pronoun

l Article

4 sloki.

Chatusloki are four  Sanskrit slokas dedicated to Mahalakshmi.They were written by Sri Alavandar the Sri Vaishnavaite acharya of 11th century AD. He preceded Sri Ramanujar.
Chatusloki is the very first set of slokas on Mahalakshmi in our tradition.These slokas can be recited by all .Till such time only the Vedic slokas  known as SriSuktum in praise of Sri was prevalent.

.Chatusloki  which is in praise of Sri or Lakshmi ,  are concise in form but also explain in great clarity the auspicious qualities of Sri as are found in earlier scriptures.

Thaniyan  are slokas ,that state the meritorious qualities of the author of religious scriptures .They are not part of the main scripture.
The following Thaniyan is a popular Thaniyan on Sri Yamunacharya or Sri Alavandar by Sri Ramanujar.

Swadhayan iha sarveksham trayanthar thum soodhargraham

stotrayamasa yogindhar thum vande yamunahyam.

Sri Alavandar who is best amongst yogis has understood and enjoyed the deep meanings and philosophies found at the end of three Vedas ,Rig, Yajur and Sama,
Philosophies whose accurate meanings are very difficult to understand.
He not only tasted with relish the deep eternal meanings but also made others develop a taste to relish the essence of Vedas by writing devotional books.
I bow before Yamunachari ,the great man who is full of such meritorious qualities.

Sri Alavandar has written 8 books as per Swami Desikan.They are--

Agamaramanyam-In this book Alavandar refutes the objections raised by all those people envious of the rapid spread of Sri Vaishnavism in10 and 11th cent AD ,They protested against the rituals followed in Sri rangam temple demanding that they be stopped arguing that since the deity Sri Ranganathar was a gift by Rama to Vibeeshan ,Sri Ranganathar ,the principal deity  of the temple was from North and hence his worship and rituals should be discontinued.

Alavanadar successfully established the sanctity and relevance of following Pancharatra rules which are said to be given by Bhagwan himself, to  this  temple.

Mahapurusha nirnayam -In this he establishes that 'Purusha mahantam Vedahamenth' in purusha suktam refers to Sriman Narayana by giving suitable replies to objections raised by Saivaites.

Samsitsidhee,--He wrote this in his 16 th year whilst in a debate with Adavaiti scholar Akki aazwar in Chola kings court regarding the interpretation of  slokas in scriptures   and won the debate and therefore a region to rule.

the   Atmasidhee and Eeshwara sidhee  refutes the 3 sidhees of Advaita Philosophy.

Geetarth Sangaram---He has given the essence of Gita in just 33 slokas.

.Stothra ratna--Are slokas in praise of Bhagwan Maha Vishnu.They are exquisitely worded and sublime and laid the base for  Sri Desikan to develop and expand in his innumerable slokas  few  centuries later.

Chatusloki--4 slokas in praise of MahaLakshmi   .

Alavandhar is also credited with integrating Sanskrit letters like ksha, saa,sha and haa into Tamil and introduced writing Sanskrit language in Tamil.The source of this inspiration was Malayalam language whose flexibility and integration showed him the way .He studied that language in Trivandram and then introduced the changes in Tami. 

Asmath gurubyo namaha

Srimathe Nigamaantha mahaguruve namaha

Srimathe Bhagavat Ramanujaya namaha'

Srimath Yamuna muniye namaha:

Thanian---Namo Namo Yaamunaya YaamunayaNamoNam:

                Namo Namo Yaamunaya Yaamunaya Namo Nam:

Sri Alavandar's Sri Alavandar's चतु :श्लोकी .

 कान्तस्ते पुरूषोत्तम : फणिपति :शय्यासनं  वाहनम्

    वेदात्मा विहगेश्वरो ,यवनिका माया जगन्मोहिनी |

    ब्रह्मेशादि सुरव्रज :सदयित :त्वत्ध्धास दासिगणा :

    श्रिरित्येव च नाम ते भगवति !ब्रूम :कथं त्वां वयम् ?

Kanthasthe  purushothama ,pannipadhi saiyasanum vahnaum,

Vedathma vihakesvaro yavanika maya jaganmohini

Brahmesaadhi sooravraja sadhayidha tvaththasa dhasigana

Sreeth yeva sa naama dey Bhagavathibrumha kadham tvam vayam.

MahaLakshmi ! You are blemishless and full of auspicious qualities like intelligence, strength, wealth,extra ordinary abilities,changeless self and brilliant luminosity.
Purushotama the Bhagwan Sriman Narayana who is superior to all men is Your husband , He is the desire of Your heart.
Adi Seshan who is leader of all hooded serpents  and who is also the leader of all Nityasuris is Your sacred bed as well as Your seat of throne.
Garuda ,the personification of all Vedas and leader of all birds that fly is your vehicle as well as Your throne!

The amazing deeds the primieval Prakruti is capable of doing and which induces all the people of this world to be desirious of contrasts, is within You.
A curtain of  illusion covers the realisation of this eternal being .Those who transcend this illusion will attain Mukthi.
Brahma and Siva along with their consorts and family as well as all  the Devas are your companions.
Sri is Your sacred and auspicious  name and You are full of infintely good qualities ,
This being the fact ,how is it possible for us mere mortals to worship  and praiseYou in a befitting manner?

 यस्यास्ते महिमानम् आत्मन इव त्वद्व् ल्लभोपि प्रभु :

नालं मातुम इयत्या निरवधिं नित्या नुकूलं  स्वत :

तां त्वां दास इति प्रपन्न इति च स्तोष्याम्यहं   निर्भय :

लोकैकेश्वरि !लोकनाथदयिते !दान्ते  दयां ते  विदन् ||

Yesyaasthe mahimanam atmana iva tvath vallabhobi prabhu

naallum maadhum iyathiya niravadhim nithya anukulum swathaha

thaam thvum dhasa ithi prapanna ithi sa stosh yaamyahum nirbhayo

lokai kesvari !lokanatha thayidhe!thaanthe daiyaam dhe vidhan|

O MahaLakshmi ,the consort of Narayana ,who is the incomparable leader of all worlds,
Your beloved Narayana's  greatness is immeasurable and is beyond words and hearts.
Narayana has been worshiped since time immemorial and His greatness has been extolled by devotees and Nityasuris and they continue to do so and yet all of them are unable to fathom even a fraction of His greatness .
Devi! You too posses such immeasurable infinite greatness and powers ,which does not cause harm to any one but is beneficial to one and all.
Your maternal instincts of kindness, compassion and lack of hesitation in forgiving instantly the mistakes in all serves to soften Bhagwan Narayana's harsh quality of meting out punishments .

[e.g Sita  asked Rama to forgive Kaksura ,the asura in form of crow ,who had hurt her .she also forbade Hanuman from annihilating Rakshashis who had tortured her in her year long internment at Ashokavanam at Lanka . Sita is avatar of MahaLakshmi.]
Devi! You are the beloved of the leader of all worlds .Your easy accessibility to all those who have controlled their senses  is owing to Your motherly compassion .
I fearlessly take refuge in You and worship You in the manner in which all true devotees of Bhagwan Narayana can easily approach Him ,owing to His kindness and fondness towards all His devotees.


         ईषत् त्वत्करुणनिरीक्षण सुधा सन्धुक्षणाद रक्ष्यते

         नष्टं प्राक् तदलाभत  : त्रिभुवनं सम्प्रत्यनन्तोदयम् |

         श्रेयो न हयरविन्द लोचनमन :कान्ता प्रसादाद् ऋते

       संसृत्यक्षरवैष्णवाध्वसु  नृणां सम्भाव्यते कर्हिचित् |\




yeeshadh tvathkaruna niri kshana soodha sandhu kshanath rakshayadhe

nashtum prakthalapada tribhuvanum samprath yanunthodayam

Sreyo na hayaravindha losana mana kaantha prasada trudhe'

samasruthya ksara vaishnavaathsoo nrinum sambhav yadhe gharhichith|

Mother of all worlds ! Engulf us in your compassionate blessings which is but a drop  of Your infinitely  nectarine vision , which is seeped with good fortunes and which You have showered on us all now .
Previously as this world was bereft of Your auspicious and kind vision ,famine ,greed ,immorality and falsehood stalked this earth.
But now the world is brimming with auspicious wealth and fortunes owing to Your protection.
Devi! The beloved of the lotus eyed Narayana,if You do not bless a person ,he or she  cannot even imagine gaining and enjoying the various sensual pleasures of this world ,neither can one attain Kaivalyam after ones death nor reach Vaikuntum by attaining Moksham.

Explanations-

Explanation 1.As per Sri suktum and Vedas good fortunes means and includes the following--
Good spouse, house, children, friends, cereals, wealth,disease free body , absence of enemies, good thoughts, good desires , energy and activity without sloth and laziness , pure speech, healthy cattle, good stature and form, good food and good qualities.

Explanation 2 . As per Vishnu Purana --before this world came under  protection of MahaLakshmi ,it was stalked by famine and ill will  owing to the reign of Moodevi .Moodevi is the elder sister of Sri or MahaLakshmi Thaayar.She came out of the milky ocean when it was churned by Deva's and Asuras for amruthum.She came out  before MahaLakhmi appeared.She came along with poison  which was drunk by Siva to save this world .In the reign of this Moodevi  world witnessed famine, hunger and dirt.

Explanation 3.Unlike Saktas who worship Lakshmi alone and unlike Saivaites who consider worshipping Lakshmi as futile .,Sri Vaishnavaites relying upon Vedic authorities establish the fact that MahaLakshmi Thaayar enjoys powers which are equal to her consort MahaVishnu.Powers that include the power to create and the power to grant liberation or Moksham.
This capacity and quality of MahaLakshmi Thaayar which is at par with MahaVishnu/Narayana and runs concurrently along with Narayana  is stated in Vedas, Katha Upasnishad and Sri Suktam 

          शान्तानन्त महाविभूति परमं यद् ब्रह्म रूपं हरे :

          मूर्तं ब्रह्म ततोपि  तत्  प्रियतरं रूपं यद् अत्यदभुतम् |

          यान्यन्यानि यथासुखं विहरतो रूपाणि  सर्वाणि तानि 

         आहु :स्वै: अनुरुपरुप विभवै :गाटोपगूटानि   ते ||   

         

             Shantha nanda mahavibuthee brahmam yath bramharupam harey    

   Moorthum bramha thadhos pidhut priyadharum rupam yath adhyuthbhudum

Yanayan yani yadhasooghum viharadho rupanni sarvani dhani

Aahoo svai anurupa rupa vibhavai kaadopa koodanidhe


The sacred form of Hari is devoid of six waves  such as hunger, thirst, desire, sorrow ,disease and death which all those caught in the ocean of birth ,death and re -birth are subject to.
He is faultless .Neither is He measurable by time , space and material nor is He bound by it.
He is the absolute ruler of the universe and in dweller of all beings both in this world and in Vaikuntam
Nothing is above Brahman , who is full of all kinds of greatness.
His sacred form is beautiful, majestic, gigantic and amazing.
He is eternally blissful  and at all times enjoying His sports.
He also takes several forms in this world like Varaha,Rama avatar and so on, from time to time.
Devi has all the above nature and qualities of Hari .
Since She is inseparable from BhagwanNarayana,she also takes corresponding avatars .[Like Sri took avatar of Sita as the spouse of Rama when Narayana  took the avatar of Rama.]

In conclusion ,Sri or MahaLakshmi Thaayar's power and splendour is equal to that of Narayana.Without her interceding on our behalf Moksha cannot be attained.

Owing to Her motherly qualities of kindness and forgiveness ,Her blessings are available to all. She intercedes on our behalf on one hand and on the other gives us  a chance to reform so that we  may reach His sacred feet ,smoothly.

eg--The crow kakasura that bit Sita inviting the wrath of Rama , had nowhere to hide from Rama's arrow, fell on  Sita's feet who immediately forgave it and stopped Rama from killing it.

Though Sri is as capable as her consort to destroy enemies ,she refrains from doing so ,like  a truly obedient wife who needs her husband's assent to undertake  any harsh missions.

eg--Though Sita was capable of burning to ashes Ravana , she tells Ravana that she will not do it as she didn't have the permission of her husband and her lord to do so.



                         

4 months

Chaturmas (Sanskrit: चातुर्मास, Cāturmāsa) is a holy period of four months (July to October), beginning on Shayani Ekadashi—the eleventh day of the bright half, Shukla paksha, of Ashadh (fourth month of the Hindu lunar calendar)—until Prabodhini Ekadashi, the eleventh day of the bright half of Kartik (eighth month of the Hindu lunar calendar) in Hinduism.

Chaturmas is reserved for penance, austerities, fasting, bathing in holy rivers and religious observances for all. Devotees resolve to observe some form of vow, be it of silence or abstaining from a favourite food item, or having only a single meal in a day.

The sun enters the zodiacal sign of Karka (Cancer) and begins to move southwards in the month of Ashadh.

The eleventh day of Ashadh is called Devashayani Ekadashi, because in Hinduism, Devas (demigods) are believed to begin to sleep on this day. They are believed to wake up on the eleventh of Kartik, hence called Prabodhini Ekadashi. The period corresponds with the rainy season in India.

It is believed that Devas are at rest during this period and should not be disturbed, so no auspicious ceremonies, such as weddings and thread ceremonies, are held during the four months' period.

Chaturmas, inauspicious for weddings and other celebrations, is a suitable time for householders to have an annual renewal of faith by listening to discourses on dharma, and by meditation and vrata (self-control). Penance, austerities, religious observances, recital of mantras, bathing in holy rivers, performing sacrifices, and charity are prescribed. Fasts and purity during this period help maintain health, for which there is likely a scientific rationale, disease spreading more readily with the onset of monsoon.

A number of Hindus, particularly those following the Vaishnav tradition, refrain from eating onions and garlic during this period. In Maharashtra, a number of Hindu families also do not eat any egg plant (Brinjal / Aubergene) preparations.

The Sanyasis or ascetics observe Chaturmas for four fortnights, beginning on full moon day of the month of Ashadh, also known as Guru Purnima or Vyas Purnima, and ending on full moon day of the month of Bhadrapada. Sanyasis are supposed to halt during this period at one selected place (Rains Retreat), and give discourses to the public.

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noun for children.

reason M

 These conversations were held from December 18, 1925 to November 20, 1926. Pavitra, a French engineer of the Polytechnic School, arrived at Pondicherry on the 17th of December, 1925, having come from a Mongolian lamasery where his spiritual search had driven him, after his having spent four years in Japan. He never left Pondicherry again, where he lived for forty-four years in the service of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He left his body on May 16, 1969. These brief conversations were noted from memory, most of the time in French, except towards the end. Hence, they do not represent the exact words of the Master, but are as faithful a record as possible. Pavitra was then 31 years old  

  Tuesday, December 22, 1925 It seems to me that there are two levels in the mind: the first attends to images and forms; the second to words and ideas. Beyond this is the principle of comprehension (Buddhi). I can easily dissociate myself from the lower mind. When I recall to memory an idea or phrase which I have just expressed, I can also remain detached. But when for instance, I reason, I am one with my mind (more exactly Buddhi is joined to manas). This is true — but there is yet a third thing, it is the mind in itself, different from the forms and ideas it produces. It is a principle which pervades the whole universe — calm and transparent. Most people — and you also — identify yourself with the mind and its activities: you confuse the mind and its activities. You must succeed in separating yourself from Prakriti and knowing yourself as the Purusha. The method I was taught was to kill all thoughts when they appeared before me, quite simply by looking at them steadily. You say that you sleep, for indeed the only form of silence ordinary man knows for the mind is sleep. But this must be overcome — it is a known obstacle which all must overcome. Reject sleep as you reject other ills of the lower nature. You have the strength to do it, being the Purusha. Then one of the following two things will happen: either you will remain fully conscious but with the mind empty, or you will have this consciousness but not in the waking state, that is, you will be in Samadhi. So, this work is the first step for you.  

  Friday, December 25, 1925 Remaining attentive facing my thoughts — I found that they disappeared immediately on my looking steadily at them. The means of killing them, hence, is to watch attentively and, as soon as one becomes conscious of any, destroy it thus. This succeeds quite well in the region of words but less in that of images. I can manage to remain thus, conscious only of my attention. But the mind is not dead. I feel it behind the door. At certain moments I have the impression that I shall soon lose consciousness (?). Good, but you are still conscious of your effort to kill the thoughts. This is natural, but in time this will disappear also. As for the loss of consciousness, do not fear. It might happen that, besides the two alternatives put before you last time, you could fall into an unconsciousness of which you would not keep any memory. You must try to avoid that and to attain either the waking state without mind or Samadhi. Is reading harmful? I do not need it much, and sometimes mental work is painful to me. You must not make any mental rules. Do according to your inner needs. Reading is not harmful in itself. 

  Wednesday, December 30, 1925 I succeed for a few minutes in keeping myself attentive, empty of thought — but then the sensations return with a new strength. I do not succeed in turning away from a noise once my attention is caught there, for I have no object of concentration. The first step is not to withdraw from all thought and sensation, but to consider them as outside oneself. There are two regions in the mind, one active, the other calm and attentive, not dragged away by the movements of nature. It is this distinction that you must make. You want to go too fast by suppressing even the thought: `I am not that’. At the moment this thought is your instrument. Remain the spectator of your thoughts and sensations, recognising that they are outside you and do not affect you. Then the higher consciousness (Purusha consciousness) will descend and take possession of your mind. But never struggle, for, in the mind, what you reject violently returns with a greater force. To struggle is to enter into all sorts of difficulties.

  Monday, January 4, 1926 I succeed in fixing my consciousness so as to remain awake, immobile, in the silence. This state lasts only for a few moments. It happens that my consciousness is then centred in a point next to the eyebrow centre. This exercise involves a great fatigue of the brain and a work in the three centres: solar, eyebrow and occipital. Later, this cerebral effort will disappear, for you will not work with the brain. This is an intermediate state. Your consciousness will be centred at a particular moment outside your physical body — above your head -, then it will expand and you will become aware of its unity with the other centres. The throat-centre is not involved for it is not a mental centre, but only vocal. Most people who work with the emotional mind remain at the level of the solar plexus. If one becomes aware of one’s unity with the whole, does one consequently become capable of identifying one’s consciousness with that of another centre of consciousness? Not all at once. There are two stages. First, you will feel your unity with the other centres of consciousness `in the silence’. It is in the Transcendent that you will feel the identification. Later, you will realise this union even in the manifested activity — in the play of forces — and at that moment the union you speak about is possible. I do not yet succeed in realising actually the independence of my real being from my physical body — an independence which I can conceive mentally. Will I realise this division? This will necessarily come and you will realise that your body is an instrument which you can put aside. This is the first aspect of Mukti: the recognition that you are free from your body. 

  All the same, certain imperfections like the desire for approbation, for consideration, are very strong, though mentally I fight them. Yes, and your being is much more complex still than you imagine. The time will come when you will observe your inner being as though it were outside. And there is a part of your consciousness which gives its sanction to this movement of nature. For there is in you something which desires this approbation, although your mind struggles. But the mind can only restrain — it cannot change anything. That this change — this transmutation — may be effective, it is necessary, according to my own ideas, to attain the cosmic consciousness and to get possession thus of the `universal solvent’ as the alchemists say. Then can’t one transmute? No, this does not suffice. When you come down again from your cosmic consciousness, the same tendencies are there which can always be restored to life. But beyond the immanent aspect of the absolute power, the aspect which you realise in the experience of the cosmic consciousness, there is what may be called the transcendent aspect, which is creative and without limitations. This is the solvent which destroys and creates. The vital Purusha who consented to a certain movement of nature, must surrender to the higher life and the transformation is possible. There are several levels in the incarnated consciousness. The Upanishads speak of five Purushas bound to the five Koshas.1 In the case in which the soul succeeds in escaping from the world of forms and entering into Nirvana, in sinking into the silence, is this fusion and loss of individuality final? Naturally, this is what many seek. The Absolute has two aspects as Purusha: the transcendent, immutable Purusha and the mutable Purusha, as the Gita says. The soul can realise its union with the first: Prakriti disappears and the soul escapes from the manifested world [1] The five envelopes or five subtle bodies which constitute man. which it considered a falsehood, an illusion or a dangerous trap. But this cannot satisfy. For the Absolute contains also the mutable Purusha and the soul, if it wants integral union, must realise its unity with the Divine in the manifestation, as with the Transcendent. Besides, to say that the soul has become finally absorbed in the Absolute is only a way of speaking. Is this liberation final? I am far from granting this. The Absolute has an aspect which knows itself, loves itself, etc. through us as intermediaries. And that is the reason of the manifestation.  

three sisters

“I am convinced that everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganges.” said Voltaire. He believed that the “Dynasty of Brahmins taught the rest of the world”.

“Mankind together with all science must have originated on the roof of the world i.e. the Himalayas” declared Immanuel Kant.

Any language during the times of its peak usage as a spoken language across large geographies will have its words imported into other languages that exist during that period. When Sanskrit was at its peak as a medium of education in India, and in the ancient Indian universities, words got imported into Greek, Latin, Persian, and of course into all languages of the Indian subcontinent from Sanskrit. These Sanskrit words have today silently form a vast majority of the original English Language. Because, English itself loaned words heavily from these ancient languages like Greek, Latin, Persian.

Read about the Varna system to understand that Brahmin in ancient India was the title given to any knowledgeable person who had completed formal education, and was not a title earned due to birth in a family, as is the practice today. Brahmin in ancient India, was like the graduate of today.

SANSKRIT, GREEK AND LATIN: A TALE OF THREE SISTERS

CEO of Logophilia Education, the world’s only etymology education organisation, Dhruv Raj Sharma took a class from the Samvad stage at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, on the joys and unexpected learnings to be gleaned from studying etymology.

In his work with Logophilia Education, Sharma advocates the teaching of vocabulary to school children as a means to enable them to learn more holistically, rather than learning by rote. He described vocabulary as “the most important subject you can study” and simultaneously, “the subject that they don’t teach you in school”. A strong vocabulary through learning the roots of words would enable people to spot connections between different words, Sharma highlighted, stating that “spotting connections is what creates deep memory”.
Speaking critically of how schools underestimate the importance of learning language, Sharma pointed out that “schools talk about aptitude without realizing that aptitude and attitude mean the same thing.” He espoused that “the most essential unit of knowledge is words” because “if you understand words you understand books, if you understand books you can understand what you study.”

The Source of Sanskrit
There was a language family of ancient India; usually this family is called Indic by modern linguists. There were a number of dialects. This language was preserved in epics and ritual incantations that were carefully memorized and passed down through the generations. Because of the religious nature of these pieces there was a religious devotion to preserving them exactly.
About the fifth or sixth century BCE a grammarian named Panini carried out a program of regularizing Indic. In effect, he created a dialect of Indic in which the irregularities were eliminated. He formulated nearly four thousand rules concerning grammar and morphology (the formation of words) for this dialect. Thus this dialect of Indic was called the perfected or refined language. That is the meaning of Sanskrit, the perfected language. It became the preferred language for religious and philosophical discourse. The Indic language preceding Sanskrit is usually called Vedic. Sometimes the Indic langugage is called Sanskrit and Sanskrit per se is called Classical Sanskrit and Vedic Indic is then called Vedic Sanskrit. That terminology is inappropriate because Sanskrit per se did not exist until Panini created it.
The period of Classical Sanskrit is designated as c. 500 BCE to 1000 CE.
The Discovery of the Relationship of
Sanskrit and the Languages of Europe
The discovery is usually attributed to William Jones. William Jones traveled to Calcutta to be a judge. His intention was to systematize the native law of India so that Britain could rule India by native law which was logically consistent. In order to carry this goal, which he perceived as his life's work, he needed to study history and this meant being able to read Indian history. He was not particularly interested in languages as such at the time. He had had a classical education in Britain so he had knowledge of Latin and Greek. There was an acquaintance of Jones named Charles Wilkins who was a British officer intensely interested in Asian studies. Jones relied upon Wilkins' knowledge of Sanskrit for translations of historical writings relating to Indian law. In addition to needing information from writings in Sanskrit Jones needed a knowledge of Persian for material from the days of the Mogul Empire. Jones dependence upon Wilkins for translation worked well, but Wilkins could be sent back to Britain at time. Therefore Jones decided that he must learn Sanskrit himself.
There was another factor motivating Jones. He was a devout Christian and believed the Biblical stories to be literally true. He therefore believed that the people of India had to be descendants of Noah's family. Therefore the history of the Indians must back at some point in time coincide with Biblical history. Jones therefore wanted to understand the legends and religion of Hinduism in order to somehow make it fit in with the history of the Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. For this too he needed to know the historical language of India.
In 1785 William Jones, judge, began seriously studying Sanskrit and embarked upon a new facet of his life, as a linguistic scholar. He found Sanskrit to be a marvelous language. And to his surprise he found that he could guess the meaning of some Sanskrit words from his knowledge of Latin and Greek. After four months of study he wrote and delivered a paper in which he said:
The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists.
Jones became a Sanskrit enthusiast and communicated that enthusiasm to the intellectual world of Europe of the time through his writings. The examples of cognate words cited are instances such as raj for king in Sanskrit and rex in Latin. These are alright but the most powerful evidence comes from such common words as the names for numbers.
Number
Sanskrit
Latin
Greek
1
éka
unus
mono-
2
dvá
duo
di-
3
trí
tres
tri-
4
catúr
quattuor
tetra-
5
páñca
quinque
6
sás
sex
hexa-
7
saptá
septem
hepta-
8
astá
octo
octa-
9
náva
novem
ennea-
10
dása
decem
deca-
William Jones was not actually the first to observe the relationship between Sanskrit and Greek and Latin. In 1583 an English Jesuit noted it in writing and two years later, in 1585, an Italian merchant in the Portuguese enclave of Goa also noted it in writing. Twenty years before Jones, in 1768, a French Jesuit in Pondicherry noted the resemblance of Sanskrit to Latin and Greek and concluded that the three must have a common origin.
At first Jones' revelation simply added Sanskrit to the set of Scythian languages. But scholars felt the Scythian name was inappropriate and coined the term Indo-Germanic on the basis of the two languages considered to be at the extremes geographically of the language family. This term was later replaced with Indo-European on the basis that Indo-Germanic gave to much emphasis to German and not enough to the other languages of Europe. Of course the same could be said with respect to Indo-European and the Iranian languages.
Phonetic system
Twelve Vowels and Two Diphthongs
Thirty Six Consonants: In five major sets and five minor sets:
Major sets:
Gutturals: k, kh, g, gh, n.
Palatals: c, ch, j, jh, ñ
Cerebrals: t., th., d., dh., n.
Dentals: t, th, d, dh, n
Labials: p, ph, b, bh, m
Minor sets
Semivowels (liquids): r, l, (glices) r, v
Sibilants: s., s., s
Aspirates: voiced and unvoiced h
Nasal with closed lips: m.
Grammar
Nouns, Pronouns and Adjectives
Number
There are singular, dual and plural numbers in Sanskrit. The dual number is fully functional in that it is used for most any two things, not just for things, such as ears, which naturally occur in pairs.
Gender
Sanskrit has masculine, feminine and neuter genders.
Case for Nouns
There are eight cases in Sanskrit; i.e.,
Nominative: The case for the subject of a sentence.
Accusative: Case for terms expressing the goal of an action or motion.
Instrumental: Case for terms serving as a means or something helpful.
Dative: Case for the indirect object of a verb.
Ablative: Case for terms expressing cause, agency, direction from or removal.
Genitive: Case for expressing possession or origin.
Locative: Case for terms expressing location.
Vocative: Case for terms indicating the one addressed.
Verbs and Adverbs
Verbs have inflections in terms of tense, mood, voice, number and person. These are the categories that were operative in Vedic Indic, but some of which disappeared in Sanskrit Indic.
Tenses: present, perfect, aorist and future. Perfect refers to an action completed. The aorist includes past indicative, such as "you were," and injunctive prohibitions, such "do not be ____."
Mood: indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative. The indicative mood is how factual statements or opinions are expressed. In contrast the subjunctive mood is the way wishes, doubt or something contrary to fact is expressed. The optative mood is for the expression of a wish or hope. The imperative mood is the form of a request or command.
Voice: active and middle. The active voice is the form in sentence in which the subject is the agent of the action expressed by the the main verb. In contrast the passive voice is the form used in sentences in which the subject of the sentence is the undergoer of the action expressed by the verb of the sentence. The term middle voice is used for sentences that have elements of both active and passive voice.
Number: singular, dual and plural.
Person: First (Speaker), Second (the one spoken to) or Third (the one spoken of).
Adverbs are inflected to agree with their associated verb.
Word Order
Sanskrit is such a highly inflected language that word order almost does not matter. For prose Sanskrit had the preferred word order of Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). For poetry and the like other word orders were used frequently for their effect.