Lesson 8

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• Question words
• Making question sentences

Home Work:

• Practice asking questions in day to day conversations 
• Revisit verb list and simple sentences

Topic Details:

With a few verbs in the vocabulary and a few simple sentences, we are ready to make start simple conversations!  A conversation comprises of at least two parties.  One asks a question and the other answers it.  How to ask questions, is the question now :).  Well, using questioning words, ofcourse!  Most questioning words in sanskrit start with क्.  There are exceptions always.  Below are a few such words

किम्	what
कुत्र	where
कः	who
किमर्थम्	why
कदा	when

Now putting together these words with verbs, makes questions!  Examples-

भवान् / भवती किम् पठति?
What will you read?

अहं पाठं पठामि।
I read a lesson.

भवान् / भवती किम् लिखति?
What will you write?

अहं पाठं लिखामि। 
I write a lesson.

भवान् / भवती किं पिबति?
What will you drink?

अहं जलं पिबामि।
I drink water.

कः जलं पिबति?
Who drinks water?

रमेशः जलं पिबति।
Ramesha drinks water.

कः उद्यानवनं गच्छति?
Who goes to the park?

प्रिया उद्यानवनं गच्छति।
Priyaa goes to the park.

प्रिया कुत्र गच्छति?
Where does Priyaa go?

प्रिया उद्यानवनं गच्छति।
Priyaa goes to the park.

भवान् / भवती किं करोति?
What do you do?

अहं पाठं पाठयामि।
I teach a lesson.

भवान् / भवती किमर्थं आगच्छति?
Why do you come?

अहं पठितुम् आगच्छामि।
I come to learn.

भवान् / भवती कदा आगच्छति ?
When will you come?

अहं श्वः आगच्छामि।
I will come tomorrow.

(Add भवान् / भवती as per gender, to the above sentences).

The rule to write र् in a samyuktaakShara were postponed earlier.  So, here they are -

If a र् comes before another consonant, then it is represented as 'a half sickle on top of the following consonant'.  Ex. र्क, as in तर्क (logic)
If a full र comes after any other half consonant, it takes the form of 'a slash under the consonant preceding it'.  Ex. क्र तक्र (curd).

Happy practicing!

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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Lesson 7

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• Revision of writing swarayukta vyanjana-s 
• More verb vocabulary

Home Work:

•  Revisit verbs list, practice writing them with meanings

Topic Details:

It is not enough to know the rules to write, but reinforcing the learning and constant revisiting becomes essential.  In this lesson, we write and practice the swarayukta vyanjana-s for different consonants. Check swarayukta vyanjana-s list. 

More additions to the verbs list.  New verbs learnt, new meanings comprehended. 

भवति
अटति
गायति
चरति
चलति
जयति
जपति

Make sentences with the new verbs for first, second and third person forms, with the I, you, he/she pronouns, along with understanding the meanings.

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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Lesson 6

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• Writing samyuktaakShara-s
• Making short sentences

Home Work:

• Practice writing sentences

Topic Details:

Writing samyuktaakShara-s  has paved way for learning more sentences.  Cannot emphasize enough about practicing!

भवतः नाम किम्?
What is your name? (when asking a male)

भवत्याः नाम किम्?
What is your name? (when asking a female)

मम नाम .....।
My name is ...... (There will be no gender difference in 'my' obviously :).

भवान् किं लिखति?
What will you write?  (when asking a male)

भवती किं लिखति?
What will you write?  (when asking a female)

अहं पाठं लिखामि।
I will write a lesson.

भवती कुत्र गच्छति?
Where will you go?  (when asking a female)

अहम् उद्यानवनं गच्छामि।
I will go to the park.

Make more such sentences with the verbs learnt.  Building vocabulary thus will pave way to making little conversations and also being able to comprehend little shlokas, subhaaShitaa-s, etc.  Most important is, practice!

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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Lesson 5

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• More examples of making syllables
• Verbs revision
• Make simple pronoun and verb sentences

Home Work:

• Practice writing the alphabet
• Write sentences for all the verbs learnt so far

Topic Details:

Writing the samyuktaakShara forms for त-वर्ग, प-वर्ग and अवर्गीय व्यञ्जन (य thru ह) are done in this lesson.  Those that do not have the ending vertical line are written with a small slash on the bottom, as in, ट्, ठ्, ड्, ढ्, etc.  Check samyuktaakShara list for the same.

There are a few special representations for some combinations that appear often in the language.  They are

क् + ष = क्ष 
त् + र = त्र
ज् + ञ = ज्ञ 

We will deal with र् in the next lesson.

Verbs are put together with pronouns to make little sentences.  The words for I, me and he can make sentences with the 3 different verb persons we have seen earlier.

अहं - I
त्वं - you
सः - he

Example sentences would be

अहं पठामि
त्वं पठसि
सः पठति

अहं लिखामि 
त्वं लिखसि
सः लिखति

अहं वदामि 
त्वं वदसि
सः वदति

Try making such sentences with the rest of the verbs learnt so far.

We shall learn more sentences in the next lesson.

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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Lesson 4

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• Writing सम्युक्ताक्षर-s (samyuktaakShara-s)
• Extension of verb knowledge with first, second and third person forms
  

Home Work:

• Practice writing स्वरयुक्त व्यञ्जन-s (swara-yukta vyanjana-s) from त् to ह्

Topic Details:

We have seen the making of syllables, by blending consonants with the vowels.  Another way of making syllables is, consonants with consonants. A vyanjana in the pure form is only in क् form.  When a vyanjana in its true form comes in the middle of a word, it is represented differently.  The general rule for those with an ending vertical line is that, it drops the vertical line when in conjunction with another vyanjana.  Examples are -

ख् becomes ख्‍
ग् becomes ग्‍
च् becomes च्‍
छ् becomes छ्‍
ज् becomes ज्‍
झ् becomes झ्‍

so on and so forth.  (See samyuktaakShara list for more examples.)  This will be followed by the next vyanjana, when in the middle of a word.  For example,

गच्छति (goes)
Here, a च् is followed by a छ, hence becomes च्छ

आगच्छति
Here also, a च् is followed by a छ , hence becomes च्छ 

कृष्णः
Here, a ष् is followed by a ण, hence becomes ष्ण


The verbs for third person singular, end with -ति.  We saw examples in the previous lesson.  To use the same dhaatu-s (verb roots) for second person singular, the suffix would be -सि.  The suffix for the first person singular is -आमि.  Examples are in the verb list.  

We shall see more examples of syllables made of consonants with consonants in the next lesson.

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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Lesson 3

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• Understanding swara-yukta vyanjana-s
• Basic verbs
  

Home Work:

• Practice writing स्वरयुक्त व्यञ्जन-s (swara-yukta vyanjana-s) from क् to ण् 

Topic Details:

With the knowledge of the set of alphabet, the next step is to learn making syllables out of them.  A syllable can be made with a combination of vyanjana-s  and swara-s.

When consonants are joined with vowels, they make swara-yukta vyanjana-s (literally meaning, vyanjana in union with a swara).  It is like a simple math equation that can be shown as below -

क् + अ = क
व् + अ = व
ल् + अ = ल

क् + उ = कु
व् + उ = वु
ल् + उ = लु

क् + ओ = को
व् + ओ = वो
ल् + ओ = लो

Note that when we write the vyanjana-s in the alphabet, they are already combined with the first of the swara-s, अ, for the ease of pronunciation.  All the combinations can be seen in the swarayukta vyanjana-s list.  This helps in making syllables easily.  Next lesson, we shall see how consonants can be combined with consonants, to make complex syllables!

With the knowledge of alphabet learnt so far, we shall see some very basic verb forms.  The verbs are derived from a root.  The 'root verb' is called a धातु (dhaatu).  The verbs do not change forms based on the gender but change their ending suffix based on the first/second/third person.  So also, the singular and plural.  'Dual' is a special number in Sanskrit.  We shall see that as we go.


The verbs for third person, singular, end with -ति

Check the verb list for examples.

We shall see the first and second person verbs in the next lesson.

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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Lesson 2

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• Writing vyanjana-s
• Understand the grouping of vargIya vyanjana-s

Home Work:

• Practice writing vyanjana-s dealt so far, along with swara-s

Topic Details:

After learning the set of vowels, the next step is, learning the consonants (vyanjana-s).  The consonants are separated into two categories - vargIya (grouped) and avargIya (ungrouped) vyanjana-s.  In the 'grouped consonants' there are 5 different groupings and they are written on different lines as per their grouping.  There is a very important reason for such grouping.  Can not emphasize enough, how complex and avant-garde the entire language is!!  Beginning from the arrangement of the alphabet, the language is highly linguistic and phonetic.  There is science behind the language which comes as naturally as leaves to a tree!  To see the specialty of it one needs to see how the alphabet are categorized!

• The first varga (group), consisting of क, etc., are all pronounced from the base of the throat.

• The second varga (group), consisting of च, etc., are all pronounced by touching the tongue to the front of the palate. 

• The third varga (group), consisting of ट, etc., are all pronounced by rolling the tongue all the way, as if towards the head.

• The fourth varga (group), consisting of त, etc., are all  pronounced by touching to tongue to the teeth.

• The fifth varga (group), consisting of प, etc., are all pronounced by touching the lips to each other.

 If not pronounced from the right spot, the sound the comes cannot be accurate!  Even the avargIya vyanjana-s can be identified similarly, as per the origination of their sounds.  See alphabet grouping for the same.

This very science behind the arrangement of the alphabet becomes the foundation for a lot of linguistic intricacies of the language. 

While learning to write the alphabet, it is very essential to follow the right order for the set of strokes that make each alphabet.  Remember, we are not writing some random designs!  It is not only important for the alphabet to look a certain way, it is essential to be written a given way as well.  The one common rule for all alphabet is, the line on the top, is written last of all.  After writing the entire alphabet, the top line is written.  Another general rule is, if there is a small circle at the beginning of the alphabet, that part of the alphabet does not get the line on top.

Happy practicing! While writing always sound out the alphabet.  That is the only way it can be reinforced in the mind and make the practice worthwhile!  We will see the avargIya vyanjana-s in the next lesson.

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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Lesson 1

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• Introduction to Sanskrit
• Alphabet arrangement
• Writing swara-s

Home Work:

• Practice writing swara-s

Topic Details:

'Sanskrit', also referred to as 'devabhaasha', is a very ancient and complex language.  It's origin is older than the oldest of the languages. It is highly scientific, phonetic and linguistically advanced language.  There is culture, spiritual, moral, medical, mathematical, grammar, astronomy, architecture, art, drama, poetry, humor and many other genre of literature in the language!!  The variety, richness and depth of topics are unsurpassed yet!  The guru-s of the past transcended knowledge to their pupil, exclusively in Sanskrit.

The grammar is so intricate and complex like none other that, it is considered the most unambiguous language that is suitable for programming computers even!  Only, we need people very well versed in both computers and Sanskrit...

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.  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, isn't it!

Every language comes with its own set of sounds and can be very different from another language.  For ex., the sound 'a' makes in English, is completely different from the sound A  (a) makes, in Sanskrit!  There is no 'a' equivalent of one in another language!  To begin learning any language, the first thing one needs to know is the set of sounds that make up the language, i.e., the alphabet set.  In Sanskrit the alphabet set, it is called 'akSharamaalaa'.  The specialty of the alphabet set in here begins with - the very arrangement of the alphabet!  All the vowels are grouped together and are called 'swara'-s. With the swara-s two special alphabet, namely, 'anuswaara' and 'visarga' are included as well.  In the swara-s there are two types - hrasva, deergha.  hrasva is a short vowel, where as, deergha is a long vowel. Check the akSharamaala page for the descriptions and categorizations of the vowels.

Consonants will be dealt in the next lesson.

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam 

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