Vedic Astrology Lessons: Sanskrit Alphabet 1

Lesson 1

Sanskrit Alphabet : Lesson 1

lesson uploaded October 20, 2005 by Freedom Cole

This is a very basic lesson to begin to familiarize the jyotish student with sanskrit. As the student is learning a large amount of new sanskrit terminology it is best to learn it the first time with correct pronunciation, or you will have to learn it twice.

Part 1 is the pragmatic aspect of learning the letters. Part 2 is learning a little in depth about each letter to understand it and be better able to pronouce it. It is impossible to learn correct pronuciation without a teacher, and verbal help of a teacher is advised. Students need to download Itranslator from http://www.omkarananda-ashram.org/Sanskrit/Itranslt.html . This free program will install all sanskrit and transliteration fonts one needs to learn basic sanskrit. This page and preceeding pages cannot be understood without these fonts installed on your computer.

Part 1

This is the written sanskrit alphabet and a pronunciation guide. Students are to print this, learn the sound of the letters and practice writing the letters.

Sanskrit Vowels:

A	a	As in but, Indra, Aditi, [one beat (matra): the sound lasts for one second, short]
Aa	ä	As in father, äçram, gräha, [two beats (matras): the sound lasts for two seconds, long a]
#	i	As in bit, fit, iñöa-devatä, Citrä (short: one matra)
$	é	As in meet, police, lak ñmé, jéva , klém, (long: two matras)
%	u	As in full, put, Uttaraphalguné, Rudra
^	ü	As in boot, bhümi, Sürya, P üñ än, Pürvaphalguné
\	å	The tongue rolls on the on the top of the mouth to make a continuous sustained rrrrrr sound (one matra), B å haspati, åñi, mågaçiras, kåttikä , åg veda
§	è	Same as short but two matras, is created when two words with å combine
¤	lå/ ḷ	The tongue rolls on the top of the mouth to make a continous sustained lllllll sound (one matra), as in kḷpta (engaged, connected) [ lå Itrans99/ ḷ Itrans2003]
¥	lè/ ḹ	Same as short but two matras
@	e	As in fate, pray, whey, Äçleñä
@e	ai	As in fight, aisle, pie
Aae	o	As in go, ojas,
AaE	au	As in down, hound, cow
A<	aà	Nasal sound that falls between ang and am, a nasal M without closing the lips
A>	aù	Slightly pronouced ha, a vowel (not consonant like h ha), namaù

Sanskrit Consonants:

k	ka	As in kill, kevin, kali, prakäça (to elucidate, illumine)
o	kha	As in bunkhouse, the same ka is said with an added expiration coming from the navel.
g	ga	As in goat, give, bug, gätha (song)
"	gha	As in loghouse, again the same ga as before but with an added apiration at the end coming from the navel center, ghaëöä (bell)
‘	ìa	As in xing
c	ca	As in church, cello, chair, Cämuëòa
D	cha	As in coach-horse
j	ja	As in John, Jagannath
H	jha	Apirated Ja
\|	ïa	As in single
q	öa	This group of sounds starts with the tongue on the top of the mouth and then the sound is made, this makes the sound cerebral instead of dental
Q	öha	As in Dhaniñöhä, Jyeñöhä, the same ‘öa’ is aspirated
f	òa	This is a cerebral ‘òa’ that starts with the tongue on the top of the mouth
F	òha	As in Uttaräñäòhä
[	ëa	Very similar to a normal na except that the sound starts with the tongue at the roof of the mouth; found in the words Gaëapati, Puräëa
t	ta	Dental ‘ta’ as in table, want
w	tha	Dental ‘ta’ with an aspiration
d	da	Dental ‘da’ as in day, dog,
x	dha	Dental ‘da’ but with an aspiration from the navel, dhé (intelligence), bandha (bound/stuck)
n	na	Dental “na” as in never, nut, neat
p	pa	As in Pat, Pete,
)	pha	Aspirated “pa” as in the name Pam, kapha (phlegm)
b	ba	As in be, cab, imbibe
É	bha	Aspirated ‘ba’ ass in clubhouse
m	ma	As in machine, matter, mokña
y	ya	As in yellow
r	ra	As in red, read, räçi
l	la	As in late, learn,
v	va	As in very, variable,
z	ça	Deep ‘ ça ’ coming from the same place in the throat as the sound ‘cha’. As the word sure, Çukra , Viçäkhä, Açviné, Navämça
;	ña	Cerebral ‘ña’ as in share, shave, bush, Dhaniñöhä, Puñya, Kåñëa
s	sa	Dental ‘sa’ as in send, saint, sever,
h	ha	As in hurry, help, hat

This next group are some common conjunct letters (which are combinations of the previous letters).

]	kña	This is a common combination in sanskrit the letter k and cerebral ; put together, kñetra,
Ç	tra	Dental t and the half syllable r combine as in trikoëa
}	jïa	The letter j combines with palletal \| to be pronouced together as in jïana (spiritual knowledge)
Ï	ddha	Dental d combines with its aspirate x to makes a two matra aspirate ddha sound as in siddha (perfected one), våddhi (to grow/prosper)
*	dya	Dental d combines with half syllable y to make dya as in vidya (knowledge, science)
ï	çra	Palatel z combines with to half syllable r make çra as in Çrém, Çravaëa,

[Assignment 1]
These letters are to be printed for the practice of writing the letters:

A Aa # $ % ^ \ § ¤ ¥
@ @e Aae AaE A< A>
k o g " ‘
c D j H |
q Q f F [
t w d x n
p ) b É m
y r l v
z ; s h
] Ç } Ï * ï

Combining Consonants and Vowels

Consonants are considered lame without a stick, they cannot walk without a vowel. K ( K ) becomes ka ( k ) when an a ( A ) is added to it, so that it can be pronounced. Consonants cannot be pronounced without a vowel. G (G ) becomes gä ( ga ) when ä ( Aa ) is added. Ch ( C ) becomes chi ( ic ) when ‘i’ ( # ) is added. So all letters are considered to have a silent a ( A ) as part of them so they can stand (be pronounced).

a	ä	i	é	u	ü	å	è
a	aa	I	i	u	U	«	©
	e	ai	o	au	am	aù
	e	E	ae	aE	<	>

K ( K ) becomes

ka	kä	ki	ké	ku	kü	kå	kè
k	ka	ik	kI	k…	kª	k«	k©
	ke	kai	ko	kau	kaà	kaù
	ke	kE	kae	kaE	k<	k>

[Assignment 2]
On a separate sheet of paper practice writing each of the primary 33 consonants with each of the 16 vowels, like the example of ka ( k ).

[Assignment 3]
After Downloading Itranslator99 type the alphabet into Itrans. Take a verse from the Bhagavad Gita or similar text and type it into Itrans, then copy and paste it into a word document. Dowload bR^ihat.h parAshara horaa shaastra from http://sanskrit.gde.to/ and look at it in Itranslator.