ट negates it – so अस्पृष्ट means untouched.

37. So, it essentially refers to the sound that is produced without touching any part of the speech producing organ. So, sound without any contact is a Vowel Sound. For example – अ (a).

38. Whereas, consonants are called स्पृष्ट because they are produced by contact with some part of the mouth, either tongue or lips. For example – ब (Ba). Vowel sounds are free flowing sounds and one can intone it, whereas consonants are mute sounds – they cannot be intoned.

39. Using the Sanskrit definitions – अस्पृष्ट for Vowels and स्पृष्ट for Consonants, one can distinguish between vowels and consonants in any language.
Other word used for vowel is स्वर (Svara) and for consonant is the word व्यन्जन (Vyanjana) is used.

40. Svara means स्वयम् रजते where Svayam means itself and Rajate is shine, so स्वर (Svara) means one that shines by itself. Whereas the word व्यन्जन (Vyanjana) means Decoration. Consonantal sounds are the decorative sounds.

41. Vowel sounds are the life of the language and the very soul of the language, therefore called आत्मा (Aatma) means soul, or प्राण (PraaNa) meaning life, whereas consonants can be compared with the body, because body can be decorated.

42. Soul cannot be decorated. Tamil language uses this metaphor for vowels and consonants. (உயிர் எழுத்து, மெய் எழுத்து)
The sounds in Sanskrit are arranged in a particular order and there is logic behind the arrangement of alphabets.

43. You are permitted to ask the question – why this sound comes after that sounds? You have a scientific explanation which satisfies the reasoning mind. It is not so in the Western languages.
The entire arrangement of sounds in Sanskrit is based on the following:

44.
- The place of its production or pronunciation.
– The effort required to produce it.
– The duration for which it is produced.
– The quality of the sound.

45. When we recite a sound, the air gets translated to sound. When air moves out through the vocal chord, it can be obstructed at different places in the mouth to produce speech sounds.

46. However, one cannot obstruct the air at any position in the mouth where one pleases and generate a sound. There are possible positions in the mouth where the air can be obstructed.

47. At this position, the जिव्हा मूल (Jivha Mula) means the root of the tongue comes in contact with मृदु तालु (Mridu Taalu) means the soft palate and obstructs the air flow. It is not possible to obstruct the flow of air below this position by any human being.

48. Therefore, क (Ka) is not only the first consonantal sound in Sanskrit, but also for the humanity.
The second possible position is from where the consonants – च (ca), छ (cha), ज (ja), झ (jha), ञ (ña) are produced.

49. At this place, the air is obstructed when the upper middle of the tongue comes in contact with the back of the hard palate. There is space between the first and second positions, however, its not possible to obstruct the air in that space.

50. The third possible position is from where we say – ट (ṭa), ठ (ṭha), ड (ḍa), ढ (ḍha), ण (ṇa). The tongue is rolled back to touch its tip to the middle hard palate. They are also referred as Retroflexes.

51. The fourth possible position is from where we say – त (ta), थ (tha), द (da), ध (dha), न (na). Here the tip of the tongue touches back of upper teeth when producing these consonants. They are also referred as Dentals.

52. The fifth possible position is from where we say – प (pa), फ (pha), ब (ba), भ (bha), म (ma). Here both the lips are pressed together. They are also referred as Labials.
Will be continued depending on the response! @DrlathaC @sincerely_epic @lleena2011 @Asangohumm @pushyami_3

53. Let us continue with the topic of सम्भाषणम् (Sambhashanam). @sunita391 @Asangohumm @pushyami_3 @vrsubramanyam @ViVgne @gvenugopalan @bcshilpa
This is about words ending in म् – मकारः If the next word starts with a consonant then मकारः converts into an Anusvaara.

54. So it is wrong to write as अहम् गच्छामि | The right way to write is अहं गच्छामि | It is because the word गच्छामि starts with ‘ग’ which is a consonant.
Also it is wrong to write as अहं आगच्छामि | Why?

55. Because the next word आगच्छामि | starts with the letter आ which is a svara which is not a consonant. So the right way to write this is अहम् आगच्छामि |

56. The other rule is when a sentence ends (marked by the sign |) then the मकारः is written as म् and not transformed into an Anusvaara. Example is: तत् चक्रम् | is right and तत् चक्रं | is wrong.
Now we are introducing 2 more words –
(Atra) means here.
(Tatra) means there.

57. Example usage in sentences of daily use –
(i) लेखफलकम् अत्र अस्ति (The writing board is here).
(ii) समयसूचिका तत्र अस्ति (The clock is there).
(iii) मार्जनी अत्र नास्ति (The duster is not here).
(iv) मम मित्रं रामः तत्र अस्ति (My friend Raama is there).

58. (v) द्वारम् अत्र अस्ति (The door is here).
(vi) किं वातायनं तत्र अस्ति (Is the window there?) आम् वातायनं तत्र अस्ति (Yes, the window is there).
(vii) अत्र सैकतं तत्र समुद्रः (The sand bank is here, the sea is there).

59. It is important to note that there are no punctuation marks in Sanskrit. So, you will not find commas, semi-colons or question marks. The only punctuation marks in Sanskrit are । and ॥.

60. In Prose, । represents पूर्णविराम (PurnaVirama), essentially is Phrase Separator. In Poetry, ॥ represents पूर्णविराम (PurnaVirama) and । represents अर्धविराम (ArdhaVirama) means Half Pause.
We then got introduced to 3 more words –

61. (i) कुत्र (Kutra) means where
(ii) अन्यत्र (Anyatra) means elsewhere
(iii) सर्वत्र (Sarvatra) means everywhere
Examples of daily use in sentences
(i) तव भ्राता कुत्र अस्ति (Where is your brother?) मम भ्राता अन्यत्र अस्ति (My brother is elsewhere)

62. (ii) वायुः कुत्र अस्ति (Where is air?) वायुः सर्वत्र अस्ति (Air is everywhere)
(iii) किं अन्धकारः सर्वत्र अस्ति (Is darkness everywhere?) न अन्धकारः सर्वत्र नास्ति (No, darkness is not everywhere)

63. (iv) सर्वत्र किं अस्ति (What is everywhere?) प्रेम सर्वत्र अस्ति (Love is everywhere)
(v) अत्र किं किम् अस्ति (Who who [who all] – are here?) अत्र सर्वम् अस्ति (Everyone is here)

64. (vi) किं हस्ती अत्र अस्ति (Is elephant here?) न हस्ती अत्र नास्ति हस्ती तत्र अस्ति (No elephant is not here, the elephant is there)
(vii) रामः कुत्र (Where is Raamah?)
(viii) तव अत्र किं कार्यम् (What work do you have here?)

65. (ix) किं सुशीतकम् अत्र अस्ति (Is the refrigerator here?)
(x) न सुशीतकम् अत्र नास्ति तत्र अपि नास्ति सुशीतकम् अन्यत्र अस्ति (No, the refrigerator is not here, its not also there, its elsewhere)After listening to these examples, you may frame your own sentences & speak it out.

66. You can construct यत्र…तत्र (Yatra…Tatra) meaning where…there. In this construct, यत्र (Yatra) is a Relative Where (it is not a simple Where) and this goes with तत्र (Tatra). Here are the examples –
(i) यत्र जलं अस्ति तत्र मीनः अस्ति (Where there is water, there is fish)

67. (ii) यत्र अनलः अस्ति तत्र धूमः अस्ति (Where there is fire, there is smoke)
(iii) यत्र प्राणः अस्ति तत्र जीवनम् अस्ति (Where there is life-force, there is life)
(iv) यत्र पाकशाला अस्ति तत्र रोटिका अस्ति (Where there is kitchen, there is roti)

68. (v) यत्र असत्यं अस्ति तत्र क्लेशः अस्ति (Where there is falsehood, there is misery)
(vi) यत्र नेता अस्ति तत्र भ्रष्टाचारः अस्ति (Where there is a politician, there is corruption)
(vii) यत्र माता अस्ति तत्र करुणा अस्ति (Where there is mother, there is compassion)

69. Please note that यत्र…तत्र (Yatra…Tatra) is not to be translated to wherever…there. For wherever, Sanskrit has the construct यत्र यत्र… (Yatra Yatra…).
Now let’s learn about referring to near using ‘this’ and far using ‘that’ .

70. We were introduced to the following words based on the gender that they refer to.
(i) {Near (This) Gender}
(ii) एषः (Eshah) Masculine
(iii) एषा (Eshaa) Feminine
(iv) एतत् (Etat) Neuter
Example usage would be –
(i) (एषः कृष्णः (This is Krishnah)

71. (ii) एषा गीता (This is Gita)
(iii) एतत् पुष्पम् (This is a flower)
To ask questions, we will ask according to the gender.
{Question     Gender}
(i) कः (Kah)      Masculine
(ii) का (Kaa)       Feminine
(iii) किम् (Kim)   Neuter
Example usage in sentences will be –

72. (i) एषः कः (Who is this?) एषः रामः (This is Raamah) रामः संगणक अभियन्ता (Raamah is a computer engineer)
(ii) एषा का (Who is this?) एषा अर्चना (This is Archanaa) एषा गायिका भाचित्रिका न्यायवादिनी च अस्ति (She is a singer, a photographer and an advocate)

73. (iii) एषः चिकित्सकः (He is a doctor)
(iv) एतत् किम् (What is this?) एतत् सङ्गणकम् (This is a computer)
(v) एतत् किम् (What is this?) एतत् प्रक्षेपकम् (This is a projector)
(vi) एतत् किम् (What is this?) एतत् चित्रम् (This is a picture)
(vii) कः तत्र अस्ति (Who is there?)

74. (viii) किं तत्र अस्ति (What is there?)
(ix) किम् एषः तव प्रश्नः (Is that your question?)
(x) किं एषः बालकः तव मित्रं (Is this boy your friend?) न एषः बालकः न मम मित्रं (No, this boy is not my friend)
(xi) किं एषा तव लेखनी (Is this your pen?)

75. (xii) एतत् पुस्तकं अत्र अस्ति (This book is here)
(xiii) किं एतत् तव स्थानम् (Is this your place?)
(xiv) मम उपनेत्रं कुत्र अस्ति (Where are my spectacles?)

76. If you don’t happen to know the gender of the subject in advance, then the general question can be एतत् किम् (What is this?) and the general answer can be एतत् + … , i.e. combination. For example, we know that कर्ण (Karna) is Masculine gender.

77. In case, you don’t happen to know that, you can ask the question – एतत् किम्. In response to that question, there can be 2 possible answers based on the gender of the word कर्ण (Karna):
If you happen to know the gender, you can reply – एषः कर्ण

78. If you don’t happen to know the gender, then you cannot say – एतत् कर्ण instead you must combine the words like this – एतत्कर्ण , and use as one single word.
The basic word is एतद् (Etad).

79. In Masculine it becomes एषः (Eshah) in Feminine it becomes एषा (Eshaa) and in Neuter it becomes एतत् (Etat). The basic word एतद् (Etad) is never used.
In Sanskrit, the word base, whether it is noun or verb base, it is never used.

80. These base words are called धातु (Dhatu) for verbal base and प्रातिपदिक (Pratipadika) for nominal base.
Whereas the words which are derived from the base words by adding suffixes are called पद (Pada) means usable words or ready-to-use words.

81. Why all the interrogative sounds in Sanskrit begin with the sound क (Ka)? Is there a logic to this? First, we need to understand the nature of question. What does a question do?

82. The logic here is that, the sound क (Ka) is the first consonantal sound, immediately it is used after the freely flowing vowels and क (Ka) is produced by obstructing the flow of air at the first position in the oral cavity, so it is the first obstruction.

83. Similarly, the nature of question is to stop the free flow of thoughts and hence in Sanskrit, every question begins with the sound क (Ka). In fact, every interrogative pronouns in Sanskrit begins with क (Ka).
(i) {Far (That) Gender}
(ii) सः (Sah) Masculine

84. (iii) सा (Saa) Feminine
(iv) तत् (Tat) Neuter
Example usage in day-to-day sentences –
(i) एषः कृष्णः सः प्रकाशः (This is Krishnah, that is Prakashah)
(ii) एषा गीता सा वर्षा (This is Gita, that is Varsha)

85. (iii) एतद् द्वारं सः दण्डदीपः (This is door, that is tubelight)
(iv) एतद् द्वारं तत् वातायनम् (This is door, that is window)
(v) एषः कृष्णः सा अध्यापिका (This is Krishnah, that is teacher)
(vi) एषः अध्यापकः सः छात्रः (This is teacher, that is student)

86. Summary
{Near (This) Far (That)      Question       Gender}
एषः (Eshah) सः (Sah)       कः (Kah)      Masculine
एषा (Eshaa) सा (Saa)       का (Kaa)       Feminine
एतत् (Etat) तत् (Tat)      किम् (Kim)   Neuter

87. कः (Kah), का (Kaa) and किम् (Kim) has nothing to do with near and far. They are used attributively for What, Which, Who.
कः बालकः सङ्गणक अभियन्ता (Which boy is computer engineer?)
अत्र कः नरः चिकित्सकः (Who is doctor here?) अत्र श्री रावः चिकित्सकः (Here Mr. Rao is a doctor)

88. अत्र का बालिका नर्तकी (Who is dancer here?) सा नर्तकी (That is the dancer)
Now learn to count from 1 to 10 in Sanskrit. Please recite the numbers loud and repeat them.
एकम् (Ekam)
द्वे (Dve)
त्रीणि (Trini)
चत्वारि (Chatvari)
पञ्च (Pancha)
षट् (Shat)
सप्त (Sapta)

89.
अष्ट (Ashta)
नव (Nava)
दश (Dasha)
I will continue the lessons may be in a couple of days, in the meantime please revise the lessons, perhaps taking a hard copy and preserving may be useful.

90. Why is it so important to learn Sanskrit and also, learn it in the right way? Because, every syllable has it’s own place. A small mispronunciation could take the meaning to an altogether different place! We will see examples of such instances as we go along.

91. The word Samskritam itself means sound. Sounds are various and each variation makes a different meaning. This alone makes sense to communicate. This variation in sound is organized and in the case of Samskritam it is pretty much perfectly organized.

92. Such an organization is called grammar or व्याकरण.The Sanskrit grammar is so intricate and complex like none other that, it is considered the most unambiguous language in the world.

93. So, while learning, it is very very essential to learn it correctly. Once the cornerstone is strong, any kind of architecture on it will automatically hold up!

94. Other conventional languages are Object-Specific languages, that is, the use of object brings up its picture in the mind. For example, take the word Fan. It immediately brings up its image in mind, it could be a table fan, a ceiling fan or any other fan.

95. The word is used specific to that object. The word fan can have different meanings contextually, but in general it refers to an object. However, in Sanskrit, you are not allowed to have a word that is specific to an object.

96. Does it mean that Sanskrit does not have a word for a Fan or a Tree? Well it does! If it does then how do you say that Sanskrit is not object-specific? An object in Sanskrit has many words.

97. Sometimes even more than 200 words for the same object. So, these synonyms are used for the same object. Each synonym brings out a specific property of that object and not the object. For example, take the word – Fire.

98. In Sanskrit, Fire is referred by many names – अग्नि, अनल, अपित्तम्, ज्वलनम् and so on…Now, Lets take the word अग्नि (Agni). The Root Sound in अग्नि is अग् (Ag) – means to move up. It is describing the property of the flame to rise up when it burns.

99. Every word in Sanskrit comes from Root Sound, which is backed by Seed Sound. This is an advanced subject so we will come to that later.

100. Lets take the word अनल, अनल = न + अलम्. And अलम् (Alam) means enough. The न before अलम् negates अलम् and so अनल means not अलम्, which means not enough. Fire burns up everything and yet it asks for more, which is also another property of fire.

101. Lets take the word शुष्मा (Sushma). The root sound is शुष् (Sush) which means dry. It is the property of fire to dry things up. Thus, it describes the property of the object rather than referring to the object. Sanskrit is a Property-Based language.

102. Another important thing with synonyms is that they are not 100% substitutable by one another. Each synonym has evolved out of a property of that object. The user is left to select the appropriate synonym that brings to the fore the exact property that befits the context.

103. With Property based languages, there is a shift in thinking towards Properties of the object rather than the object itself. So, why properties? With the focus on properties, we tend to forget about objects, because any object can possess that property.

104. Also, it does not matter whether the object changes the form or appears in a new form and the old forms disappear, because properties are eternal. With property based languages, we can visualise a property-based universe, rather than an object-based universe.

105. As properties are everywhere, they are universal and eternal, whereas objects are impermanent. Sanskrit always deals with that which is eternal and universal. This is why Sanskrit is an eternal language, a universal language.

106. Lets take an example of a plough. In Sanskrit a plough is called हल (Hala). In modern times, we use a tractor whereas in ancient times it was called a plough, so the object has changed.

107. In English, we will use different names for these different objects, but in Sanskrit you can refer to a tractor and a plough by the same name – हल (Hala). हल (Hala) is a word that describes its property/function and not the object.

108. Now, either a single object or many objects can possess/exhibit those properties.

109. This allows the mind to associate unrelated objects from different contexts having similar properties, however, I would say with Sanskrit, it becomes more than two properties, not just associate,

110. but polysociate (as I would like to call it), essential for the creative energies to fire up and let one’s imagination take-off.
Furthermore, we can find out the object that manifests those properties, by inspecting and deconstructing the name.

111. Also, it would not matter whether the same property/properties is/are being fulfilled by multiple objects, we can look-up to any object that does the job. In my view, learning different languages shapes our thinking and ultimately affects our actions.

112. With Object based languages, an object is the focal point of interaction and so my thinking naturally would tend to be object-oriented and then I’d describe object’s behaviour and properties as if the object owns it.

113. For example, lets say, if we say that the object is a human being, then it can end up critiquing either of us.
I found that Sanskrit’s signal to noise ratio is very good, that is, very high signal, less noise, thus making it very concise.

114. Composing seed sounds to create root sounds and using root sounds to create still larger words and composing words to create still bigger words is at the base of Sanskrit.

115. So, in Sanskrit Composition is THE way to build-up complexity and this composition is governed by rules.
This to me is also simple design that we find in computer programming when designing programs.

116. Now switching the context to Sanskrit back again, lets look at other aspects. Sanskrit is a very beautiful language and beauty comes from order, symmetry and arrangement.
All of which are complexity reducing elements.

117. Once complexity reduces, things automatically become beautiful. Let’s look at order first. In Sanskrit, if I have to say that my name is कृष्ण.
All of which are complexity reducing elements. Once complexity reduces, things automatically become beautiful.

118. Let’s look at order first. In Sanskrit, remember I have to say that my name is कृष्ण.
I can say it in different ways using the same words and it does not change the meaning of the sentence. For example –
कृष्णः मम नाम
कृष्णः नाम मम
नाम मम कृष्णः

119. In other languages, the order of the words will change the meaning of the sentence, thus violating its integrity. Here, neither the meaning of the sentence changes, nor using the sentence changes the meaning of the context.

120. So, Sanskrit is immensely flexible while arranging the words to construct a sentence without changing its meaning. However that does not mean that there is no order at all. There are places where order needs in a sentence to be respected, else it can alter its meaning.

121. In English language, the famous statement made by Napoleon – “Able was I ere I saw Elba”. Phonetically, whether you utter the sentence from left to right or from right to left, the sentence sounds the same and also the meaning of the sentence is not altered.

122. This is called as a Palindrome. In Sanskrit, such a thing is called विलोम (Viloma). Viloma means reverse. In Sanskrit, you don’t just have sentences but can have ‘palindromic’ poems as well.

123. You can check – Ramakrishna Vilomakavyam. In this if you read it from Left to Right, it is for Lord Rama and if you read it from Right to Left, it relates to Lord Krishna. There are many Viloma Kavyas (विलोम काव्य). काव्य means poetry.

124. Now le’ts look at other creative uses of this language in the past. If you are aware of the Shurpanakha story from Ramayana, especially the part of the story wherein her nose was cut by Lakshmana. She goes back to Ravana and conveys what all happened to her.

125. The poet was faced with the challenge to create a verse that would physically mimic her voice quality to bring out the expression of her pain and without the nose. The poet did not use any nasal or oro-nasal sounds for the creation of the verse.

126. Pure nasal sound (sound produced from the nasal cavity) in Sanskrit is Anusvara whereas Oro-Nasals sound (sounds produced from oral and nasal cavity) are – ङ (ṅa), ञ (ña), ण (ṇa), न (na), म (ma).

127. Yet another example can be found is that of Niroshthya Ramayana.

128. The creator of this observed that when a few people pronounced labial sounds: Pa – प, Pha – फ, Ba – ब, Bha – भ, Ma – म, while reciting Ramayana, they would spray saliva all over and this to the creator was disrespectful.

129. So, the person ended up creating a version of Ramayana where the use of all labial sounds was restricted. This resulted in Ramayana, without the word राम – Rama.

130. All sentences are made up of words and all words are made up of letters. Even though this statement applies to all languages, the exception in Sanskrit is that a word formation has to be meaningful otherwise it has to be discarded. So let us consider the word in Sanskrit.

131. The word in Sanskrit is called पदम्. This word पदम् has been borrowed into Tamil as பதம். This itself shows how ancient is Sanskrit!
मतुप् means 'one who has'. This मतुप् is used in forming words and when we do so it is called प्रत्यायान्त.

132. Example of matup pratyayaanta-s are: हनुमान् (One who has chin); श्रीमान् (One who has wealth); बुद्धिमान् One who has intellect) etc.
सुप्‌तिङ्गन्तं पदम् saya patanjali. That which ends with a sup or ti~ng pratyaya is a word.

133. That which ends with a सुप् प्रत्यय is a सुबन्त. Any noun would be called a सुबन्त. They are obtained by adding सुप् pratyaya-s to a प्रातिपदिकम्-s. They will have 7+1 vibhaktis (cases) and 3 vachana-s (numbers).

134. This gives them 24 forms in their शब्द रूप. There are 3 different linga-s (genders) in सुबन्त-s.
तिङ्ग् प्रत्यय is a तिङ्गन्त . Any verb would be called a तिङ्गन्त. They are obtained by adding तिङ्ग् pratyaya-s to a धातु.

135. The verbs have 3 puruSha-s (persons) and 3 vachana-s (numbers).
There are 10 different kinds of लकार-s (tenses).
Also, there are two different types धातु categories – आत्मनेपद and परस्मैपद.

136. The 7+1 vibhakti-s (cases) are – प्रथमा, सम्बोधना प्रथमा, द्वितीया, तृतिया, चतुर्थी, पञ्चमी, षष्टी, and सप्तमी. Note: सम्बोधना प्रथमा is the additional one.
The 3 vachana-s (numbers) are – एकवचनम् (singular), द्विवचनम् (dual) and बहुवचनम् (plural).

137. The 3 puruSha-s (persons) are – प्रथम पुरुष (Third person in English grammar), मध्यम पुरुष (Second person in English grammar) and उत्तम पुरुष (First person in English grammar).
There are 10 lakaara-s (tenses)

138. 6 of them are कालवाचक-s (indicate tenses) लट् – वर्तमानः (present) – भवति लङ् – अनद्यतनभूतः (past imperfect) – अभवत् लुङ् – भूतः (past) – अभूत् लिट् – परोक्षभूतः (past perfect) – बभूव लुट् – अनद्यतनभविष्यत् (first future) – भविता लृट् – भविष्यत् (second future) – भविष्यति.

139. Four of them are प्रकार-बोधक-s (indicate moods)
लोट् – आज्ञा (imperative) - भवतु;
विधिलिङ् (potential) – विधिः ;
भवेत् लाशीर्लिङ् – आशीः (benediction) – भूयात् लृङ् ;
सङ्केतः (conditional or hint) – अभविष्यत्.

140. (There is one more lakaara called the लेट् that is used mainly in the vedic literature. Hence it is not accounted in the above 10 lakaara-s that are in usage.)

141. An easy verse form to remember them – लट् वर्तमाने लेट् वेदे भूते लुङ् लङ् लिटस्तथा । विध्याशिषौ लिङ्लोटौ लुट् लृट् लृङ् च भविष्यतः ॥
Patanjali says: अपदं न प्रयुञ्जेत – Do not use that which is not a word.

142. PaaNini suggests प्रत्ययलोपे प्रत्यय लक्षणम् – (In the absence of pratyaya, the characteristics of pratyaya apply.)
In pursuit of formation of words, now let us consider the combining of alphabets.
क, का, कि, की, कु, कू, कृ, कॄ, कॢ, कॣ, के, कै, को, कौ

143. (I included the long vowel कॣ (kḹ) for the sake of being complete, but it is never used in real Sanskrit.)
anusvaara, visarga, candrabindu, and viraama
The anusvaara and visarga are written as follows:
कं (kaṃ)
कः (kaḥ)

144. The candrabindu (“moon dot”) shows that a sound is pronounced nasally. It is usually used for nasal vowels:
कँ (ka̐)
Finally, the viraama (“cessation”) blocks the default a sound that a consonant has otherwise:
क् (k)

145. The above letters of the क varga are combinations of consonants (व्यञ्जन) and vowels (स्वर ) for example क् + अ = क; क् + आ = का; and so on.
A consonant cluster is a group of consecutive consonants with no vowel sounds between them.

146. Consonant clusters are common in Sanskrit, so they are common when we write Sanskrit in Devanagari.
Let us take an example कर्म and consider the letter र्म. It is a combination of the letters र् + म् + अ = र्म.The semi-circle over the line found in र्म is called रेप.

147. Another example is in the word हृषीकेश where हृ is a combination of ह् + ऋ.
Now, let's consider the other consonant clusters. Notice that most Devanagari consonants have a single vertical line running from top to bottom.

148. Usually, this line is on the right side of the consonant:
त; ण; स
In many consonant clusters, the first consonant loses this line and attaches to the consonant that follows it as given in the examples given below:
त्स; ण्ड; स्त

149. If ra is second, we add a small tick to the first consonant:
प्र; क्र; त्र
150. But consonants with a “hoop” shape (like ट, ठ, and ढ) use a different symbol instead:
ट्र; ठ्र; ढ्र;
If na is second, we write it in the same way as ra:
प्न; क्न; त्न

151. If ha or da is first and ya or ma is second, we get these combinations:
द्य; द्म; ह्य; ह्म;
If śa is first, it becomes a smaller form that sits on top of the second consonant:
श्र (śra); श्व (śva); श्च (śca);श्ल (śla);

152. If ṣa is first, it often stacks vertically on top of the consonants that follow it:
ष्ट (ṣṭa); ष्ठ (ṣṭha); ष्ठ्व (ṣṭhva);
Voiced aspirated consonants that follow da usually “dangle” off the bottom of the da:
द्घ(dgha); द्ध(ddha); द्भ (dbha);

153. 'ta'( combines in various ways that are hard to predict:
क्त (kta); त्त (tta);
And if three or more consonants are in a cluster, we sometimes get more complex combinations but the way we write and the fonts used in the computer differ so I am not dealing with them

154. (may be I should have written on a piece of paper, taken a picture and posted!)
Punctuation
Modern Sanskrit texts make use of various English punctuation marks, including exclamation points (!), commas (,), and quotation marks (“”).

155. But traditionally, Devanagari uses only a small set of punctuation marks. You can see all of them below:
।; ॥; ऽ;
The first is called the daṇḍa (“stick”), which marks the end of a sentence or the middle point of a verse:
रामो गच्छति।
rāmo gacchati.
Rama goes.

156. The second is sometimes called a double daṇḍa, and it marks the end of a paragraph or verse:
रामो लङ्कां गच्छति। रामो रावणं हन्ति॥
rāmo laṅkāṃ gacchati. rāmo rāvaṇaṃ hanti.
Rama goes to Lanka. Rama kills Ravana.

157. The last is called the avagraha, and it is sometimes used to show that a vowel was removed due to a sound change rule:
श्वेतः अश्वः → श्वेतो ऽश्वः
śvetaḥ aśvaḥ → śveto 'śvaḥ
white horse
ते अश्वाः → ते ऽश्वाः
te aśvāḥ → te 'śvāḥ
They are horses.

158. An avagraha may even be repeated if the vowel removed was long:
सा आस्ते → सा ऽऽस्ते
sā āste → sā ''ste
She sits.
The discussion on word formation will continue.

159. My kind of teaching is sort of extempore and therefore one may think it is disjointed. However there is a continuity in the substance. So bear with me and learn!

160. From letters we formuate words. What are the categories of words in English and I ask this because we are more familiar with the foreign language than Sanskrit. So we have to find out where there is commonolity and where there is difference and why so.

161. (@gvenugopalan raised a question, though I ansered him at that time, I am not sure if he understood that properly. So this is in a way a kind of elaboration on word distinction too.)
In English there are certain classifications as follows"

162. a) Nouns such as boy, girl, Rama, Sita etc.
b) Pronouns such as I, we, you, he, she, it, they etc.
c) Verbs such as walk, run, drink etc.
d) Adjectives such as wonderful, weak, old etc.
e) Adverbs such as lsughingly, quickly, beautifully etc.

163. f) Prepositions such as to, from, by, in, on etc.
g) Conjunctions such as and, or, but, if etc.
h) a, an, the.
i) Determiners such as my, mine, yours, his, hers, theirs etc.
j) etc. etc.!
As opposed to the above in Sanskrit there are only two types of words! What are they?

164. The word is called शब्द (used in usage or पद (used in grammar) which is classified into two. They are:
PaNini says: सुप्तिङन्तं पदम्.

165.
1. सुबन्त (सुप् + अन्त ) = (प्रादिपतिक + सुप् प्रत्यय ) i.e. there is a base called (प्रादिपतिक - प्रातिपाथियति प्रादिपतिकम् ) to which सुप् प्रत्यय is added to make सुबन्त.

166. It has sub-catetories viz. नाम (noun), सर्वनाम (pronoun), विशेषण (adjective), क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) and अव्यय (indeclinable),
What is अव्यय (indeclinable)? It has no equivalent in English so I will come to that later.

167. Now प्रादिपतिक has several types - कृदन्त, तद्दितान्त, समस्तपद etc.
2. तिङ्गन्त is क्रिया orक्रियापद denoting 'verb'. It is दातु + क्रियापद.

168. So, in Sanskrit we have only nouns and verbs. Nouns (सुबन्त ) include what you might consider in English as pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, indeclinables and Verbs तिङ्गन्त or दातु that are spread out into 2104 daatus.

169. English has also grammar parts such as prepositions, conjunctions, articles, determiners etc that are ignored in Sanskrit as some are included in अव्यय (indeclinable) elsewhere.

170. शब्द/पद or words are formed in two ways viz. दातु +तिङ्ग् प्रत्यय or प्रादिपतिक + सुप् प्रत्यय or simply put दातु + तिङ्गन्त.

171. Now, you have to understand प्रत्यय is that which is added afterwards, like it is a dressing. (By, the way the prefix is called उपसर्ग and we will come to that later.)
दातु is natural meaning that (sound) is already there and they are exactly 2104.

172. Even our body is composed of seven daatus! Rest of the body is the dressing up or प्रत्यय only!
In Sanskrit words cannot be formed unnaturally - all words come from the basic 2104 datus.
Let me give you a few datus just in case you are wondering. पठ् , कृ , लिख्.

173. Then comes प्रादिपतिक as the base for the noun formation. There are three ways by which प्रादिपतिक are formed. They are कृदन्त which is दातु +कृत् प्रत्यय. Such word formed are like राम , कृष्ण etc.

174. When such words are formed and सुप् प्रत्यय is added then they become राम : , कृष्ण :, पुस्तकम् etc.
Then comes तद्दिदान्त . This happens when one base is formed and another base is formed based on the first one.

175. For example जनक is a base and based on this जनक another base called जानकी (जनकस्य पुत्रिः जानकिः ) is formed.
Then comes समस्तपद , a compound word that uses two or more bases. जगदीशः Here it is a compound word of two words जगत् and ईशः

176. In Sanksrit compounding of words is general rule employed.
If you imagine, in the very early days before any construction or grammer of the language has taken place the possibility that people spoke in sentences to communicate with each other is in escapable.

177. Then he realized that the sentences are composed of words. Then the words are broken into letters where upon it was found that the letters are unbreakeable and so they are called अक्षर (the imperishable).

178. The sentences formed the literatures of Sanskrit and they are of three kinds. They are:
वैदिक
लौकिक and
दैविक
The important one among the above is लौकिक that comprised of
a) पुराण
b) इतिहास
c) धर्मशास्त्र
d) तन्त्रशास्त्र
e) दर्शनशास्त्र and then comes
f) साहित्य

179. As I said before the sound that was the basic communication got transcribed into अक्षर and they brought into being the words and sentences. The combination of sentences became treasure trove that is bequethed to humanity in the form of literatures.

180. Most of our literatures in Sanskrit is in the form of poems and some in prose. For example the earliest compositions, viz. Ramayana and Mahabharata were written in poetic languages only. So also the Vedas are almost poetic.

181. Now let us continue with the lessons.
Let us recapture some topics we already discussed and add new ones if necessary.
अक्षराणि (alphabets). In Sanskrit, these letters/sounds are called वर्ण.

182. वर्ण are classified into स्वर (swara) (vowels) and व्यन्जन ( vyanjana) (consonants)
स्वरा:
स्वयम् राजन्ते इति स्वरा: says Patanjali. This means that the स्वरा: stand on their own feet and they do not need any support for pronounciation.

183. ह्रस्व स्वराः अ इ उ ऋ ऌ
Transcription a i u ṛ ḷ
दीर्घ स्वराः आ ई ऊ ॠ ॡ
Transcription ā ī ū ṝ ḹ

184.
नित्य दीर्ग स्वरा (No ह्रस्व स्वराः for them).
ए ऐ ओ औ
Transcription e ai o au
व्यञ्जनानि (vyanjanaani)
There are 33 व्यञ्जन in total.
कण्ठव्य क ख ग घ ङ
Transcription k kh g gh ṅ

185. तालव्य च छ ज झ ञ
Transcription c ch j jh ñ
मूर्धन्य ट ठ ड ढ ण
Transcription ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ

186. दन्तव्य त थ द ध न
Transcription t th d dh n
ओष्ठव्य प फ ब भ म
Transcription p ph b bh m
अन्तन्स्थाः (Semi-vowels)
विशिष्ट व्यन्जन य र ल व
Transcription y r l v

187. ऊमाणाः (Sibilants)
विशिष्ट व्यन्जन श ष स ह
Transcription ś ṣ s h

188. Remember we said क to ह are called व्यञ्जन (vyanjana) – consonants. So keep व्यञ्जन in mind! We are now going to talk of what is called the meeting of two consonants called सन्धि (sandhi).
The first one we are taking up is called jashtva sandhi (जश्त्व सन्धि).

189. What happens when When the 1st व्यञ्जन (consonant) of any ‘ वर्ग’ (group) faces a vowel?
Soft consonant (except nasal (अनुनासिक)), the consonant is replaced by the 3rd व्यञ्जन of its respective वर्ग. The examples below will make it more clearer –

190. (i). वाक् + अर्थ = वागर्थ; क् + अ = ग
(ii) सम्यक् + उत्तरम् = सम्यगुत्तरम्; क् + उ = गु
(iii) अच् + अन्तम् = अजन्तम् ; च् + अ = ज
(iv) कश्चित् + उद्यानवनम् = कश्चिदुद्यानवनम् ; त् + उ = दु
(v) कुर्यात् + रामः = कुर्याद्राम; त् + रा + द्रा

191. (vi) सुप् + अन्तम् = सुबन्तम् ; प् + अ = ब
Let’s take up visarga sandhi (विसर्ग सन्धि). There are 4 actually 5 types of visarga sandhi-s.
Let’s start with visarga becomes उकार.

192. When the first word ends with अः and the second words starts with a soft consonant or अ, the visarga becomes उ.
When I say a soft consonant I mean the last 3 vargIya vyanjanas of all 5 vargas. Together, अ + उ = ओ. It will be more clear from some examples below.

193. (i) अधः + गतिः अ + ग become ओ + ग = अधोगतिः
(ii) शिवः + अहम् अ + अ become ओ + ऽ (अवग्रह chinham, stands for ‘अ’) = शिवोऽहम्
NOTE:
Elision means the omission of a sound or syllable when speaking. In Sanskrit it is called अवग्रह or प्रश्लेष-चिन्हं.

194. It is depicted by the symbol S, and is principally to denote the the silent अकार. When written twice as SS then आकार is silent or not to be uttered.
Example of the first:
देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा ।
तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति ॥ २-१३॥

195. Example of the second:
यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते ।
सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥ १३-३३॥
(iii) कुतः गतः अ + ग become ओ + ग = कुतोगतः
Now I will take up with instances where the visarga disappears (लोप).

196. When the first word ends in आः and the second begins with a vowel or soft consonant, the visarga disappears (लोप).
(i) अश्वाः आगच्छन्ति Here : disappears (लोप) and it becomes अश्वा आगच्छन्ति.
(ii) गजाः गताः Here : disappears (लोप) and it becomes गजा गताः

197. When अः is followed by any vowel other than अ visarga disappears. For example, कुतः आगतः Here : disappears (लोप)) and it becomes कुत आगतः
We will take couple more variations of (लोप)) later. Now let’s take up visarga becomes रेफ.

198. Any visarga other than अः/आः (इः/ईः/उः/ऊः/…../औः followed by a vowel or soft consonant, becomes a र् .
(i) हरिः + इयम् ; इः + इ become इर् + इ (with visarga disappearing) = हरिरियम् .
(ii) पतिः + आगच्छति where इः + आ become इर् + आ making it पतिरागच्छति.

199. In such a case, if the second word starts with र्, then the previous vowel becomes long. Example,
भ्रातुः + रक्षति
तुः + र
तू + र
भ्रातू रक्षति
Now let’s take up where visarga becomes स/श/ष-कार. visarga followed by त् /थ् /स् becomes स्.
(i) तरुः + तत्र
रुः + त
रुस् + त

200. तरुस्तत्
(ii) तरुः + साक्षी
रुः + स
रुस् + स
तरुस्साक्षी / तरुः साक्षी (the sandhi is optional for second word beginning with स्).
च् /छ् /श् becomes श्.
(i) रामः + चेत्
मः + च्
मश् + च्
रामश्चेत्
(ii) रामः + शेते
मः + श्
मश् + श्

201. रामश्शेते / रामः शेते (the sandhi is optional for second word beginning with श्).
(iii) ट् /ठ् /ष् becomes ष्.
क्लिष्टः + टवर्गः
टः + ट्
टष् + ट्
क्लिष्टष्टवर्गः
(iv) पुत्रः + षण्मुखः
रः + ष्
रष् + ष्

202. पुत्रष्षण्मुखः / पुत्रः षण्मुखः (the sandhi is optional for second word beginning with ष्)
Visarga preceding क/ख has to be pronounced as a जिह्वामूलीय (jihvaamUlIya – back of the tongue). For eg. काकः काकः becomes काकೱ काकः

203. Visarga preceding प/फ has to be pronounced as a उपद्मानीय (upadmaanIya – breathed at). For eg. पिकः पिकः becomes पिकೱ पिकः
Visarga preceding क्ष has to be pronounced completely as a visarga itself!
(i) सुखः + क्षमी
सुखः, क्षमी
(ii) उद्भवः + क्षोभणः
उद्भवः, क्षोभणः

204. Let me take a break from the dull and drab vyaakaraNa (grammar) and talk something else.
In our country Sanskrit has practically ceased to be a conversational language but alive and well as language of chanting. So we are taking up the topic: How to Chant?

205. The important points to be kept in mind while chanting is to maintain the short and the long forms – While chanting one cannot make a long short and a short long, else the meaning changes.

206. For example, if the word is दिनमणि (DinaMani), दिनमणि = दिन (Day) + मणि (Jewel), so दिनमणि means Jewel of the day and it is a word used for the Sun. Here all the 4 syllables are short.

207. But while chanting, if one prolongs the short syllables then it ends up being long, we get the word दीनमणि (DeenaMani), now दीन means Poor. This changes the meaning.

208. So, if the short gets converted to a long or a long to a short, then we will have problems, however, if long is prolonged then we won’t have any issues.

209. Conjunct Consonants – when 2 consonants come together, then one has to apply some stress on them during articulation. For example take the word – आनन्दमयी (Anandamayi), here the conjunction – Nan has to be stressed.

210. Anusvaara – the dot above the sound which is the pure nasal sound. For example – take the word रामं (Ramam), some pronounce it as Raman and that’s incorrect.

211. Visarga – the 2 dots besides the character. It is incorrectly pronounced by stressing the prominent ह (Ha) as in aspirated sound. For example, like in ‘aha’ or ‘ihi’. The correct pronunciation is aha with ‘a’ less pronounced not elongated as ‘ahaa’

212. Have little understanding of Chandas – the metre in which the mantra is sung. A metre is the physical framework of the verse consisting of number of lines,number of words, arrangement of syllables by short and long and taking correct pauses.

213. The most important thing is that following the above, one can chant in a technically perfect manner.

214. But, no amount of technical perfection based on the knowledge of the language, the understanding of the chandas, the phonetical correctness can make it complete, if the central element भाव (Bhava) is missing.

215. In the absence of भाव (Bhava), the effect of chanting or prayer will not be there. भवेहि विद्यते देवः तस्माद भवोहि केवलम् means that God exists in feelings, hence in order to get the correct connect, it is only the feelings that matter and not the structure or the grammar.

216. Always begin with ॐ – it is the essential sound because it is the essence of all sounds. Every thing in the universe has the stamp of the Divine. With ॐ we can get connected with everything in the creation.

217. Chant ॐ and all will go well. To get the correct articulation of ॐ we need to maintain the 60-40 ratio between O-m, but again, we don’t want to go strictly by this mathematical split, instead go by the भाव (Bhava), the feel.

218. In the tradition, there is a verse, by which we pay our homage and bow down to ॐ. That Mantra is ॐकारं बिंदुसंयुक्तं नित्यं ध्यायंति योगिनः ।कामदं मोक्षदं चैव ॐकाराय नमो नमः ॥

219. The above verse means – ॐकारं बिंदुसंयुक्तं (Omkaram Bindusamyuktam) means Om with the dot, नित्यं (Nityam) means constantly, ध्यायंति (Dhyayanti) means contemplating, योगिनः (Yoginah) means yogis;

220. So the sentence reads – Om with the dot, one that is constantly contemplated by the yogis.
कामदं (Kamadam) means fulfill all the desires, मोक्षदं (Mokshadam) is liberation, चैव (Chaiva) is and, ॐकाराय नमो नमः (Omkaraya Namo Namah) means salutations to Om again and again.

221. So, the complete sentence would be – (ॐ) fulfills all the desires and liberates, salutations to that ॐ again and again.
We always end the chanting with शान्ति मन्त्र (Shanti Mantra) which os ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

222. In this mantra, the word शान्तिः (Shantih) is repeated 3 times. This is because the maximum chaos is at the ordinary level of consciousness – at the physical level, at the vital level and at the mental level.

223. When शान्तिः (Shantih) is said 3 times, we are invoking peace in the physical, peace in the vital and the peace in the mental.

224. Rest of the levels of consciousness are already peaceful, however we don’t feel that peace because of the way in which we function and work, that is, at the ordinary level of existence.

225. Again, like in every chanting, one has to feel the peace within as well, else its just a mechanical chanting – one that is devoid of feeling. Note that after the word शान्ति (Shanti) there is Visargah and we need to articulate it properly.

226. We don’t articulate it like “Shantihi” – ending with हि (Hi) – “ihi” to be precise; instead the correct articulation would be Shaantis Shaantis Shaantih – releasing or giving up the breath as if one is relaxing.

227. Then there is Shraddha Mantra which is an invocation to श्रद्धा देवी (Shraddha Devi). श्रद्धां प्रातर्हवामहे श्रद्धां मध्यंदिनं परि श्रद्धां सूर्यस्य निम्रुचि श्रद्धे श्रद्धापयेह नः

228. What does the word श्रद्धा (Shraddha) mean? It has ranges of meaning – faith, focus, attention, respect, devotion etc… Usually it is used for faith. Srimad BhagvadGita says –

229. श्रद्धावान् लभते ज्ञानं (Shraddhavan labhate gynanam) meaning – one who has श्रद्धा (Shraddha) can attain to knowledge.
However श्रद्धा (Shraddha) is not mere faith, let us look at it deeply by starting with the de-construction of the word.

230. Essentially, there are 2 components in the word श्रद्धा (Shraddha) = श्रत् (Shrat) + धा (Dha). धा (Dha) is a root sound, which essentially means – to hold on to, to cling to, or to grasp, to seize, to take, to place.

231. श्रत् (Shrat) etymologically in the traditional interpretation of the Vedas is सत (Sat) and it means Truth. So, श्रद्धा (Shraddha) means holding on to Truth.
Sri Aurobindo said श्रद्धा (Shraddha) means whatever is true to our aspiration.

232. For example, say, one’s central aspiration is the realization of the Divine, and each and every movement of our being must collaborate with that aspiration.

233. If one part within our consciousness does not want to help and says – No; whereas the other part wants to participate and says – Yes, then we will be living in Divided Consciousness and this means we don’t have श्रद्धा (Shraddha).

234. So, श्रद्धा (Shraddha) means that each and every part, each and every movement of our being comes forward to participate and collaborate with the central aspiration.

235. This is what is meant by Gita श्रद्धावान लभते ज्ञानं (Shraddhavan labhate gynanam), it is not to be interpreted as mere faith, instead, the total sincerity of the being is meant by the word श्रद्धा (Shraddha).

236. प्रातर्हवामहे (Pratarhavamahe) = प्रातः (Morning) + हवामहे (we invoke), so प्रातर्हवामहे (Pratarhavamahe) means in the morning we invoke the presence of श्रद्धा (Shraddha) and मध्यंदिनं means Mid-day. So it means –

237. we invoke the presence of Shraddha Devi in the morning and throughout the mid-day.
सूर्यस्य (Suryasya) means Sun and निम्रुचि (Nimruchi) means setting. Again at the Sunset, we invoke the presence of Shraddha Devi.

238. श्रद्धे श्रद्धापयेह नः means fill us with more Shraddha and Shraddha Devi be founded in us, be seated in us, so that we can proceed on the path of progress.

239. Now try to chant the following from श्री मधुराष्टकम् with श्रद्धा/
अधरं मधुरं वदनं मधुरं
नयनं मधुरं हसितं मधुरम् ।
हृदयं मधुरं गमनं मधुरं
मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥
Sanskrit lessons will continue.

240. In the last lesson we saw that the word is called शब्द or पद and is is classified into two viz. सुबन्त (noun) and तिङ्गन्त .
We also saw that सुबन्त has subcategories and I am giving some examples of them now.

241. नाम (noun) - रामः, सीथा, माथा, बालः
सर्वनाम (pronoun) - अहम , इदम् , सः सा, त्वं, ते;
विशेषण (Adjective) - कोमलः, वीरः, मधुरम् , सुन्दरी;
क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) - अचिरम्; शीघ्रम्

242. The category called अव्यय (indeclineables which term in English is used meaning they do not undergo modification wherever they are used unlike other सुबन्त categories. We add this अव्यय (indeclineables) category under सुबन्त only.

243. Here are some examples of तिङ्गन्त (verb) which are indicated as क्रिया/क्रियपद.
भवतु, गच्छति, करिष्यामि etc.
These are the types of words in Samskrit that takes different forms and in order to identify them and understand the words 'addresses' becomes very important.

244. What are they? The are:
सुबब्द - प्रातिपदिक, अन्त, लिङ्ग, विबक्ति and वचन
तिङ्गन्त - दातु, गण, पद, लकार , पुरुष and वचन
Let us address these 'addresses' in some detail.
Lets us take सुबब्द . Here it ends in अन्त and we are going to examine this.

245. In English we find that words have changes such as 'kick' become 'kicking', kicked etc. or 'beauty' becomes 'beautiful', beautifully' 'beautious' etc. yet they are few. On the other hand Samskrit has enormously changed appearance!

246. Even though the basic word's meaning is understood, the intricacy of Samskrit language lies in knowing the meaning of many different forms the basic word assumes.

247. Here it is based on अन्त, लिङ्ग, विबक्ति and वचन etc and these helps you to understand the word that has undergone a change in the ending.
If it ends in a vowel then it is अजन्त and if it ends in a consonant then it is हलन्त.

248. अजन्त (vowel ending) - अकारान्त (eg. राम), अकारान्त (सिता)
इकारान्त (कवि) ईकारान्त (नदी) उकारान्त (गुरु) ऊकारान्त (वायू ) ऋकारान्त (ऋषि) etc.
हलन्त (consonant ending) तकारान्त (भवत् ), दकारान्त (सुह्र्द्) नकारान्त (ब्रह्मण्) सकारान्त (मनस् )

249. Notice that male names are mostly in अकारान्त (as in Rama) and most female names are अकारान्त (as in सीता, मीना etc.) Remember I said 'most'! दीर्ग ई is used in सावित्री , श्री etc,

250. Form depends on the ending. For example रामस्य and बालस्य (meaning of Raama and of baala) have राम and बाल ending in अकारान्तम्;
शिशोहो and गुरोहो (meaning of शिशु and of गुरु ) have शिशु and गुरु ending in उकारान्तम्;

251. Similarly भवतः and मनसः have same ending as in भवत् and मनस् ending in त् and स्. They are all in singular and they belong to sixth case.
Thus अन्त plays its role in प्रातिपादिक only. It does not affect the verb for example राम गच्छति, मीना गच्छति, द्रौपति गच्छति etc.

252. Now we take up लिङ्ग
In Samskrit also there are three genders:
1. पुल्लिङ्ग (Masculine) as in रामः, कविः , सः, वीरः ETC.
2, स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine) as in सीताः, साः, सुन्दरी etc.
3. नपुन्सकलिङ्ग (Neuter) as in पुस्तकम्, वारि, गम्भीरम् etc,

253. On the subject of प्रातिपदिक-s it has no effect on the verb.
It is based on the word and not on the object it denotes for example wife is भार्या which is स्त्रीलिङ्ग when you say wife is ताराः we find the words ताराः is masculine - पुल्लिङ्ग .

254. But if you use the word कलत्रम् instead of भार्या then you find thaty the word कलत्रम् is neither स्त्रीलिङ्ग nor पुल्लिङ्ग but नपुन्सकलिङ्ग .
So you understand now that the gender is connected with प्रातिपदिक and not with the object it is indicating.

255. So the gender of the word such as कलत्रम् is नपुन्सकलिङ्ग so you focus on the word (प्रातिपदिक ) and not on the meaning or object it indicates.

256. Supposing you consider the English words such as tree (neuter gender), lion is masculine and tigress is feminine but in English if you say वनस्पति is a tree (is an 'it' and therefore a neuter gender but in Samskrit the word वनस्पति is clearly masculine!

257. So the base determines the gender and the base here is वनस्पति.
राम or भाल are always masculine when we conjugate we say रामः, रामौ , रामाः, बालः , बालौ, बालाः but वनस्पति is conjugated as वनम् , वने, वनानि . Or consider पुस्तकम्, then it is पुस्तक, पुस्तके, पुस्तकाः.

258. If the प्रातिपदिक is a विसेशण (adjective) then it can take any gender. For example you take the word 'beautiful'. It will take the gender of the noun it describes. So beautiful is masculine or feminine according to the noun it describes.

259. Such an attenpt to understand the adjectives comes by practice only. We say this because some nouns can be in पुल्लिङ्ग or नपुन्सकलिङ्ग and you would slowly know them by the usage in practice.

260. That is one good reason you have to start speaking in Samskrit and then you will start thinking in Samskrit and then the problems get solved automatically. (easily said than done! It is up tp ypu tp make it 'Easily said and easily done!)

261. Humans now a days expand their gender and there are people who encourage others to feel confused. Luckily the language never confuses itself, it always has three genders.
Now let us take the case of Number which is वचन .

262. In Samskrit there are three numbers unlike in English which has only two viz. singular and plural. In Sanskrit we have as addition called द्विवचन as we observe in the world things exist in pairs.
बालः is one boy; बालौ is two boys and बालाः is many boys'

263. कविः is one poet, कवी are two poets and कवयः are many poets.
सः is he; तौ is two of them and ते is all of them.
The above are males. Now we take up females.
साः is she; ते is two of those females and ताः indicate all of the females.

Categories

More from this author

Related Threads

Popular Threads

Categories

More from this author

Related Threads

Popular Threads

Unroll Thread