The Dharma of a Sanskrit Word
Why a single object can have many Sanskrit Words to describe it and why each Sanskrit Word can have multiple meanings...
When starting to learn a new language, getting the basic vocabulary is the first challenge. For me, it was just a bunch of random sounds that I couldn’t even hear properly or pronounce, so just getting to that point was hard enough. Being heads down in this basic level and trying to grasp Sanskrit grammar after that, it seems that I missed a very big point about Sanskrit that finally came together for me when hearing this really great talk below by Sampadananda Mishra, shared to me by Keith Topar (thanks Keith!).
The whole video is very much worth watching, but I really loved it from minute 32 - 44, where Sampadananda Mishra explains about Sanskrit word meanings being so deliberate vs being random words you should just memorize. I loved it so much, I will essentially transcribe what he says below for reference:
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So Many Words for Each Thing!
One thing a Sanskrit student will notice right away when reading any basic Sanskrit text is how the same object or concept will be described using different words throughout the text, creating a lot of confusion. For example, in Ayurveda, वात Doṣa is referred to as अनिल, वायु, मारुत, चल, etc.
As Sampadananda Mishra points out, objects or concepts can have as many as 100 or even 200 words used for them. Or as in the case of the famous Viṣṇu Sahasranāma Stotram, the god Viṣṇu has 1000 other synonyms to describe him!
This is crazy! And makes Sanskrit super confusing and hard to learn. So why is this the case? It is because Sanskrit is not an object-specific language. Instead of making up a random word for each object and just going with that, it has grown organically to become an all-encompassing scientific explanation of that word.
Ex 1: The Body as देह
Sampadananda Mishra uses the example of the word देह, one of the words used for body. It is not a random word. The root of this word is दिह्, which means to gather, to collect, to pile up.
So the first meaning describes the body as something that collects. For example, we are what we eat - the body is a collection of input that we gather from our environment. It is also a collection of many things, different elements, different body parts, different tissues, different bacteria, cells, etc. that come together to make up the body as a whole.
Going deeper, we can imagine that when something is collected, the pile of it grows. So now the second meaning of देह or body is that it grows from 0 to something. The Karma of the body is to grow from nothing, to enhance, to prosper! This can be applied physically, psychologically, and spiritually.
Going even deeper, we can imagine that when a collection of something piles up, and the pile grows high, it blocks / hides / conceals whatever is behind it. The body is used as a cover that conceals the soul within. So the soul, the spirit, uses this body as its covering.
Ex 2: Fire 🔥
In the text Amarakoṣa, the famous Sanskrit Thesaurus, the word fire has 34 different synonyms! When you look deeper into the meaning of each word, you see that it is the work of a scientist describing the properties or qualities of fire. For example, some of the 34 words include:
अग्नि - अग् means to move upward. This is describing the property of a flame in that it will only move up straight. Even when you turn the match horizontally, the flame will continue to move up only!
ज्वलन - ज्वल् means that it keeps burning. Continuous burning is the Dharma of fire.
शुष्म - शुष् means dry. Fire dries up everything.
अनल - न अल्म् mean not enough. Fire is always dissatisfied. You can place the entire creation into it’s mouth, but it’ll want more! Its Dharma is to devour everything!
Conclusion
Every Sanskrit word has very beautiful clear logic like that with a rich history of how the word is used in different contexts to share certain concepts and ideas. It is simply mind-blowing!
Sanskrit words deal with the properties of the object, the Dharma of the object. The object itself is temporal. Today the object is there in one shape, tomorrow it might change its form or tomorrow it might not be there. But the properties, the Dharma is eternal. A language which always deals with the eternal components is an eternal language.
If an object has several qualities or dharmas, it will have several words. If someone has a new experience with the object, one can create a new word and add it to the list! One if free to do that!
This is why each word in a Sanskrit shloka can give so many meanings when combined together with different, deeper, more hidden definitions.