🕉️
Lesson 4
शब्दाः — Simple Sanskrit Words
शब्दाः
Śabdāḥ
A word is made of sounds.
Today, those sounds begin to come together
as meaningful Sanskrit words.
श्रवणम् → उच्चारणम् → अभ्यासः → बोधनम्
Listen → Pronounce → Practise → Understand
🌱 We begin to read words
In Lessons 1–3, we learned:
स्वराः — vowels
व्यञ्जनानि — consonants
मात्राः — vowel signs
Now we bring them together.
We will begin with words that are
simple, beautiful and meaningful
for a seeker.
🙏 Our first word
नमः
namaḥ
Salutation • Reverence
You may already have heard this word
in expressions such as
नमः शिवाय.
Notice the letters carefully:
na + ma + ḥ → namaḥ
🪷 Words for a seeker
Let us meet a few Sanskrit words
that will accompany us through
our journey of learning.
गुरुः
guruḥ
teacher / Guru
👁️ Read slowly
Do not worry about remembering
the meanings immediately.
First, become familiar with the shapes
and sounds.
नमः
गुरुः
देवः
योगः
शान्तिः
भक्तिः
प्रेम
धर्मः
🪷 Meet a Word
Tap a word.
🌼 Sanskrit around us
Many words that seekers encounter
in prayer, yoga, meditation and
spiritual study are Sanskrit words.
For example:
नमः — reverence
गुरुः — Guru
योगः — yoga
शान्तिः — peace
भक्तिः — devotion
As we learn the script, words that were
once familiar only by sound begin to
become visible.
We begin to see what we have been saying.
🧠 Quick Check
Choose the correct answer.
Question 1
Which word means peace?
Question 2
Which word means devotion?
Question 3
Which one is namaḥ?
Question 4
Which word means love?
Question 5
Which word means Guru / teacher?
🪷 Manana — Contemplate
🌱
A word that we have heard many times
can look very different when we
begin to see it in its original script.
Look at:
नमः
Do not hurry to translate it.
Simply look.
Read.
Repeat.
Let the form become familiar.
Learning a language can itself become
a quiet form of sādhanā.
🌼 A new beginning
You have now moved from letters
to words.
You can recognise vowels.
You can recognise consonants.
You can recognise vowel signs.
And now you can begin to recognise
complete Sanskrit words.
This is how a language begins
to become alive.