Äkäça-gaìgä: Sanskrit Course based on Vedic Literature and Culture

The Introductory Level: Lesson Three

The Sanskrit Alphabet

Çréla Jéva Gosvämé opens his Hari-nämämåta-vyäkaraëa with an auspicious sütra:

नारायणाद ् उूतोऽयं वणर्बमः ।

näräyaëäd udbhüto ’yaà varëa-kramaù
“This series of letters (the Sanskrit alphabet) appeared from Lord Näräyaëa.”

The order of the Sanskrit alphabet will be very useful to anyone who wishes to
consult any of the Sanskrit-English dictionaries. The Sanskrit alphabet is very
orderly, logical and scientific – unlike the Roman or Greek alphabets where the
vowels and consonants are arranged without any apparent clue (a, b, c d, e, f, …).

a, ä, i, é, u, ü, å, è, ÿ,
e, ai, o, au,
à, ù,
ka, kha, ga, gha, ìa,
ca cha, ja, jha, ïa,
öa, öha, òa, òha, ëa,
ta, tha, da, dha, na,
pa, pha, ba, bha, ma,
ya, ra, la, va,
ça, ña, sa,
ha.

Some Sanskrit dictionaries have transliterated entries (for example Kåñëa) while
others, especially those published in India, have entries in the original devanägaré
(कृ ).
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Ways of Writing Sanskrit

Outside of India, Sanskrit is most often written with the help of transliteration.
Transliteration means to “translate” each letter of the devanägaré script into
Roman script. Since Sanskrit has more letters than the Roman alphabet, we need
to add special signs to our 26 letters: dots under letters, lines over letters and so on,
for example: short a, long ä, short i, long é, cerebral ëa, guttural ìa.

In this way we get four different kinds of the letter na: ìa, ëa, ïa and na,
two kinds of the letters ta, òa, tha and dha: ta, öa, da, òa, tha, öha, dha and òha,
and three different kinds of sa: ça, ña and sa.

Another way of writing single Sanskrit words within an English text is to adopt the
writing to English standards. Such a method is called a transciption, trying to
approximate the sound of the word with the letters of another language. We could
write the word Kåñëa as Krishna, çaktyäveça as shaktyavesha. Some Indians write
Lakñmaëa as Luxman, Jayaçré as Jaishree. Although we have to resort to some
kind of simplification whenever it is impossible to use the diacritic signs, the
disadvantage of this style of writing is that it becomes impossible to reconstruct the
exact devanägaré original, and the pronunciation may become less accurate as well.

The BBT publishing house has its own standard of transliteration, following the
international scholarly agreements. We italicize all Sanskrit words except those
that denote personal and place names. The transliteration helps us in proper
pronunciation, it is accurate and understood all over the world. It was favored by
Çréla Prabhupäda and is used by many Sanskrit scholars in India and abroad.

Regarding our books, the scholarly way should be followed. That means as Dr.
Radhakrishnan and Bon Maharaja do it, and as Dr. Singh recommends. In all our
books and magazines henceforward the whole process should be changed.
Whatever is done in the past forget. Now everything should be revised and
presented in the scholarly way. That means throughout Krishna should be spelled
Kåñëa, Vishnu should be spelled Viñëu and Chaitanya should be spelled Caitanya,
etc. (Çréla Prabhupäda’s letter to Pradyumna, 13th Oct, 1969)

In reply to Jayädvaita's questions, henceforward the policy for using diacritic

markings is that I want them used everywhere, on large books, small books and
also BTG. If there is any difficulty with the pronunciation, then after the correct
diacritic spelling, in brackets the words "pronounced as _'', may be written. So
even on covers the diacritic markings should be used. We should not have to
reduce our standard on account of the ignorant masses. Diacritic spelling is
accepted internationally, and no learned person will even care to read our books
unless this system is maintained. (Çréla Prabhupäda’s letter to Jaduräëé, 31 Dec,
1971)

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The Devanägaré Script

Both Sanskrit and its script, the devanägaré, are descending to the earth from the
spiritual world. We write the devanägaré characters as if they »hang down« from
the lines, and not »sit« on them. Sanskrit hangs into this world from above! Çréla
Jéva Gosvämé names the vowels Sarveçvaras (Supreme Controllers) and the
consonants Viñëujanas (servants of Viñëu), since the Viñëujanas are dependent on
the independent Sarveçvaras.

The Vowels: Sarveçvaras

a अ
ä आ
i इ
é ई
u उ
ü ऊ
å ऋ
è ॠ
ḷ ऌ
e ए
ai ऐ
o ओ
au औ
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The Consonants: Viñëujanas

Consonants are divided into five vargas (groups) of five consonants that are
articulated in the same spot in the mouth. Aside from these twenty-five
consonants, there are four semivowels: ya, ra, la and va, and four sibilants: ça, ña, sa
and ha. All the consonants are pronounced with an inherent a, just like we use the
“e” when we spell out the English alphabet (a, be, ce, de).

The ka-varga: gutturals

All these five consonants are pronounced in the throat or at the back of the mouth.

ka क
kha ख

ga ग
gha घ
ìa ङ
The ca-varga: palatals
The five palatal consonants are pronounced between the tongue and the palate.

ca च

cha छ

ja ज
jha झ

ïa ञ
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The öa-varga: cerebrals or retroflex consonants

These special consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue touching the
palate. Note that r, ñ, å, è and ÿ are pronounced in a similar way.

öa ट
öha ठ

òa ड
òha ढ

ëa ण

The ta-varga: dentals

The dental consonants are pronounced with the tongue against the teeth, much
like such consonants in any of the European languages.

ta त
tha थ

da द
dha ध

na न

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 Äkäça-gaìgä: Sanskrit Course based on Vedic Literature and Culture

The pa-varga: labials

The labial consonants are produced by shaping the mouth into a small opening and
breathing through it.

pa प
pha फ

ba ब
bha भ
ma म

The Scientific Arrangement of Each Varga

In each of the five vargas, the first consonant is unvoiced and unaspirated, the
second is unvoiced and aspirated, the third is voiced and unaspirated, and the
fourth is voiced and aspirated. The fifth consonant in each varga is a corresponding
nasal sound.

unvoiced unvoiced voiced voiced

unaspirated aspirated unaspirated aspirated nasal
ka kha ga gha ìa
ca cha ja jha ïa
öa öha òa òha ëa
ta tha da dha na
pa pha ba bha ma

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The semivowels
These four consonants are the counterparts of some of the vowels, and are
therefore called semivowels (i-ya, å-ra, ÿ-la, u-va).

ya य

ra र
la ल

va व
The sibilants
The Sanskrit sibilants are simple to pronounce: the first, ça, is mild and
pronounced in the front part of the mouth, the second, ña, is pronounced deeper
behind in the throat, while the third, sa, is the simple s that we know in Western
languages. The Sanskrit ha is also equivalent to the ordinary Western h.

ça श
ña ष
sa स
ha ह

Now we are familiar with all the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. Memorize their
forms and practice writing them. Try to decipher the following words:

तव कर कमल ईश यम ऋत इव आगम
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अ a इ i उ u ऋ å ऌ ḷ ए e ओ o

आ ä ई é ऊ ü ॠ è ऐ ai औ au

क ka ख kha ग ga घ gha ङ ìa

च ca छ cha ज ja झ jha ञ ïa

ट öa ठ öha ड òa ढ òha ण ëa

त ta थ tha द da ध dha न na

प pa फ pha ब ba भ bha म ma

य ya र ra ल la व va अं aà अः aù

श ça ष ña स sa ह ha क्ष kña ऽ tra ज्ञ jïa

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 Äkäça-gaìgä: Sanskrit Course based on Vedic Literature and Culture

Devanägaré: a Syllabic Script

When we write the devanägaré script, we do not simply add letters one after
another the way we are used to in our Roman script. Devanägaré is a syllabic script,
and we have to think in terms of syllables when we write. A syllable is a small unit
of letters which consists of a consonant, or a group of consonants, and the
following vowel. It can also be a single vowel without any preceding consonant.
The vowel can be followed by à or ù. But any other consonant will already belong
to the next syllable.

su-su-khaà

ka-rtu-ma-vya-yaà

In Sanskrit, each syllable is a single unit and will be written together. How do we
write the word susukhaà in the devanägaré script? We begin with sa:

स
Now, we do not write the full vowel u next to it, but use its shortened form, its
utsava-mürti, and hang it below the sa. In this way sa turns into su.

सु ु खं
सस ु
su su-su-khaà

All vowels except the short a have their utsava-mürtis for joining them to
consonants:

आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ॠ ए ऐ ओ औ
◌ा ि◌ ◌ी ◌ु ◌ू ◌ृ ◌ॄ ◌े ◌ै ◌ो ◌ौ
का िक की कु कू कृ कॄ के कै को कौ
kä ki ké ku kü kå kè ke kai ko kau

दा िद दी     दे दै दो दौ
dä di dé du dü då dè de dai do dau
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The two special letters of the Sanskrit alphabet are the visarga (ù) and anusvära
(à). Çréla Jéva Gosvämé calls them the Viñëusarga and Viñëucakra.

◌ः ◌ं
कः कं

The full vowels are only used at the beginning of the word:

अमल अवतार
a-ma-la a-va-tä-ra

The short a has no special utsava-mürti and is already inherent in each consonant.
Therefore, if we wish to write down only the consonant sound, we need to use a
special sign below the letter, called the viräma:

क ka क् k

Conjunct Consonants

How do we write two consonants standing right next to each other? In that case,
we will not use the viräma sign but will merge two or even three or four
consonants together into a single letter. In the process of merging, the first
consonants lose their vertical line if they have one, and become glued to the last
consonant of the group. They can be glued from the left or from below. For now,
do not worry about all these conjunct consonants, focus on the main alphabet
letters and with the help of those basic letters you will be able to recognize most of
the conjuncts.

In Çréla Jéva Gosvämé’s grammar the method of gluing together the consonants is
likened to the behavior of the servants of Viñëu: when two or more Viñëujanas
wish to serve the Sarveçvara together (when two or more consonants stand next to
a single vowel) they have to give up their false ego to be able to cooperate. That
false ego represents the vertical line in the letters which is deleted.
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Examples of gluing from the left:

तस ta + sa = tsa

मय ma + ya = mya

तम ta + ma = tma

सव sa + va = sva

Examples of gluing from below:

दग da + ga = dga

ङक ìa + ka = ìka

दव da + va = dva

Upredictable conjuncts

Some consonant clusters have a specific form that is not predictable from the
original consonants that are grouped together. The famous ones are:

क्ष ज्ञ ऽ  
kña jïa tra kta çva

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Special form for conjunction

Some consonants have a special form for gluing to another consonant, for example
ra: when it stands first in the consonant cluster, we use a small sign for it above the
line:

र व वर् ra + va = rva

र क कर् ra + ka = rka

र ण णर् ra + ëa = rëa

When ra is the last member of the consonant cluster, it will be visible as a small tail
below the other consonants:

प र ू pa + ra = pra

व र ो va + ra = vra

क र ब ka + ra = kra

We conclude this short adventure into the realm of conjunct consonants with an
appropriate quote from Çréla Prabhupäda: “If I told you everything, you would
faint.”

This course is designed to minimize the stress from learning all the letters at once.
Feel at ease, explore, remember as much as you can. The lessons from four to ten
will always include both the devanägaré and the transliteration, so that you can
become accustomed to the writing.
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Instructions on Pronunciation

By far the most important point is to distinguish and stress the difference between
short and long vowels. The short a is very different from the long ä, try to clearly
pronounce the difference :

wrong: bhäjä hü re mänä, Bhärät, Mädhävä, Çäcénändänä,

Rämäyäëä, Bhägävätäm, Päïcä-tättvä, väiñëava,
Kréçnä, säìkirtän, vyäsasän, räsabäsa, räganüga,
purëém, Vyäs-püj, pärikräm, Tuläsi, säkhya-räsä

right: bhaja hu re mana, Bharat(a), Mädhava, Çacénandana,

Rämäyaëa, Bhägavatam, Païca-tattva, vaiñëava,
Kåñëa, saìkértan(a), vyäsäsan(a), rasäbhäsa, rägänuga,
pürëimä, Vyäs(a)-püjä, parikramä, Tulasé, sakhya-rasa

In most of the modern Indian languages, the short a standing at the end of the
word is not pronounced, and that usually influences the speech of devotees as well:

Näräyaëa – Näräyaë, Advaita – Advait, Ananta – Anant, däsa – däs, dharma –

dharm, Nityänanda – Nityänand, Baladeva – Baldev, Rämacandra – Rämcandra

The conjunct jïa is usually pronounced as gya.

Take special care to properly pronounce the retroflex (cerebral) consonants, those
which have a dot underneath (öa, öha, òa, òha, ëa, ña, å, è, ÿ).

The å and è are not exactly equivalents of the ordinary ri or ré. The i sound should
be more subdued, and the å should be produced with the tip of the tongue
stretched upwards, like in the cerebral consonants. Listen to Çréla Prabhupäda's
pronunciation of the word Kåñëa and try to achieve the same sound.

There is a subtle difference between the pronunciation of ça and ña, but it is

usually ignored, unless you are very meticulous.

The Viñëusarga (ù) is pronounced as an echo behind a particular vowel: aù is aha,

iù is ihi, eù is ehe, aiù is aihi (not aihai), auù is auhu (not auhau).

The Viñëucakra (à) is pronounced either as a nazalized m, or as an ìg. The ìg

pronunciation is reflected in the spelling of the Indian surname Siàha: Singh.

Suggested reading: A Comprehensive Guide to Sanskrit Pronunciation, Lokanäth

Swami, Padayatra Press 2009, India
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