Sanskrit Friday: Hand (हस्त)

Happy Sanskrit Friday!

Today is the next installment of the "Anatomy Sanskrit" series! We will be learning both animals and anatomy words over the next couple months.

Today's word is हस्त. It's pronounced huhst or huh-stuh in English and means hand. In the States you sometimes hear it as hah-stuh.

 -----Pronunciation----- Listen and hear the Sanskrit pronunciation below.



You see the word used in combination with असन (asana, or pose) AND another word to make a pose name. Strangely handstands in yoga practice aren't called "hastasana" but actually downward facing tree (adho mukha vrksasana). Here are several pose names you may have heard in class:

• उत्थित हसत पादाङ्गुष्ठासन utthita hasta padangusthasana = "standing hand to big toe pose"
• सुपत हसत पादाङ्गुष्ठासन supta hasta padangusthasana = "reclined hand to big toe pose"
• पादहस्तासन padahastasana = "foot to hand pose" 
• ऊर्ध्व हस्तासन urdhva hastasana = "raised arms pose"  

Sanskrit is the universal language of yoga and connects us all together. It's like music.

Thanks for reading. You've got another Sanskrit word under your belt! For tips on learning how to read and write in Sanskrit in its native script, read my post here.

Thank you! Until next week. नमस्ते,

Tyler

Sanskrit Friday: Eagle (गरुड)

Hello, and happy Sanskrit Friday!
 
My apologies for not posting last week. I taught a few volunteer classes and ended up traveling a whole lot on Thursday and Friday. We will continue to learn animal and anatomy words over the next few months!

Today's word is गरुड. It's pronounced like "guh-rood" and best translates to eagle in English. While writing this post I discovered that the eagle most closely associated with garuda is the brahminy kite, native to the Indian subcontinent. You can read more about the mythical bird Garuda here.

 -----Pronunciation----- Listen and hear the Sanskrit pronunciation below.



You see the word used in combination with असन (asana, or pose)  to make garudasana, Eagle Pose. Guh-roo-dahsana. This is a great balancing pose and good for cyclists. It's one of the few poses that works adduction of the hip joints, which feels really nice if you've been sitting all day. Wikipedia has a photo up to show you how it looks:

Thanks for reading. You've got another Sanskrit word under your belt! For tips on learning how to read and write in Sanskrit in its native script, read my post here.

Thank you! Until next week.

नमस्ते,

Tyler

Sanskrit Friday: Big Toe (पादाङ्गुष्ठ)

Hello, and happy Sanskrit Friday!

I've been hard at work designing a new infographic for the start of today's "Anatomy Sanskrit" series! We will be learning animals and anatomy words over the next few months.

Today's word is पादाङ्गुष्ठ. It's pronounced pahd-ung-goosht in English and means big toe. Angustha means thumb, so your foot's thumb is...your big toe! 

 -----Pronunciation-----The first syllable can be pronounced "puhd" or "pahd" (पाद) because both words in Sanskrit mean foot. A common "misspelling" of this word is padangushtasana. That's because there's a "sh" sound in the word, and the Sanskrit "th" sound isn't like the one in English. Listen and hear the Sanskrit pronunciation below.



You see the word used in combination with असन (asana, or pose) AND another word to make a pose name. Here are several you may have heard in class:

• उत्थित हसत पादाङ्गुष्ठासन utthita hasta padangusthasana = "standing hand to big toe pose"
• सुपत हसत पादाङ्गुष्ठासन supta hasta padangusthasana = "reclined hand to big toe pose"

Thanks for reading. You've got another Sanskrit word under your belt! For tips on learning how to read and write in Sanskrit in its native script, read my post here.

Thank you! Until next week.

नमस्ते,

Tyler