Learning Sanskrit by a fresh approach – Lesson 5

Learning Sanskrit by a fresh approach

Lesson 5  VIDEO LINK

Glossary 5

No.	English	Sanskrit in transliteration	Sanskrit in Devanagari
1	good person, gentleman	sujanaH	सुजनः
2	not	na	न
3	gets into, goes to	yAti	याति
4	enmity	vairam	वैरम्
5	other	paraH	परः
6	good	hitam	हितम्
7	others’ good	para-hitam	परहितम्
8	involved, engrossed	nirataH	निरतः
9*	engrossed in good of others	para-hita-nirataH	परहितनिरतः
10	total loss	vinAshaH	विनाशः
11	time	kAlaH	काल:
12*	in time of total loss	vinAsha-kAle	विनाशकाले
13	also	api	अपि
14	when cut	chhede	छेदे
15	sandalwood	chandana	चन्दनम्
16	tree	taruH	तरुः
17*	sandalwood tree	chandana-taruH	चन्दनतरुः
18	lends fragrance	surabhayati	सुरभयति
19	mouth	mukham	मुखम्
20	of axe	kuThArasya	कुठारस्य

Words सुजनः, न and अपि have been there in previous glossaries.

There are three compound words here – परहितनिरतः विनाशकाले and चन्दनतरुः

(6) and (7) and (8) = (9) पर: and हितम् and निरतः = परहितनिरतः

Let us first look at “पर: and हितम्” The meaning is explained in the glossary that परहितम् = others’ good. So the relationship between the two words “other” and “good” is through the apostrophe. Or if we write it as “good of others”, the relationship is through the preposition “of”. In Sanskrit, the function of this preposition is served by the sixth, genitive case षष्ठी विभक्तिः. Hence we have to connect the two words by sixth case of पर: which is परस्य.

So the explanation of परहितम् = परस्य हितम् A compound word having this type of explanation or deciphering is called as a compound समास of षष्ठी तत्पुरुष समास type.

Then we can look into deciphering परहितनिरतः  considering परहितम् and निरतः as the two parts. Since परहितनिरतः means “engrossed in good of others” the relationship between the two parts “good of others” and “engrossed” is through the preposition “in”.  Function of this preposition is served by seventh locative case. Hence we have to connect the two parts by a declension of परहितम् into seventh case, सप्तमी विभक्तिः which is परहिते. So the explanation of परहितनिरतः becomes परहिते  निरतः A compound word having this type of explanation or deciphering is called as a compound समास of सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष समास type.

(10) + (11) = (12) विनाशः and कालः = विनाशकालः –> विनाशकाले Since means “in time of total loss” means “time of total loss”. Here the two parts “total loss” and “time” have the relationship through the preposition “of”. The function of this preposition is served by the sixth, genitive case षष्ठी विभक्तिः. Hence we have to connect the two words by sixth case of विनाशः which is विनाशस्य. So, the explanation of विनाशकालः is विनाशस्य कालः So, विनाशकालः is again a compound word समास of षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष समास type. विनाशकाले is सप्तमी विभक्तिः of विनाशकालः after its compounding.

Compound words become new words and would have declensions in different cases. This is important. Before deciphering a compound word, we should get to its simplest form, decipher the simplest form, which often is of first case singular प्रथमा विभक्तिः एकवचनम्.

परहितनिरतः was already in प्रथमा विभक्तिः एकवचनम्. So, there was no problem to start off with deciphering straightaway.

(15) + (16) = (17) चन्दनम् and तरुः = चन्दनतरुः This is again in प्रथमा विभक्तिः एकवचनम्. The two parts are चन्दनम् and तरुः Since the meaning of चन्दनतरुः is tree of sandalwood, relationship between the two words चन्दनम् and तरुः is through the preposition “of”. Again we have to connect the two words चन्दनम् and तरुः by sixth, genitive case of चन्दनम् which is चन्दनस्य Hence चन्दनतरुः is again a compound word समास of षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष समास type.

Actually the first word in the glossary सुजनः is also a compound word.  It has two parts सु and जनः The first part सु is a prefix उपपद, which stands for सुष्ठु meaning “good” So सुजनः compounded from सुष्ठु जनः becomes a compound word समासः of उपपद-तत्पुरुषः समासः type.

In the above discussion, we have studied समासाः of three types – षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः, सप्तमी-तत्पुरुषः and उपपद-तत्पुरुषः Obviously there are all sub-types of the broader category of तत्पुरुष-समासाः.

You will also appreciate from this discussion how deciphering the समासाः helps to get thorough understanding of the meaning.

Now we can proceed to our usual exercise of composing the phrases.