Conversational Sanskrit

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A distinguished linguist, word philosopher & spiritual master Acharya Dr. Vagish Shastri, Ex-Director-Professor, Oriental Research Institute of S. Sanskrit University, Varanasi, has published four original books composed in Sanskrit on Paninian Grammar. His Paniniya Dhatupatha Samiksa book has been accepted by grammarians as a master piece and it won the Kalidasa Award of U. P. Government of India in 1966. He edited the complete text Vakyapadiyam of Bhartrhari with a Sanskrit introduction published by S. Sanskrit University and invented the Sanskrit pedagogy named Vagyaga Mnemonic to facilitate the learning of Sanskrit in a short time.

A willing person can read, speak & write Sanskrit within 300 hours through this unique technique. There are three steps in this technique as there are three cantos in Vakyapadiyam of Bhartrhari the great grammarian (400 A.D.). The first canto of the Vagyoga technique in known as Varna-Kandam, which deals with the development of letters. The second canto is Pada-Kandam. It deals with the formation of words derived from the verbal roots. The disciples themselves derive sixty four thousand words from any famous root of Sanskrit language. They decide the gendes and semantics of the words derived.

Third canto of this Vagyoga technique is called Vakya Kandam. This canto is related to the syntax of Sanskrit language. Although Dr. Vagish Shasstri published three books to teach this third step during 1958, 1959, & 1970, they were not accompanied with English meanings. Now this booklet. Conversational Sanskrit has been published specially for the English-initiate. Here are thirty chapters in this book containing Greetings, Apologies, Wishes, Request, Consent, Gratitude, Congratulations, Invitations, Regrets, Refusal, Joy & Sorrow, Surprise & Anger, Believing & Trusting, Allowing, Age & Family, Notices & Signs, time, Season & Weather, Hotel & Restaurant, Washerman, shoes, Morning, Breakfast etc. These topics cover mostly daily Sanskrit Conversational sentences. The Sanskrit sentences are also printed here in Roman script. Therefore, you will not experience any difficulty if you do not know the Deva-Nagari script. This unique book will be indispensible to the person who desires to learn Conversational Sanskrit.

Preface

As is evident from the title of this book , the sentences of daily use are collected here. The field of Sanskrit is very comprehensive & wide spread. An extensive treasure of technical terms is hidden in Sanskrit language. Many branches of each Sastra: Science, for example the Ayuveda does many other branches, such as Salya-cikitsa: surgery, Vrksayurveda: treatment of trees, Rasayana-Sastra: Chemistry, Dravya-guna: etc. Likewise Astrology & Astronomy have several branches. Tantra & Purana have a vast Literature, Yoga, Silpa-sastra:Sculpture, Niti-sasstra: Science of ethics, Rajaniti-Sastra:Logic, Agama, Vyakarana sasstra: grammar, Mahakavya: Epics etc. have been composed in holy Mantra language Sanskrit. The treatises of Mahayana (Buddhism) and Jainism are written in Sanskrit. Several valuable manuscripts, the jewels of sciences, still unpublished are waiting for editing. Sanskrit language is an abysmal ocean, where exists undiminished treasure of jewels. Therefore, the universal people curious for diving, stand on the seashore of Sanskrit ocean. This book 'Conversational Sanskrit' is like a tender-boat for them who desire to climb up the ship for diving. I believe, this book will prove a door to enter into the eternal circumference of the ocean.

I prepared this book based on my Sanskrit teaching experience of 45 years and conversational Sanskrit of my family for forty years. I have endeavoured my best to avoid long compounds and arduous syntaxes. I composed Sanskrit sentences parallel to English sentences. I adopted the same tone of Sanskrit in this book, as in taken by my family in the daily conversation. This book is the first part of Vagyoga Mnemonic Technique's III volume. Its other parts will come out as soon as possible.

Many Sanskrit teaching books have been published in the past. No doubt, there are shown many new methods to teach Sanskrit, but they are based on the grammatical background, not related to conversational Sanskrit, Moreover, Sanskrit sentences used there do not belong to the current of the modern world. People cannot use them in their daily life. Zia Rawji(England) & Dr. Peter Kuhn, Physician of Switzerland, learnt conversational Sanskrit with me last year. Dr. Kuhn suggested that I should write a book on conversational sanskrit in English for universal people. He sent me a book "Repares Pratiques". That was a good collection of daily use words in French & English languages. I adopted a few thoughts from that book. But I could not digest it thoroughly. Probably I shall utilize the same in the second part of this book.

My thanks to my wife Mrs. Rekha Tripathi 'Sanskrit Bharati' who with her sons Mr. Vachaspati, Dr. Vastoshpati and Mr. Ashapati Shastri, and her daughters-in-law kept me free from the household affairs, so that I could complete this book.

Thanks to Shri Narayana Das, Ex-Legal Remembrancer, Govt. of U. P., who read the last proof of this book and gave valuable suggestions as also to my disciples Zia Rawji, England, Dr. Peter Kuhn, Switzerland, Mr. Jean Baptiste leblay, France, Mr, Denial Seymour, USA and Vivekanath Sinha, Germany who offered financial assistant in this knowledge-sacrifice. Thanks to the owner of Kashi graphics, Mr. Vishwambhar Deo Upadhyaya who printed this book in time.