Kerala SSLC Sanskrit Oriental cheat sheet

Gadya passages in the SSLC Sanskrit Oriental paper are drawn from prescribed prose lessons; answer comprehension questions in full Sanskrit sentences using the same tense and person as the question.

For 'explain the context' questions, state the speaker, listener, situation, and the lesson's central idea in two or three Sanskrit sentences.

Split long prose sentences at finite verbs (tiṅanta) first; each finite verb normally marks one clause.

Identify sandhi in quoted prose by testing the actual letters: vowel + vowel gives guṇa, vṛddhi, or dīrgha; visarga before a vowel follows r/l/s rules.

Explain compounds by giving the vigraha-vākya and naming the samāsa; rājaputraḥ = rājñaḥ putraḥ is tatpuruṣa.

Convert direct speech to indirect only when asked; retain Sanskrit pronouns and keep the optative or imperative mood of the original.

In Pañcatantra-style moral passages, state the nīti explicitly as a rule of wise conduct rather than retelling the plot.

Vocabulary often tested: pratijñā = promise, kāruṇya = compassion, parākrama = valour, vipatti = calamity, sāhasa = daring.

For 'why did X say this' questions, quote a short Sanskrit phrase from the passage and then paraphrase its sense.

Anuṣṭubh: eight syllables per quarter, 32 total; in the odd pathyā quarters the fifth syllable is laghu, sixth guru, seventh laghu.

Indravajrā: 11 syllables per quarter with gaṇas ta-ta-ja-ga-ga; Upendravajrā has the same pattern but begins with ja instead of ta.

Vasantatilakā: 14 syllables per quarter with gaṇas ta-bha-ja-ja-ga-ga.

Mālinī: 15 syllables per quarter with gaṇas na-na-ma-ya-yu; Śārdūlavikrīḍita: 19 syllables with ma-sa-ja-sa-ta-ta-ga.

Mandākrāntā: 17 syllables with ma-bha-na-na-ta-ta-ga-ga; Śikhariṇī: 17 syllables with ya-ma-na-sa-bha-na-ya-ya.

Identify alamkāra by the relation between upameya and upamāna: upamā uses iva, vat, or yathā; rūpaka fuses the two without a comparator.

In appreciation answers, name the metre, figure of speech, rasa, and one word-level beauty; avoid giving only a prose translation.

Bhāva is the emotional situation of the stanza; rasa is the sustained aesthetic flavour, such as śṛṅgāra, vīra, karuṇa, or adbhuta.

For 'annotate the line' questions, give word meaning, sandhi or compound split, and the contextual sense in one short paragraph.

Savarṇadīrgha: a/ā + a/ā → ā; i/ī + i/ī → ī; u/ū + u/ū → ū.

Guṇa sandhi: a/ā + i/ī → e; a/ā + u/ū → o; a/ā + ṛ → ar; a/ā + ḷ → al.

Vṛddhi sandhi: a/ā + e/ai → ai; a/ā + o/au → au.

Yaṇ sandhi: i/ī + vowel → y; u/ū + vowel → v; ṛ + vowel → r; ḷ + vowel → l.

Visarga sandhi: -aḥ before a voiced consonant usually becomes -o; before a it becomes -o with avagraha; before r it becomes -ar; before other vowels it becomes -r.

Samāsa types: tatpuruṣa shows a case relation; dvandva means 'and'; bahuvrīhi is possessive; avyayībhāva begins with an indeclinable; dvigu begins with a numeral.

Vibhakti order: prathamā nominative, dvitīyā accusative, tṛtīyā instrumental, caturthī dative, pañcamī ablative, ṣaṣṭhī genitive, saptamī locative.

Laṭ present parasmaipada endings: -ti, -taḥ, -anti; -si, -thaḥ, -tha; -mi, -vaḥ, -maḥ.

Laṅ imperfect: add the augment a- before the root and use past endings; ātmanepada includes -ta, -ātām, -anta.

Sanskrit → Malayalam: translate finite verbs first, then resolve compounds into natural Malayalam phrases while keeping tense and voice.

Malayalam → Sanskrit: choose a root from the meaning, fix the tense, and add tiṅ endings that match the subject's person, number, and gender.

Common roots: kṛ = do, gam = go, paṭh = read, likh = write, vad = speak, dṛś = see, śru = hear, dā = give.

A simple Malayalam past verb usually maps to Sanskrit laṅ in narrative; use līṭ only when the context requires a perfect sense.

Malayalam ഉണ്ട് ('is present') → asti or santi; ഇല്ല ('is not') → nāsti or nasanti.

Sanskrit passive: root + -ya- + ātmanepada endings; Malayalam often expresses the same sense with the suffix -പ്പെടുക (-ppeṭuka).

Do not translate proper names; transliterate them in Devanagari and add a case ending that fits the Sanskrit sentence.

Both Malayalam and Sanskrit normally use subject-object-verb order; preserve that order unless emphasis requires a shift.

After drafting a Sanskrit translation, apply external sandhi between adjacent words and check the final verb agreement.

Formal Sanskrit letter order: sender address at top left, date, receiver address, subject line viṣayaḥ, salutation, body, closing bhavadīyaḥ, signature.

Salutations: ārya tāta or priya tāta to father; priyā mātaḥ to mother; priya mitra to a friend; keep the address separate from the salutation.

Essay structure: prastāvanā (introduction), viṣaya-vistāra (body with three or four points), upasaṃhāra (conclusion).

Common essay topics: māṭṛbhūmiḥ, vidyā, saṃskṛtam, paryāvaraṇam, dūradarśanam, svāvalambanam.

Use laṭ for general truths, loṭ for requests and commands, and vidhiliṅ for advice or hypothetical situations.

Keep letter sentences short and avoid unnecessary sandhi between the address block and the salutation.

Date may be written as Kraistābdaḥ 2026, Janyavāraḥ 15, or numerically as 15-1-2026.

Closing phrases: bhavadīyaḥ (yours), āśīrbhiḥ (with blessings), namaste; choose one and keep it consistent.

In an application, state the purpose in the first sentence and place the specific request in the final sentence.

Read the questions before the passage, then scan for proper nouns, numbers, and finite verbs; these usually locate the answer sentences.

Answer in Sanskrit, using the passage's own words where possible; do not import outside information.

For 'what does X mean here', give the contextual sense, not the first dictionary meaning.

Split an unknown compound from the final member backward: the last member gives the class, earlier members give the qualifiers.

Match pronouns: idam/etad = this, tad = that, saḥ/sā/tat = he/she/it; agree in gender, number, and case with the noun.

If a question asks 'why', the answer is usually a clause with yat/tat or a causal ablative.

For 'give a title', use a short nominal phrase drawn from the passage's main theme.

Do not leave blanks; a short grammatically correct Sanskrit sentence can earn partial credit.

Check sandhi at word boundaries before translating an unfamiliar sentence.

Upamā: comparison with iva, vat, or yathā; components are upameya, upamāna, sāmānya, and upamā-vācaka.

Rūpaka: identification of upameya and upamāna without a comparator, often expressed as 'this is that'.

Utprekṣā: imagined identification, often marked by iva or iti, presenting one thing as if it were another.

Atiśayokti: hyperbole in which the description exceeds what is possible.

Śleṣa: one word or phrase yields two meanings through grammatical ambiguity or multiple senses.

Yamaka repeats identical syllable groups; anuprāsa repeats consonants; both are sound figures.

Virodhābhāsa: apparent contradiction resolved by a subtle sense; arthāntaranyāsa: a general truth supports a particular statement.

Apahnuti: denial of the direct meaning to establish a subtler one; samāsokti: a compound suggests a second sense.

Cultural background: Sanskrit epics, purāṇas, and kāvya; rasa theory is set out in Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra.