Accuracy when writing Sanskrit in English

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Dear Members,

 

A few months ago, one of our members, Sri Lakshmi Srinivas,

wrote about the importance of writing Tamil and Sanskrit

words accurately when writing in English.

 

Those of us who are of pure Tamil background perhaps should

take extra care, since the Tamil alphabet does not distinguish

maha-prANas (aspirated syllables such as 'pha', 'bha', etc.),

nor does it distinguish voiced syllables from unvoiced

syllables ('da' vs 'ta', for example). Pure Tamil has no need

to make this distinction, so its alphabet serves it just

fine.

 

When carrying this uniquely Tamil paradigm over to Sanskrit,

however, there often are unintended casualties of expression.

 

Let me cite an example from a recent post which conveys

the wrong message. It was written:

> SrimathE nigamAndha mahADesikAya Namah

^^^

This is a salutation to Sri Vedanta Desika. The second word

in the salutation above should actually be "nigamAnta",

^^

meaning the end or crown ("anta") of the Veda ("nigama").

Our acharya was renowned as a teacher ("desika") of the Vedanta

and hence earned this title.

 

When written as "nigamAndha", however, it means one who is

blind ("andha") to the Veda ("nigama"). So "nigamAndha desika"

means a teacher who is blind with respect to the Vedas, i.e.,

one who has no clue about the Vedas. Obviously this is not

the intended meaning.

 

Fortunately or unfortunately in Sanskrit, one syllable can make

a big difference.

 

So please, dear members, be very careful when writing Sanskrit and

Tamil words so you convey the appropriate meaning. (By the way,

same rule goes for pronounciation as well. The rules are very

basic, yet so often we hear people make elementary mistakes in

pronounciation).

 

My two cents,

Mani