BAMS Sanskrit and Samhita Reading
First Professional BAMS students who want help reading the Sanskrit in their assigned texts. Bring your university, batch, current syllabus and a verse reference.
Ask about study supportWhat to practise
Practise noun cases, verb forms, sandhi splitting and anvaya (prose word order). Work through the guided Caraka verse, then use the same method to prepare a verse from your assigned edition for the viva.
Guided Saṃhitā reading · Caraka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 1.41
Practise how to read a verse from your assigned edition. Read it through once, mark the joined words, then use the verbs to find the sentence structure.
हिताहितं सुखं दुःखमायुस्तस्य हिताहितम्।
मानं च तच्च यत्रोक्तमायुर्वेदः स उच्यते॥४१॥Text reference. Caraka Saṃhitā 1.1.41 in the Digital Corpus of Sanskrit. Check numbering and spelling against your course edition.
Padaccheda · Separate the words
हिताहितम् सुखम् दुःखम् आयुः तस्य हिताहितम् मानम् च तत् च यत्र उक्तम् आयुर्वेदः सः उच्यते।
- दुःखमायुः contains दुःखम् + आयुः. In the verse, a following त् also changes the visarga of आयुः to स्.
- तच्च separates into तत् + च. यत्रोक्तम् separates into यत्र + उक्तम्, where a + u becomes o.
- स उच्यते separates into सः + उच्यते. उच्यते is passive and here means “is called”.
Anvaya · Put the verse into prose order
यत्र हिताहितम् सुखम् दुःखम् आयुः, तस्य हिताहितम् मानम् च, तत् च उक्तम्, सः आयुर्वेदः उच्यते।
The first cluster describes kinds of life. तस्य refers back to आयुः, so the next cluster concerns what is beneficial or harmful to life and its measure. यत्र उक्तम् introduces what is set out in the field named by आयुर्वेदः सः उच्यते.
Working translation. That in which beneficial and harmful, happy and unhappy life are described, along with what benefits or harms it, its measure and what life itself is, is called Ayurveda.
Viva practice with answers
- What does तस्य refer to?
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It is genitive singular and means “of it”. Its antecedent is आयुः, life.
- How does the role of हिताहितम् change across the verse?
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The first occurrence describes life as beneficial or harmful. The second, after तस्य, means what benefits or harms that life.
- Which words tell you that the verse is giving a definition?
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यत्र उक्तम् names the scope and आयुर्वेदः सः उच्यते gives the name. Say both parts aloud in your own words.
For your next verse, bring the chapter and verse number, mark two sandhi boundaries, and prepare a 30-second explanation of the main clause.
Try a worked example
विद्यार्थी ग्रन्थं पठति।
Identify the subject, object and verb.
Show the worked answer
विद्यार्थी is the nominative singular subject, ग्रन्थम् is the accusative singular object, and पठति is the third-person singular verb. The student reads the book. This is an original grammar example.
How do I prepare for a Sanskrit viva?
Read one assigned line aloud, separate the words, name their grammatical roles and explain the literal meaning. Bring your university’s current instructions so the practice fits your course.
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