Shiksha (शिक्षा)
Shiksha (Samskrit: शिक्षा) is a shastra pertaining to pronunciation and accent which has a major role in the preservation of the vaidika mantras; as such it is 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.
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. The literature pertaining to Vedanga Shiksa is classified into Pratishakhyas and Shiksagranthas.
Each ancient vaidika parampara survived through millenia as they developed pronunciation and the testimony to this is fact, are the surviving texts, namely Pratishakyas. It is the effect of this knowledge that the utterance of vaidika mantras have been unchanged in each parampara. The Paniniya-Shiksha and Naradiya-Shiksha are examples of extant ancient manuscripts of this field of Vedic studies.
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 word Shiksha (शिक्षा । Śikṣā) has been derived from the dhatu शक् in the meaning, 'शक्तौ to be able' - शक्तुं शक्तो भवितुमिच्छा शिक्षा is the vyutpatti that applies here according to Pt. Ramprasad Tripathi.[2]
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)[3]
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[4])
Varnas or Speech sounds are generated on the basis of the five following ways[5]
- स्वरः ॥ Svara (Accent or Pitch) are three in number: udātta, anudātta, and Svarita.
- मात्रा ॥ Matra (Quantity or time of utterance) are three in number: ह्रस्व (hrasva = short), दीर्घ (dīrgha = long) and प्लुत (pluta = longer)
- स्थानम् ॥ Sthana (Place of articulation)
- प्रयत्नः ॥ Prayatna (Effort)
- 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[5]
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)[6]
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[5]
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)[6]
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)[4]
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.[5]
अष्टौ स्थानानि वर्णानामुरः कण्ठः शिरस्तथा। जिह्वामूलं च दन्ताश्च नासिकोष्ठौ च तालु च॥ १३ ॥ (Pani. Shik. 13)[4]
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.
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | अ, क, ख, ग, घ, ङ, ह, ः
a, ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ha, ḥ |
कण्ठः (throat)
kaṇṭhaḥ |
| 2 | इ, च, छ, ज, झ, ञ, य, श
i, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ya, śa |
तालु (palate)
tālu |
| 3 | ऋ, ट, ठ, ड, ढ, ण, र, ष
ṛ, ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ra, ṣa |
मूर्धा (roof of palate)
mūrdhā |
| 4 | ऌ, त, थ, द, ध, न, ल, स
ḷ, ta, tha, da, dha, na, la, sa |
दन्ताः (teeth)
dantāḥ |
| 5 | उ, प, फ, ब, भ, म, u, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma | ओष्ठौ (lips)
oṣṭhau |
| 6 | ञ, म, ङ, ण, न
ña, ma, ṅa, ṇa, na |
नासिका च (also nose)
nāsikā ca |
| 7 | ए , ऐ
e, ai |
कण्ठतालु (throat and palate)
kaṇṭhatālu |
| 8 | ओ, औ
o, au |
कण्ठोष्ठम् (throat and lips)
kaṇṭhoṣṭham |
| 9 | व
Va |
दन्तोष्ठम् (teeth and lips)
dantoṣṭham |
| 10 | क
h |
जिह्वामूलम् (root of the tongue)
jihvāmūlam |
| 11 | ं (अनुस्वार)
ṃ |
नासिका (nose)
nāsikā |
हकारं पञ्चमैर्युक्तम् अन्तस्थाभिश्च संयुतम् । औरस्यं तं विजानीयात् कण्ठ्यमाहुरसंयुतम् ॥ पाणिनीयशिक्षा, १६ ॥
hakāraṃ pañcamairyuktam antasthābhiśca saṃyutam । aurasyaṃ taṃ vijānīyāt kaṇṭhyamāhurasaṃyutam ॥ (Pani. Shik. 16)[4]
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.
Varnas in Samskrit Language
According to Yajnavalkya Shiksha varnas are classified into four.
- स्वराः (Svaras)
- स्पर्शाः (Sparsha)
- अन्तस्थाः (Antastha)
- ऊष्माणः (Ushmana)
| 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 |
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.
प्रयत्नः ॥ Prayatna (Effort)
Effort (or Prayatna) of articulation is of two types for consonants,
- Bāhya Prayatna: External effort
- Abhyantara Prayatna: Internal effort
- Alpaprāna: Unaspirated
- Mahāprāna: Aspirated
- Śvāsa: Unvoiced
- Nāda: Voiced
स्वरतो वर्णतो वा अपराधम् ॥ Effects of Bad Pronunciation
Pāṇini provides a natural example for perfect pronunciation:
व्याघ्री यथा हरेत् पुत्रान् दंष्ट्राभ्यां न तु पीडयेत् । भीता पतनभेदाभ्यां तद्वद्वर्णान् प्रयोजयेत् ॥ २५ ॥
vyāghrī yathā haret putrān daṃṣṭrābhyāṃ na tu pīḍayet । bhītā patanabhedābhyāṃ tadvadvarṇān prayojayet ॥ 25 ॥
Summary: Just as a tigress carries its cubs carefully in her sharp jaws without causing any pain to them, afraid about their falling down or being cut accidentally, similarly one should pronounce letters like that (using the same precautions). Pāṇinī further cautions against any mispronunciation in terms of accent or letter and asserts that such a usage would bring about disastrous consequences to the yajamana:[5]
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.
वेदपाठकगुणाः ॥ Qualities of a Vedapathaka
In the recitation of vedamantras, just as svara or varna doshas leading to disastrous consequences are described these granthas also explain the beneficial effects. In all shikshas it has been emphasized that proper, accurate, accented pronunciation of the veda mantras must be adhered to obtain the desired results as explained by Vyasa shiksha[7]
सुव्यक्तस्सुस्वरो धैर्यं तच्चित्तत्वं चतुर्गुणाः । एतद्युक्तः पठेद्वेदं स वेदफलमश्नुते ॥ (Vyas. Shik. 503)
Four basic requisites for obtaining the desired results of recitation of vedamantras are enumerated: सुव्यक्तम् (suvyaktam) i.e., recitation according to rules of ucchaarana, सुस्वरः (susvara) i.e., pronouncing according to the rules of svara in a nasal free voice, धैर्यं (dhairyam) i.e., giving undivided attention pronouncing with confidence (avoiding unshaky voice), तच्चित्तत्वं (tacchitatvam) i.e., (student) being completely absorbed in the vedic recitation. Acharyas are cautioned to watch for the above mentioned four qualities in students both in adequate proportion amount and combination. The Acharya himself must have the ability to distinguish the svara and varna doshas, thus should have exceptional hearing abilities to weed out the errors and correct them in a student. Probably because of this requirement the study is referred to as tapasya, always requiring the concentration of mind and well concerted assiduous efforts in listening as well as in erudition.
ध्वनिस्स्थानञ्च करणं प्रयत्नः कालता स्वरः। देवताजातिरेतैश्च वर्णा ज्ञेया विचक्षणैः ॥
पदक्रमविशेषज्ञो वर्णक्रमविचक्षणः । स्वरमात्राविभाज्ञो गच्छेदाचार्यसम्पदम् ॥ (Vyas. Shik. 511-512)[7]
One who understands and discerns the dhvani (sound) sthanas (place of articulation), karanas (articulators), prayatnas (efforts), kalata (notion of time), devatas associated with varnas, the grouping (jati), is an expert in padakrama and varnakrama and knows the svaras and matras - such a person attains the position of Acharya.
Pratisakhyas are the oldest Siksa textbooks intimately connected to shakas of the four Vedas. Although the specific in subject matter their contribution in protecting the vedic form, is as invaluable as that of Vyakarana and Siksha texts. Their textual content differs from Vyakarana and Shiksha granthas in that they deal exclusively with the peculiarities of that particular veda shaka in the areas of svaras, sandhis and other pronunciation aspects and are thus as old as the Vedas themselves.[2] Later Siksa texts are 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 padapathas, deal with the manner in which the Vedas are to be enunciated. There are separate Pratishakhyas for each Veda and they are composed either in sutra or shloka formats. They complement the books called Shiksha written by various authorities. Several Pratishakhyas have survived into the modern era:[8]
- Rigveda-Pratishakya: Composed by Shaunaka
- Vajasaneya-Pratishakhya: Composed by Katyayana
- Taittiriya (Krishna Yajurveda) Pratishakhya
- Samaveda-Pratishakhyas: Four of them are - Rig-tantra, Samatantra, Akshara-tantra, Pushpa sutras
- Atharvaveda-Pratishakhya (Shaunakiya shakha)
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 compounded structures into word stems, prefixes, and suffixes. Certain styles of recitation, such as the vikriti pathas, 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 |
Shiksha Granthas
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
- Apisali (in sutra form)
- Aranya
- Atreya
- Avasananirnyaya
- Bharadvaja
- Chandra
- Charayaniya
- Galadrka
- Kalanirnya
- Katyayani
- Kaundinya
- Keshavi
- Keshavi (Shloka form)
- Kramakarika
- Kramasandhaana
- Laghumoghanandini
- Lakshmikanta
- Lomashi
- Madhyandina
- Mandavya
- Mallasharmakrta
- Manasvaara
- Manduki
- Naradiya
- Paniniya (Sutra form)
- Paniniya (Shloka form)
- Paniniya (With Accents)
- Parashari
- Pari
- Pratishakhyapradipa
- Sarvasammata
- शैशिरीय (Shaishiriya)
- Shamaana
- Shambhu
- षोडशश्लोकी (Shodashashloki)
- Shikshasamgraha
- Siddhanta
- श्वराङ्कुशा (Svaraankusha)
- Svarashtaka
- Svaravyanjana
- Vasishtha
- Varnaratnapradipa
- Vyaali
- Vyasa
- Yajnavalkya
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:[9]
- Svara (pratyahara aC): Vowel
- Vyanjana (pratyahara haL): Consonant
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: Stop
- Antastha: Approximant
- Usman: Sibilant
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 said that in Sanskrit a vowel can be pronounced in 18 ways (3×2×3), based on timing, manner, and accent of pronunciation.
Each vowel can be classified into three types based on the duration of pronunciation (morae):
- Hrasva: Short vowel, Eka-mātra
- Dīrgha: Long vowel, Dvi-mātra
- : Prolonged vowel, Tri-mātra ()
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:
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.
- Udātta: high pitch
- Anudātta: low pitch
- Svarita: descending pitch (usually follows high pitch)