Kerala SSLC Sanskrit Oriental flashcards

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

Gadya comprehension answer

Answer in Sanskrit full sentences, naming speaker, listener, situation, and central idea; quote a short phrase from the passage when the question asks why.

Vigraha-vākya

The expanded phrase that shows the case relationship inside a compound; for rājaputraḥ it is rājñaḥ putraḥ, proving tatpuruṣa.

Nīti in fables

The moral lesson of a Pañcatantra-style prose passage; state it explicitly as a wise-conduct rule, not as a plot summary.

Finite verb clue

A tiṅanta form such as gacchati or uvāca marks a clause boundary; split long prose sentences there before analysing sandhi or compounds.

Anuṣṭubh metre

Four quarters of eight syllables each, 32 total; in the odd pathyā quarters the 5th syllable is laghu, 6th guru, 7th laghu.

Indravajrā gaṇas

Eleven syllables per quarter with gaṇas ta-ta-ja-ga-ga; Upendravajrā differs only in the first gaṇa, which is ja.

Vasantatilakā pattern

Fourteen syllables per quarter with gaṇas ta-bha-ja-ja-ga-ga; a common metre for ornate Sanskrit verse in prescribed poetry.

Upamā vs rūpaka

Upamā compares with iva, vat, or yathā; rūpaka identifies the two without a comparator, saying 'this is that'.

Rasa in appreciation

The sustained aesthetic flavour of a stanza, such as śṛṅgāra, vīra, karuṇa, or adbhuta; name it only when the whole passage sustains it.

Savarṇadīrgha sandhi

Like vowels combine into the corresponding long vowel: a/ā + a/ā → ā, i/ī + i/ī → ī, u/ū + u/ū → ū.

Guṇa sandhi

a/ā before i/ī becomes e, before u/ū becomes o, before ṛ becomes ar, before ḷ becomes al.

Vṛddhi sandhi

a/ā before e/ai becomes ai, and before o/au becomes au; the result is the vṛddhi vowel.

Tatpuruṣa samāsa

A compound whose members stand in a case relation, expanded by a vigraha such as rājñaḥ putraḥ; the final member determines the meaning.

Bahuvrīhi samāsa

A possessive compound denoting someone or something that possesses the compound's sense; it is an adjective, e.g., dīrghabāhuḥ = long-armed one.

Laṭ present endings

Parasmaipada: -ti, -taḥ, -anti; -si, -thaḥ, -tha; -mi, -vaḥ, -maḥ. These attach to the present stem.

Malayalam existential ഉണ്ട്

Malayalam 'uṇṭŭ' meaning 'is/are present' maps to Sanskrit asti (singular) or santi (plural); negative 'illa' maps to nāsti or nasanti.

Sanskrit passive formation

Add -ya- to the root and ātmanepada endings; Malayalam often expresses the same sense with the suffix -ppeṭuka.

Proper names in translation

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

Malayalam past to Sanskrit

A simple Malayalam past verb usually becomes laṅ in Sanskrit narrative; add the augment a- before the root and use past endings.

Sanskrit formal letter order

Sender address at top left, date, receiver address, subject line viṣayaḥ, salutation, body, closing bhavadīyaḥ, and signature.

Letter salutation to father

Use ārya tāta or priya tāta; for mother priyā mātaḥ; for a friend priya mitra; keep the address separate from the salutation.

Essay conclusion

The upasaṃhāra restates the thesis in one or two sentences and adds a forward-looking remark; it should not introduce a new argument.

Loṭ imperative use

Use loṭ for commands and requests in letters and essays, e.g., kṛpayā likhatu 'please write'; it is common in application closings.

Unseen passage first step

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

Contextual meaning rule

When asked for the meaning of a word in an unseen passage, give the sense it has in that sentence, not the first dictionary meaning.

Compound split direction

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

Sanskrit pronoun matching

Match idam/etad 'this', tad 'that', and saḥ/sā/tat 'he/she/it' in gender, number, and case with the noun they qualify.

Utprekṣā alamkāra

An imagined identification, often marked by iva or iti, presenting one thing as if it were another; it is stronger than a simple comparison.

Śleṣa alamkāra

A figure in which one word or phrase yields two different meanings, usually through grammatical ambiguity or multiple senses.

Yamaka and anuprāsa

Yamaka repeats identical syllable groups; anuprāsa repeats consonants. Both are sound figures, not figures of sense.

Virodhābhāsa

A figure of apparent contradiction where the contradiction is resolved by a subtle sense, not a real logical conflict.

Rasa theory source

Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra sets out the rasa-sūtra; later commentators such as Abhinavagupta explain rasa as the relish of a sustained emotional state.