Birds of paradise - Peter, Sue & Marc (with lyrics)

Three Birds, a Mongoose and Sanskrit!


चाषस्तु वदते मात्रां द्विमात्रं त्वेव वायसः ।
शिखी रौति त्रिमात्रं तु नकुलस्त्वर्धमात्रकम् ।।

cASastu vadate mAtrAM dvimAtraM tveva vAyasaH
shikhI rautri trimAtram tu nakulastvardhamAtrakam.


The above stanza explains the length of syllables in Sanskrit linking it with 3 birds and a mongoose.

The meaning is :

The Blue Jay says one mAtrA(one count), two mAtrA(two counts) by the crow,
The peacock's cry is three mAtrA(three counts) and the mongoose  half a mAtrA(half a count)

So next time you see these 3 birds and a mongoose remember that they know Sanskrit too.

Vedika: Sanskrit Rhymes - 1 (वर्णमाला-गीतम् १)

Let's learn a nursery rhyme today!

It's nice to be a kid again.

In Sanskrit, Vowels are called स्वरः(svaraH)

So what does  स्वरः(svaraH) mean?

 स्वरः(svaraH) is about Self Establishment.

The meaning of  स्वरः(svaraH) is स्वयं राजते इति स्वरः  (svayaM rAjate iti svaraH ) which translates as

"A vowel is that which is self established"

The self established here refers to sound..that is the vowels are sounded, they do not need the aid of any other alphabet to establish themselves.

So there you go...  Total freedom of speech and expression in the very first sound you utter!

vara leela gana lola-unnikrishnan.wmv

Today we would decipher the interesting meaning of the last verse of this famous Tyagaraja Keerti.
It has the usage of the word राज(rAja) in various ways in different contexts for different meanings.



रघु राज त्यागराज नुत
राज दिवस राज नयन-भो
जगदवनाज जनक राज सुता
विराज राज राज पूजित



raghu rAja tyAgarAja nuta
rAja divasa rAja nayana-bho
jagadavanAja janaka rAja sutA
virAja rAja rAja pUjita

Meaning:

रघु राज(raghu rAja) = King of Raghu dynasty(Lord Rama)
त्यागराज(tyAgarAja) = Saint Tygaraja(the composer of this song)
नुत (nuta) =praise
राज(rAja) =The Shining one(The moon)
दिवस राज (divasa rAja) =King of the daytime(The Sun)
नयन(nayana) =eyes
भो (bho) = O'
जगदवनाज (jagadavanAja) =The Unborn one who looks after the universe
जनक राज सुता  (janaka rAja sutA) = Daughter of King Janaka(Sita)
विराज(virAja) =King of the birds(Garuda)
राज राज (rajA rajA) =Emperor
पूजित(pUjita) = worshiped.

Meaning :O' King of the Raghu Dynasty, Who has the moon and the sun as eyes, Praised by Tygaraja.
O'The Unborn Protector of the Universe who is worshiped by Sita, Garuda and Emperors.
The usage of the word राज (rajA) here is just simply wonderful.

Donkey Song - Nursery Rhymes for Children

Donkeys and the Power of Love!


Sanskrit has many words for a donkey.

But one of the words for a donkey is very interesting.

The word is    स्मरस्मर्य(smarasmarya).

So what does it mean?


Well   स्मरस्मर्य (smarasmarya) is made up for 2 words स्मर(smara) +स्मर्य(smarya).

स्मर(smara) is one of the names of the Lord of Love Kama Deva and स्मर्य(smarya) means remembered by.

The story goes that the Donkey is remembered by the Lord of Love Kama Deva for its prowess in the Love department.


And all these while men thought its better to be a lion! Its high time they realize it's a donkey that is a स्मरस्मर्य (smarasmarya) and not a lion.


So too bad guys..you ain't no Lion King.

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (Official Video)

Tit for Tat.

How do you handle a smooth criminal in Sanskrit?

शठे  साठ्यं समाचरेत्
śaThe sAThyaM samAcaret

It means Treat a crook with crookedness ( in the same way)..in other words Tit for Tat.


Just to highlight  
 साठ्यम् sAThyam mean Fraud/Deceit/Crookedness.
सत्यम् satyam means Truth.

Very similar to look at but a whole world of difference in meaning.