The classical language of ancient India. In India it functioned as a lingua franca in much the same way as Latin in medieval Europe. In India Buddhist texts were written either in Sanskrit or in closely related 'dialects', which were natural spoken languages, such as Pali or Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.

Sanskrit is the classical language of Indian and the liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is also one of the 22 official languages of India. The name Sanskrit means "refined", "consecrated" and "sanctified". It has always been regarded as the 'high' language and used mainly for religious and scientific discourse.

Vedic Sanskrit, the pre-Classical form of the language and the liturgical langauge of the Vedic religion, is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family. The oldest known text in Sanskrit, the Rigveda, a collection of over a thousand Hindu hymns, composed during the 2nd millenium BC.

Today Sanskrit is used mainly in Hindu religious rituals as a ceremonial language for hymns and mantras. Efforts are also being made to revive Sanskrit as an everyday spoken language in the village of Mattur near Shimoga in Karnataka. A modern form of Sanskrit is one of the 17 official home languages in India.

Since the late 19th century, Sanskrit has been written mostly with the Devanāgarī alphabet. However it has also been written with a number of other alphabets, including the Brahmi, Kharosthi, Sharda, Siddham and Bengali alphabets.

Since the late 18th century, Sanskrit has also been written with the Latin alphabet. The most commonly used system is the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST), which was been the standard for academic work since 1912.

Devanāgarī alphabet for Sanskrit

Vowels and vowel diacritics

Sanskrit vowels and vowel diacritics

Consonants

Sanskrit consonants

Conjunct consonants

There are about a thousand conjunct consonants, most of which combine two or three consonants. There are also some with four-consonant conjuncts and at least one well-known conjunct with five consonants.

A selection of Sanskrit conjunct consonants

You can find a full list of conjunct consonants used for Sanskrit at: http://sanskrit.gde.to/learning_tutorial_wikner/P058.html

Numerals

Sanskrit numerals and numbers from 0-10

Sample text in Sanskrit

सर्वे मानवाः स्वतन्त्राः समुत्पन्नाः वर्तन्ते अपि च, गौरवदृशा अधिकारदृशा च समानाः एव वर्तन्ते। एते सर्वे चेतना-तर्क-शक्तिभ्यां सुसम्पन्नाः सन्ति। अपि च, सर्वेऽपि बन्धुत्व-भावनया परस्परं व्यवहरन्तु।

Transliteration
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantratāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api cha, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu.

Listen to a recording of this text by Muralikrishnan Ramasamy

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Thanks to Arvind Iyengar for providing the above sample text.

Links

Free Devanagari fonts
http://www.kiranfont.com

Information about the Sanskrit language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit

Online Sanskrit course with a good introduction to the Devanagari script
http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/lessons/Devan/intro.html

Sanskrit lessons
http://www.ukindia.com/zip/zsan01.htm

Sanskrit Academy
http://www.samskrtam.org/

Sanskrit & Sánscrito - information about the Sanskrit language
http://www.sanskrit-sanscrito.com.ar

Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon
http://webapps.uni-koeln.de/tamil/

Sanskrit Library - contains digitized Sanskrit texts and various tools to analyse them
http://sanskritlibrary.org/

Samskrita Bharati - an organisation established as an experiment in 1981 in Bangalore to bring Sanskrit back into daily life: http://www.samskrita-bharati.org/

American Sanskrit Institute
http://www.americansanskrit.com

Sanskrit Studies
http://www.sanskritstudies.org

Sanskrit Voice - a community of Sanskrit lovers
http://sanskritvoice.com

An archive of Sanskrit dictionaries, readers & grammars in German, English & Russian. (circa 4000 Mb Book Scans, devanagari fonts): http://groups.google.com/group/Nagari

Download free devanagari fonts & transliteration macros. History and hi-res scans of Indian typography: http://nagari.southindia.ru

ALPHABETUM is a Unicode font specifically designed for ancient languages that includes Sanskrit, and many other ancient scripts
http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/~jmag0042/alphabet.html

Other languages written with the Devanāgarī alphabet

Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Pali, Sanskrit, Sindhi

Source: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sanskrit.htm

Origin

The Nāgarī or Devanāgarī alphabet descended from the Brahmi script sometime around the 11th century AD. It was originally developed to write Sanksrit but was later adapted to write many other languages.

The name Devanāgarī is made up of two Sanskrit words: deva, which means god, brahman or celestial, and nāgarī, which means city. The name is variously translated as "script of the city", "heavenly/sacred script of the city" or "[script of the] city of the Gods or priests". The origins and meaning of the name are uncertain.

Notable Features

Type of writing system: alphasyllabary / abugida.
Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines.
Consonant letters carry an inherent vowel which can be altered or muted by means of diacritics or matra.
Vowels can be written as independent letters, or by using a variety of diacritical marks which are written above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to. This feature is common to most of the alphabets of South and South East Asia.
When consonants occur together in clusters, special conjunct letters are used.
The order of the letters is based on articulatory phonetics.

Used to write:

Hindi, Marathi, Pali, Sanskrit, Sindhi and many more.

Devanāgarī alphabet

Devanāgarī vowels and vowel diacritics

Other symbols

Other Devanāgarī symbols

Consonants

Devanāgarī consonants

Variant letters

Some letters are two forms: the Classical, Northern or Kalikata (Calcutta) form is used in the north of India; while the Modern, Southern or Mumbai (Bombay) form is used in the south India and has become the standard form.

Devanāgarī variant letters

A selection of conjunct consonants

A selection of Sanskrit conjunct consonants

Numerals

Source: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/devanagari.htm

Brahmi Alphabet

Origin

The Brahmi alphabet is the ancestor of most of the 40 or so modern Indian alphabets, and of a number of other alphabets, such as Khmer and Tibetan. It is thought to have been modelled on the Aramaic or Phoenician alphabets, and appeared in India sometime before 500 BC. Another theory is that Brahmi developed from the Indus or Harappa script, which was used in the Indus valley until about 2,000 BC.

The earliest known inscriptions in the Brahmi alphabet are those of King Asoka (c.270-232 BC), third monarch of the Mauryan dynasty.

Brahmi was used to write a variety of languages, including Sanskrit and Prakrit.

Notable features

The structure of the Brahmi alphabet is similar to that of modern Indian alphabets: each letters represents a consonant with a inherent vowels /a/. Other vowels were indicated using a variety of diacritics and separate letters.
Letters are grouped according to the way they are pronounced.
Many letters have more than one form.

Consonants

The Brahmi Script

Vowels and vowel diacritics

Brahmi vowel diacritics

Descendants of Brahmi

The descendants of the Brahmi alphabet include: Bengali, Devanāgarī, Gujarāti, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Khmer, Malayalam, Oriya, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu, Tibetan

Links

Free Brahmi font
http://www.jwajalapa.com/lipi/download.php

The Edicts of King Asoka
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html

Comparative table of many Brahmi-derived scripts
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/9594/brahmi.html

Source: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/brahmi.htm

Ranjana script

Origin

The Ranjana script, which is also known as Kutila or Lantsa, is one of the many alphabets derived from the Brahmi script. It developed during the 11th century AD and was used until the mid-20th century in India and Nepal by the Newari people to write the Newari language.

Tibetans use this script, which they call Lantsa, for writing the Sanskrit titles of books which have been translated from Sanskrit to Tibetan, and for decoration in temples and mandalas. There are also a few texts printed with alternating lines in Sanskrit in the Lantsa script followed by a Tibetan translation. There were many original Sanskrit manuscripts written in Lantsa preserved in the old monasteries of Tibet but most of these were destroyed following the Chinese take-over.

In addition, the Ranjana script is/was used mainly for decoration by Buddhists in China, Mongolia and Japan.

Notable features

Ranjana is a syllabic alphabet - each letter has an inherent vowel [a]. Other vowels can be indicated using a separate letters or diacritics.

Used to write:

Nepal Bhasa (नेपाल भाषा/ Newah Bhaye/Newari), a member of the Tibeto-Burman group of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal and India by about 775,000 people. Nepal Bhasa is also written with the Devanagari alphabet.

Also used to write Sanskrit, the classical language of India.

Consonants

Ranjana consonants

Vowels and vowel diacritics

Ranjana vowels & vowel diacritics

Numerals

Ranjana numerals

Sample text

Sample text in the Ranjana alphabet

Links

Free Ranjana fonts
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/kantipur_font.htm
http://www.jwajalapa.com/lipi/download.php
http://www.geocities.com/ranjanafont/ranjanafont.htm

Newari > English dictionary
http://www2.pair.com/webart/mysqllex/ntr_sword.html

Sandhya Times - online Newari newspaper
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/sandyatimes.htm

Further details of the Newari language and the Ranjana script
http://malaiya.tripod.com/ranjana/

Source: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ranjana.htm

Siddham(Bonji),Sanskrit,Buddhism Links

● Siddham/Bonji ●　

Siddham script - Wikipedia

Siddham (Bonji) script - omniglot

Siddham the perfect script

Siddham - Mantra

Siddham - History and Script chart (Japanese)

● Sanskrit ●　

Sanskrit - Wikipedia

sanskrit - omniglot

Mantra in Siddham

Sanskrit, Tamil and Pahlavi Dictionaries

Apte Sanskrit Dictionary Search

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

The Dharma is a Priceless Jewel,
thus these research compilations
and audio and video teaching materials are
offered free-of-charge by this anonymous Buddhist Monk
for the Bodhi Resolve benefit of All Sentient Beings in the Universe...

...under a Creative Commons License.

The rights to textual segments ("quoted, paraphrased, or excerpted") of the are owned by the author-publisher indicated in the brackets next to each segment and are make available and commented on (under the "shastra tradition") under Fair Use. For rights regarding the Buddhist "Encyclopaedia - Glossary - Dictionary" compilation as a whole, please know that it is offered under this Creative Commons License.

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so they may diligently (virya paramita) cultivate freely to
realize Bodhi enlightenment for the sake of all.

On the Buddha Shakyamuni's Birthday 2007,
this free redaction is offered (received, upheld, read, recited, studied, pondered, explained, and written out),
in accordance with the Lotus Saddharma Pundarika Sutra Chapter 19: "Merit and Virtue of a Dharma Master" as a
selfless offering to the Buddhas and Bodhisattva Sangha above to adorn the Pure Lands and
to liberate living beings suffering in samsara below by compassionately helping them to plant good roots in this and their future rebirths.

The merit is dedicated to anuttarasamyaksambodhi.

Increasing Effect Mantra:
Om Sambhara Sambhara (These Bhikshu Bodhisattva Bodhichitta Vows) Bimana Sara (Spread) Maha (Greatly) Java (Rapidly) Hum (recited 7x)

To increase by 100,000 times the merit created:
Tadyatha Om Pancha Griya (five offerings or five faces) Ava Bodhani Svaha (7x)

Om Dhuru Dhuru Jaya (Victory) Mukhe (Face or Mouth) Svaha (7x)

I Now Universally Transfer the Merit and Virtue of to All Beings to realize Anuttara-Samyak-Sam-Bodhi
(“Unsurpassed Proper and Equal Right Enlightenment”)

Sarva Mangalam.
May all be Auspicious.

Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
Just as Manjushri works
To fulfill the aims of all limited beings
To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
May all of them ripen on me,
And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
May wandering beings enjoy happiness.

May the teachings,
the sole medicine for the sufferings of wandering beings
And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
With material support and shows of respect.

Updated May 10, 2008