visarga & anusvāra

[Ekanta]

Namaste everyone.

In dont know what forum to put this in so...

... If anyone can answer:

I wonder why the visarga (ḥ) is written in BOTH sentences and in individual words.
BUT anusvāra (ṁ/ṃ) is only written in sentences but NOT in individual words (at least that seem to be the case when its word-final).

For example:
paraḥ & paraṃ in a sentence is written in individual words as: paraḥ / param.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté Ekanta

Namaste everyone.

In dont know what forum to put this in so...
... If anyone can answer:
I wonder why the visarga (ḥ) is written in BOTH sentences and in individual words. BUT anusvāra (ṁ/ṃ) is only written in sentences but NOT in individual words (at least that seem to be the case when its word-final).

For example:
paraḥ & paraṃ in a sentence is written in individual words as: paraḥ / param.

I must admit I do not comprehend your question when the notion of 'sentence' is brought into view. I will also yield to those more knowledgeable on this matter as I still remain the śiṣya .

That said, in the most strictest view of these 2, they are not a part of the alphabet, but arise from the proper usage of rules.

Anusvāra arises via the rules of saṃdhi¹. As you know it is a nasal sound , with specific rules attached to it.
We also know visarga (ḥ) or visarjanīya as it is also called is a very profound sound. I will offer more in the next post, but thought for now this visarga is written as : in saṃskṛtam. There is much to be said about these 2 dots.

praṇām

• saṃdhi , some write sandhi - In general, containing a conjunction or transition from one to the other .
  • More specifically according to the Monier-Williams Saṃskṛt Dictionary, saṃdhi is a euphonic junction of final and initial letters in grammar .
  • Every sentence in saṃskṛt being regarded as a euphonic chain , a break in which occurs at the end of a sentence and is denoted by a virāma or avasāna , " stop ";
  • this euphonic coalition causing modifications of the final and initial letters of the separate words of a sentence and in the final letters of roots and stems when
    combined with terminations to form such words

[Ekanta]

OK I will clarify...

when sentence/shloka like this... I see ṁ as word-final:

dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā
ācāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vacanam abravīt 1.2

When individual words are described as this... I see m:

Sa�jaya uvāca = Sanjaya said: tadā = When, at that time; rājā duryodhanaḥ = King Duryodhana; dṛṣṭvā tu = upon seeing; pāṇḍav-ānīkam = the soldiers of the Pandavas; vyūḍham = in battle formation; upasaṅgamya = approached; ācāryam = Acharya Drona; [and] abravīt = uttered; vacanam = [these] words. 1.2

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté Ekanta

OK I will clarify...

when sentence/shloka like this... I see ṁ as word-final:

dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā
ācāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vacanam abravīt 1.2

When individual words are described as this... I see m:

Note that this ṁ comes before the consonant of the next word ? It is the replacement for the final m before a consonant sound, we then place this nasal ṁ.

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).

This is where my studies take me, more to the process known as saṃdhi as it employs ~ 43 sigla-s from 'sic' - sprinkles or drops + 'la' cuts.

So, one must consider the work of Pāniṇi-muni. Pāṇini-s Aṣṭādhyāyī ( book on grammar) - a bit advanced, as I study it then give it a rest.

praṇām

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté Ekanta (et.al)

So, one must consider the work of Pāniṇi-muni. Pāṇini-s Aṣṭādhyāyī ( book on grammar) - a bit advanced, as I study it then give it a rest.

One book I use is called Dimensions of Pāniṇi Grammar - The Indian Grammatical System by Kapil Kapoor, ISBN 81-246-0331-6


praṇām

[Ekanta]

Thanks, I think I get it...

dharme naṣṭe kulaṃ kṛtsnam adharmo...

m is the basic and ṃ is the adaptation if the following words starts with a consonant as in:
kulaṃ kṛtsnam

there is no adaptation of m if the following word starts with a vowel as in:
kṛtsnam adharmo...

----
What made me confused was that I thought ṃ was the base and I wondered why they removed it all the time when giving a single word... (ding dong)

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté Ekanta.

Thanks, I think I get it...

dharme naṣṭe kulaṃ kṛtsnam adharmo...

m is the basic and ṃ is the adaptation if the following words starts with a consonant as in:
kulaṃ kṛtsnam

there is no adaptation of m if the following word starts with a vocal as in:
kṛtsnam adharmo...

----
What made me confused was that I thought ṃ was the base and I wondered why they removed it all the time when giving a single word... (ding dong)

Yes.
What would be good is a reivew and application of all the rules. The 'rules' are called lakṣaṇa - a mark , sign , symbol , token , characteristic , attribute , quality , ' marked or characterized by'.
The rules are substantial , yet can be grouped ( for saṃdhi) into 5 areas. I am not the expert; I am in hopes the expert will join HDF.

Now this visarga (ḥ) or visarjanīya as it is also called . Here is the 1st hymn of the rig ved... by inspection, what 'rule' do you see regarding the appearance of this ḥ ?
It comes after a vowel, no? And who owns this vowel a? This would begin the spiritual side of the conversation on the emanation (visarga - sending forth) of all creation coming from a.
The first letter of saṃskṛtam. Who owns this a ?

it is also the 1st letter of the veda - from this first a , the rest of the veda is explained.

I will also show it in saṃskṛtam below the translation. (We always mention the ṛṣi when known)
The ṛṣi is madhuchandāḥ ( some write madhuchandās); the meter (chandas) is gayātrī ; the devatā is agni.

aghnimīḷe purohitaṃ yajñasya devaṃ ṛtvījam |
hotāraṃ ratnadhātamam ||
aghniḥ pūrvebhirṛṣibhirīḍyo nūtanairuta |
sa devāneha vakṣati ||
aghninā rayimaśnavat poṣameva dive-dive |
yaśasaṃ vīravattamam ||
aghne yaṃ yajñamadhvaraṃ viśvataḥ paribhūrasi |
sa iddeveṣu ghachati ||
aghnirhotā kavikratuḥ satyaścitraśravastamaḥ |
devo devebhirā ghamat ||
yadaṅgha dāśuṣe tvamaghne bhadraṃ kariṣyasi |
tavet tat satyamaṅghiraḥ ||
upa tvāghne dive-dive doṣāvastardhiyā vayam |
namo bharanta emasi ||
rājantamadhvarāṇāṃ ghopāṃ ṛtasya dīdivim |
vardhamānaṃsve dame ||
sa naḥ piteva sūnave.aghne sūpāyano bhava |
sacasvā naḥ svastaye ||

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
अग्निमीळे पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य देवं रत्वीजम |
होतारं रत्नधातमम ||
अग्निः पूर्वेभिर्र्षिभिरीड्यो नूतनैरुत |
स देवानेह वक्षति ||
अग्निना रयिमश्नवत पोषमेव दिवे-दिवे |
यशसं वीरवत्तमम ||
अग्ने यं यज्ञमध्वरं विश्वतः परिभूरसि |
स इद्देवेषु गछति ||
अग्निर्होता कविक्रतुः सत्यश्चित्रश्रवस्तमः |
देवो देवेभिरा गमत ||
यदङग दाशुषे तवमग्ने भद्रं करिष्यसि |
तवेत तत सत्यमङगिरः ||
उप तवाग्ने दिवे-दिवे दोषावस्तर्धिया वयम |
नमो भरन्त एमसि ||
राजन्तमध्वराणां गोपां रतस्य दीदिविम |
वर्धमानंस्वे दमे ||
स नः पितेव सूनवे.अग्ने सूपायनो भव |
सचस्वा नः सवस्तये ||

praṇām

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

I wrote

Now this visarga (ḥ) or visarjanīya as it is also called . Here is the 1st hymn of the rig ved... by inspection, what 'rule' do you see regarding the appearance of this ḥ ? It comes after a vowel, no?

Yet Dimensions of Pāniṇi Grammar - The Indian Grammatical System by Kapil Kapoor, tells us this visarga is a substitute in speech for a final 's' or 'r'. Yet this occurs after a vowel.
An example of 'after a vowel' is naraḥ , agniḥ .

I wrote

What would be good is a review and application of all the rules.

Many times we talk of this, but never offer an example. Let me offer a simple example in English of saṃdhi.
Let say I wish to combine Here + is , we get Here's. How about He and is, we get He's ...so saṃdhi is all about sounds coming together.

Now a rule for saṃdhi by Pāṇini. This would be for vowels (svara) .

yaṇa saṃdhi - when i,u,r,l are followed by a,i,u,r,l,e,o,ai,au , then they are replaced by y,v,r,l. Application: apri +āptam becomes aprtyāptam

Another is guṇa saṃdhi which I like to use... When someone writes īśāvāsya upaniṣad , this rule can be applied: īśāvāsya + upaniṣad
becomes īśāvāsyopaniṣad , and I use this often. It says the following:
a + u = o ( note the a and u can be short or long ā or ū )
a +i = e ( same, long or short)
a + ṛ = ar ( same, long or short)
a+ ḷ = al ( long a but only short ḷ as I understand it)
Note in every case the word ends in an 'a' or 'ā'. Then the replacement is called a guṇa vowel or a e o ( अ ए ओ).


Are there more rules ? Absolutely.

I remain the śiṣya and always look for the proper corrections on this matter.
praṇām

[Ekanta]

Nice... I have to make a checklist and save it.
Here's a page with quite some rules:
http://www.sanskrit-sanscrito.com/en...dhirules.shtml

I have for some time hoped that I would pick up the rules without having to go through a list of them, but apparently that method is rather slow... the lazy man's method.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast� Ekanta,

Nice... I have to make a checklist and save it.
Here's a page with quite some rules:
http://www.sanskrit-sanscrito.com/en...dhirules.shtml

I have for some time hoped that I would pick up the rules without having to go through a list of them, but apparently that method is rather slow... the lazy man's method.

Yes, I have visited this site and talked with the authors on a few occasions. Very helpful. What would be nice would be the grouping...
say yaṇa saṃdhi :

• yaṇa = yaṇ, meaning a term for the semivowels y , r , l , v.

Hence the 'rule' as it was offered in the last post. But that said, I am greatful to Gabriel Pradīpaka & Andr�s Muni for their fine work. A great resource.

re: lazy man method - yes, I have visited the island before. Not much water there .

praṇām