Lesson 12

Beginning Prayers:

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

Topic Summary:

• Introduction of pronouns
• Introduction to genders
• Building vocabulary 
• anuswaara rule

Home Work:

• Practice saying little sentence in day to day conversations.

Topic Details:

The pronouns we are discussing today are for - This/here/referring to something near the speaker.

In Sanskrit, this pronoun takes the gender of the subject that it is referring to.  As in any other language, there are 3 genders, namely - masculine(पुंलिङ्ग - puMli~nga), feminine(स्त्रीलिङ्ग - strIli~nga) and neuter(नपुंसकलिङ्ग - napuMsakali~nga).  But in Sanskrit, the meaning of the word has no bearing in deciding the gender of the word!  The way the word is formed, rather, what it ends with, determines the gender of the word itself!  To make this point clear, we shall see some examples below and also build our vocabulary along side.

The pronoun for masculine gender is अयम्.  For feminine gender is इयम्.  And neuter gender is इदम्.  The pronoun word would depend on the reference word.  Masculine gender words generally end with a 'hrasva' vowel.  Feminine gender words end with 'dIrgha' vowels.  Whereas neuter gender end in 'aM'. 

अयं रामः  ayaM raamaH  m. This is raama अयम् अजः  ayam ajaH  m. This is a goat अयं वृक्षः ayaM vRukShaH m. This is a tree अयम् अरिः ayam ariH m. This is an enemy अयं हरिः ayaM hariH m. This is Lord viShNu अयम् आचार्यः ayam aachaaryaH m. This is a teacher अयं गुरुः ayaM guruH m. This is a teacher अयं इन्दुः ayaM induH m. This is moon अयं शिरः ayaM shiraH m. This is a head इयं सीता iyaM sItaa f. This is sItaa इयं कला iyaM kalaa f. This is art इयं छाया iyaM Chaayaa f. This is shade इयं वृक्षच्छाया iyaM vRukShachChaayaa f. This is a tree's shade इयं नासिका iyaM naasikaa f. This is a nose इयं धेनुः iyaM dhenuH f. This is a cow इदं फलम् idaM phalam n. This is a fruit इदं पुस्तकम् idaM pustakam n. This is a book इदं जलम् idaM jalam n. This is water इदं पर्णम् idaM parNam n. This is a leaf  An important rule while writing  the anuswaara, the अं at the end of any word is that, if the following word starts with a consonant, it goes up as in अं.  But if the following word starts with a vowel, then the dot on top becomes a 'half म् (m)' as in अम्.  For example, अयं हरिः (ayaM hariH) अयम् अरिः (ayam ariH) Happy practicing! Ending prayer:  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam ____________________________________________________