Samskritha Bhavanam
Lesson 3 (A)
Sanskrit Class for Adults
Lesson 3 (Senior)
£dm£dfSdZ §ddMµZ
1. Phonemes
The basic sounds used to construct the words in a language are referred to as
®dPd‰
or phonemes. In Lesson 1, we saw the Devanagari symbols
used to represent all the phonemes used in the Sanskrit language. In
Sanskrit, a ®dPd‰ or phoneme belongs to one of three categories:

Vowel
±®dT
(svara) such as
A , Ad, B, C, D, H ,
Adz
®Sd¢¡d¦d (vyanjana) such as IŠ¶ , šdŠ ,
›dŠ , £dŠ , ªdŠ , SdŠ
 After-sound Sddy›d®ddUµ (yogavaaha), which includes the
a (Anusvaara) and Z (Visarga)

Consonant
Strictly speaking, the consonant (vyanjana) phoneme ‘k’ is represented by
the pure consonant IŠ¶ , but we sometimes use I¶ (= IŠ¶+A) to
represent it. This is done purely for the ease of pronunciation. Similarly,
although the anusvaara phoneme should be represented by
sometimes represent it with Aa
a , we
(= A + a ), again for ease of
pronunciation. In both cases, it should be understood that the vowel A is
not a part of the phoneme being described.
From a phonetic viewpoint, a word or phrase in the Sanskrit language is a
concatenation of phonemes. For example, the phrase
®dd›d¤dd‰e®d®d ±da§dm™£ddz
(
vaagarthaaviva sampRuktau )
may be parsed into a concatenation of phonemes, as follows:
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®dŠ + Ad + ›dŠ + A + TŠ + ¤dŠ + Ad + ®dŠ + B
+ ®dŠ + A + ±dŠ + A + a + §dŠ + F + IŠ¶ +
£dŠ + Adz
[ v + aa + g + a + r + th + aa + v + i + v + a + s + a + m + p + R + k + t
+ au ]
2. Complete Letters
In the Devanagari script, symbols are assigned not only to individual
phonemes, but also to combinations of phonemes, known as
±da§djPdd‰´dT
±da§djPdd‰´dT
(sampUrNakShara) or complete letters. A
consists of a vowel, preceded by any number
of consonants, and possibly followed by an after-sound. Examples of
±da§djPdd‰´dT
are
±da , §dj , Pdd‰ , ´d , T .
Complete Letter =
[ 0 or more consonants ] + vowel + [ 0 or 1 after-sound ]
Every ±da§djPdd‰´dT necessarily has a (single) vowel
embedded in it; optionally it may have consonants and after-sound.
A vowel, all by itself, constitutes the simplest example of a
±da§djPdd‰´dT .
A ±da§djPdd‰´dT consisting of a
single consonant and a vowel (such as §dj
, T ) is said to be a
›dgePd£dd´dT (guNitaakShara). A ±da§djPdd‰´dT
in which two or more consonants precede the vowel (such as ´d ,
Pdd‰ ) is said to be a ±daSdg™£dd´dT
(samyuktaakShara) or conjunct letter.
From a textual view-point, a word or phrase in the Sanskrit language is
regarded as a concatenation of complete letters, optionally followed by a
(pure) consonant. According to this formalism, the phrase
®dd›d¤dd‰e®d®d ±da§dm™£ddz
may be parsed into the concatenation of complete letters
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®dd + ›d + ¤dd‰ + e®d + ®d + ±da +
§dm + ™£ddz
[ vaa + ga + rthaa + vi + va + sam + pR + ktau ]
®d¥d‰£d H®d e¦d£Sd«dŠ
Similarly, the phrase
may be decomposed as
®d + ¥d‰+ £d + <SP> + H + ®d + e¦d+
£Sd + («dŠ )
3. Syllable
Just as ®dPd (phoneme) is the basic unit of pronunciation and
±da§djPdd‰´dT (complete letter) is the basic unit of text,
syllable is the basic unit of recitation of a phrase. A syllable consists of a
vowel, optionally followed by an after-sound, which in turn may be
followed any number of consonants. The concept of a syllable is similar
to that of a ±da§djPdd‰´dT , except that the consonants (are
permitted to) occur at the end of a syllable, as opposed to the beginning.
Syllable =
vowel + [ 0 or 1 after-sound ] + [ 0 or more consonants ]
From a metric or prosodic view-point, a phrase consists of a
concatenation of syllables, possibly preceded by a pure consonant.
In this framework, the phrase
®dd›d¤dd‰e®d®d
±da§dm™£ddz is parsed into syllables as follows:
( ®dŠ ) + Ad›dŠ + A¤dŠ‰ + Ad®dŠ + B®dŠ +
A±dŠ + Aa§dŠ + + F™£dŠ + Adz
[ (v) + aag + arth + aav + iv + as + amp + Rkt + au ]
The above example illustrates the difference between the textual
decomposition of a phrase (based on ±da§djPdd‰´dT ) and its
metric decomposition (based on syllables). Note that just like a
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±da§djPdd‰´dT , a syllable always contains exactly one vowel.
This may be used to establish a one-to-one correspondence between the
complete letters and syllables occurring in a phrase. For the example
under consideration, we have correspondence
Ad›dŠ , ›d  A¤dŠ‰ , ¤dd‰
Ad®dŠ , e®d  B®dŠ ,
®d  A±dŠ , ±da  Aa§dŠ , §dm
F™£dŠ , ™£ddz  Adz
®dd



However, the correspondence is purely formal, and has very limited
practical value. It has to be stressed that syllable and complete letters are
distinctly different concepts. The notion of syllables is important for
recitation, while the notion of complete letters is important for
transcription.
4. Weight of a Syllable
In the Sanskrit prosodic system, syllables are classified into
¬dœdg
(laghu) or light syllables, and ›dgè (guru) or heavy syllables. The
classification is based on the time it takes to pronounce the syllable. The
¬dœdg
or light syllables take one unit of time, while the ›dgè or
heavy syllables take two (or more) units of time. A syllable is said to be
›dgè (heavy) if at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:
a) The syllable contains a long vowel [ Ad, E, G , Y ] or a
diphthong [ H , Hy , Ady , Adz ]
b) The vowel is followed by an after-sound (anusvaara or
visarga).
c) The syllable contains two or more consonants at the end
(equivalently, the vowel associated with the syllable is followed
by a conjunct letter ).
If none of the above conditions are met, the syllable is said to be
¬dœdg
¬dœdg syllable consists of a
simple, short vowel [ A , B , D , F , X ] , followed by a single
(light). In other words, a
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consonant. The last syllable of a phrase may be (arbitrarily) regarded as
›dgè
, even if it does not satisfy any of the conditions a), b) or c)
above.
A
¬dœdg
syllable is denoted by the symbol
^
, while a
›dgè
syllable is represented by the symbol & . The metric signature of a
phrase is the sequence of weights (light/heavy) of each syllable contained
in the phrase. The metric signature of some example phrases are shown
below :
&®dd &›d &¤dd‰ ^e®d ^®d &±da
&§dm &™£ddz ;
&®d ^¥d‰ ^£d &H ^®d &e¦d
&£Sda Or , &®d ^¥d‰ ^£d &H
^®d &e¦d &£Sd«dŠ
Note that last syllable of the last phrase has been arbitrarily regarded as
›dgè (heavy).
5. Poetic Meters
In Sanskrit poetry, a ¯¬ddyI¶ (shloka) or verse is divided into four
§ddQ (paadas) or quarters, and set to a Jµ¦Q±dŠ (chandas) or
poetic meter. The poetic meter specifies the number of syllables in each
§ddQ (quarter), and imposes certain constraints on the metric
signature of each §ddQ . This constraint ensures the rhythmic
quality of the underlying ¯¬ddyI¶ or verse. Generally, all four
§ddQ s are required to satisfy the same constraint. Sometimes, the
two odd numbered (1st and 3rd) §ddQ s are required to satisfy one set
of constraints, while the two even-numbered (2nd and 4th) §ddQ s are
required to satisfy another set of constraints.
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Consider the metric signature of the ¯¬ddyI¶ or verse on Rama,
introduced in Lesson 2.
&Td &«dZ &§dd ^£dg ^Ÿd &Td ^Ÿd &Td
^e¥d ^§d ^®d &Tdy &Td &«da ^ªd &¡dy
&±dd ^Q &T«dŠ ,
&Td &«dy &Pdd ^«d ^T &¯d ^Îd &®ddy
^e®d ^e¦d ^Uµ &£dd &Td &«dd ^Sd &e¦d
&£Sda ^¦d &«dZ |
&Td &«dd &Qy ^®d ^±d &«dg ^ªd &®ddy
^±Sd ^¡d ^›d &£dZ &Td &«d ^±Sd &Qd
&±ddy ^±«Sd &Uµa ,
&Td &«dy &ªd ^e™£d ^T &Ÿd ^¢Ÿd &¬dd
^±£dg ^ªd ^›d &®d¦dŠ &Uyµ ^Td ^«d
&T &´d ^±®d &«dd«dŠ ||
Note that although the number of words in each §ddQ may be
different, each §ddQ contains exactly 19 syllables. Furthermore, all
four §ddQ s have exactly the same metric signature:
& & & ^ ^ & ^ & ^ ^ ^ & & & ^
& &^ &
………(1)
A poetic meter called ¯ddQj‰¬de®d¸¶feNµ£d
(shaarduulavikreeDita) requires that all four §ddQ s of a verse have the
same metric signature, given by (1).
As a consequence, we conclude that the given ¯¬ddyI¶ is set in the
¯ddQj‰¬de®d¸¶feNµ£d meter.
The simplest and most common poetic meter in Sanskrit poetry is the
A¦dgÝi§dŠ
meter. Most of the verses in the two epics Ramayana and
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Mahabharatha are set in this meter. Unlike the
¯ddQj‰¬de®d¸¶feNµ£d meter, the A¦dgÝi§dŠ meter
does note specify the precise metric signature of each §ddQ . It merely
imposes certain conditions that the metric signature must satisfy. In other
words, it requires that the verse should avoid certain patterns in its metric
signature.
More specifically, a verse set to the A¦dgÝi§dŠ meter has four
§ddQ s, each of which contains 8 syllables. The metric signature of the
various §ddQ s satisfy the following conditions:
1. In any §ddQ (quarter), either the 2nd or 3rd syllable (or both) must
be ›dgè (heavy). In other words, the 2nd and 3rd syllables cannot
both be ¬dœdg (light).
2. In the even-numbered (2st and 4th) §ddQ s, the 5th, 6th and 7th
syllables should be ¬dœdg - ›dgè - ¬dœdg (light-heavylight).
3. In the odd-numbered (1st and 3rd)
¬dœdg
§ddQ s, if the 5th syllable is
(light), then the 6th and 7th syllables must have identical
weights (both ¬dœdg or both ›dgè ).
4. On the other hand, if the 5th syllable of an odd-numbered (1st and 3rd)
§ddQ is ›dgè (heavy), then the 6th syllable of that §ddQ
must be ¬dœdg (light) and the 7th syllable must be ›dgè
(heavy).
§ddQ s, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th
syllables should not be ›dgè - ¬dœdg - ›dgè (heavy-light-
5. In the even-numbered (2st and 4th)
heavy).
In certain less accurate descriptions of the A¦dgÝi§dŠ meter, the
conditions (1) and (5) may be omitted, while the conditions (3) and (4) are
replaced by the more restrictive specification below:
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§ddQ s, if the 5th, 6th and 7th
syllables must be ¬dœdg - ›dgè - ›dgè g (light-heavy-
6. In the odd-numbered (1st and 3rd)
heavy).
Conditions (2) and (6) are summarized in the following mnemonic verse:
§d¢Ÿd«da ¬dœdg ±d®d‰Îd ±d§£d«da
eÙŸd£dg¤d‰SddyZ |
›dgèZ °dÝa Ÿd §ddQd¦dda
Ÿd£dgPdd‰a ±SddQ¦dgÝieªd ||
[ Meaning: In A¦dgÝi§dŠ meter, the 5th syllable of each §ddQ is
light, while the 6th syllable is heavy. The 7th syllable is light (only) in the 2nd
and 4th §ddQ s ]
Note that the above verse is itself set in the A¦dgÝi§dŠ meter, and in
fact satisfies all the 6 conditions associated with the meter.
If a verse satisfies all 6 conditions, it is said to be in the standard
A¦dgÝi§dŠ
form. If a verse satisfies conditions (1) through (5), but
not condition (6), it is said to be in generalized A¦dgÝi§dŠ form. In
practice, we find that most of the verses in A¦dgÝi§dŠ meter are in
fact, in the standard A¦dgÝi§dŠ form. However, there are some
notable examples of generalized A¦dgÝi§dŠ forms in classical
Sanskrit literature.
Consider the following examples of phrases set to the A¦dgÝi§dŠ
meter
1.
&®dd&›d&¤dd‰^e®d^®d
&±da&§dm&™£ddz ,
&®dd&›d&¤d‰^§d‚^e£d&§d^Ïd&Sdy
|
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2.
&ªdf^«d&I¶d&¦£dz^¦dm‰^§d^›dg&P
dzZ , ^±d
^©d&ªdj&®ddy^§d&¡df^e®d&¦dd«dŠ
|
3.
^B^Q&«d&±£df^Q^«d^e§d
&«dy , ^ªd&e®d^°Sd^e£d
^§dg&¦d^¥d‰&¦d«dŠ |
4.
&Td&«d&±I¶&¦Qa
&®dz^¦d&£dy&Sda ,
^Uµ&¦dj&«d&¦£da
^®dm&I¶dy^Q&T«dŠ |
5.
&Td&«d&±I¶&¦Qa
^Uµ&¦dj&«d&¦£da ,
&®dz^¦d&£dy&Sda
^®dm&I¶dy^Q&T«dŠ |
It may be seen that the first and last examples are in standard
A¦dgÝi§dŠ form, while the remaining examples are in the generalized
A¦dgÝi§dŠ form. The first two examples are from the 1st sarga of
Kalidasa’s Tœdg®da¯d , while the third example is from the 16th
chapter of Bhagavad-Gita. The fifth example is a fairly well-known
±£ddyÎd (stotra) or hymn on Hanuman, in standard A¦dgÝi§dŠ
form; a transposed version of this ±£ddyÎd yields our fourth example,
which is in generalized A¦dgÝi§dŠ form.
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