Lesson 6 : Part-1

A Conversation
Here is the text of a simple conversation between
two friends lm and vmla. Try and understand
the conversation. Word meanings for new words
are given at the end.
vmla

- lm ! nmtE

lm

- vmlE nmtE .

vmla

- sp#Bat| . AagC, At: AagC .

sp#Bat| tE

Ap k[Sln ?
lm - Aa| Atv k[Sln . v| kT| As,
AyE c ?
vmla

- Aa| Ahmp . svIO k[Slm- .

lm cray va| pyam .

lm - ka tE dorvaN sHqya ? sHqya nast- .

AT: dorvaNm- k]va Aagt| n Sa .
vmla

- cvar

nv Sy| ek| ON p
4

lm

- Aa|

9 0 1

3 5

sO

mm Ap iCa At va| d#m- .

A AO ngr| Aagta .
At: va| Ap d#| Aagta

vmla

- k[O tE vas: ? jm ghE va ?

lm

- n, Ag#jy ghE . ty pOy

p#Tmjmdn| : ev .
vmla

- s , At: tE dSInBay| ev| Kl ?

ADna k| pZs ?

lm
vmla

- s|k]t| em- .e kyaya| p#va

- saD , Ah| Atv sta Am,

yt- v| sk]t| ev pZs it .

lm

- idan| s|k]tE ABc: vTIta .

iznIzq maymE Ap s|k]t paZ:
At Kl ?

vmla

- ev| va ? s|k]ty p#car: svIO At .

Word meanings :
---------------kTms

- How are you ?

AyE c

- others too

cray

- in a long while

mm iCa At
d#m-

- I am anxious too

- to see

jmghE = in the house where one is born

(reference to parents house)
Ag#jy

- elder brothers

p#Tmjmdn|

- first birthday

- good

dSInBaym-

- a chance to see (Bay may actually be

taken as lucky chance)

p#va
saD

- admitted (past tense)

- well

sta
ABc
vTIta

- happy
- interest
- increased

In the above conversation, try and understand who

is visiting who. Pick up some words from the
conversation, which you can use in your own
conversations in Sanskrit.
------------------------------------------------------------------Given below is a story. The story is likely to be a
familiar one for those who have read many fables.
The verbs in the story are all in the present tense and
hence it is as if the story is a narration of what is
happening. The words newly seen here will add to
your vocabulary.
SS: k\mI: c
ekda ekmn- vnE ek: SS: At .
ty mO| k\mI: At .
k\mI: md| clt .
k|t SS: svIda SG#| Davt .
ekmn- dnE SSy k\mIy c prpr|

Davn pDaI Bvt .

ek: vanr: nNIyk: At .
k\mISS vXsmpat- Davn| k[t: .
jlaSaypyIt| yt- dor| At, tt- y: pvI|
p#ap"aEt, s: vjy .
SS: AtSG#| ty Davn| kraEt .
k: pvI| AtmTan| AagCt ?
ctn| k]va ett- vd .
bhdor| Davva SS: tt .
k\mI: AagCt va pyt .
k\mI: md| md| AagCt .
SS: ctyt, kt- vat| k]va
gCam it .
SS: vXy mlE upvSt .
AOava SnW: nd#a| kraEt .
k\mI: vat| vna md| md| clt .
tt: k\mI: jlSyy smp| vpsmyEn
AagCt .
tdan| SS: jag#t, SG#| uTay pyt .
k\mI: jlSyy smppyIt| p#ap"aEt, s:
pDaIya| vjy Bvt .
SS: SG#| AvSy dory Davn| AarBtE .
kt k| p#yaEjnm- ? SSy Aagmnat- pvI|
k\mI: vjy Bvt .
nNIyk: vanr: vdt, v| Als: As .
md| nrtrp#ynEn pDaIya| vjyp#aO: .
ev| SnW: SnW: nrtr| pZva s|k]tBaxa|
Ap svI pZt .

Word Meanings:
SS:

rabbit

k\mI:

Tortoise

ekda

once upon a time

ekmn- vnE

in a forest

ty

his

mdm-

slowly

clt

moves

SG#m-

fast

prprm- between each other

DavnpDaI

running race

nNIyk: judge (umpire)

vXsmpat near the tree
(from a place near the tree)
jlaSypyItm-

till the pond

dorm-

distance

vjy

winner

AtmTanm-

finishing point

ctn| k]va

thinking over

bhdorm-

for a long distance

vat| rest
vXymlE at the bottom of the tree
AOava unnoticed
nd#am-

sleep

vat| vna

without taking rest

vpsmyEn

in a short time

tdan|

then

uTay

arising

AvSy dory remaining distance

nrtrp#ynEn

through constant effort

vjyp#apt:
the attainment of success.
------------------------------------------------------------------The conversation below is supposed to have
taken place between Kalidasa, the undisputed
king among the Poets of India who composed
in Sanskrit, and a little girl.
Many things are obvious from the text seen,
from literacy and education for girl children
to the fact that writing was done on Palm
leaves. There is no information available about
Kalidasas time, though scholars have conjectured

times which vary from 1400 B.C to 700 A.D

The beauty of this often recited verse is its
metrical structure. Some liberty has been taken
by the Poet in the ordering of the words.
kaldas: ka v| balE ?
bala

kanmala .

kaldas: kya: pO ?
bala

knkltaya: .

kaldas: htE k| tE ?
bala

talpOm- .

kaldas: ka va rEKa ?
bala

ka Ka ga Ga .

The conversation is known through its form in verse.

ka v| balE kanmala kya: pO knkltaya: .
htE k| tE talpO| ka va rEKa ka Ka ga Ga
We give below the words rearranged for you to
follow the conversation. The words in parantheses
are implied.
balE v| ka ?
( Ah| ) kanmala .
( v| ) kya: pO ?
knkltaya: ( pO )
tE htE k| ( At ) ?
( mE htE ) talpO| ( At )
( tO ) ka va rEKa ?
( tO ) ka Ka ga Ga .
talpOm- Palm leaf (used for writing)
rEKa

letters ( of a script)

At this website, we have a page on Palm leaf

manuscripts, in which you will see a leaf from
a manuscript. Though small in size, the leaves
often accommodate as many as fourteen to twenty

lines of text, where each line may have more than

thirty syllables! The Multilingual Applications
link seen below in the footer of the page has the
details.
------------------------------------------------------------------va ddat vny| vnyadq yat paOtam- .
paOvadq Dnmap"aEt Dnadq DmI| tt: sKm- .
Learning gives modesty ; Through modesty
does man attain worthiness; On account of
worthiness, he gains wealth. With the ability
to give for charity with his wealth, he gains
happiness.
sKaTI cEt- yjEdq va| vaTI cEt- yjEt- sKm- .
sKaTIn: k[taE va k[taE vaTIn: sKm-
If you desire comfort, you should give up learning;
Should you desire to acquire learning you should
give up comfort. How can a person wanting comfort
acquire learning? And how can a person enjoy
comfort if he wants to learn?
AacayaIt- padmadOE pad| Sy: vmEDya .
pad| sb#cary: pad| kal@mEN c
A student gets a fourth of his learning from his
teacher; a fourth through his own intellectual
efforts, another fourth from his class-mates and
the last fourth in course of time.
kak: k]N: pk: k]N: kaE BEd: pkkakyaE: .
vstkalE sp#aOE kak: kak: pk: pk:
The crow is black, the cuckoo is black. What
is the difference between the two then?
At spring time, a crow will be a crow and a
cuckoo, a cuckoo!