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Seattle, WA celebrated its first World-Samskrita-Day Celebrations, featuring a Yoga workshop, Bharatanatya-dance recital, and a Carnatic Music concert. All this in addition to the Samskrita-songs and skits by students.
Here is a report on Pittsburgh, PA celebrations.
Dallas, TX recently had their World-Samskrita-Day celebrations. Here are some links to google video:
If you would like to know about any of the classes in your area, please contact us at learnATsamskritabharatiDOTorg .
This is reported in greater detail, along with other happenings all around India, in theSamskrita-monthly - Sambhashana Sandesha. Click here for details on how to subscribe .
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Samskritam is a fun language to learn, not just for adults, but also for children. Moreover, it is fun to teach children because there is immense potential. Just imagine their giggles and excitement when you tell them they need to know only one consonant and one vowel to to be able to recite an entire shlOkaH - repeat yaa (oh, yeah! They would love this) 32 times in all!
yaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaa|
yaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaayaa|
यायायायायायायायायायायायायायायाया।
यायायायायायायायायायायायायायायाया।
(shishupaalavadham of Magha)
Or, once they have learnt all their consonants, they can recite a verse that has all the consonants (and there are 33 of them).
Of course, the meaning, and how to get there is a longer process. (Click here for these verses)
Click here to download the image below, and encourage your child to call out the Samskrita names of the things they see in the picture. We will update this page with feedback from children who respond. For each item, the Samskrita term, and the first one to name the item will be listed here.  We get started with - taruH - तरुः - Tree; haritavarNaH - हरितवर्णः - green color.
Shankari from Nashu, NH has identified the following words:
kriiDaa~ngaNam क्रीडाङ्गणम् - playground; kandukam कन्दुकम् - ball; baalikaa बालिका - girl; mitram मित्रम् - friend; dOlA दोला - swing
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The spectrum of Sanskrit - wonderful to ordinary |
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Samskritam has been proclaimed as the Language of The Gods - देवभाषा. But the language has been used by man throughout his existence. Samskritam has given rise to most Indian languages, and influenced many others. It is the Samskrita component of these languages that even today, enables a person form any corner of India to communicate satisfactorily with any other person in any other part of the country. It is also a well known fact that merchants, scholars and administrative officials used Samskritam to conduct their business when away from home.
Day to day life is filled with the richness of the language - in South India most homes wake up to the chant of suprabhaatam - a formal daily wakeup call to Lord Venkateshvara himself. There is sure to be a well-known Samskrita phrase known to the common man to express every occassion of happiness, anger, grief, love, humor, pathos - you name it. cihranjeevi bhava - Bless you (to a sneezer), aayuShmaan bhava - Long live (when youngsters pay their respects tot elders) ... (Click here to send us common Samskrita phrases used in your household!)
What do you call a language that oridinary people spontaneously break into as a natural response to situations - A Samskrita poem (a blog, at that) applauding a father's bathroom singing skills , exchanges between calssmates to smirk over the contrast between a person's physical appearance and her name ( suvar, na lataa - pig, not a creeper) and so on.
Talking about names, one very good way to build a vocabulary without much formal study is to look at names of people around you:
Mahesh -> mahaa + IshaH - the great God; Suresh -> sura + IshaH - Lord of dEvaas (protector); Ganesh -> gaNa + IshaH - Lord of Obstacles (protects from); Naresh -> nara + IshaH - Lord of man (protector); Prakash > prakaashaH - brightness
Swarna Latha -> svarna + latA - golden creeper; Kamala -> kamalam - lotus; Padmaja -> padma + jaa -> born of a lotus; Girija -> giri + jaa -> born of a mountain; Suguna -> su + guNA - One (fem.) with good qualities
Here is a power-point presentation to illustate 'The wonder that is Sanskrit', based on a book of the same name. Visit the Library for articles on different types Samskrita literature.
Here is another power-point presentation, this time on kitchen items. It makes for interesting viewing as you see similarities between the Samskrita terms and the regional language terms.
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Take the first steps to Learning Samskritam |
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सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यं वरदे कामरूपिणि।
विद्यारम्भं करिष्यामि सिद्धिर्भवतु मे सदा॥
With that invocation to sarasvatii let us get started on a tour of learning Samskritam. (If you wonder what the difference is between sarasvati and sarasvatii, you will soon find out.)
Do you know the devanaagarii alphabet? Click here for a quick review.
Would you like to take the first steps to speaking in Samskritam? Click here to download and watch a demostration class (Samskrita Bharati: Sample Video of a Spoken-Sanskrit Class) and you will find yourself chiming in with answers pretty soon!
Click here to look at Samskrita Bharati's Teaching Methodology, classes for various levels in different locations.
Stay tuned for more...
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