Learn Sanskrit In Selangor Malaysia.

 

व्यञ्जन (Vyanjana) the story of  Consonants and Curry.

In Sanskrit the word व्यञ्जन (Vyanjana) can mean:

1)Consonant

2)Curry.

It might sound strange but there is a basis for this.

Firstly what is a consonant?

A consonant is an alphabet that can only be sounded with the help of a vowel.

For eg क (ka) is a consonant.

 क (ka)  = क् (k) + अ(a)

क(ka) can only be articulated with the help of the vowel अ(a)

In Sanskrit a vowel is called स्वर:(svara)  which is short for 

स्वयं राजते इति स्वर: svayaM rAjate iti svaraH which means that " A vowel is that which is self established"

In other words the vowel does not need the aid of any alphabet to articulate itself as it is the basis of phonetics.

 Now coming to a Consonant व्यञ्जन (Vyanjana), as it was written earlier that a consonant can not be articulated without the help of a vowel.

Therefore a Consonant is not a main alphabet.

It can't stand without a vowel.

Ok, now lets get to the story of the other व्यञ्जन (Vyanjana), Curry.

Here it gets interesting.

As we know that we have to eat curry with the main dish like rice or bread.

The curry therefore is a side dish and the main basis of the meal is either rice or bread.

Therefore in this context a curry is called व्यञ्जन (Vyanjana) because its not the main dish and can not be eaten on its own without rice or bread.

To recap : A  Consonant व्यञ्जन (Vyanjana) can not be articulated without the main alphabets(The Vowels) 

and a Curry व्यञ्जन (Vyanjana) can not be eaten without the main dish of either rice or bread.

Strange but true..both consonants and curries are just side dishes.