Introduction to संस्कृत

LESSON 1  

October 29, 2010


We began our very first session of   संस्कृत (Sanskrit) with the traditional Indian greeting

नमस्ते (Namaste)

Namaste is actually the composite of two Sanskrit roots, nama, and te. Te means you, and nama means to bend, bow, or stoop. The two words combined together give Namaste the meaning of "I bow to (the God in) you".

• We explored the evolution of Sanskrit. 
• Discussed the  survival of the language over several millenia in the same form, given the rigorous structure and systematization of the grammar. The role of Panini in developing the sutras and providing the structure which has remained virtually unchanged in over 2500 years has provided Precision in Pronunciation, Reliability and Constancy of thought communication over the ages. 
• We explored the renewal of Sanskrit that is happening around the world in various forms such as scientific, cultural, spiritual, medical and other fields.  

The emphasis of correct pronunciation cannot be overemphasized. For e.g; The word पादम (foot) and पाठं  (lesson) when transliterated in English will both read  "Paadam" . For a student of  Sanskrit the difference is very evident. However, to an unsuspecting reader following the English transliteration, it  is likely to result in the lesson being morphed into a foot because of mispronunciation.

अक्षरः   (aksharah) or the Alphabets of the Sanskrit Language the building blocks for Sanskrit study, consist of 15 vowels and 35 consonants.

The first alphabet in Sanskrit is अ (a) and the last alphabet of the Sanskrit language is क्ष (ksha)   and hence "Akshara" meaning the total body of sounds between the first and last alphabet. 


We began our study with the first two vowels of the Devanagari script

and

Homework:

• Practice one page (100 times) each of the above two letters. Please remember to pronounce each letter as you write them. For quick review of the pronunciation, please use the Hyperlinks by clicking on the Alphabets above.