This is the first in a series of what i hope to be fifty or so lessons. I hope you will benefit from this course of lessons.
I have uploaded a video verision of this on YouTube here.
I will use both the Roman script and the Devanagari script in my lessons. If you are not familiar with either of these please refer to the Alphabet where I have given these two scripts. You can also refer to some standard textbook for this.
I have also given the Pronunciation of Sanskrit Letters for people not familiar with Indian sounds.
Some of the standard reference materials are given here.
Let us start with a sentence. रामः कृष्णं पश्यति (rāmaḥ kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyati ) . ” Rama sees Krishna”.
The first thing to note is the word order.
In Sanskrit the word normal order is subject, object, verb. This is similar to the other Indian languages like Hindi. However, in English the word order is subject, verb, object. So in Sanskrit we say “Rama Krishna sees”.
The second thing to note is how subject and object are determined in Sanskrit.
In English who sees whom is determined by the position of the word in the sentence. From the sentence “Rama sees Krishna” we know that it is Rama who is doing the seeing and it is Krishna who is being seen. In Sanskrit the subject and object of a sentence is rendered differently. राम when rendered as a subject becomes रामः. Similarly, कृष्ण when used as an object becomes कृष्णम्. So even if we said कृष्णं रामः पश्यति the meaning would not change. It would still mean Rama sees Krishna.
If we wanted to say Krishna sees Rama we would say कृष्णः रामं पश्यति.
The third thing to note is sandhi.
In Sanskrit, word sounds change according to the environment in which they occur. Both vowels and consonants change in this fashion. This is true of other languages also. In English, “a” becomes “an” in front of a vowel sound.
In this lesson we will learn two sandhis of Sanskrit.
Final “s” and “r” become the visarga (:) at the end of a word.
Final “m” in front of another word becomes the anusvara indicated by a dot on top of the last syllable.
So रामः is actually रामस्. It becomes रामः in sandhi.
And रामं is actually रामम्. It becomes रामं in sandhi
In my lessons and references the visarga normally represents “s”. If it etymologically represents an “r”, I will specifically mention it.
We will look at other sandhis in later lessons. Please see Sandhis for details on all Sandhis.
The last thing to note is the verb.
In Sanskrit, all words are derived from basic elements called roots (indicated with a square root sign in the beginning. This is only a convention). These roots are normally single syllable entities. For example, the word ayana अयन (going) is derived from the root √i √इ (which means to go.) through a series of modifications. We will learn about this through later lessons.
The root is also used to generate verb stems to which personal endings are added to form the complete verb as is used in a sentence. In our example the verb पश्यति is derived from the root √ पश् by adding य to form the verb stem पश्य. To this stem is added the personal ending ति.
[Edit: Grammarians classify the forms पश्यति etc. under the root दृश् (dr̥ś). The root दृश् (dr̥ś) is deficient in some cases and the the root √ पश् mentioned here supplies forms like पश्यति for the root दृश् (dr̥ś) also. Thanks to a reader for pointing this out. I have used √ पश् in my lessons for easy understanding.]
Roots have been divided into ten different classes by Sanskrit grammarians. Each class of root undergoes a different modification to create the verb stem. The root √ पश् is of class 4. Roots of this class add a य to the unchanged root before adding the personal ending.
We will discuss all the other root classes through the coming lessons.
Let us now discuss conjugation.
Conjugation is the variation of the form of a verb in an inflected language such as Sanskrit, by which the voice, mood, tense, number, and person are identified. In English there are only two forms “see” and “sees”
The personal ending added to the stem पश्य is ति in this case. ति [ ti ] is the personal ending for third person singular subjects like रामः for the present tense indicative active verb.
The other endings are given here.
So, the full conjugation is:
So when Rama sees Krishna, we say रामः कृष्णं पश्यति. However, if two Ramas (dual) were seeing Krishna we would use the verb form पश्यतः [paśyataḥ]. If more than two Ramas (plural) were seeing Krishna we would use the verb form पश्यन्ति [paśyanti]]. These are what are called the third person endings.
[We should keep in mind that the subject endings also change to indicate two Ramas (dual – रामौ rāmau) or more than two Ramas (plural – रामाः rāmāḥ). We will learn about this in subsequent lessons.]
The second person endings are used when you want to say “You see Krishna” [त्वं कृष्णं पश्यसि (tvaṃ kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyasi)], “You two see Krishna” [युवां कृष्णं पश्यथः (yuvāṃ kr̥ṣṇaṃpaśyathaḥ)], “You (more than two) see Krishna” यूयं कृष्णं पश्यथ (yūyam kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyatha)]. The words त्वम्, युवाम् and यूयम् are the subject forms of You, you two and you (more than two) respectively. We will learn more about these forms in later chapters.
One thing of interest you would have noticed is when it comes to the second person, the verb ending and the subject gives redundant information. The verb form पश्यसि is only used with त्वम्. The same goes for the other two. So, the subject is most of the times dropped in normal usage. It is used only if emphasis is needed. So “You see Krishna” [कृष्णं पश्यसि (kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyasi)], “You two see Krishna” [कृष्णं पश्यथः (kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyathaḥ)], “You (more than two) see Krishna” [कृष्णं पश्यथ (kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyatha)]. These forms would convey sufficient information.
The first person endings are used when you want to say “I see Krishna” [अहं कृष्णं पश्यामि (ahaṃ kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyāmi)], “We two see Krishna” [आवां कृष्णं पश्यावः (āvāṃ kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyāvaḥ)], “We (more than two) see Krishna” [वयं कृष्णं पश्यामः (vayaṃ kr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyāmaḥ)]. The words अहम्, आवाम् and वयम् are the subject forms of I, we two and we (more than two) respectively. We will learn more about these forms in later chapters.
As in the case of the second person, the subject is dropped in normal usage. One thing you would have noticed about the verb forms of the first person is that the final vowel of the stem is lengthened before adding the endings [पश्यामि paśyāmi rather than पश्यमि paśyami]. This is peculiar to the first person.
Another thing to note is that the the third person plural ending used here is nti not anti. The normal ending is anti.
Some other veb stems are
जय+ ति, तः etc. (jaya+ ti, taḥ etc.) – wins, vanquishes;
गच्छ+ ति, तः etc. (gaccha+ ti, taḥ etc.) – goes;
तिष्ठ+ ति, तः etc. (tiṣṭha+ ti, taḥ etc.) – stands
The conjugation for जय+ ति, तः etc. (jaya+ ti, taḥ etc.) – wins, vanquishes is givem below:
Other verbs coming from other classes form their word stems in their own fashions and then add these same endings to get their conjugations. We will learn about how verb stems of other classes are generated in subsequent lessons.
The set of personal endings mentioned here is what is called the “active” voice endings. There is another set of endings called the “middle” voice endings conveying similar meanings to verbs. Some roots take only the active endings while some take only the middle endings. Many take both to give different shades of meanings. The active voice form is called परस्मै पदम् (parasmai padam – meaning “a word for another”) and the middle one is called आत्मने पदम् (ātmane padam– meaning “a word for one’s self”). The terms are best called transitive and reflexive.
The different tenses and moods of the Sanskrit verbs are called “Lakaras” by grammarians. The present indicative tense is called लट् (laṭ). In subsequent lessons we will learn the other tenses and moods (or other Lakaras)
A conjugated verb form used in a sentence (like पश्यति paśyati) is made up of two parts.
पश्यति paśyati = stem – पश्य paśya + ending – ति ti
We saw one way of creating the stem from the root and one set of ending
The Sanskrit conjugation system is formed by various ways of creation of the stem and the adding of different sets of endings
[See Tenses and Conjugation for details]
A couple of things to note:
Verb conjugation is gender independent unlike in languages like Hindi, Tamil etc. In Hindi you would say “Ram jaata hai”; “Sita jaatii hai”.
Verb conjugation always agrees with the subject unlike in Hindi where sometimes the verb agrees with the object rather than the subject. In Hindi you would say, Ram mujhe sau rupaye deta hai; but Ram ne mujhe sau rupaye diye
See reference text to get a general idea of a Sanskrit verse. Don’t worry if you do not understand this completely. You will be able to understand it better as you go into further lessons.
This is the end of the first lesson.
We looked at a sentence and from that understood the normal word order in Sanskrit which is subject, object, verb. But since Sanskrit is an inflected language, the subject of the sentence or the object of a sentence is indicated by the form of the noun. So word order may not be very critical
We took an early look at Sandhi, and discovered the visarga and the anusvara.
We had an introductory look at roots and said that all words in Sanskrit are derived from roots. We also said that there are 10 classes of roots and verb stems are derived from this by various different rules. We took an example of class 4 root and saw how the verb stem was derived from this.
We looked at the full conjugation of the present indicative active of a class 4 verb. We found that conjugation is gender independent always in grammatical agreement with the subject.
I have given some exercises against this lesson below. Please do these exercises. Please refer to a dictionary (there are online dictionaries) for words that you don’t understand.
One word of advice. While doing the exercise, read out each word loudly. This will help you stabilise your pronunciation and also to remember some of the topics introduced
Exercises
Translate into English
1.आस्यामि पश्यामि च āsyāmi paśyāmi ca
2.गोविन्दः कुप्यति govindaḥ kupyati
3.पुष्यावः puṣyāvaḥ
4.कृष्णः च गोविन्दः च अच्युतः च रामं पश्यन्ति कुप्यन्ति च kr̥ṣṇaḥ ca govindaḥ ca acyutaḥ ca rāmaṃ paśyanti kupyanti ca
Translate into Sanskrit
1.You get angry
2.We (more than two) see Govinda
3.Achyuta gets angry
4.I stand and see
our sanskrit 
[…] the first lesson we looked at a simple sentence and from that understood the normal word order in Sanskrit which is […]
Thank you for a wonderfully informative site !
The way you have explain लट वकार present tence,past,future, by giving example is very self explaintery.Otherwise it is very difficult to understand.
What it is 1 congugation,4th ,6th 10th explain.
Arun h Shah ca
9892257148 is my mob no
It is explained in the lessons
[…] lesson 1 we looked at the conjugation of the present active indicative. We also took a detailed look at the […]
[…] Lesson 1 was an introduction. We started by looking at the concept of inflection – declension and conjugation. We said that Sanskrit is a highly inflected language.We also said that all words in Sanskrit are derived from entities called roots. We said that there are 10 classes of roots and verb stems are derived from this by various different rules. We took an example of class 4 root and saw how the verb stem was derived from this. We looked at the full conjugation of the present indicative active of a class 4 verb. We found that conjugation is gender independent always in grammatical agreement with the subject. […]
Paramu Maohoday
Thanks for these lessons. These are helping me a lot.
Ashwani Garg
I am trying to learn Sanskrit and your blog is of great help.
I have done the exercises.
How can I check my answers
Oh, thank you so much. I’m continuing my studies online since returning from India and need your blog and lessons! Radhe!
namaste and hello,
I am using अष्टावक्र गीता ( ashtavakra gitā) as a resource to read and translate… I use the text to practice the rules of sanscrit and apply what I learn on this site ( thank you again for this knowledge) to the best of my ability.
I am at an impasse here with this compound ‘kāmamākāṅkṣet’ to
udbhūtaṁ jñānadurmitramavadhāryātidurbalaḥ |
āścaryaṁ kāmamākāṅkṣet kālamantamanuśritaḥ || ॥ ३-७॥
kāma-mākāṅkṣet – I have used the term ‘āṅka’ as a clue , as it means ‘the curve in the human form esp. female’ – this aligns to the śloka as it it dealing with the desire ( kāma ) and thoughts clinging (kālamantamanuśritaḥ) to sensual things.
I am looking at the last member of the compound to determine a clue… so far the best I can gather is that it is optative (lin). Yet I am struggling with the proper dis-assembly of the term and the categorization of class and case of the terms.
Translation by John Richards ( I see the terms slightly differently but will not pursue it within this post e.g. I would use ‘ a wonder’ udbhūtaṁ vs. ‘astonishing’ )
It is astonishing that one already very debilitated, and knowing very well that its arousal is the enemy of knowledge should still hanker after sensuality, even when approaching his last days.
Any pointers are welcomed and greatly appreciated.
श्रीशिवाःपनमस्तु
śrī śivāḥpanamastu
Kind Regards,
Frank
San Diego,CA
Am travelling so cant reply in full. But on quick look, it is not a compound. it is kAmam Akankshet. (desiring love). It is optative.
wonderful… this helps as a clue… I will continue to pursue.
thank you again!
namaste and hello,
I am using अष्टावक्र गीता ( ashtavakra gitā) as a resource to read and translate as I have mentioned before. I am struggling with ‘ mayyanaṁtamahāṁbhodhau ‘ found in the verse below. I have tried to take it apart
( may+ya+naṁ+tama+ hāṁ+bhodhau ‘ but am dissatisfied with the results , and further find my results do not align to the translation offered by the existing translator.
At first I struggled with the consecutive y’s (may+ya) and tried to look for the the rules that would yield this form, but have come to the determination that may+ya are two terms that are expected (may = to go, move + ya a mover); yet this seems to not align to a reasonable use within the verse.
I could use your kind help to steer me in the right direction as this term is used multiple times with the ashtavakra gitā an suggests its importance.
अहो बवु नकल्लोरतै वतभचत्रद्रै ाकभ ्सभतुित ं ।
भय्यनतं भहाबं ोधौ तचत्तवात े सभर्द्यु त े॥ २-२३॥
aho bhuvanakallolairvicitrairdrāk samutthitam
mayyanaṁtamahāṁbhodhau cittavāte samudyate
॥ अष्टावक्र गीता ॥Ashtavakra Gita
Truly ( I would use Surely) it is in the limitless ocean ( I’d use wave) of myself, that stimulated ( or quickly rising up, surging) by the colourful ( or many colored) waves of the worlds everything suddenly arises in the
wind of consciousness.
Used again in verse 7-2 and posted only as an fyi
जनक उवाच ॥
भय्यनतं भहाबं ोधौ तवश्वऩोत इतस्तत् ।
भ्रभतत स्वातं वातने न भभास्त्यसतहष्णतु ा ॥ ७-१॥
janaka uvāca
mayyanaṁtamahāṁbhodhau viśvapota itastataḥ
bhramati svāṁtavātena na mamāstyasahiṣṇutā
Janaka said
In the infinite ocean of myself the world boat drifts here
and there, moved by its own inner wind. I am not put out by
that.
Any pointers are welcomed and greatly appreciated.
श्रीशिवाःपनमस्तु
śrī śivāḥpanamastu
Kind Regards,
Frank
San Diego,CA
namaste and hello,
I am struggling with ‘ mayyanaṁtamahāṁbhodhau ‘ found in the verse below. I have tried to take it apart
( may+ya+naṁ+tama+ hāṁ+bhodhau ‘ but am dissatisfied with the results , and further find my results do not align to the translation offered by the existing translator.
yet this seems to not align to a reasonable use within the verse.
Any help is appreciated.
अहो बवु नकल्लोरतै वतभचत्रद्रै ाकभ ्सभतुित ं ।
भय्यनतं भहाबं ोधौ तचत्तवात े सभर्द्यु त े॥ २-२३॥
aho bhuvanakallolairvicitrairdrāk samutthitam
mayyanaṁtamahāṁbhodhau cittavāte samudyate
॥ अष्टावक्र गीता ॥Ashtavakra Gita
Truly ( I would use Surely) it is in the limitless ocean ( I’d use wave) of myself, that stimulated ( or quickly rising up, surging) by the colourful ( or many colored) waves of the worlds everything suddenly arises in the
wind of consciousness.
I thought to share the answer with others…
my mis-understanding of mayi was the key:
मयि अनन्त… mayi – “in me” – first person pronoun locative singular – आत्मनि, in limitless awareness
sandhi: इ + dissimilar any vowel -> य् (यण् सन्धि), so मयि अनन्त.. -> मय्यनन्त…
kind regards,
श्रीशिवाःपनमस्तु
śrī śivāḥpanamastu
Dear Paramu,
Thank you for these lessons. I am excited to complete this course to help further my Ayurvedic studies in Albuquerque New Mexico in the US.
I enjoyed the first and second lessons, but I’m having difficulty translating the words in the exercises. I used your quick dictionary and the SpokenSanskrit.org dictionary but do not see many of the words such as āsyāmi.
I translated puṣyāvaḥ to “two plants” because the dictionary said pusya is a nakshatra or a species of plants.
Is there anyway to check our answers?
Kind Regards,
Jeff Mace
These could be verbs. Please look at verb forms.
(please note that i am a beginner)
Maybe too late a reply, but the exercise’s intention i think is for us to first try and break down the word under consideration into: ‘root + modifier_to_form_stem + conjugation’
so
āsyāmi = ‘ās’ +’ya’ + ‘mi’
puṣyāvaḥ = ‘puṣ’ + ‘ya’ + ‘vaḥ’
This was what I’ve been looking for in years! Thank you very much!
Hello sir, Do you have answers to the abv exercises?
am leaving it to the readers to find the answers
Just posting my thoughts on the exercise questions to start a dialogue with others that landed here…
sure there will be mistakes and would be glad to see corrections or your points of view… Thanks!
Translate into English
1.आस्यामि पश्यामि च āsyāmi paśyāmi ca
—>
i am sitting and seeing ? (or i sit and see?)
[आस् has so many many meanings but i guess the key is to also look at the case (vibhakti) and context..
My first translation was ‘i am mouthing and seeing’, 🙂 then felt it really didn’t make sense at all ]
<—–
2.गोविन्दः कुप्यति govindaḥ kupyati
<—–
Govinda thinks?
or
Govinda is thinking?
or
Govinda meditates?
[Again कृप् seems to have many, and even contradictory meanings like 'being weak, adequate' etc.. but in the context, it may mean to think or maybe mix also as in Govinda is mixing?]
<——–
3.पुष्यावः puṣyāvaḥ
4.कृष्णः च गोविन्दः च अच्युतः च रामं पश्यन्ति कुप्यन्ति च kr̥ṣṇaḥ ca govindaḥ ca acyutaḥ ca rāmaṃ paśyanti kupyanti ca
Translate into Sanskrit
1.You get angry
2.We (more than two) see Govinda
(वयं) गोविन्दं पश्यामः
3.Achyuta gets angry
4.I stand and see
(sorry posting again, as my previous post somehow got clipped when i checked in the preview)
Just posting my thoughts on the exercise questions to start a dialogue with others that landed here…
sure there will be mistakes and would be glad to see corrections or your points of view… Thanks!
Translate into English
1.आस्यामि पश्यामि च āsyāmi paśyāmi ca
i am sitting and seeing ? (or i sit and see?)
[आस् has so many many meanings but i guess the key is to also look at the case (vibhakti) and context..
My first translation was ‘i am mouthing and seeing’, 🙂 then felt it really didn’t make sense at all ]
2.गोविन्दः कुप्यति govindaḥ kupyati
Govinda thinks?
or
Govinda is thinking?
or
Govinda meditates?
[Again कृप् seems to have many, and even contradictory meanings like ‘being weak, adequate’ etc.. but in the context, it may mean to think or maybe mix also as in Govinda is mixing?]
3.पुष्यावः puṣyāvaḥ
we adorn ourselves with?
or
we relish?
or
we nourish ourselves?
4.कृष्णः च गोविन्दः च अच्युतः च रामं पश्यन्ति कुप्यन्ति च kr̥ṣṇaḥ ca govindaḥ ca acyutaḥ ca rāmaṃ paśyanti kupyanti ca
Krishna along with Govinda and Achyuta sees and thinks of Rama ?
i wonder why there are 3 चs ? Would it not be correct to write ‘कृष्णः गोविन्दः च अच्युतः च रामं पश्यन्ति कुप्यन्ति च ‘ ?
Translate into Sanskrit
1.You get angry
त्वं कृध्यसि ?
(or)
त्वां कृध्यसि ?
Just wondering what would this mean ‘भवान् कृध्यसि ‘ ? ‘Sir, do get angry’ ? or will the meaning remain same as ‘You get angry’ ?
2.We (more than two) see Govinda
(वयं) गोविन्दं पश्यामः
3.Achyuta gets angry
अच्युतः कृध्यति ? (√रिष् or भाम may also be choices for representing anger?)
4.I stand and see
अहं तिष्ठामि च पश्यामि ?