Conversational Sanskrit

Do clothes matter? It appears they may!. During the samudra manthan the ocean gave vishnu resplendent in yellow robes his own daughter Lakshmi, poor half naked siva had to drink poison. Indeed clothes make the man वाससा किं इत्यत्र विचारणीयं  वासाः  प्रधानं खलु योग्यतायै पीताम्बरं वीक्ष्य ददौ स्वकन्यां दिगम्बरं वीक्ष्य विषं समुद्रः kim vaasasaa ityatra vichaaraneeyam  vaasaah pradhaanam khalu yogyataayai  peetaambaram veekshya dadau svakanyaam  digambaram veekshya visham samudrah. What of clothes,?, it bears examination here Clothes are a mark of worth having seen the resplendent yellow robes of vishnu, samudra gave his own daughter to him seeing the naked siva, he gave him poison

How many times have your read articles in the press attributing superhuman qualities to individuals who happen to be super rich. This apparently is not a new phenomenon. Here is an ancient aphorism in Sanskrit on how all manners of supreme qualities are attributed to the rich man. यस्यास्ति वित्तं स नरः कुलीनः स पण्डितः श्रुतवान् गुणज्ञः स एव वक्ता स च दर्शनीयः सर्वे गुणाः काञचनमाश्रयन्ति He who has wealth is of noble birth He is a scholar learned in the Srutis( the Vedas) and has knowledge of all good qualities He alone  is the spokesman, and he is the one worth seeing All good qualities seek refuge in gold. Next time you read about the sage of Nebraska ( Buffett), the genius of Washington ( Bill Gates) or the avatar of Boston ( Marc Zuckerberg), it is OK, you are part of an ancient tradition of glorifying and deifying the rich. Maybe that is what keeps the lotteries working.

Ever wonder how the elders would come up with a Sanskrit couplet in blessing when someone asks for their blessing. Do you wish you were able to come up with a short blessing in Sanskrit for various occasions? Here are some phrases of benediction or blessing in Sanskrit. Most of these are from Kalidasa's Abhigyana Shakuntalam. दीर्घायुष्मा न् भव May you have a long life. दीर्घसुमङगली भव May your remain a married woman for very long! ययातेरिव र्शर्मिष्ठा भर्तुः बहुमता भव Like Sharmishtha was for Yayati, may you be the beloved of your husband To a pregnant woman: वीर प्रसविनी भव May you give birth to a child who will be a warrior To a young and illustrious  man: वत्स चिरं जीव | पृथ्वीं पालय | Son may you live long and rule the world. वत्स अप्रतिरथो भव Son be an unrivaled warrior To a young woman who seeks  blessings along with her husband and son: वत्से, आखण्डल समो  भर्ता,  जयन्त प्रति...

Kalidasa's Abhigyana Shakuntalam is one of the greatest dramatic works ever were written and is a testimony to Kalidasa's poetic genius and acute observation of the human condition. Here are a couple of verses as a small sample of this tender love story. (Please note that I have broken the sandhis to make it easier to understand).  Sage Kanva who has brought up Shakuntala as his own daughter, pours his heart out as he bids her farewell as she heads to the home of her husband. यास्यति अद्य शकुन्तला इति हृदयं संस्पृष्टम् उत्कण्ठया कण्ठः स्तंभित बाष्प वृत्ति कलुष चिन्ताजडं दर्शनम्| वैकल्व्यं मम तावत् ईदृशं अहो स्नेहात् अरण्यौकसः पीड्यन्ते गृहिणः कथं नु तनायविशलेष दुखैः नवैः || At the thought that Shakuntala will go today, my heart is deeply touched with anxiety. My throat is choked with the flow of tears. My perception is paralyzed with grief. If such, oh! is the affliction, because of affection for even me whose abode is in the forest, how bitterly...

1. ब्रह्मन्   (Brahman).  the ultimate reality, pure consciousness ( jnAnasvarUpa),  attributeless निर्गुण (nirguNa)  and beyond intellect निर्विशेष ( nirviSeSa). 2. ईश्वर (Isvara).  Brahman conditioned by माया (mAyA) or अविद्या (avidyA). Isvara is Sat, Cit, Ananda ( existence, consciousness and  bliss). 3. जीव  (Jiva), the subject-object complex as an appaearance of Brahman. Jiva is diferent from isvara in that it is the agent and the enjoyer. It acquires merit and demirit , experiences pleasure and pain , while Isvara is not touched at all by these. When avidya is destroyed both Isvara and Jiva are identified as one and the same as Brahman. 4. माया (Maya) or अविद्या (avidyA) is not only illusion, not only absence of  knwoledge but presence of wrong knowledge and a mixture of the real and the unreal, and the neither real nor unreal. 5. Knowledge is the only means of liberation. Knowledge that Jiva is Brahman will de...