Yesterday was Akshaya Tritiya, an auspicious day for undertakings, like marriages. I finished a book I started work on when I was a Gurukula teacher of Sanskrit at SRSG. I showed it to Swamiji and I am glad to say that he was very enthusiastic.
Like me, he hopes that it will be of some interest to other devotees of Swami Veda and Swami Rama, as it includes explanations of all the verses that are chanted in the morning and evening at the ashram, including Gita verses and Ishopanishad.
The name Adhika Pathyam is temporary. It needs a catchier title. Adhika Pathya means "extra reading material" for the course, to supplement other text books and reading materials, so that the students would feel that even if they did not learn Sanskrit that at least they would know what the prayers mean!
Here is a sample:
Here is a sample:
1.
Guru-vandanā
(1.1)
गुरुर्ब्रह्मा
गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः।
गुरुः साक्षात्
परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥
gurur brahmā gurur viṣṇur gurur devo maheśvaraḥ
|
guruḥ sākṣāt paraṁ brahma tasmai śrī-gurave
namaḥ ||
Sandhi:
§ devo maheśvaraḥ = See the comments to Verse 6 (p. 6). mātā tu
pārvatī, etc.
§ gurur = guruḥ.
This is a visarga
sandhi. When visarga is preceded by a vowel other than a or ā,
and is followed by a soft consonant (all consonants other than ka, kha, ca,
cha, ṭa, ṭha, ta, tha, pa, pha, śa, ṣa, sa), the visarga changes to r.
In this verse, since s is a hard consonant, guruḥ did not become gurur
in front of sākṣāt. These are visarga-sandhi rules 4a and 1a. See
pages 104-105.
§ viṣṇur = viṣṇuḥ.
Same rule. See also
in Mealtime prayers, Gita 4.24 (p.16 of this book) havir.
Vibhakti:
§ tasmai = to him (caturthī vibhakti,
dative case). This is a sarvanāma (pronoun)
§ śrī-gurave =
to the guru (caturthī
vibhakti, dative case)
Important: The word namaḥ always takes
the caturthī vibhakti. Examples: oṁ namaḥ śivāya, oṁ namo bhagavate
vāsudevāya, namas tasyai namas tasyai namas tasyai
namo namaḥ.
This verse contains
several short sentences.
- gurur brahmā = The guru is Brahmā (creator god)
- gurur viṣṇuḥ = The guru is Vishnu (god of maintaining
the universe)
- gurur devo maheśvaraḥ = The guru is Maheshwara (Śiva,
god of destruction)
- guruḥ sākṣāt paraṁ brahma = The guru is directly the
Param Brahma, the Supreme Absolute Truth
(1.2)
अखण्डमण्डलाकारं
व्याप्तं येन चराचरम्।
तत्पदं दर्शितं
येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥
akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāraṁ vyāptaṁ yena carācaram |
tat-padaṁ darśitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
||
Sandhis: Final m becomes anusvāra
(ṁ) in front of any consonant.
Main
part of sentence:
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. (See Verse 1)
Syntax: This verse is a little more
complicated than the other ones because of the use of relative pronouns,
i.e. yena. Normally, wherever there is a tat, there is a yat,
and vice versa.
So “I bow
down to that (tasmai) guru…” Which guru? tat-padam
darśitaṁ yena
§ yena = (the guru) by whom (tṛtīyā
vibhakti, instrumental case)
§ tat padam = that thing, substance, state,
place, position.
§ darśitam = was shown. This is a past participle, like dattam.
It works like an adjective, agreeing with the subject, tat-padam, a
neuter noun.
This is a
passive construction, but Sanskrit uses the passive much more often than
English, so we can translate “who showed me that state”
Now tat padam
is doing the same thing. The tat here is looking for a yat. In
the second quarter of the verse we find another yena. So in answer to which
substance, thing, position or state, we have:
§ akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāraṁ
carācaram =
“the unbroken (akhaṇḍa) circle (maṇḍala) form (ākāraṁ),
moving (cara) and unmoving (acara),” i.e., the universal
creation. The word carācaraṁ and cognates are often used to mean the
entire universe of moving and unmoving beings.
§ yena = “by which” (refering to pada)
§ vyāptaṁ = is pervaded. This is also a past
participle. It agrees with the subject carācaram.
Again, this
is a passive construction. Translate: “which pervades the universe of moving
and unmoving creatures, shaped like an unbroken circle.”
So: I pay
obeisances to Śrī Guru, who showed me that state (Brahman), which
pervades the creation.
