← Back to Sanskrit for Beginners
🌱 A Small Step into Grammar
We have learned letters.
We have learned vowel signs.
We have learned words and tiny sentences.
Now let us notice something very simple about
Sanskrit words.
We will not begin with grammar rules.
We will begin with words.
Look at them.
Read them.
Use them.
Then notice their gender.
📖 Three Grammatical Genders
Sanskrit traditionally has three grammatical genders.
♂
पुल्लिङ्गम्
Puṁliṅgam
Masculine
♀
स्त्रीलिङ्गम्
Strīliṅgam
Feminine
◯
नपुंसकलिङ्गम्
Napuṁsakaliṅgam
Neuter
For now, simply remember:
पुल्लिङ्गम् — masculine
स्त्रीलिङ्गम् — feminine
नपुंसकलिङ्गम् — neuter
Grammatical gender is a feature of the word.
It does not necessarily correspond to biological sex.
🌼 Three Simple Words
Let us meet three words.
बालः
bālaḥ
boy — masculine
बाला
bālā
girl — feminine
फलम्
phalam
fruit — neuter
🌱 Tiny Sentences
Now let us use these words.
Very small sentences.
No complicated grammar.
सः बालः।
saḥ bālaḥ
He is a boy.
सा बाला।
sā bālā
She is a girl.
तत् फलम्।
tat phalam
It is a fruit.
Notice:
सः
masculine
सा
feminine
तत्
neuter
🪷 What We Already Know
You have already met one of these forms in Lesson 6.
सः गच्छति।
saḥ gacchati
He goes.
सा गच्छति।
sā gacchati
She goes.
Notice something beautiful:
The verb गच्छति
remains the same in these two tiny sentences.
The pronoun tells us whether we are speaking of
he or she.
🙏 Sanskrit Through Sādhana
From here onward, we can slowly bring Sanskrit closer
to our spiritual life.
Here are a few tiny sentences.
गुरुं नमामि।
guruṃ namāmi
I bow to the Guru.
श्रीपादं स्मरामि।
śrīpādaṃ smarāmi
I remember Śrīpāda.
मन्त्रं जपामि।
mantraṃ japāmi
I chant the mantra.
शान्तिं इच्छामि।
śāntiṃ icchāmi
I desire peace.
A language becomes beautiful when it becomes
part of one's daily thought.
We will therefore keep our Sanskrit simple,
meaningful and close to practice.
🌿 One Important Habit
When learning a new Sanskrit word, do not learn only
its English meaning.
Learn the word together with its grammatical gender.
For example:
बालः
— boy — masculine
बाला
— girl — feminine
फलम्
— fruit — neuter
This small habit will make the later grammar lessons
much easier.
✍️ Read Slowly
गुरुं नमामि।
I bow to the Guru.
मन्त्रं जपामि।
I chant the mantra.
🧠 Quick Quiz
1. Which word is masculine?
2. Which word is feminine?
3. Which word is neuter?
4. Which means "She goes"?
5. Which means "I chant the mantra"?
🪷 Manana
गुरुं नमामि।
I bow to the Guru.
Read it once.
Read it again.
Let the meaning become familiar.
Learning need not always be effort.
Sometimes, learning is simply
remembering, repeating and becoming quiet.
➡️ Next Lesson
Next we will discover something very special
about Sanskrit:
वचनम्
— Number
We will meet:
एकवचनम्
— one
द्विवचनम्
— two
बहुवचनम्
— many
And once again, we will learn them through
very small sentences.
Begin Lesson 8 →