Monday, February 24, 2014

Feb 23, 2014

नमो  नमः |
We revised what we had learned about verbs in the last session and continued to explore this topic further.

We looked at how verbs are formed when the subject is अहम् (I) or वयम्  (We). Hope you recall that the person doing the action in this scenario is referred to as uttama puruShaH.

For the verbs that we had learned in the last class, here are the present tense uttama puruShaH forms, for ekavacanam and bahuvacanam.

अहं गच्छामि |   (I go.)             वयं गच्छामः | (We go.)                           
अहं पठामि  |    (I read.)           वयं पठामः  | (We read.)
अहं लिखामि  |   (I write.)         वयं  लिखामः |  (We write.)

We discussed frequently heard expressions, to give us a hint or clue.

बुद्धं शरणं गच्छामि |   I go to Buddha for refuge. (Subject is I, अहम् )
पुनः मिलामः |          We will meet again!  ( Subject is We, वयम् )

We learned few more verbs to add to our vocabulary and then constructed sentences using them. Please refer to the Vocabulary List for the month.

We did an activity: Say what you see in the picture. The children named the objects they saw using the subject "I". The adults answered using the subject "We".

"भवान् चित्रे के पश्यति?"
Sample answers:


अहं तालं पश्यामि |
वयं कन्दुकं पश्यामः |

We then analyzed verse #18 of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 in the class. This verse has been designated by our SwamiJi as the theme verse for this chapter. Usually the theme verse gives the core message of the chapter. Let us see if we can interpret it :)

ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था:
मध्ये  तिष्ठन्ति  राजसा: |
जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था:
अधो गच्छन्ति तामसा: ||

In the first quarter, प्रथम पुरुषः बहुवचन रूपम्  of the root  गम् is the kriyaa padam: गच्छन्ति.  Hence it is implied that the subject is plural. By asking के गच्छन्ति? we find the subject to be, सत्त्वस्था:
कुत्र गच्छन्ति? Where do they go? The answer is ऊर्ध्वं, meaning, upwards.
In the second quarter, प्रथम पुरुषः बहुवचन रूपम्  of the root स्था, meaning to stay or exist,  is the kriyaa padam : तिष्ठन्ति. Subject is राजसा: Where do they stay? Answer is मध्ये, meaning, in the middle.
In the last quarter, the subject is तामसा: Where do they go? Answer is अधः, meaning, downwards.
The single compound word in the third quarter is an adjective qualifying the subject तामसा:

Here is the English meaning given by Swami Chinmayananda:
Those who are abiding in Sattva, go upwards; the Rajasic dwell in the middle; and the Tamasic abiding in the function of the lowest guna, go downwards.

Assignment: 
Analyze 2 - 4 verses of Geeta from Chapter 14. Identify all the kriyaa padaani, or, verbs, that you can recognize.

If you would like to challenge yourself a step further, identify the kartru padam that is associated with the kriya padam.

To understand what a verse means with your sanskrit knowledge and without an English interpretation is truly the reward of your sanskrit study. Hope you find this exercise rewarding.

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः |