Sanskrit Pronunciation

The GBC here by recognises the importance of improving Sanskrit pronunciation in ISKCON and encourages all ISKCON devotees to improve their Sanskrit pronunciation. The book, Samskrtoccaranam: A Complete Guide to Sanskrit Pronunciation, by Lokanath Swami is a good resource and we encourage devotees to take advantage of it.

Recommended by GBC

Sanskrit is an exquisite language from ancient India whose beauty and design set it apart from ordinary language. The Vedas have been chanted in Sanskrit since time immemorial. The word Sanskrit, spelled Saṁskṛta, means ‘perfected’ or ‘refined’. Sanskrit is normally written in the Devanagari script. Devanagari means ‘the alphabet of the gods’.

In lectures Srila Prabhupad sometimes stressed the vague and variegated phonology of the “whimsical” English language, and sometimes he pointed out that the definition of the word “Sanskrit” is “refined” or “perfect”.

“The real meaning of ‘Sanskrit’ is ‘reform.’ It is not whimsical, just like in the English language, ‘b-u-t but, p-u-t put.’ It is not like that. Every word, every syllable has a symbolic meaning.”

Lecture, April 23, 1972