When coining the title I had first put it as “Sanskrit Grammar – A Brief on How and Why”. Although that sounded rhythmic, I changed it to “Sanskrit Grammar – A Brief on Why and How”. I think one needs to be first convinced of why to learn Sanskrit grammar. Once that is clear, then one can proceed to “how to learn Sanskrit grammar”.
When learning a new language, one is always conscious that one should be composing the sentences grammatically correct. This is cardinal for Sanskrit, because Sanskrit has zero tolerance for grammatical errors. Rather, one should have it etched clear in one’s mind that erroneous Sanskrit cannot be Sanskrit.
Actually the word Sanskrit by which the language is known is not a noun, it is basically an adjective, which means refined, cultured. There is a verse in Valmiki Ramayanam, a monologue by Hanuman, musing how, in what kind of tongue he should introduce himself when presenting himself in front of Sita. The verse is
यदि वाचं प्रदास्यामि द्विजातिरिव संस्कृताम्
रावणं मन्यमाना मां सीता भीता भविष्यति
If I shall speak in a refined tongue as of the twice-borns, (the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, who undergo the ritual of thread ceremony, by which they are said to be reborn into a responsible life), Sita may mistake me to be RavaNa in disguise and may become afraid of me.
Note in the phrase संस्कृतां वाचम् the word संस्कृतां refined, cultured is adjective of वाचम् speech, tongue. It is said that the language got the name संस्कृतम् from this verse only.
So, if any Sanskrit expression is erroneous, it loses its refinement and culture and cannot then be called Sanskrit.
There is another quote संस्कृतं नाम दैवी वाक् अन्वाख्याता महर्षिभिः by महाकविः दण्डी in काव्यादर्शः. It means “Sanskrit is the divine language adopted and promulgated by the great sages.” Since Sanskrit is the divine language, allowing errors to creep in its usage is offending its divinity, its sanctity, is sinful, is blasphemous.
The only way to ensure that we learn only error-free Sanskrit is to learn first and foremost its grammar. That is what a “good quote” सुभाषितम् says
यद्यपि बहु नाधीषे तथापि पठ पुत्र व्याकरणम् |
स्वजनः श्वजनो मा भूत् सकलं शकलं सकृत् शकृत्
Son, you may not study much else, but grammar, you must study. See svajanaH (own person) must not become shvajanaH (dog), sakalam (whole) not shakalam (broken piece), sakRit (good deed) shakRit (shit).
Actually one may wonder whether the errors स्वजनः श्वजनो, सकलं शकलं, सकृत् शकृत् are examples of grammatical errors. Prima facie, they are pronunciation errors. Yet one may grant that wrong pronunciation is also wrong grammar if the wrong pronunciation conveys wrong meaning. Learning Sanskrit grammar has to be inclusive of learning correct pronunciation. See, in the following quote there is mention of six aspects of learning the Vedas
छन्दः पदौ तु वेदस्य हस्तौ कल्पोऽथ पठ्यते।
ज्योतिष्यामयनं चक्षुर्निरुक्तं श्रोत्रमुच्यते॥१॥
शिक्षा घ्राणं तु वेदस्य मुखं व्याकरणं स्मृतम्।
तस्मात् साङ्गमधीत्यैव ब्रह्मलोके महीयते॥२॥
- छन्दः prosody, idiom and figures of speech पदौ legs तु वेदस्य of वेदपुरुषः the personality of वेदः a body of knowledge
- हस्तौ hands are कल्पोऽथ the thought
- ज्योतिष्यामयनं movements of stars, awareness of the extended meaning are चक्षु: the eyes
- निरुक्तं etymology श्रोत्रमुच्यते the ears
- शिक्षा proper pronunciation is घ्राणं the nose, the scent तु वेदस्य
- मुखं face, व्याकरणं grammar स्मृतम्
तस्मात् hence साङ्गमधीत्यैव only vy such detailed study ब्रह्मलोके in the heavens महीयते one gains respect.
Although mentioned above are छन्दः prosody, idiom and figures of speech कल्पः the thought ज्योतिष्यम् the extended meaning निरुक्तम् etymology शिक्षा proper pronunciation व्याकरणम् grammar as six वेदाङ्गानि, one can take them to be six aspects to be studied, when studying any Sanskrit text.
There is another quote, which is sort of a specification of how to study a Sanskrit text
पदच्छेदः पदार्थोक्तिर्विग्रहो वाक्ययोजना |
आक्षेपस्य् समाधानं व्याख्यानं पञ्चलक्षणम् ||
The first step when studying a Sanskrit text is पदच्छेदः. This is the essential first step, because in Sanskrit there is a lot of coalescence of sound-elements, e.g पदार्थोक्तिर्विग्रहो is actually पद-अर्थ-उक्तिः विग्रहः even पदच्छेदः is पद-छेदः there is an extra च्. There are rules in Sanskrit grammar on how sound-elements coalesce. The coalescence of sound-elements is called as संहिता or सन्धिः.
विग्रहः is a statement, which explains the together meaning when many words are put together as a single compound word, e.g. पदार्थोक्ति: is a compound word composed of the component words पद, अर्थ, उक्तिः. The विग्रहः of पदार्थोक्ति: is पदस्य अर्थस्य उक्तिः. Of course, this विग्रहः of पदार्थोक्ति: is just to explain what विग्रहः is. Otherwise पदार्थोक्ति: and विग्रहः are two separate steps or two separate aspects in the study of a Sanskrit text. पदार्थोक्ति: is stating the meaning of every पदम्.
Now, पदम् itself is very much a grammatical term. पदम् is every such word which is formatted such that it becomes eligible to be a part of a linguistic expression. “Eh !” is a linguistic expression. A linguistic expression may not necessarily be a sentence. A linguistic expression comprises part or parts of speech. This precept is common in the grammar of all languages. Actually it is a universal hypothesis that any expression in any language is translatable into another language, because a language is nothing but a means to communicate thoughts. Dumb people also have thoughts occurring in their minds, which they are eager to express. Dramatics, especially the various dance forms have had not only a long tradition in India, but made very much a science as delineated in नाट्यशास्त्रम् of भरतमुनिः. The choreography in the dance form भरतनाट्यम् has a vast code of मुद्राः and भावाः which make linguistic expressions, so capable that a dance becomes narration of an episode, of a story. The code of मुद्राः and भावाः is the grammar of भरतनाट्यम्.
The beauty and intelligence of the grammar of Sanskrit is that it considers every linguistic expression as a नाट्यम्. That is why every पदम् is an actor and has to be perfectly formatted such that it plays its part in the नाट्यम् what the linguistic expression is intended to be. Yes, since every पदम् has to be perfectly formatted, there is zero tolerance for errors. And perfect formatting is ensured by the grammar. That summarises Why learning Sanskrit grammar is an essential and integral part of learning Sanskrit. Rightly it is said यद्यपि बहु नाधीषे तथापि पठ पुत्र व्याकरणम् Son, you may not study much else, but grammar, you must study.
Now, we should deliberate upon how and from where to learn Sanskrit grammar. One straightforward answer should be that one should learn Sanskrit grammar from a textbook, which details that. The best known text of Sanskrit grammar is अष्टाध्यायी by पाणिनिः. But it is not a good book for a beginner, because it is not a primer.
Another idea then is to learn Sanskrit grammar sort of “on the go”, alongside of learning Sanskrit. I have tried that in my 37 Lessons “Simple Sanskrit” at https://slabhyankar.wordpress.com/2019/04/19/37-lessons-simple-sanskrit/
The 37 lessons are also uploaded at https://archive.org/details/simple-sanskrit-in-37-lessons
शुभमस्तु !
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संस्कृत-व्याकरणस्य अध्ययनम् । 