BSEB Matric SIL Sanskrit flashcards

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

Katha-sara

The central message of a prose passage. State it in one sentence naming the main character, the test faced, and the outcome, then support it with one incident from the text.

Pancha-purushartha

Dharma, artha, kama, moksha, and the fivefold scheme of human aims; value-based prose questions usually ask which of these a character's conduct illustrates.

Iti in prose

A quotation-closing particle meaning 'thus'. It marks the end of direct speech in Sanskrit prose, so the verb of saying (uvaca, abravit) usually appears after or before the iti-clause.

Shringara rasa

The erotic or aesthetic rasa whose sthayi-bhava is rati (love). It arises from union or separation of lovers and is classed as sambhoga or vipralambha.

Karuna rasa

The rasa of compassion, whose sthayi-bhava is shoka (grief). It is evoked by loss, separation, or suffering and dominates the Ramayana's later kandas.

Upama alankara

A comparison between two different things using iva, vat, or yatha. The compared objects must belong to different classes; if they are identified without a comparison word, it becomes rupaka.

Anushtubh chhand

The eight-syllable-per-quarter metre, also called shloka, used for most epic and didactic verse in the syllabus, including the Bhagavadgita and Ramayana.

Guna sandhi

The vowel combination producing e, o, ar, or al: a or ā followed by i/ī gives e, by u/ū gives o, by ṛ gives ar, and by ḷ gives al.

Vrddhi sandhi

The vowel combination producing ai or au: a or ā followed by e/ai gives ai, and by o/au gives au; the result is called vrddhi because the vowel is strengthened a second degree.

Bahuvrihi samasa

A compound naming a third entity that possesses the members, as in bahuvrihi itself ('much rice' meaning a rich man). Its gender and number follow the noun it qualifies, not the last member.

Karmadharaya samasa

A compound whose members name the same object, with the first qualifying the second, as in nilotpala (blue lotus). It differs from tatpurusha, where the first member stands in a case relation.

Sampradana karaka

The recipient of an action, marked by the caturthi vibhakti (dative). It answers the question 'to whom?' and appears with verbs of giving, telling, and showing.

Shatr and shanac pratyaya

Present participles meaning 'doing' or 'while doing'. Shatr attaches to parasmaipada roots and shanac to atmanepada roots; both decline like a-stem or consonant-stem nouns.

Lat lakara

The present tense. Its parasmaipada endings are -ti, -tas, -anti in the third person, and it also expresses a general or timeless truth in maxims.

Patra-lekhana layout

Formal letters place sthana and dinanka top left, then sambodhana, body, pranam, and signature at the end. The sender's name never appears at the top of a Sanskrit letter.

Anuchheda-lekhana structure

A paragraph opens with a topic sentence, develops three to five supporting sentences in logical order, and closes with a nishkarsha. All sentences should stay in one tense.

Hindi-to-Sanskrit verb mapping

Match Hindi aspect to lakara: present to lat, past narrative to lan, future to lrt, command to lot, and possibility to vidhilin. Then place the verb last in the Sanskrit sentence.

Avyaya translation pitfall

Particles such as cha, api, eva, tu, hi, and khalu are not translated as verbs. Cha means 'and', api 'also', eva 'only', tu 'but', hi 'indeed', khalu 'certainly'.

Shirshaka of a passage

The title of an unseen passage. It must be a short phrase naming the main subject or moral and must be supported by the whole passage, not by a single incident.

Apathita passage discipline

Answers must come only from the given passage. Outside knowledge is not rewarded, so underline proper nouns and numbers on the first reading and answer strictly from the text.

Padaccheda

The word-splitting of a verse or passage into separate words, resolving sandhi and compounds. It is the first step before anvaya and bhavartha in unseen verse questions.

Adikavya

The title given to Valmiki's Ramayana, composed in about 24,000 shlokas across seven kandas. Valmiki is therefore called the Adikavi, the first poet.

Kalidasa's works

Kalidasa wrote Raghuvamsha, Kumarasambhava, Meghaduta, Ritusamhara, Abhijnanashakuntala, Malavikagnimitra, and Vikramorvashiya. He is called Kavikula-guru and dated to the Gupta age.

Dhvanyaloka

Anandavardhana's treatise on dhvani, the theory that suggestion carries the highest poetic meaning. Abhinavagupta later commented on it and shaped the rasa-dhvani synthesis.

Panchatantra

Vishnusharma's collection of animal fables in five tantras, teaching niti (statecraft and conduct). It travelled into Persian and Arabic translations and is among the most translated Sanskrit works.

Six darshanas

Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, and Vedanta form the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy, each with its own sutra text and principal commentary.

Hari polysemy

Hari means Vishnu, Indra, a lion, a monkey, the sun, or a horse depending on context. The sentence, not the first dictionary entry, fixes which sense applies.

Tva and ta suffixes

The suffixes -tva and -tā form abstract nouns from adjectives and nouns, as in shudra-tva (purity) or manushya-tva (humanity). They are neuter and feminine respectively.

Vibhakti after giving verbs

Verbs of giving, offering, and telling take the caturthi (dative) for the recipient, as in gurve pustakam dadati, 'he gives a book to the teacher'.

Paryaya versus artha

Paryaya asks for a Sanskrit synonym of the word, while artha asks for an explanatory gloss in Hindi or Sanskrit. The two are graded separately and are not interchangeable.

Kritarthah bhavati

An idiomatic phrase meaning 'feels fulfilled' or 'considers himself blessed'. It uses the past passive participle kritartha with the verb bhu in the present tense.

Vishakhadatta's Mudrarakshasa

A political drama by Vishakhadatta centred on Chanakya's stratagem to install Chandragupta Maurya and win over Rakshasa. It is valued for its niti and its intricate plot.