do not pronounce Sankrit in English as in Hindi!

[riih.qarojamahoamaan]

It is generally understood that it is essential to pronounce Sa~sqrt correctly, because words in Sa~sqrt are so powerful that they can achieve anything in the visible and invisible world; mispronunciation can cause really wrong effects, far from achieving good. So what a pity that practically nobody in this era pronounces Sa~sqrt correctly! People in India pronounce Sa~sqrt in their modern Indian languages, which are quite different from Sa~sqrt, just like Modern Greek is quite differently pronounced than ancient Greek. Outside India, Sa~sqrt is pronounced according to the instructions set by English scholars of olden times who had ample knowledge of live languages, but only a vague (and obstinate) idea of how to pronounce a dead language as Sa~sqrt. This is reflected in the clumsy and un-historical system of translitterating Sa~sqrt in English alphabet; the system using lots of unnecessary diacritics, while not employing all letters available in English alphabet; moreover English letters are thought to be used as in modern English, and not in respect to their normal use prior to their adaptation in English. The worst thing is that in the whole world Sa~sqrt phonemes are wrongly described even by eminent scholars, then what to expect of novice aspirants. To start with, every Sa~sqrt phoneme is usually described as a counterpart of an English sound, which is in fact impossible, because NO more than about seven Sa~sqrt phonemes can be said to be pronounced as something in English. Then the descriptions show profound ignorance of universal phonology, for example when describing “ j ” as English j and “ c ” as English ch, which is an obvious blunder, for in fact “ j ” and “ c ” are non aspirate plosives in Sa~sqrt, while j and ch are heavily aspirated in English. A further proof is that “ c ” and “ j ” can be duplicated and can be followed by the corresponding aspirate consonants, which can happen only if “ c ” and “ j ” are non aspirates. If “ c ” and “ j ” were aspirates, then nobody could ever know how to pronounce Sa~sqrt “ ch ” (often written “ chh ”) and “ jh ”, which ARE really aspirates. Another instance of arbitrariness is the description of “ v ” as English v, when with vowels, and as English w, when with consonants; while no Sa~sqrt source says that there are two different ways of pronouncing “ v ”. The fact that “ v ” expressly corresponds to short and long “ u “, “ v ” can always turn into long or short “ u “ and vice versa in the process of word formation (sa~dhí), proves that “ v ” was always pronounced as “ w ”. I am afraid I cannot describe all Sa~sqrt phonemes here, for correct pronunciation can hardly be taught on line. Can you teach a Hindu through the web to pronounce English correctly? Still to describe Sa~sqrt in linguistic terms as simply as possible, i explain the sounds used in the SAAWITRII as follows:

A, I, Y are short vowels, occupying 1 time unit. AA, II, U, E, O are long vowels, occupying 2 time units. OOO is even longer, occupying 3 time units. A is not exactly like a in “cat”, nor exactly like u in “cut”. I is not exactly like english short i. T, P, K are non aspirate plosives, and not aspirates as in English. V, Dh are heavily aspirated, reminding of spirants. V is bilabial and not dentilabial as in English, you can pronounce it if you try to pronounce “v” after joining both lips together. To pronounce Dh, gently bite your tongue between upper and lower teeth and try to say “th” as in “this”. W is not accompanied by a laryngeal sound as is usually in English; it is the semivowel corresponding to Y and U, articulated just like Y and U, but with only momentary duration. J is like English semivowel y, and R lile American r. ,N is retroflex, that is pronounced by the tip of the tongue curling inwards and touching the roof of the mouth. w and j are the same as W and J respectively, the only difference being that w and j are only used as vowel separators, that is they stand between vowels to prevent a hiatus. I and II are similar to english ee, note that I occupies 1 time unit and II 2 time units. E is like II, but with mouth wider open. To say O and OOO, let your tongue lie flat at the bottom of your mouth, making sure it is not risen at any point while opening your mouth as much as practically possible and rounding your lips. Y and U are round vowels, similar to English oo, pronounce Y and U as described for O and OOO, but close your mouth halfway instead of opening it (with rounded lips) as for O and OOO. And remember, Y takes 1 time unit, U takes 2, otherwise Y and U are the same. To say A and AA, open your mouth as wide as practically possible without letting throat, velum, tongue or lips narrow the air passage from your lungs outwards. T is not retroflex or alveolar as in English, it is articulated by the tip of the tongue on the teeth, and not on the gums (and remember, it is not aspirate as in English). D is pronounced as descibed for T, but D is voiced while T is voiceless (D is non aspirate too). While G is velar, K is palatal, both being non aspirate, especially note that K is non aspirate, so it is very different than English ch which is heavily aspirated. ! shows that the preceding vowel is to be pronounced at higher tone. So now you should understand why it is practically impossible for people whose native language is English to pronounce Sanskrit. If you still insist to pronounce Sanskrit, learn universal linguistics phonology, and keep with the instructions given here, disregarding how Sanskrit is pronounced in modern India. What they pronounce in India today is Praqrta, not Sansqrta, and it is very different from Sansqrta (Sanskrit) just like Modern Greek is very different from Ancient Greek. Why, is English pronounced as it was in 1800 b.C.? How then the SAAWITRII, composed around 1800 b.C. is taken to be pronounced as in Hindi or other modern India’s languages?

Here you see underlined all syllables which are long because their vowel is long: OOOM VUR VY!WA: SYwA!: ) TA!T SAWITY!R WA!RE,NIjAM) VA!RGO DEWA!SJA DhIIMAHI) DhI!JO JO! NA: PRAKODA!JAAT)), and here you see underlined the syllables which are long because their vowel is followed by 2 or more consonants: OOOM VUR VY!WA: SYwA!: ) TA!T SAWITY!R WA!RE,NIjAM) VA!RGO DEWA!SJA DhIIMAHI) DhI!JO JO! NA: PRAKODA!JAAT)) All long syllables are underlined here: OOOM VUR VY!WA: SYwA!: ) TA!T SAWITY!R WA!RE,NIjAM) VA!RGO DEWA!SJA DhIIMAHI) DhI!JO JO! NA: PRAKODA!JAAT)) Metrically, the SAAWITRII is divided into 4 half-lines, and each half-line is made up of 2 parts, so the whole verse consists of 8 parts as shown here: 1: OOOM VUR) 2: VY!WA: SYwA!: )) 3: TA!T SAWITY!R) 4: WA!RE,NIjAM)) 5: VA!RGO DEWA!) 6: SJA DhIIMAHI)) 7: DhI!JO JO! NA: ) 8: PRAKODA!JAAT)). The parts of odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7) have a free rhythm, while the parts of even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8) follow the strict iambic pattern u – u –, where u means short syllable and – means long syllable. If the pattern u – u – appears to end in a short syllable, the last syllable still counts as long with a pause after it. In fact all 8 parts, both “free” and iambic, occupy 7 musical beats, i.e. 7 time units. Here a number after each syllable shows how many time unit each syllable occupies so as each part counts as 7 beats (time units): OOOM 4 VUR 3) VY! 1 WA: 2 SY 1 wA!: 2 +pause 1)) TA!T 2 SA 1 WI 1 TY!R 2 +pause 1) WA! 1 RE 2 ,NI 1 jAM 2 +pause 1)) VA!R 2 GO 2 DE 2 WA! 2) SJA 1 DhII 2 MA 1 HI 1 +pause1)) DhI! 1 JO 2 JO! 2 NA: 2) PRA 1 KO 2 DA! 1 JAAT 2 +pause 1)). In the half-line VA!R 2 GO 2 DE 2 WA! 2) SJA 1 DhII 2 MA 1 HI 1 +pause1) it appears that the first part counts as 8 beats and the second part as 6 beats, but as DE 2 WA! 2) SJA 1 is only one word with no pause within it, the first part takes a time unit from the second part so that each part maintains the 7 beat (7 time units) rhythm.

When this Qalijyga is finished, then correct Sa~sqrt will be learned everywhere, and the Saawitríi will be constantly recited in the most holy places:

OOOM VUR VÝWA: SYwÁ:

TÁT SAWITÝR WÁRE,NIjAM)

VÁRGO DEWÁSJA DhIIMAHI

DhÍJO JÓ NA: PRAKODÁJAAT))

Until then, i suggest a universal system of translitterating Sa~sqrt, while warning also that it is better not to use a mantra than using it in wrong pronunciation. A medicine can really heal even if the patient does not know the ingredients, then again, it may kill if there are big or small mistakes in using the correct ingredients in the correct proportions.

Here is an example of the universal (not specifically English!) system for translitterating Sa~sqrt. It contains no diacritics except the accent mark, which can be substituted by ! after the accented vowel if the system cannot display such characters (for example a! instead of á, i! instead of í and so forth). By the way, i could not find the following text in the whole Raamaajana epic. It is not included in official editions of Raamaajana. But it is said that it was part of the "aadiqawja" (original poem) of Raamaajana. So it is only natural to conjecture that this is from an original sarga of Raamaajana, which was later substituted by over-orthodox Wai,snawaas, as they could not accept that Raama, an incarnation of Mahaawi,sny, recites an hymn to the Sun God. In fact this is not an incantation to the Sun God; it is the Supreme Spirit here symbolised as the Sun, and the Brahmacjoti symbolised as the sunshine, "more brilliant than all lights" (tecasaam api técaswíi). So the Sun is only referred to as a miniature of the God of Gods, whose particle is the Sun giving all light, warmth and life to our planetary system. "brahmaa+iizaana+akjyta+iizaaja" means "to the infallible (akjyta) lord (iiza) of brahmaa and iizaana", i.e. to Mahaawi,sny; just like qara-hara-zara,na (in the Qalqi-pyraa,nam) means "the shelter of qara (brahmaa) and hara (ziwá)". Therefore, the Waai,snawaas were wrong in thinking that this hymn is "paa,sa,nda" (heretical). Note that the sa~dhí is not working at the end of every half-line, in the form i found the hymn in all sources. Also some words are repeated, while different words would perhaps enrich the hymn. So i present the hymn as i found it with only corrections of obvious mistakes, and after some lines i give in brackets suggestions of how to restore classical sandhí and replace new epithets for repeated ones; although, it is quite likely that at the time when this hymn was composed sandhí did not exactly apply as in classical sanskrit.

OM razmimanta~ sam-ydjanta~ dewa+asyra-námas-qrta~

pucajaswa wiwaswanta~ vaasqara~ vywana+iizwara~)

OM sarwa-dewa+atmaqo hj e,sá técaswíi razmi-vaawana:

e,sá dewa+asyra-ga,naa~l-loqaan paati gavastivi: )

OM e,sá bráhmaa ka wí,snyz ka ziwá: sqanda: pracaa-pati:

mahendro dhana-da: qaaló jamá: somo hj apaa~ pati: )

OM pitaro wasawa: saadhjaa hj azwinaay maryto many:

waajyr wahni: pracá: praa,ná rtyqartaa pravaaqara: )

OM aaditja: sawitaá surja: qhaga: pu,saa gavastimaan

sywar,na-sadrzo vaanyr hema-retaa diwaaqara: )

OM haríd-azwa: sahasra+arki: sapta-saptir mariikimaan

timira+yn-mathana: za~výs twa,staá maartaa,nda aa~zymaan) (or? cajaawaho ’~zymaan)

OM hira,nja-garva: ziziras-tapano vaasqaro rawi: (or "(a)hasqaro rawi:")

agni-garvo ’dite: pytra: za.nqha: zizira-naazana: )

OM wjoma-naathas tamo-vedii rg-jacy:-saama-paaraga: ("jacyr-rq-saama paaraga:")

ghana-wr,stir apaa~ mitro windhja-wiithii plawa.ngama: )

OM aatapii ma,ndalii mrtjý: pi.ngala: sarwa-taapana:

qawir wizwo mahaa-tecaa raqta: sarwa-vawa+yd-vawa: )

OM náxatra-graha-taaraa,naam adhipo wizwa-vaawana:

tecasaam api técaswíi dwaadaza+aatman námo ’sty te)

OM náma: purwaaja giraje pazkimaaja +adraje náma:

cjotir ga,naanaa~ pataje dina+ádhipataje náma: )

OM cajaaja caja-vadraaja harj-azwaaja námo náma:

námo náma: sahasra+a~zo aaditjaaja námo náma: ) (praka,ndaaja námo ’sty te)

OM náma ygraája wiiraája saara.ngaaja námo náma:

náma: padma-prabodhaaja maartaa,ndaaja námo náma: )

OM brahmaa+iizaana+akjyta+iizaaja syraaja +aaditja-warkase

vaaswate sarwa-vaxaaja raaydraaja wapy,se náma: )

OM tamo-ghnaaja hima-ghnaaja zatry-ghnaaja +amita+aatmane

qrtaghna-ghnaaja dewaaja cjoti,saa~ pataje náma: )

OM tapta-kaamiiqara+aavaaja haraje wizwa-qarma,ne (in some sources: "wahnaje wizwa-qarma,ne")

námas tamo’vi-ni-ghnaaja rykaje loqa-saaxi,ne)

OM naazajatj e,sá wáai vutá~ tad ewá srcati pravy:

paajatj e,sá tapatj e,sá war,satj e,sá gavastivi: ) (war,satj e,sá cagatpati: )

OM e,sá sypte,sy caagarti vute,sy parini,sthita:

e,sá ewa +agni-hotra~ ka fala~ ka +ewa +agni-hotri,naam)

OM wedaaz ka qratawaz ka +ewa qratunaa~ falam ewá ka

jaani qrtjaani loqe,sy sarwe,sy parama-pravy: )

OM pucajaswa +enam eqa+agro dewa-dewa~ cagatpatim

etat trigy,nita~ captwaa jyddhe,sy wicaji,sjase))