BSEB Inter Sanskrit flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Gadyam

Sanskrit prose; in the Bihar Board Inter syllabus it covers narrative, descriptive and reflective pieces whose author, theme and central idea are commonly tested.

Mukhya bhav

The central idea of a prose piece; usually stated in the opening or closing sentence and required when a question asks for the passage's main theme.

Katha-vachak

The narrator of a prose piece, who may differ from the author; distinguishing the two is essential in autobiographical or first-person prose.

Padya

Sanskrit verse or poetry; questions test the poet, source text, rasa, alamkara and the verse's meaning line by line.

Rasa

The aesthetic emotion produced by a poem or play; it arises from the sthayi bhava, such as shringara (love), karuna (compassion) or vira (heroism).

Bhavarth

The prose meaning of a verse; written by paraphrasing each line in order while keeping the poet's sequence of ideas intact.

Vakrokti

Indirect or oblique expression in poetry, where the meaning is implied rather than stated; a frequently tested figure in classical Sanskrit verse.

Natyashastra

Bharata's foundational treatise on drama and dance; it defines natya as imitative representation and treats rasa as the goal of dramatic art.

Dasharupaka

The ten types of Sanskrit drama, including nataka, prakarana, bhana, prahasana, dima, vyayoga, anka, vithi, samavakara and iharmriga.

Nataka

A major drama type with a famous plot and a dhirodatta hero of noble lineage; distinguished from prakarana, which has an invented plot.

Sandhi (drama)

A juncture of the plot in dramaturgy; the five are mukha, pratimukha, garbha, vimarsha and nirvahana, marking stages from opening to resolution.

Abhinaya

The fourfold means of dramatic presentation: angika (gesture), vachika (speech), aharya (costume and make-up) and sattvika (emotional states).

Vidushaka

The comic companion of the hero in classical Sanskrit drama; he speaks Prakrit and supplies humour, often through greedy or foolish remarks.

Nandi

The benedictory verse recited at the opening of a Sanskrit play, invoking blessings before the sutradhara introduces the performance.

Svara sandhi

Vowel sandhi, joining a final vowel to an initial vowel; savarna-dirgha, guna and vriddhi rules govern the resulting long vowel or diphthong.

Guna sandhi

A vowel junction where a or ā before i/ī gives e, before u/ū gives o, and before r gives ar; the result is a guna vowel.

Vriddhi sandhi

A vowel junction producing the strengthened vowels ai, au and ār, as when a or ā meets e, o or a vowel of the vriddhi series.

Vibhakti

Case ending of a Sanskrit noun; the seven cases run from prathama (nominative) to saptami (locative), each with distinct singular and plural endings.

Atmanepada

Verb endings indicating that the fruit of the action accrues to the agent; contrasted with parasmaipada, the general active voice.

Kridanta

A Sanskrit participle or verbal derivative formed with suffixes such as -tavya, -aniya and -ya; these commonly express obligation or fitness.

Bahuvrihi samasa

A compound whose whole denotes a person or thing other than its members, as in 'one whose banner is a bull' meaning Shiva.

Anushtubh

The common shloka metre with eight syllables per pada; the odd padas end in a laghu and the even padas in a guru pattern.

Vasantatilaka

A varnavritta metre of fourteen syllables per pada, scanned by dividing the line into ganas and matching the fixed pattern.

Mandakranta

A classical varnavritta metre with seventeen syllables in each pada; identified by scanning the gana pattern of the line.

Anuprasa

A figure of sound in which similar consonants recur in a line; it works on sound rather than on the sense of the words.

Upama alamkara

A figure of comparison between two unlike things using a word such as iva, yatha or iva; the similarity is stated explicitly.

Rupaka alamkara

A figure of metaphor in which the object compared and the object of comparison are identified without any comparison word.

Utpreksha

A figure presenting an imagined or supposed resemblance, often introduced by words meaning 'as if' or 'perhaps', without asserting it as fact.

Shlesha alamkara

A figure in which one word or sequence yields two different meanings, both fitting the context; it depends on double sense, not on sound alone.

Anuchhed lekhan

Paragraph writing: an opening sentence states the topic, three or four supporting points follow, and a closing sentence summarises the argument.

Patra lekhan

Letter writing; a formal letter follows the order of sender's address, date, receiver's address, subject, salutation, body, closing and signature.

Sankshepan

Summarising a passage; it retains the main argument and omits examples, repetition and direct speech while preserving the original order.

Shirshak chayan

Choosing a title for an unseen passage; the correct title covers the whole passage's central theme rather than a single incident.