Part of my study of the Yoga Sutras involves the study of the language in which they were written, Sanskrit. Dr. Jayashree is a well-known Sanskrit scholar and I feel very blessed to be one of her students.
Yesterday, I made a trip to the Geetha Bookstore, here in Mysore. One of the things I asked about was children's books in Sanskrit. When we begin to read English we start with books like, "Dick and Jane." I thought surely something similar existed in Sanskrit, but it doesn't. So, here is my assignment for Monday...a children's story in Sanskrit.
Ultimately, this will all be in Devanagari, which is the phonetic script Sanskrit is most often seen in. (I haven't started learning that yet...just like we learn to talk before we learn to write.) Here, I'm sharing my story in Roman script (since I do understand that). My goals were to use simple sentences to highlight the vowel "a" and the consonant "g." I also wanted to utilize a few words that are common in the practice of yoga asana. This is the little story I came up with.
I've translated it for you below!
2 comments:
I think the idea of reading children's books is an ingenious way to learn a new language. There are a number of children's books written in Sanskrit. My guess is that you might be more likely to find them in an academic or public library than in a bookstore. If your local library doesn't own them, then you could request that they obtain some for you through interlibrary loan. Here are some of the more popular titles:
Kathamrtam : Samskrtabalasahityam, Rastra bhasanuvada sahitam /
Author: Sukla, Ganapati, 1931-
Publication: Baravaha, Ma. Pra. : Ganapati Sukla Samta Sadana, 1987
130-Samskrta-kathah /
Author: Kankar, Narayan Shastri.
Publication: Nai Dilli : Nita Prakasana, 2007
Balanatakani /
Author: Pujalala, 1901-1985.
Publication: Puducceri : Samskrtakaryalayah, Sriaravindasramah, 1993
Sandra-ksira-pañcalika /
Author: Tagore, Abanindranath, 1871-1951.
Publication: Nai Dilli : Sahitya Akademi, 2006
Balaika vimsatih /
Author: Bharati, Jayaprakasa, 1936-; Sastri, Madhura.
Publication: Nai Dilli : Sarada Prakasana, 1992
How do you find these things!? Well, I guess you are a professional librarian! :) Is there anyway you can check into getting them through our inter-library loan? It would be great to see them and their approach. I'm curious to see how they are structured...and if they contain Devanagari and Roman scripts, or only Devanagari.
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