Nov 23, 2014

हरिः ॐ | नमो नमः |

After opening prayers and the theme song, we reviewed nouns in all their numbers, which we had studied in the previous class. We then moved on to learning about the parts of the human body.

शरीरस्य अवयवाः - Parts of the Body

शरीरः means body.
When we refer to a pair of eyes, pair of ears, pair of hands, pair of feet, etc., in sanskrit, the dual number of the noun is used. Depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or, neuter, the appropriate dual form of the noun should be used. 

Eyes: an eye is नेत्रम् , a neuter noun, hence a pair of eyes are नेत्रे .
Ears: an ear is known as कर्णः , or, श्रोत्रः ; hence a pair of ears are कर्णौ / श्रोत्रौ .

Nose is a feminine noun, नासिका ; so is tongue, जिह्वा .

Teeth: a tooth is दन्तः , a masculine noun, and the plural word teeth is  दन्ताः .

A head is शिरः , a masculine noun.  We discussed about Aadi Sesha, who has thousand heads, and, Raavana who has ten heads. and in these specific cases, we would say शिराः to mean heads.
Hands: a hand is known as हस्तः , a masculine noun, hence two hands together,  is  हस्तौ .
Feet: a foot is पादः , a masculine noun, hence feet would be, पादौ .

Reading & Comprehension

We read and reflected on a saying that discusses about true ornaments/adornments to some of our body parts.

हस्तस्य भूषणं दानं सत्यं कण्ठस्य भूषणम् |
श्रोत्रस्य भूषणं शास्त्रं भूषणैः किम् प्रयोजनम् ||

Giving is hand's ornament. Speaking Truth is throat's adornment. Listening to knowledge is ear's embellishment. Other ornaments, like .. bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc., are of what use?

Homework

1. Write the body parts in sanskrit along with the English meaning, five times.
2. Find a synonym for Eye in sanskrit in the online dictionary.
3. Practice reading the Subhaashita and memorize.

We concluded with Prayers.
We shall meet again on Dec 7, 2014.

ॐ  शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ||

Nov 16, 2014

हरिः ॐ | नमो नमः |

After opening prayers, we reviewed the concept of gender in sanskrit. We practiced identifying the gender of a word, by examining the last syllable or the ending of the word.

We then moved on to the topic of the day.

वचनम्  - Number:

In sanskrit, words can be expressed in singular, dual, and, plural numbers. The dual number form is unique to sanskrit; it conveys that a pair or a couple of items are involved, as in the case of eyes, ears, hands, legs, and parents. Plural number in sanskrit, conveys that more than two items are being referred to.

Singular number is known as एकवचनम्
Dual number is known as द्विवचनम्
Plural number is known as बहुवचनम्

We first learned the three different number forms of the pronouns learned in the previous class, and then moved on to nouns in various genders. Here is the summary:

Gender	Singular	Dual	Plural
सर्वनाम शब्दाः  - Pronouns
पुल्लिङ्गः	सः	तौ	ते
स्त्रीलिङ्गः	सा	ते	ताः
नपुंसकलिङ्गः	तत्	ते	तानि
नाम शब्दाः - Nouns
पुल्लिङ्गः	रामः	रामौ	रामाः
स्त्रीलिङ्गः	सीता	सीते	सीताः
नपुंसकलिङ्गः	वनम्	वने	वनानि

We then practised this concept with other masculine, feminine and neuter gender nouns and pronouns, until the class became a pro at it :) We learned many new words in the process.

Homework

Write the dual and plural forms of these nouns, whose singular form is given here. Look up in a dictionary if you do not know the meaning of any of these words, or, the gender of the word.

1. बालकः 
2. बालिका 
3. पुस्तकम् 
4. माला 
5. व्यजनम् 
6. शरीरः 
7. शिरः 
8. हस्तः 
9. कः   * 
10. किम्  *

* - challenge words. 

We concluded with Prayers.
We shall meet again on Nov 23, 2014.

ॐ  शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ||

Nov 17, 2013

हरिः ॐ | नमो नमः |
HariH OM| namo namaH|

We reviewed what we had learned in the last session about gender. There are three genders in sanskrit language:

1. पुल्लिङ्गः   (pullingaH)  = masculine gender
2. स्त्रीलिङ्गः   (strIlingaH) = feminine gender
3. नपुंसकलिङ्गः  (napumsakalingaH) = neuter gender

संभाषणम्  (sambhaaShaNam) - Conversation

We then learned about the three gender forms of 'etad', the root word, meaning "this".

एषः	eShaH	M. (Masculine)
एषा	eShaa	F. (Feminine)
एतत्	etat	N. (Neuter)

We had learned about the word किम्  (kim), meaning "what?", in our previous conversations. The three gender forms of this word are:

कः	kaH	M.
का	kaa	F.
किम्	kim	N.

We then reviewed the parts of the body listed in Page.1 of the book लतिका (latikaa). By examining the last syllable of each word, we tried to guess the gender of the word. Then picking the correct gender form of the pronouns, 'this' and 'what' in sanskrit, we formed simple questions and answers.

Q:  एषः कः |  (pointing at one's head, What is this?)
A: एषः शिरः| (This is head.)
Q:  एषा  का |  (pointing at one's nose, What is this?)
A: एषा  नासिका | (This is nose.)
Q:  एतत्  किम्  |  (pointing at one's eye, What is this?)
A: एतत्  नेत्रं  | (This is eye.)

That was fun. We realized today that in sanskrit language, the ending of a word, plays a significant role in determining the gender, and the pattern of operations to be performed. There are exceptions to the normal patterns, which we will explore in a later stage and period.

Topic: वचनम् (vachanam) - Number

We discussed that Sanskrit nouns have singular, dual and plural numbers. Dual number is used to refer the count, two and Plural number is used to refer the count, more than two. The numbers in sanskrit are:

1. एक वचनम्  (eka vachanam)  = Singular Number
2. द्वि वचनम्  (dvi vachanam) = Dual Number
3. बहु वचनम् (bahu vachanam) = Plural Number

We briefly looked at the three number forms of few akaaraanta pullinga shabda-s, aakaaraanta striilinga shabda-s and halanta napumsakalinga shabda-s, in nominative case.
[Note: akaaraanta pullinga shabda, means, a word/noun that ends with the vowel 'a', and is of masculine gender. ajanta shabda, means a word/noun ending with a vowel. halanta shabda, means a word/noun ending with a consonant.]

Please note how the patterns are identical based on the ending letter/sound of the word.

एकवचनम्  - Singular	द्विवचनम्  - Dual	बहुवचनम्  - Plural	Vowel Ending
रामः raamaH	रामौ  raamau	रामाः raamaaH	akaaraantaH (followed by visarga)
शिरः  shiraH	शिरौ  shirau	शिराः shiraaH	akaaraantaH (followed by visarga)
बालिका baalikaa	बालिके  baalike	बालिकाः baalikaaH	aakaaraantaH
कुञ्चिका  kuñchikaa	कुञ्चिके kuñchike	कुञ्चिकाः kuñchikaaH	aakaaraantaH
फलम् phalam	फले phale	फलानि phalaani	akaaraantaH (followed by anusvaara)
नेत्रम्  netram	नेत्रे  netre	नेत्राणि netraaNi	akaaraantaH (followed by anusvaara)

We shall continue to explore this topic in detail in the next session.

We concluded our learning with Prayers.

ॐ  शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः