Thread by @pvaal2, (Dummies) Guide to ‘Start Writing In Samskritam”BIG CHALLENGE: you love Samskritam,are learning [...]

(Dummies) Guide to ‘Start Writing In Samskritam”

BIG CHALLENGE: you love Samskritam,are learning it & now want to start writing in Samskritam – but HOW?

This series is for folks like me - just starting out to write

*inspired by this thread below https://twitter.com/pvaal2/status/1086423979127132163?s=21">https://twitter.com/pvaal2/st...

https://twitter.com/pvaal2/status/1086423979127132163?s=21

Prologue; *अत्र शीरषके डम्मि अथवा डम्मिभ्यः इव नामकरणं कर्तुम् ऐच्छम्, परन्तु डम्मिपदेन कं वर्णयति यत् परिभ्रमं जातम्।

यदि कदापि सहृदयानां मनसि लेखकः एव डम्मि इति चिन्ता उद्भवति स्यात्?

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤪" title="Dummes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Dummes Gesicht">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤪" title="Dummes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Dummes Gesicht">

धैर्यं कथञ्चित् सङ्ग्रह्य एतत् शीर्षकं एवं दत्तवान्।

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏🏼" title="Gefaltete Hände (mittelheller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Gefaltete Hände (mittelheller Hautton)">

Problem1:You know what you want to say. Your ideas are complex, clauses are nested & you appreciate nuance. But you sure as heck don’t know how to convey all that in Samskritam

All you can manage to write are sentences like ‘Rama reads”, “I go to temple” & “My name is Kalidasa”!

Problem2: You know what you want to say, but the words (Samskritam) fail you...

All the rights words are popping up in your mind, BUT unfortunately in the wrong language. Maybe in Hindi, Tamil, Axomiya or even Swahili! Everything except the Samskritam words you are hunting for…

Problem3: You know want you want to say, but you are sure that your sentence sucks! The spelling is wrong, tenses are wrong, the यल्लिङ्ग-यद्वचन stuff is all over the place and you are mortally scared.

Surely, people will now KNOW for sure that you are a comprehensive idiot!

Not to worry! There is a solution for all problems. Here is my tried and trusted 10 step approach

You may benefit from this & end up like Kalidasa, not only answering “अस्ति कश्चिद् वाग्विशेषः” but go on to create ‘Kumarasambhavam 2’ or ‘Raghuvamsam 3–The Return of the Nandini!’

The 10 Magic Steps©

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Like everything in life, a light touch helps us take stuff in our stride

So please avoid taking everything written here too seriously and do sprinkle a pinch of salt.

Step 1
First things first, read and follow the Samskrita twitter and soak in the brilliance of the simple sentences used by the mahagyanis here.

There are many and I am attaching some handles to start you off! https://twitter.com/hsraghav/status/1085058123776307200?s=21">https://twitter.com/hsraghav/...

https://twitter.com/hsraghav/status/1085058123776307200?s=21

Step 2:
Use http://www.spokensanskrit.org"> http://www.spokensanskrit.org liberally

This is a wonderful site that you can use to find words, synonyms, sentences etc.

This can also be used to unscramble sentences written by others

This easy site is a lifesaver to the beginner and is a MUST in your favourite list

Step 3:
Break up sentences

You don’t need to write complex sentences. Use bite sized pieces

Create complex ideas with a string of simple sentences.

Get started with simple and before you know it, you will be writing complex sentences

Step 4:
Don’t worry too much about spellings in the beginning

Ending with म् or Anusvara ? प्र or पृ,? It’s important to be correct but don’t fret too much in the beginning

You will pick it up along the way & there will always be folks who will nudge you in the right direction

Step 5:
Vibhakti – a big bugbear

Use रामस्य or रामाय? Use फ्रथम or द्वितीय? And what is all this Genitive/Dative stuff?

Shockingly, the vibhakti for the same phrase in your mother tongue doesn’t work with Samskritam!

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Again, no worries. Few iterations and you will be OK

Step 6:
Definitely mug up vibhakti tables for common sound endings

You should know at least राम, हरि, गुरु, रमा, नदी, फलम्, सः सा, तत्, अहम्, त्वम् before you come in to bat

Similarly, mug up लट्, लृट्, लङ्, लोट् for parasmaipadi+atmanepadi. The more you know the better it is..

Step 7:
Use intelligent short cuts

If you don’t know the formal past tense, use क्तवतु as a great escape hatch: पठितवान्, पठितचती, पठितवत् instead of all the 9 past tense forms

Similarly, क्तवा, तुमुन् and the 7 क question forms (किम्, कुत्र, कदा, कति..) are life savers

Step 8:

Know standard rules like in Kartari sentences, Karta=1, Karma=2 and Verb=Karta & in Karmani, Karta=3, Karma=1 and Verb=Karma OR linga+vachana+vibhakti agrees in a Visheshya/Visheshanam combo

You will then understand the reasoning quickly when folks suggest corrections

Step 9:

Internalize the standard high frequency word combinations that help you write simple sentences

You will start to notice many of these combos in sentences & conversations

Soon enough, these catch phrases will stick in your mind. The only trick is more practice..

Step 10:
You will make horrendous mistakes & probably make less sense than a 3 yr old

You will cringe the moment you press that tweet button because you figured out a gross error!

But focus on your common mistakes, internalize them & make daily improvements

You will get there

Keeping the thread open so that I can keep adding advice/tips from others to help folks get started with writing the देवभाषा

लिखतु संस्कृतम्

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From @yaajushi

https://twitter.com/yaajushi/status/1086478423156015104?s=21">https://twitter.com/yaajushi/...