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Today's Topics:
1. [Admin] Important list info - Move to google group - Please
read. (Naresh Cuntoor)
2. Learning Sanskrit by a Fresh Approach - Lesson 7 (S. L. Abhyankar)
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 12:11:36 -0400
From: Naresh Cuntoor <nares...@gmail.com>
Subject: [Sanskrit] [Admin] Important list info - Move to google group
- Please read.
To: Sanskrit Mailing List <sanskrit@cs.utah.edu>
Message-ID:
<aanlktilh8lyppnmeoqxw1pturuukzui_40ip8hoac...@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Dear list members,
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------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 13:01:25 -0400
From: "S. L. Abhyankar" <sl.abhyan...@gmail.com>
Subject: [Sanskrit] Learning Sanskrit by a Fresh Approach - Lesson 7
To: sanskrit@cs.utah.edu
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*Learning Sanskrit by a Fresh Approach - Lesson 7*
*
*
This time, I would like to take a longish verse.
???? ??????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ?
??????????? ????????? ????? ????? ??? ?
???????????? ?????? ????? ?????? ????????????? ?
???? ???????? ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ???????? ?
Before proceeding with exploring the meaning of this verse, some interesting
features of this verse -
1. Of course this verse is an ode to Lord RAma. This verse is from a long
enough ????????? known as ?????????????????????
2. Looking at the poetry of it,
Every line has 19 syllables - exactly 19
Weightages of the 19 syllables in every line are 2-2-2, 1-1-2, 1-2-1, 1-1-2,
2-2-1, 2-2-1, 2
This pattern of weightages makes the verse of a meter called as
??????????????????
This meter is very popular with poets, especially those composing verses to
express best wishes to a couple, when the marriage ceremony is being
performed, typically when they would have put garlands on each other.
3. In this verse there are two distinct sentences in each line. So, to
explore the meaning of this verse, we have to understand just 8 simple
sentences. That's it.
Let us start off by the set methodology of exploring phrase by phrase, word
by word.
???? ??????? = ???: ???????
???: = (Lord) RAma
??????? = ???????? ????
???????? = of kings
???? = jewel
???????? ???? = jewel among kings
??? = always
?????? = is victorious
???? ??????? ??? ?????? = RAma, the jewel among kings is always victorious
???? = ????? = to RAma
????? = ??????
?????? = ????: --> ??? --> ??????
????: = ?????? ??? (?????-????????- ?????)
?????? = of RamA ??? is the name of wife of ViShNu
??? = Lord
?????? ??? = Lord of RamA, hence ViShNu
??? = I am devoted to, or I do devotion to.
???? ????? ??? = I do devotion to RAma, (hence) to Ramesha (i.e. to ViShNu)
One may ask, how doing devotion to RAma becomes devotion also to ViShNu. The
logic lies in the mythology of incarnations of ViShNu. Among ten
incarnations (?????????) of ViShNu, RAma is regarded as the seventh. So,
mythologically, ViShNu is the supreme deity, which undertook ten
incarnations in the order - ??????, ?????, ????, ??????, ????, ???????, ???,
?????, ?????, ?????
When I deliberate on this mythology of ????????? to me it appeals to be the
theory of evolution of life. When the globe was cooling down, and migratory
life form had to emerge, it could have emerged only in the more congenial
environment of water and not on the terrains. So first incarnation is
??????, the fish. Next is ?????, the turtle, which could move both in water
and on ground; yet more in water than on ground. Third ???? the rhino, who
loves watery surroundings, but moves on ground of shallow waters. Fourth is
??????, half lion (????), half human (??). Fifth ????, human, rather
dimunitive. Sixth ???????, human, but rather savage, uncultured. Seventh
???, the ideal human. Eighth ?????, adept at the ways of the world. Ninth
?????, the exalted, self-realised soul. Tenth ????? where good and evil
coexist.
Associated with this mythology of ????????? is also the concept of passage
of time, the four Yuga's - ??? ?????? ??????? ???. Incarnation of RAma is
said to belong to ???-??? Not much detail seems to have been mentioned about
????????? The incarnation of ????? is said to belong to ??????????. Present
times are of ??????, where good and evil coexist, rather times, when good is
always challenged by the evil.
Learning Sanskrit is not just for learning a language. It is also a learning
of what can be or what should be the cultured way of life. The language is a
refined language and its literature speaks of refined life, of cultured
life. Knowledge of Sanskrit is hence essential, certainly in ??????. It will
be the real beacon to meet the challenges of the evil without compromising
the refined thoughts and conduct.
??? is also an interesting word. From ??? we have the noun ?????, which has
two meanings - (1) a song of devotion (2) to sing a song of devotion.
By this connotation, ??? means not just "I do devotion", but "I do devotion
by singing a song of devotion".
This word ??? is a declension of the root verb ??? meaning "to do devotion".
>From this verb ??? there is another noun, ?????? which means "devotion". One
can do devotion in any of nine ways. ?????? ?????? Doing devotion by singing
a song of devotion i.e. by ????? is one of nine ways ?????? ?????? There is
a verse summing up all the nine ways of ?????? ?????? Maybe, we can discuss
that verse sometime later.
Presently on to the next phrase.
??????????? = ????? + ??????
????? = by RAma
?????? = consummately killed, destroyed
A little study on both these words -
????? = by RAma
It may be noticed that in the first sentence ???: was the subject. So the
root word ??? was in subjective or nominative case, which is called as first
case ?????? ????????.
In the second sentence, the word was "????? = to RAma" in object case or
accusative case, which is called the second case, ???????? ????????
Here we have it as "????? = by RAma" in instrumental case, which is called
as the third case, ?????? ????????
I guess, you got a good hint of why this verse is chosen for this lesson!
Two sentences in each line, each sentence presenting cases first, second,
third etc. of the root word ???, all in perfect order and every line
perfectly in ?????????????????? meter !
?????? = consummately killed, destroyed. The meaning "consummately" comes
from the prefix ???. There is a large number of prefixes, which can be
prefixed to different words to get a range of shades of meaning of that
word. The prefixes ???????? or ??????? not only help to get a range of
shades of meaning, but do it so crisply, just by a prefix. We have that in
most languages also, e.g. eject, reject, inject, project, adject(ive),
abject
????????? ????? = ?????????: ?????
?????????: = ???? + ?? + ???:
?????? = Here we have a suffix ?? attached to the word ????.
The suffix ?? is derived from the verb ?? meaning "to move, to move about,
to roam". The suffix such as ?? lends the meaning of capability to do the
action of the meaning of the verb. So suffix ?? means capable of roaming.
???? = night
?????? = ???????? ???? ??? capable of roaming in the night, ghost, nocturnal
being. All ???????: of army of ???? had such capability. They were ???????:.
???: = army
?????????: = ??????????? ???: A compound of ????? ???????? type. Army of
beings capable of roaming in the night.
??????????? ?????????: = Army of nocturnal beings was destroyed by RAma.
This sentence is in passive voice. The passive voice is rendered by ??????
which is a past passive participle from the verb ??? + ???
This is another speciality of Sanskrit, that participles derived from verbs
can do the function of verbs, such that a formal verb need not be visible.
????? ????? ???
????? = unto RAma. This is declension of ??? in the dative case, the fourth
case ??????? ????????
????? = unto that This is declension of a pronoun ??? the indicative pronoun
meaning "that", again in the fourth case. Because this pronoun qualifies the
noun ???, both the noun and the qualifying pronoun (or adjective) have to be
in the same case, here the fourth case.
??? = bowing.
????? ????? ??? = bowing (I bow) unto that RAma. Here, "that" hints also to
that RAma who destroyed army of nocturnal beings.
???????????? = ?????? ? ?????
?????? = from RAma, than RAma. This is declension of ??? in the ablative
case, the fifth case ?????? ????????
? = not. An indeclinable used to render negative.
????? = is
?????? = ??????? = ???? ????? A compound of type ???????? . In the
compounded word ? of ????? becomes ?. Hence ??????? from ???? ?????. There
are rules for all such minute variations. We shall not go into all that at
this stage. It is mentioned here just for information. Our focus shall be in
understanding the meaning, than understanding all the grammar.
???? = the other
????? = the action of going, destination, recourse
????? = ?????? Adjective of comparative degree from the root adjective ??. ??
is the suffix which renders the comparative degree of an adjective. The
superlative degree is rendered by suffix ??
???????????? ??????? ?????? = There is no better recourse than RAma.
?????? ???? ? ???????? = ?????? ???? ????? ????
?????? = of RAma ?????? is declension of ??? in the sixth i.e. genetive case
????? ???????:
???? = servent
????? = (I) am
???? = I
?????? ???? ????? ???? = I am servent of RAma
???? ???????: ??? ???? ??
???? = at RAma. ???? is declension of ??? in the seventh i.e. locative
case ??????
???????:
???????: = ???????? ??: A compound of ????? ???????? type
???????? = of mind
??: = resting
??? = always
???? = may be, may stay
?? = for me or of me
???? ???????: ??? ???? ?? = Resting of my mind may always be at RAma or For
me, resting of mind may always be at RAma.
?? ??? ???????? = ??? ??? ???? ?????
??? = an interjection to back a call "Oh" or "Eh"
??? = address to RAma to mean "Eh RAma" ??? as ?? ??? is declension of ??? in
address case ??????-???????:
???? = to me
????? = (please) uplift
?? ??? ???????? = ??? ??? ???? ????? = Oh RAma, please uplift me !
RAma, the jewel among kings is always victoriousI do devotion to RAma,
(hence) to Ramesha (i.e. to ViShNu)
by singing a song of devotionArmy of nocturnal beings was destroyed by RAmaI
bow unto that RAmaThere is no better recourse than RAmaI am servent of
RAmaResting
of my mind may always be at RAmaOh RAma, please uplift me !
Isn't that a good prayer ? It brings out all the ardent feelings a devotee
would have towards one's object or idol of devotion.
The prayer does so by employing declensions of he word ??? in all eight
cases - first to seventh and also the address case !
Actually a noun such as ??? will have declensions not only by cases but also
by number. In Sanskrit, numbers are three - singular, dual, plural called
as ??????? ????????? ????????
Since ??? is a masculine noun having a ? vowel ending it would be good to
have a look at the declensions of ?-??????? ????????? ??? such as ???
meaning "boy"
???????:?????????????????????????????????:????????:?????????????????a????a
?????????????????????????:?????????????????????????????:????????????????????
?????????:????????????????:???????????????????????:?????????????? ????? ??????
????:
You will notice that all the declensions of ??? conform to the patterns of
declension of ???. We have five other words all ? vowel ending, masculine
nouns ?-??????? ????????? ??? in this lesson itself.
Can you find them and list them here ? ______ , ________ , ________ ,
_______ , _______
Pattern of declensions of ?-??????? neuter ??????????? nouns are quite
similar to those of ?-??????? masculine nouns, except in first, second and
address cases.
Let us see declensions of ?-??????? neuter ??????????? noun ???? meaning "a
child"
???????:???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????????????:????????????????????????????????:??????
??????????????????????????:??????????????????:??????????????????????????:
??????????????? ?????? ??????? ???????
We also have some ?-??????? neuter ??????????? nouns here in this lesson.
Let me give out one - ??? meaning "mention, talk, oath".
Can you find three more and list them here ? ________ , _________ ,
_________
Corollary to the masculine ??? and neuter ???? there would be the feminine
noun ????, meaning "a girl". This is of course having vowel ending ? So, it
is ??????? ??????????? ???. Let us see declensions of this also !
???????:??????????????????????????????????????????:??????????????????????:
???????????????????????????:??????????????????????????????:?????????????????
?????????????:?????????????????:???????????????????????????:??????????????
?????? ?????? ????:
We also have some ??????? feminine ??????????? nouns in this lesson.
Can you find three more and list them here ? ________ , _________ ,
_________
We can have an interesting exercise of composing some simple sentences :-
1. We already have a simple sentence. "I am a servant." Can you write that
again ? _____ ______ ______ |
2. In the same manner you can write "I am a boy." ______ ______ ______ |
"I am a girl." ______ ________ _______ |
3. Let us use a simple verb ???? (singular) ???? (dual) ?????? (plural) and
compose sentences -
1A boy speaks______ ______ |2Two boys speak______ ______ |3Boys speak______
______ |4A child speaks______ ______ |5Two children speak______ ______
|6Children
speak______ ______ |7A girl speaks______ ______ |8Two girls speak______
______ |9Girls speak______ ______ |
Doesn't it feel great to be able to compose sentences in Sanskrit ?
Before closing,
(a) ?-??????? masculine ????????? nouns in the lesson were - ????, ??, ??????,
?????, ????, ??????, ????, ???????, ???, ?????, ?????, ????? (adjective),
??????, ??????, ???, ???? (adjective) ????????, ?????, ???? and ??
(b) ?-??????? neuter ??????????? nouns in the lesson were - ???, ?????
(adjective), ?????, ???, ???? (adjective), ?????, ???
(c) ??????? feminine ??????????? nouns in this lesson were - ???, ??????
(adjective), ????,
Declensions of all the above nouns and adjectives shall follow the given
patterns.
Note, adjectives and pronouns will always have gender, case and number
matching with gender, case and number of the noun, which they qualify. Hence
they will have declensions accordingly. This rule is also given by a verse !
????????? ???????? ?? ? ???????? ????????
????????? ???????? ?? ? ???????? ????????????
???????? |
*-o-O-o-*
*
*
--
???????? ,
?????????????????? ???????? |
???????? ?????? ????????? ?
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