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renuka
30 October 2009, 08:34 PM
dear all,
i want some help here.

in the first line of the invocation :
om bhadram karnebhih shrunuyaama devaah

why is the grammar KARNEBHIH and not KARNAABHYAAM.
i understand vedic grammar is different from the regular Sanskrit grammar but can anyone explain this to me.
thanks in advance

yajvan
31 October 2009, 08:08 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté renuka,

First let me say I cannot answer your question to your level of satisfaction ( or for that matter, to my level of satisfaction :) ) as I continue to study this great language and consider myself a student (śiṣya) at best.

The answer to your question lies in the rules offered by the grammarian Pāniṇi-muni. There are rules of adjacent sounds that influence their outcomes and pronunciations. They are lopa, vikāra and āgama (deletion, modification and addition respectively).

The process is known as sandhi and employs ~ 43 sigla-s ( from 'sic' - sprinkles or drops + 'la' cuts ). This sandhi is really written as saṃdhi which means 'containing a conjunction or transition from one to the other' and 5 areas/kinds of saṃdhi are identified - vowel (svara), consonents (vyañjana), etc. and the 5 include visarga and anusvāra.

So your question becomes one of the proper use of visarga (aspirated breath) depicted by ḥ in the mantra you offer vs. the anusvāra or the after-sound , the nasal sound which is marked by a dot , and which always belongs to a preceding vowel depicted as ṁ.


This is the mantra you have offered in your post...
oṁ bhadraṁ karnebhiḥ sṛṇuyāma devā

Both anusvāra and visarga appear in the mantra, based upon specific rules of closure, transition and adjacent sound rules as mentioned. If I try and explain, I cannot not do it simply, which tells me I do not have a full handle on the rules as yet ; simple = comprehension for me, and I am not there yet.


For those interested, this invocation (āvāhanaṃ¹) is the opening line of the śāntipāthaḥ (peace invocation) found in 3 upaniṣads: the māṇḍūkya upaniṣad, muṇḍaka upaniṣad and the praśna upaniṣad.
oṁ bhadraṁ karnebhiḥ sṛṇuyāma devā

It says the following:
(oṁ) may we with our ears hear that which is auspicious O devā (O gods, devatā)
Or said anther way,
(oṁ) the auspicious O devā (O gods, devatā) may we hear with our ears

This is not the sum total of the śloka as it contains 4 full lines + the final closure of peace, oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

praṇām

āvahana आवहन is to bring near. We can also consider āvāha आवाह inviting , invitation
Hence the 'invocation' is considered/called āvāhanaṃ which is sending for , inviting, calling.
And who are we calling ? - usually the devatā being addressed in a pūjā perhaps.

renuka
31 October 2009, 09:18 PM
dear sir,
thank you for your reply
renuka karthikayan

kd gupta
01 November 2009, 11:15 PM
dear all,
i want some help here.

in the first line of the invocation :
om bhadram karnebhih shrunuyaama devaah

why is the grammar KARNEBHIH and not KARNAABHYAAM.
i understand vedic grammar is different from the regular Sanskrit grammar but can anyone explain this to me.
thanks in advance

The vedmantra is….bhadram karnebhih shranuyam DEVAH bhadram pashyem akshabhiryajatrah .

It is receiving , so tritiya bibhakti is used . Devah is bahuvachan , so karnebhih and akshabhih is used …and not karnabhyam or akshabhyam .

renuka
02 November 2009, 01:23 AM
dear Guptaji,
thanks a million

renuka
02 November 2009, 01:59 AM
now since you cleared my doubt i can see clearly now hence i want to ask you this.
Is Karnebhih/Aksabhih used because its the Plural for 3rd Vibhakti (counting all the ears and eyes of the reciters?)

kd gupta
02 November 2009, 04:31 AM
As science uses receivers and transmitters , similarly in Sanskrit tritiya vibhakti and pancham vibhakti is used .

When a bird flies with two wings , then bhyam is used , see..

Ubhabhyam pakshabhyam pakshih gati …now you can use prapyate and if plural or pakshinah…. gati prapyante .

It has been a lapse of 40 yrs. , time when I studied Sanskrit . This time I have no any grammar book .

yajvan
03 November 2009, 10:02 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté kd gupa,


As science uses receivers and transmitters , similarly in Sanskrit tritiya vibhakti and pancham vibhakti is used .

Are you offering here the sentence structure of subject and object? That in this language it is 'subject-object-verb' structured.

praṇām

kd gupta
03 November 2009, 10:24 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté kd gupa,



Are you offering here the sentence structure of subject and object? That in this language it is 'subject-object-verb' structured.

praṇām

Namaste Yajvanji

I have requested Arya Samaj forum to start a basic sanskrit grammar topic , see if they agree ..