Difference between revisions of "Shiksha (शिक्षा)"

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== स्वरतोऽपराधम् ॥ Effects of Bad Pronunciation ==
 
== स्वरतोऽपराधम् ॥ Effects of Bad Pronunciation ==
Pāṇinīyaśikṣā cautions against any mispronunciation in terms of accent or letter and asserts that such a usage would boomerang:<blockquote>मन्त्रो हीनः स्वरतो वर्णतो वा मिथ्याप्रयुक्तो न तमर्थमाह । स वाग्वज्रो यजमानं हिनस्ति यथेन्द्रशत्रुः स्वरतोऽपराधात् ॥ ५२ ॥</blockquote><blockquote>mantro hīnaḥ svarato varṇato vā mithyāprayukto na tamarthamāha । sa vāgvajro yajamānaṃ hinasti yathendraśatruḥ svarato'parādhāt ॥ 52 ॥</blockquote>A mantra that is defective in terms of accent or letter would not be useful as it does not convey the intended meaning. Moreover it will become a weapon as good as the diamond-weapon of Indra, and boomerangs against the doer. This is what happened when the mantra 'indraśatruḥ vardhasva' was employed with a different accent.  
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Pāṇinīyaśikṣā cautions against any mispronunciation in terms of accent or letter and asserts that such a usage would boomerang:<blockquote>मन्त्रो हीनः स्वरतो वर्णतो वा मिथ्याप्रयुक्तो न तमर्थमाह । स वाग्वज्रो यजमानं हिनस्ति यथेन्द्रशत्रुः स्वरतोऽपराधात् ॥ ५२ ॥</blockquote><blockquote>mantro hīnaḥ svarato varṇato vā mithyāprayukto na tamarthamāha । sa vāgvajro yajamānaṃ hinasti yathendraśatruḥ svarato'parādhāt ॥ 52 ॥</blockquote>A mantra that is defective in terms of accent or letter would not be useful as it does not convey the intended meaning. Moreover it will become a weapon as good as the diamond-weapon of Indra, and boomerangs against the doer. This is what happened when the mantra 'indraśatruḥ vardhasva' was employed with a different accent. The following story from Taittirīyasaṃhitā 2-5-2-1, and Śatapathabrāhmaṇa 1-5-2-10 (Śuklayajurveda) is being referred to by the quoted mantra – <blockquote>अथ यदब्रवीत् – इन्द्रशत्रुर्वर्धस्वेति तस्मादु हैनमिन्द्र एव जघान। अथ यद्ध शश्वदवक्ष्यत् – इन्द्रस्य शत्रुर्वर्धस्वेति शश्वदुह स इन्द्रमेवाहनिष्यत् ।</blockquote><blockquote>atha yadabravīt – indraśatrurvardhasveti tasmādu hainamindra eva jaghāna. atha yaddha śaśvadavakṣyat – indrasya śatrurvardhasveti śaśvaduha sa indramevāhaniṣyat</blockquote>Visvarūpa was the son of Tvaṣṭā. The former was killed by Indra. Tvaṣṭā wanted to avenge and commenced a sacrifice called 'abhicārahoma' in order to have a son who can kill [[Indra (इन्द्रः)|Indra]]. Then, while praying to Fire-God (āhavanīyāgni) a mantra, i.e. 'svāhendraśatrurvardhasva', which means – "O! Fire-God! Prosper as a person who can kill Indra" was guessed. In the mantra 'śatru' means destroyer and in such a case it should be employed with 'antodāttasvara' as it is a Tatpuruṣasamāsa, i.e. indrasya śatruḥ. But the priest employed the same mantra as 'ādyudātta', which is a Bahuvrīhisamāsa, which means 'be born as one, who has got Indra as the destroyer'. As a result Indra became the destroyer of [[Vrtrasura (वृत्रासुरः)|Vṛtra]], who was just born and got killed. Therefore, in order to avoid such repercussions, one should be careful in his speech actions.
  
 
==Pratishakhyas==
 
==Pratishakhyas==

Revision as of 13:14, 28 May 2020

Shiksha (Samskrit: शिक्षा) means "instruction, lesson, learning, study of skill". Shiksha is a knowledge of pronunciation and accent, insufficiently expressed as phonetics.[1] In this context it refers to one of the six Vedangas, or limbs of Vedic studies, the others being Vyākaraṇam (Grammar), Chandas (Prosody), Niruktam (Semantics and Thesaurus), Jyotiṣam (Astrology) and Kalpa (Practice of Rites). It has an important place in the Vidyasthanas and hence study of this shastra is a prerequisite for Vyakarana.

Articulation of Sounds from Throat, Nose and Mouth Courtesy: Book "Sarwang" Published by Adivasi Lok Kala Evam Boli Vikas Academy, Madhya Pradesh Sanskriti Parishad

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

Shiksha is considered as the nose (घ्राणम् - ghrāṇam) of Vedapuruṣa (knowledge personified) as described in Mundakopanishad (1.1.15). Unlike other later day languages, pronunciation is of utmost importance in Samskrit. Different speech organs, places for different letters, the efforts, the accents, quantity, pitch, stress, melody, process of how letters are produced, the virtues and vices of pronunciation, the problem with mispronunciation etc. are discussed in this science of pronunciation dealt with, in the Shad Vedangas.

Each ancient vaidika parampara survived through millenia as they developed pronunciation and the testimony to this is are the surviving texts are the Pratishakyas. The Paniniya-Shiksha and Naradiya-Shiksha are examples of extant ancient manuscripts of this field of Vedic studies. One should learn Shiksha principles before studying the Vyakarana.

The ancient Vedic schools developed major treatises analyzing sound, vowels and consonants, rules of combination and pronunciation to assist clear understanding, to avoid mistakes and for resonance (pleasing to the listener). These texts include Samhita-pathas and Pada-pathas, and partially or fully surviving manuscripts include Paniniya Shiksha, Naradiya Shiksha, Bharadvaja Shiksha, Yajnavalkya Shiksha, Vasishthi Shiksha, Parashari Shiksha, Katyayani Shiksha and Manduki Shiksha.

There are thirty seven or so Shiksha compiled by different seers of Bharatvarsha. Phonetics (in Modern Linguistics) is a rough translation of Śikṣā. The latter deals with many issues related to pronunciation. The term Śikṣā literally means – the one that trains pronunciation etc. of letters.

व्युत्पत्तिः ॥ Etymology

The roots of Shiksha can be traced to Rigveda which dedicates two hymns 10.125 and 10.71 to revere sound as a goddess, and links the development of thought to the development of speech. Taittiriya Upanishad, in Shikshavalli, contains one of the earliest description of Shiksha as follows,

शीक्षां व्याख्यास्यामः। वर्णस्स्वरः। मात्रा बलम्। साम सन्तानः। इत्युक्तश्शीक्षाध्यायः ॥ (Tait. Upan. Shik. 2)[2]

Now, we will clearly state about Shiksha (phonetics). There are six aspects to be discussed in Shiksha: letter, accent, short/long vowel etc, the efforts to be put in during pronunciation, pronouncing at medium pace and the sandhi (the change in the form of letters when uttered in quick succession) - this is called the chapter of Shiksha.

Shabdotpatti

The earliest Brahmanas – a layer of text within the Vedas, include some terms of art in the Vedic phonetics, such as Varna and Avasana. Varnas are the fundamental speech units and they are produced (वर्णोत्पत्तिः) by a complex process involving the antaranga or inner mind combined with air and articulating organs. Panini shiksha describes the physiological process by which sound (or varnas here) is produced in the human being. According to Paniniya Shiksha,

वर्णाञ्जनयते तेषां विभागः पञ्चधा स्मृतः।।9।। स्वरतः कालतः स्थानात्प्रयत्नानुप्रदानतः। इति वर्णविदः प्राहुर्निपुणं तन्निबोधत ।।10 (Pani. Shik[3])

Varnas or Speech sounds are generated on the basis of the five following ways

  1. स्वरः ॥ Svara (Accent or Pitch) are three in number: udātta, anudātta, and Svarita.
  2. मात्रा ॥ Matra (Quantity or time of utterance) are three in number: ह्रस्व (hrasva = short), दीर्घ (dīrgha = long) and प्लुत (pluta = longer)
  3. स्थानम् ॥ Sthana (Place of articulation)
  4. प्रयत्नः ॥ Prayatna (Effort)
  5. अनुप्रदानम् ॥ Anupradana (Sound material)

स्वरः ॥ Accent or Pitch

While difference in accent causes a difference in meaning in the vedic literature, accent is not given importance in classical samskrit literature. The अचः (acaḥ = vowels) are called स्वराः (svarāḥ) as they shine with 'svara' and being the 'dharma', udātta etc. are also called svarāḥ. Panini in his famous Ashtadhyayi defines svaras as follows[4]

उच्चैरुदात्तः ॥ uccairudāttaḥ ॥ १-२-२९ ॥ If the vowel is pronounced in the upper parts, it is called udātta.

नीचैरनुदात्तः ॥ nīcairanudāttaḥ ॥ १-२-३0 ॥ If the vowel is pronounced in the lower parts, it is called anudātta.

समाहारः स्वरितः ॥ samāhāraḥ svaritaḥ ॥ १-२-३१ ॥ Svarita is the combination of udātta and anudātta. (Asht. 1.2.29-31)[5]

मात्रा ॥ Matra

Following the time taken for pronunciation, the vowels (acaḥ = vowels) are named ह्रस्व (hrasva = short), दीर्घ (dīrgha = long) and प्लुत (pluta = longer). The time for these vowels is fixed by Yajnavalkya in his Shiksha[4]

एकमात्रो भवेद्ध्रस्वः द्विमात्रो दीर्घ उच्यते। त्रिमात्रस्तु प्लुतो ज्ञेयः व्यञ्जनं त्वर्धमात्रकम् ॥ १३ ॥ (Yajn. Shik. 13)

ekamātro bhaveddhrasvaḥ dvimātro dīrgha ucyate । trimātrastu pluto jñeyaḥ vyañjanaṃ tvardhamātrikam ॥ 13 ॥

If the vowel is uttered in a single mātrā or the time taken for the fall of an eyelid, then it is called hrasva, if it is two mātras, then it is dīrgha and if takes three mātras, then it is pluta. A hal (consonant) has got half-a-mātrā time. 'a' (अ) is hrasva; ā (आ) is dīrgha; and 'a3' (अ३) is pluta. For hal, 'क् क्' (k k) takes one mātrā and for a single consonant, it is half-a-mātrā. Panini in his Ashtadhyayi gives a natural example to imitate the pronunciation of hrasva, dīrgha and pluta –

ऊकालोऽच् ह्रस्वदीर्घप्लुतः ॥ १-२-२७ ॥ ūkālo'c hrasvadīrghaplutaḥ ॥ 1-2-27 ॥ (Asht. 1.2.27)[5]

A cock's sound has to be taken as an example of hrasva, dīrgha and pluta, i.e. the time taken by a cock to pronounce u, o and o3 (उ, ओ, ओ३) is the right time to follow. In Gandharvaveda (the Veda of Music), which is an Upaveda, there are seven svaras - ṣaḍja (sa), ṛṣabha (ri), gāndhāra (ga), madhyama (ma), pañcama (pa), dhaivata (da) and niṣāda (ni) – "sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni". They are born out of udatta, anudatta and svarita – explains Panini in his Shiksha:

उदात्ते निषादगान्धरौ अनुदात्त ऋषभधैवतौ। स्वरितप्रभवा ह्येते षड्जमध्यमपञ्चमाः ॥ १२ ॥ (Pani. Shik. 12)[3]

udātte niṣādagāndharau anudātta ṛṣabhadhaivatau । svaritaprabhavā hyete ṣaḍjamadhyamapañcamāḥ ॥ 12 ॥

Both niṣāda and gāndharva are born from udātta, ṛṣabha and dhaivata from anudātta, and ṣaḍja, madhyama and pañcama are from svarita.

स्थानम् ॥ Sthana

Sthanas are the places (or body parts which play a role in the production of sound) of articulation of varnas. Paniniya Shiksa defines eight places of articulation.[4]

अष्टौ स्थानानि वर्णानामुरः कण्ठः शिरस्तथा। जिह्वामूलं च दन्ताश्च नासिकोष्ठौ च तालु च॥ १३ ॥ (Pani. Shik. 13)[3]

aṣṭau sthānāni varṇānāmuraḥ kaṇṭhaḥ śirastathā । jihvāmūlaṃ ca dantāśca nāsikoṣṭhau ca tālu ca ॥ 13 ॥

There are eight places where letters are produced – chest, throat (pharynx), roof of palate, the root of the tongue, teeth, nose, both the lips and palate.

Varnas in Samskrit Language

Samskrit Varnas
Varnas
अचः (acaḥ = vowels) अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ॠ ऌ ए ऐ ओ औ अं अः
a  ā   i  ī u  ū   ṛ  ṝ    ḷ e ai  o   au aṃ aḥ
हल् (consonants) क  ख  ग  घ  ङ च  छ ज झ ञ ट  ठ ड  ढ  ण  त  थ  द  ध  न प  फ  ब  भ  म
ka kha ga gha ṅa ca cha ja jha ña ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa ta tha da dha na pa pha ba bha ma
य  र  ल व श ष  स ह
ya ra la va śa ṣa sa ha

Places of Articulation of Samskrit Varnas

In the following table, the short and long vowels are represented by the short vowel; i.e. अ (a) stands for आ (ā) as well, and similarly in the case of other vowels wherever applicable.

Letters Place of Articulation
अ, क, ख, ग, घ, ङ, ह, ः

a, ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ha, ḥ

कण्ठः (throat)

kaṇṭhaḥ

इ, च, छ, ज, झ, ञ, य, श

i, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ya, śa

तालु (palate)

tālu

ऋ, ट, ठ, ड, ढ, ण, र, ष

ṛ, ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ra, ṣa

मूर्धा (roof of palate)

mūrdhā

ऌ, त, थ, द, ध, न, ल, स

ḷ, ta, tha, da, dha, na, la, sa

दन्ताः (teeth)

dantāḥ

उ, प, फ, ब, भ, म,
u, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma
ओष्ठौ (lips)

oṣṭhau

ञ,   म,  ङ, ण,  न

ña, ma, ṅa, ṇa, na

नासिका च (also nose)

nāsikā ca

ए , ऐ

e, ai

कण्ठतालु (throat and palate)

kaṇṭhatālu

ओ, औ

o, au

कण्ठोष्ठम् (throat and lips)

kaṇṭhoṣṭham

Va

दन्तोष्ठम्  (teeth and lips)

dantoṣṭham

h

जिह्वामूलम् (root of the tongue)

jihvāmūlam

ं (अनुस्वार)

नासिका (nose)

nāsikā

हकारं पञ्चमैर्युक्तम् अन्तस्थाभिश्च संयुतम् । औरस्यं तं विजानीयात् कण्ठ्यमाहुरसंयुतम् ॥ पाणिनीयशिक्षा, १६ ॥

hakāraṃ pañcamairyuktam antasthābhiśca saṃyutam । aurasyaṃ taṃ vijānīyāt kaṇṭhyamāhurasaṃyutam ॥ (Pani. Shik. 16)[3]

The combinations of ह-'ha' and ङ-ṅa / ञ-ña / ण-ṇa / न-na / म-ma / य-ya / र-ra / ल-la / व-va, i.e. ह्ङ-hṅa, ह्ञ-hña, ह्ण-hṇa, ह्न-hna, ह्म-hma, ह्य-hya, ह्र-hra, ह्ल-hla and ह्व-hva, are to be pronounced from the chest. The lone 'ह-ha' is born in the throat. The combination of ha + ṅa and ha + ña (ह्ङ-hṅa and ह्ञ-hña) is not present in word usages. In words like aparāhṇa (अपराह्णः), madhyāhna (मद्याह्नः), brahma (ब्रह्मा), bāhya (बाह्या), hrada (ह्रद), prahlāda (प्रह्लादः) and āhvāna (आह्वानम्), 'ha' is to be pronounced carefully, i.e. it should come from the chest.

वृत्तिः॥ Vṛtti

Nāradīyaśikṣā prescribes three vṛttis (procedures) called druta (द्रुता । quick), madhyama (मध्यमा । medium) and vilambita (विलम्बितम् । slow) that are useful in articulation of speech:

अभ्यासार्थं द्रुतां वृत्तिं प्रयोगार्थे तु मध्यमाम् । शिष्याणामुपदेशार्थे कुर्याद्वृत्तिं विलम्बितम् ॥ २१ ॥ (Nara. Shik. 21)

abhyāsārthaṃ drutāṃ vṛttiṃ prayogārthe tu madhyamām । śiṣyāṇāmupadeśārthe kuryādvṛttiṃ vilambitam ॥ 21 ॥

For practicing or recitation Drutavṛtti, for conversation Madhyama, and for teaching students vilambita vrtti are to be employed. In drutavṛtti, nine drops flow out of suṣumnā nāḍī, in madhyamā, twelve drops and in vilambita, sixteen drops are said to flow out of suṣumnā nāḍī.

स्वरतोऽपराधम् ॥ Effects of Bad Pronunciation

Pāṇinīyaśikṣā cautions against any mispronunciation in terms of accent or letter and asserts that such a usage would boomerang:

मन्त्रो हीनः स्वरतो वर्णतो वा मिथ्याप्रयुक्तो न तमर्थमाह । स वाग्वज्रो यजमानं हिनस्ति यथेन्द्रशत्रुः स्वरतोऽपराधात् ॥ ५२ ॥

mantro hīnaḥ svarato varṇato vā mithyāprayukto na tamarthamāha । sa vāgvajro yajamānaṃ hinasti yathendraśatruḥ svarato'parādhāt ॥ 52 ॥

A mantra that is defective in terms of accent or letter would not be useful as it does not convey the intended meaning. Moreover it will become a weapon as good as the diamond-weapon of Indra, and boomerangs against the doer. This is what happened when the mantra 'indraśatruḥ vardhasva' was employed with a different accent. The following story from Taittirīyasaṃhitā 2-5-2-1, and Śatapathabrāhmaṇa 1-5-2-10 (Śuklayajurveda) is being referred to by the quoted mantra –

अथ यदब्रवीत् – इन्द्रशत्रुर्वर्धस्वेति तस्मादु हैनमिन्द्र एव जघान। अथ यद्ध शश्वदवक्ष्यत् – इन्द्रस्य शत्रुर्वर्धस्वेति शश्वदुह स इन्द्रमेवाहनिष्यत् ।

atha yadabravīt – indraśatrurvardhasveti tasmādu hainamindra eva jaghāna. atha yaddha śaśvadavakṣyat – indrasya śatrurvardhasveti śaśvaduha sa indramevāhaniṣyat

Visvarūpa was the son of Tvaṣṭā. The former was killed by Indra. Tvaṣṭā wanted to avenge and commenced a sacrifice called 'abhicārahoma' in order to have a son who can kill Indra. Then, while praying to Fire-God (āhavanīyāgni) a mantra, i.e. 'svāhendraśatrurvardhasva', which means – "O! Fire-God! Prosper as a person who can kill Indra" was guessed. In the mantra 'śatru' means destroyer and in such a case it should be employed with 'antodāttasvara' as it is a Tatpuruṣasamāsa, i.e. indrasya śatruḥ. But the priest employed the same mantra as 'ādyudātta', which is a Bahuvrīhisamāsa, which means 'be born as one, who has got Indra as the destroyer'. As a result Indra became the destroyer of Vṛtra, who was just born and got killed. Therefore, in order to avoid such repercussions, one should be careful in his speech actions.

Pratishakhyas

Pratisakhyas are the oldest Siksa textbooks of each branch of the Vedas. Later Siksa texts are more specialized and systematic, and often titled with suffix "Siksa", such as the Naradiya-Siksa, Vyasa-Siksa, Pari-Siksa and Sarvasammata-Siksa.

The Pratishakhyas, which evolved from the more ancient Vedic Texts padapathas, deal with the manner in which the Vedas are to be enunciated. There are separate Pratishakhyas for each Veda. They complement the books called Shiksha written by various authorities. Several Pratishakhyas have survived into the modern era, and these texts refine the structure of sound at different levels of nuance, some adding many more letters to the basic set in the Sanskrit alphabet:

The Shiksha Texts and the Pratishakhyas led to great clarity in understanding the surface structure of language. For clarity of pronunciation, they broke up the large Vedic compounds into word stems, prefixes, and suffixes. Certain styles of recitation (pāṭha), such as the jaṭāpāṭha, involved switching syllables, repeating the last word of a line at the beginning of the next, and other permutations. In the process, a considerable amount of morphology is discussed, particularly regarding the combination of sequential sounds, which leads to the modalities of sandhi. The Samaveda Pratishakhya, one of the earliest, organizes the stop consonant sounds into a 5x5 varga or square:

ka kha ga gha ṅa
ca cha ja jha ña
ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa
ta tha da dha na
pa pha ba bha ma

The Varga system and the Pratishakshyas, contributions of the Shiksha texts, are elaborate systems which deal with the generation and classification of sound.

Shiksha texts

In addition, several Shiksha texts exist, most of them in metrical verse form but a few in sutra form. The following list contains some of these surviving texts: Amoghanandini Shiksha, Apisali Shiksha (in sutra form), Aranya Shiksha, Atreya Shiksha, Avasananirnyaya Shiksha, Bharadvaja Shiksha, Chandra Shiksha of Chandragomin (sutra form), Charayaniya Shiksha, Galadrka Shiksha, Kalanirnya Shiksha, Katyayani Shiksha, Kaundinya Shiksha, Keshavi Shiksha, Kramakarika Shiksha, Kramasandhaana Shiksha, Laghumoghanandini Shiksha, Lakshmikanta Shiksha, Lomashi Shiksha, Madhyandina Shiksha, Mandavya Shiksha, Mallasharmakrta Shiksha, Manasvaara Shiksha, Manduki Shiksha, Naradiya Shiksha, Paniniya Shiksha (versified), Paniniya Shiksha (in sutra form), Paniniya Shiksha (with accents), Parashari Shiksha, Padyaatmika Keshavi Shiksha, Pari Shiksha, Pratishakhyapradipa Shiksha, Sarvasammata Shiksha, Shaishiriya Shiksha, Shamaana Shiksha, Shambhu Shiksha, Shodashashloki Shiksha, Shikshasamgraha, Siddhanta Shiksha, Svaraankusha Shiksha, Svarashtaka Shiksha, Svaravyanjana Shiksha, Vasishtha Shiksha, Varnaratnapradipa Shiksha, Vyaali Shiksha, Vyasa Shiksha, Yajnavalkya Shiksha.

Although many of these Shiksha texts are attached to specific Vedic schools, others are later day texts.

Sound and alphabet

Traditionally syllables (not letters) are called Akshara, meaning 'imperishable'. These aksharas are classified mainly into two types:[8]

Svara aksharas are also known as prana akshara; i.e., they are main sounds in speech, without which speech is not possible. Pāṇini referred to svara as ac pratyahara. Later they became known as ac Akshara.

Vyanjana means embellishment, i.e., consonants are used as embellishment in order to yield sonorant vowels. They are also known as Prani akshara; that is, they are like a body to which life (svara) is added. Pāṇini's name for vyanjana was Hal Pratyahara, which were later referred to as Hal akshara.

Vyanjana aksharas are divided into three types:

Sparsa aksharas include syllables from ka to ma; they are 25 in number. Antastha aksharas include syllables ya, ra, la and va. Usman aksharas include śa, ṣa, sa and ha.

Vowels

It was saidTemplate:Who that in Sanskrit a vowel can be pronounced in 18 ways (3×2×3), based on timing, manner, and accent of pronunciation.[citation needed]

Each vowel can be classified into three types based on the duration of pronunciation (morae):

We see that each vowel can be pronounced in three ways according to the duration of articulation. ×. The unit of time is a mātra (approx. 0.4 seconds).

Each vowel can be further classified into two types based on the manner of pronunciation:

Mukha: Oral (open)
Nāsika: Nasal (all vowels are considered phonemically oral)

Each vowel can also be classified into three types, that is, pronounced in three ways, based on accent of articulation. This feature was lost in Classical Sanskrit, but used in reciting Vedic and Upanishadic hymns and mantras.[citation needed]

Udātta: high pitch
Anudātta: low pitch
Svarita: descending pitch (usually follows high pitch)

Effort (or manner) of articulation (Uccāraṇa Prayatna) is of two types for consonants,[citation needed]

Bāhya Prayatna: External effort
Spṛṣṭa: Plosive
Īshat Spṛṣṭa: Approximant
Īshat Saṃvṛta: Fricative
Abhyantara Prayatna: Internal effort
Alpaprāna: Unaspirated
Mahāprāna: Aspirated
Śvāsa: Unvoiced
Nāda: Voiced

Effects of Bad Pronunciation

Pāṇinīyaśikṣā cautions against any mispronunciation in terms of accent or letter and asserts that such a usage would boomerang:

मन्त्रो हीनः स्वरतो वर्णतो वा मिथ्याप्रयुक्तो न तमर्थमाह । स वाग्वज्रो यजमानं हिनस्ति यथेन्द्रशत्रुः स्वरतोऽपराधात् ॥ ५२

mantro hīnaḥ svarato varṇato vā mithyāprayukto na tamarthamāha । sa vāgvajro yajamānaṃ hinasti yathendraśatruḥ svarato'parādhāt ॥ 52 ॥

See also

References

  1. All About Hinduism, Swami Sivananda, Page 34
  2. Taittriya Upanishad (Shikshavalli Anuvaka 2)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Paniniya Shiksha (Full Text)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Vedangas - Siksha by Prof. Korada Subrahmanyam
  5. 5.0 5.1 Maharshi Panini's Ashtadhyayi (Adhyaya 1 Pada 2)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Thomas Egenes (1996). Introduction to Sanskrit. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 152–154. ISBN 978-81-208-1693-0.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  7. Kireet Joshi (1991). The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 103. ISBN 978-81-208-0889-8.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  8. Siddhanta Kaumudi by Bhattoji Diksita and Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi by Varadaraja.

Bibliography

External links