1st Lesson - māheśvarasūtrāṇi - माहेश्वरसूत्राणि

Maheshvara is another name of Shiva.
"That which is taught by Maheshvara" is "Maaheshvara".
After dancing, Shiva sounded his Damaru for 14 times in front of the sage Panini.
Those sounds are the māheśvarasūtrāṇi - माहेश्वरसूत्राणि, as following;

माहेश्वरसूत्राणि [māheśvarasūtrāṇi] 



1. अ इ उ ण्
2. ऋ ऌ क्
3. ए ओ ङ्
4. ऐ औ च्
5. ह य व र ट्
6. लँ ण्
7. ञ म ङ ण न म्
8. झ भ ञ्
9. घ ढ ध ष्
10. ज ब ग ड द श्
11. ख फ छ ठ थ च ट त व्
12. क प य्
13. श ष स र्
14. हल्
इति माहेश्वराणि सूत्राणि

1. a i u ṇ
2. ṛ l̥ k
3. e o ṅ
4. ai au c
5. ha ya va ra ṭ
6. lam̐ ṇ
7. ña ma ṅa ṇa na m
8. jha bha ñ
9. gha ḍha dha ṣ
10. ja ba ga ḍa da ś
11. kha pha cha ṭha tha ca ṭa ta v
12. ka pa y
13. śa ṣa sa r
14. hal
iti māheśvarāṇi sūtrāṇi





By listening the correct pronunciation for many times, repeat them aloud and remember.



In this lesson, I will explain the meaning of these sutras, the usage of this sutras.
The logic behind this will be explained in detail in later times.

Maheshvarasutras are listed with breaking of lines for the reason explained below.
This is the style in which sadhus and brahmacharis in Rishikesh study.




Maheshvarasutras are meant for making abbreviations.
These abbreviations are called प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ].
How this प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ] works is as follows;
For example, let us see a  प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ] "अण्". 
  • The first sound : अ
  • The last sound : ण्
  • From अ 
  • To ण्
  • From अ 
  • To क्
The last sound should be one of the 14 sounds in the circle in the chart.
These letters in circle are called इत् [it].

  •  प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ] "अण्" is an abbreviation of a group of sounds
  •  प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ] "अण्" represents these 3 sounds; "अ, इ, उ" (ण् is not counted).
In the same manner,
 प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ] "अक्" is an abbreviation of a group of sounds
which means, these 5 sounds; "अ, इ, उ, ऋ, ऌ" (ण् and क् are not counted).
These 5 sounds are all "simple vowels".
It is much shorter and precise to say "अक्" than "all the simple vowels".


Please take a look at the chart once more.



The middle column says "Simple vowels, Diphthongs, etc."
After the Semi vowels, the sounds in 5 classes are listed in descendant order.
This order can be taken advantage of.
For example,
 प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ] "झय्" 
  • The first letter : झ् is in class 4.
  • The last letter : य् is an इत् [it] of class 1.
From that, we can quickly say "झय्" represents all the sound in class 1 to 4.

Exercise:
Of the following प्रत्याहारः [pratyāhāraḥ], answer
  1. Number of the letters
  2. Kind of the letters
  3. The letters included.


Example: अच्

Let us think together.
  1. Number of the letters
  • Each line in the chart contains 5 or 4 letters. Please check.
  • The beginning letter of "अच्" is "अ", a simple vowel. Thus "अ" should be found in the first line.
  • The last letter of  "अच्" is "च्". That means the इत् [it] is "च्", which is found in the second line.
  • Therefore, "अच्" covers from the first letter of the first line to the last letter of the second line.
  • The first line contains 5 letters.
  • The second line contains 4 letters.
  • 5 + 4 = 9
  • Thus "अच्" contains 9 letters.
 2. Kind of letters
  • In the chart, the name for the first and the second lines is "Vowels".
  • Therefore "अच्" represents "all the vowels".
    3. The letters included
  • Exclude इत् [it] in the circles.
  • Then, the letters included in "अच्" are "अ, इ, उ. ऋ. ऌ, ए, ओ, ऐ, औ".

Please try for yourself:
अक्
अट्
इक्
इच्
एङ्
एच्
एङ्
ऐच्
खर्
चर्
जश्
झल्
झश्
यण्
हश्
हल्
अल्

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