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Thread: Sanskrit mantra question

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    Sanskrit mantra question

    Namaste,

    Quick question for those who understand sanskrit grammar: why does namah come before shivaya in aum namah shivaya mantra, but namah comes at the end of just about every other mantra?

    Thanks!

  2. #2

    Re: Sanskrit mantra question

    Quote Originally Posted by sdevante View Post
    Namaste,

    Quick question for those who understand sanskrit grammar: why does namah come before shivaya in aum namah shivaya mantra, but namah comes at the end of just about every other mantra?

    Thanks!
    Namaste,

    Let us say, this is just to prove the context-free nature of Sanskrit grammar that we see somewhere "gaNaehAya namaH" and elsewhere "namaH SivAya". Context free means: word order don't matter in a Sanskrit sentence. With one rider: words are not meant to be sandhied (originally, I believe it was never meant to be, but overenthusiastic scholars extended the logic of internal sandhi within a word to external sandhi between words. Unfortunate.)

    However, in a mantra (or template sentences) that are employed by the speakers regularly, one or other of the word order gains preference/ popularity that obviously has to do something with phonetic quality and rhythm; however, this has no effect whatsoever on the basic fact that any word order is as right.
    Things to remember:

    1. Life = yajña
    2. Depth of Āstika knowledge is directly proportional
    to the richness of Sanskrit it is written in
    3. Āstika = Bhārata ("east") / Ārya ("west")
    4. Varṇa = tripartite division of Vedic polity
    5. r = c. x²
    where,
    r = realisation
    constant c = intelligence
    variable x = bhakti

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    Re: Sanskrit mantra question

    Thank you very much, that makes a lot of sense and clarifies something I've wondered for a while now.

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