s¤p#vES:
INTRODUCTION:
In this first lesson, the student will learn some
expressions of common everyday use. In these
expressions, the verb
Asq (to be) is understood
and is not explicitly used.
Sanskrit, like other classical languages, has three
genders- masculine (m), feminine (f) and neuter (n).
These are indicated in the examples given. The student
is advised to learn these expressions by memory.
The prelude to these tutorial lessons introduced the
vowels and consonants of Sanskrit and also indicated
how they are to be pronounced. The student is advised
to refer to this prelude as well to memorize the basic
letters.
1.1 Here are some common expressions
in the first person.
mm
nam
ram: My Name is Rama (m)
mama
n¡ma
r¡ma©
mm
nam
s£ta My Name is Sita (f)
mama
n¡ma
s¢t¡
mm
nam
SEKr: My Name is Sekhara (m)
mama
n¡ma
¹¦khara©
mm
nam
uma My name is Uma (f)
mama
n¡ma
um¡
mm
dEv:
¢Sv: My God is Siva (m)
mama
d¦vaha
¹iva©
mm
dEv£
pavIt£ My Goddess is Parvati (f)
mama
d¦v¢
p¡rvat¢
mm
p¤æO:
maDv: My son is Madhava (m)
mama
putra©
m¡dhava©
mm
p¤æO£
¢vjya My daughter is Vijaya (f)
mama
putr¢
vijay¡
mm
BtaI
¢vÝN¤ My husband is Vishnu (m)
mama
bhart¡
viº²u
mm
BayaI
pîa My wife is padma (f)
mama
bh¡ry¡
padm¡
mm
¢pta
jydEv: My father is Jayadeva (m)
mama
pit¡
jayad¦va©
mm
mata
s¤Bd#a My mother is subhadra (f)
mama
m¡t¡
subhadr¡
mm
B#ata
¢vjy: My brother is Vijay (m)
mama
bhr¡t¡
vijaya©
mm
Þvsa
m¢Úlka My sister is Mallika (f)
mama
svas¡
mallik¡
mm
¢mæO|
k]ÝN: My friend is Krishna (n)
mama
mitra¨
k¤º²a©
mm
vahn|
taEyaEta My vehicle is Toyota (n)
mama
v¡hana¨
t§y§t¡
Note that the verb "to be" (i.e., the form "is" in English)
is not used in any of the expressions. The explicit
form of the verb
Asq (to be) is always implied in
expressions of this nature and in Sanskrit, as in most
languages, the personal pronoun
mm has no gender.
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1.2 Simple expressions involving a question.
This subsection deals with expressions invoving
a question, the answers to which are similar
to the expressions in section 1.1.
tv
nam
¢k| What is your name?
tava
n¡ma
ki¨
tv
dEv:
k: Who is your God?
tava
d¦va©
ka©
tv
dEv£
ka Who is your Goddess?
tava
d¦v¢
k¡
tv
p¤æO:
k: Who is your son?
tava
putra©
ka©
tv
p¤æO£
ka Who is your daughter?
tava
putr¢
k¡
tv
B#ata
k: Who is your brother?
tava
bhr¡t¡
ka©
tv
Þvsa
ka Who is your sister?
tava
svas¡
k¡
tv
¢mæO|
¢k| Who is your friend?
tava
mitra¨
ki¨
tv
vahn|
¢k| What is your vehicle?
tava
v¡hana¨
ki¨
Observe that there are no question marks in any
of the sentences. In Sanskrit, no punctuation is
ever used. Generally, the punctuation is recog-
nized from the intonation.
Even in the interrogative form, the verb
Asq
(to be) is not explicitly used.
Gender becomes apparent in these sentences as
can be observed with the ending akshara of the
words i.e.,
k: ,
ka and
¢k| .
k: is the masculine form known as
p¤|¢lÄñ: ( pumli°ga©)
ka is the feminine form known as
Þæa£¢lÄñ: ( str¢li°ga©)
¢k| is the neuter form known as
np¤|sk¢lÄñ: ( napumsakali°ga©)
Among the words used in the sentences given
above, the following words are masculine
in gender.
ram:,
SEKr:,
dEv:,
p¤æO:,
¢Sv:,
maDv:,
jydEv:,
¢vjy:,
¢pta,
B#ata
The following are feminine words
s£ta,
uma,
pavIt£,
¢vjya,
dEv£,
p¤æO£,
BayaI,
mata,
Þvsa,
pîa,
s¤Bd#a,
m¢Úlka
Some examples of nouns in the neuter gender are
¢mæO|,
vahnmq
,
nam,
Dnmq
,
jlmq
,
kmlmq
,
AaBrNmq
In Sanskrit, gender is not decided by the meaning
of the word but is fixed by other considerations
such as the form of the word and its ending.
A Note on the word
tv .
The form of address
tv , it should be noted , is
mostly used in circumstances involving persons
who enjoy a close relationship with the person
speaking the sentence. Often, the form with respect
Bvt: (m) or
BvÏya: (f) is used.
However, it is observed that the form
tv was in
regular use in earlier times and did not mean any
disrespect. In keeping with modern trends, we are
following the practice of using
tv for the familiar
form of address and
Bvt:/
BvÏya: for the respectful
form. This is similar to the usage of the German
words "dein" and "ihr".
Demonstrative pronouns.
Masculine
ex: He (who is nearby)
s: He (who is farther away)
Feminine
exa She (who is nearby)
sa She (who is farther away)
Neuter
ettq This
ttq That
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The use of the demonstrative pronoun will
depend on whether the speaker is refering to a
person in the immediate vicinity or someone
at a distance. Essentially, this is equivalent to
the difference between "this" and "that". In
Sanskrit this distinction applies for all the
three genders.
ex: and
s: (masculine)
¦ºa©
sa©
exa and
sa (feminine)
¦º¡
s¡
ettq and
ttq (neuter)
¦tat
tat
Let us look at some examples.
ex:
kak: This (is a) crow
¦ºaha
k¡ka©
exa
mala This (is a) garland
¦º¡
m¡l¡
ex:
mm
gj: This (is) my elephant
¦ºaha
mama
gaja©
exa
mm
BayaI This (is) my wife
¦º¡
mama
bh¡ry¡
ettq
kmlmq This (is a) lotus
¦tat
kamalam
ettq
tv
kmlmq This (is) your lotus
¦tat
tava
kamalam
s:
k]ÝN: That (is) Krishna
sa©
k¤º²a©
sa
k]ÝNa That is Krishnaa (f)
(Krishnaa is a feminine name)
ttq
Aasnmq That (is a) seat
tat
¡sanam
ttq
tv
Aasnmq That (is) your seat
tat
tava
¡sanam
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1.3 Some common expressions used in
daily life.
nmÞtE Greeetings
namast¦
s¤p#Batmq Good Morning
suprabh¡tam
k[Slmq
va How do you do?
ku¹alam
v¡
DÓyvada: Thank you, Thanks
dhanyav¡d¡:
Þvagtmq Welcome
sv¡gatam
DÓyaE¢Þm I am thankful
(I am grateful)
dhany§smi
p¤n¢mIlam: See you again
punarmil¡ma©
XØytamq Please excuse me
kºamyat¡m
S¤BmÞt¤ Best wishes
¹ubhamastu
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Glossary:
Words already seen in the sections.
dEv: - God
dEv£ - Goddess
¢mæOmq - friend
¢pta - father
mata - mother
nam - name
p¤æO: - son
p¤æO£ - daughter
vahnmq - vehicle
B#ata - brother
Þvsa - sister
mm - my
BtaI - husband
BayaI - wife
Here are some more (new) words.
1. Masculine gender
nr: - man
kak: - crow
my¥r: - peacock
vanr: - monkey
S¤nk: - dog
kr: - hand
gj: - elephant
Acl: - mountain
majaIr:
- cat
Aá: - horse
2. Feminine gender
mala - garland
kTa - story
dya - mercy
sBa - hall
Baxa - language
k]pa - sympathy
lta - creeper
S¤n£ - female dog
vanr£ - female monkey
bdva - mare
my¥r£ - peahen
majaIr£ - female cat
nar£ - woman
Sarda - name of a Goddess
srÞvt£ - Goddess of learning
3. Neuter gender
Bvnmq - house
kmlmq - lotus
Aannmq - face
Aasnmq - seat
jlmq - water
Dnmq - wealth
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Exercises.
1. Learn to pronounce all the words introduced in the earlier
sections. Correct pronounciation is essential for Sanskrit.
Make use of the Roman transliteration given alongside when
necessary.
Try and pronounce the following words.
gaE¢vÓd:
Brt:
vamn:
p¤Þtkmq
caâmt£
AâNa
l¢lta
AØba
BaÞkr:
g¢Nt:
laEk:
p¢Îft:
s¤kÓya
lßm£
vaN£
gaEm¢t
2. Using the words intoduced in section 1.4, try
to form sentences similar to those in
sections 1.1 and 1.2.
3. Try and form sentences in Sanskrit.
This is your husband.
That is your son.
This is my lotus.
That is your lotus.
This is Govinda. (m)
That is Vimalaa. (f)
Salutations, Krishna.
See you again, daughter.