An Introduction to Sanskrit

Page 1 of 5

An Introduction to Sanskrit
by: M. R. Dwarakanath

Preface: The following is a general interest article on Sanskrit and is not intended to be the 1st lesson on the subject. The actual lessons will start with the next issue of this journal. The lessons will assume the reader to be familiar with the Nagari script and not much more about Sanskrit. Each lesson will be divided into a number of topics like Conversational Sanskrit, Popular Slokas, Vocabulary, Grammar and other material. The key to gaining a working knowledge of Sanskrit is patience; keep reviewing the old material with each new lesson and soon the rewards will become apparent. To be able to make sense out of written Sanskrit is to be able to break a word cluster into its constituent words, a process called pdzed, and to recognize the parts of speech. To this end minimal grammar will be introduced. However, the grammar will pay big dividends! Finally, the author acknowledges he is no sanskritist but merely a lay enthusiast, playing the role of a facilitator. He requests your indulgence for the many gaffs and errors to be found in these lessons and welcomes your drawing his attention to them. Invocation

Nruttaavasaane Nataraajaraajaha nanaada dhakkaam navapancavaaram Uddhartu kaamassanakaadi siddhaan etadvimarse Sivasootrajaalam At the conclusion ( dance ( and five ( that ( ) times ( ) web ( ). Sanskrit Language: Sanskrit ( properly ( ) crafted ( ) means ) of the cosmic dance ( ) his double drum ( ) like Sanaka et. al. ( ) with the aim of ( ) the lord of ) nine ( ) ) up-lifting ( ). It is ) I wish to

) sounded (

) accomplished souls ( examine (

) of Lord Sivas aphorisms (

) or a refined (grammatically)

language. It is regarded as the language of the Gods. Indeed it is believed that the phonology of all speech was created when Lord Nataraaja sounded his double drum as in the above invocation. Panini was a grammarian par excellence. Although many

file://C:\journal\vol1no1\sanskrit.html

9/7/2007

An Introduction to Sanskrit

Page 2 of 5

grammarians preceded Panini, they are all but forgotten because of Paninis stature much as Shakespeare and Newton eclipsed their predecessors. Panini was considered to be a dull lad, and he ran away from home and practiced severe penance. Lord Siva, pleased by Paninis austerities appeared before him and sounded the drum nine and five or fourteen times. Panini became instantly learned by the grace of the Lord. The sound of Sivas drums transformed Panini into a gifted scholar and this sound contains all the alphabets of Sanskrit and are called Siva Sutras. Sivasootrani

Sivasootrani: When the Siva Sutras are recited with appropriate diction, they do indeed sound like a drum roll. These Siva Sutras play an extremely important role in the study of Sanskrit grammar. The sounds are arranged in a unique pattern and the sounds that are close together in the Siva Sutras are also close to one another phonologically. Panini creates from the Siva Sutras a shorthand notation for alphabet clusters in the following manner: 1. Ignore the final member of each line of the sutras. 2. A group of phonologically related sounds are then

file://C:\journal\vol1no1\sanskrit.html

9/7/2007

An Introduction to Sanskrit

Page 3 of 5

abbreviated by the 1st and last members of the group forming a one syllable shorthand notation. 3. The last member can be (usually is) the last member of any line. Examples: includes: - these are the simple vowels. ) taking one unit of ) are implicitly . The long vowels take two units represents all vowels including and ) or includes the harsh ( ), etc.

Although these are short vowels ( prosodical time, the long vowels ( included. Only there is no long of time to enunciate. Similarly, represents the consonants, un-voiced consonants,

diphthongs or conjunct vowels. The diphthongs are the fricatives (

The Siva Sutras show the grand phonology of the language, yet provide a utilitarian tool to concisely name groups of similar sounds. As we will be returning frequently to Siva Sutras in the study of Sanskrit, it would be well worth the effort to memorize them. - The Alphabets: literally means a garland of letters or characters. The standard organization of the alphabets include : 9 simple vowels, 4 diphthongs, and 33 consonants for a total of 48 characters. This arrangement is well known to readers. Here we arrange the same characters in a slightly different pattern to both display the scientific and mathematical beauty as well for the utility this arrangement affords.

1. The 1st column lists the points of articulation of sound in the vocal apparatus. There are 5 such points : or guttural (throat), or palatal / velar (sound produced with tongue in

file://C:\journal\vol1no1\sanskrit.html

9/7/2007

An Introduction to Sanskrit

Page 4 of 5

contact with the soft palate),

or cerebral (tongue in contact

with the roof of the mouth), or dental (tongue in contact with the back of the teeth), and finally or labial (the lips coming together). 2. The 2nd column lists the 3. The 3rd column lists the or short vowels. or long vowels.

4. Column 4 lists the or unaspirated, unvoiced consonants. Aspiration involves an explosive gush of air released when the sound is produced. Voicing involves the vibration of vocal chords. Neither occurs for this group of sounds. 5. Column 5 lists the consonants. 6. Column 6 lists the consonants. 7. Column 7 lists the consonants. or the aspirated, unvoiced

or the unaspirated, voiced

or the aspirated, voiced

8. Columns 8, 9 and 10 list respectively the the or the semi-vowels and the

or the nasals, or the fricatives.

The mathematical and scientific beauty alluded to earlier may be seen by the logical organization of sounds into a nearly complete matrix by function of the vocal apparatus. This table will greatly facilitate understanding the various sandhi rules and may be worth memorizing the table in this form.

Vowels
: Hrsva, Deergha, Guna and Vrdhi: Although we have seen 13 vowel sounds, they are based on 5 basic vowel sounds. The rest are composite vowels. For now we will introduce the concept of Guna and Vrdhi as a process of strengthening the vowels. How precisely this is done will be seen in a later lesson.

file://C:\journal\vol1no1\sanskrit.html

9/7/2007

An Introduction to Sanskrit

Page 5 of 5

By examining the following pairs of words: ( ), ( ), ( initial vowel of the 1st member of a pair takes second member - a derivative word! Suggested Books:

), ( to form the

), we can see how the

Devavaani Pravesika - Robert Goldman and Sally Sutherland, University of California, Berkeley First / Second Book of Sanskrit - R. G. Bhandarker Karnatak Publishing House, Bombay
Dr. M. R. Dwarakanath has been teaching Introductory Sanskrit for a few years in New Jersey. By profession, he is a scientist in Bell Laboratories. He has a keen interest in vedic learning and vedanta.

file://C:\journal\vol1no1\sanskrit.html

9/7/2007