I am deviating from the usual tidbits, with legitimate reason. I am personally thrilled, because Wikipedia now has a Sanskrit version. You will find it here . संस्कृतविकिपीडिया संस्कृतभाषायां विद्यमानः स्वतन्त्रः विश्वकोशः। विकिपीडियानामा विश्वकोशोऽयं बह्वीषु भाषासु उपलभ्यते। अस्य सम्पादनं भवद्भिः स्वयमेव कर्तुं शक्यते। All of us know what Wikipedia is and we also know that it improves as more and more people begin to contribute. Therefore, all of us should chip in and that quote, which needs no translation, is inviting us to do that. Unless I have got it wrong, this Sanskrit version has just been launched, on 2ndJune 2013.
I think this will also be a great learning resource for Sanskrit. Take the following. Who can’t understand this entry about India?
भारतम्, आधिकारिकरूपेण भारतगणराज्यम्, दक्षिण-एषियाखण्डे स्थितं किञ्चन राष्ट्रम् अस्ति। भौगोलिकविस्तीर्णे भारतं विश्वे सप्तमे स्थाने विद्यते। जनसंख्यायां द्वितीये स्थाने विद्यते। विश्वे प्रसिद्धं जनतत्न्त्रयुतं राष्ट्रम् एतत्। अस्य सीमा पश्चिमे पाकीस्थानेन, ईशान्ये चैना-नेपाल-भूतानराष्ट्रैः परिवृता, बर्मा बङ्ला देशौ पूर्वदिशायां स्तः। श्रीलङ्का, मालाद्वीपः च हिन्दुमहासागरे भारतस्य समीपवर्तिनौ। एषः देशः प्राचीन-सिन्धु-सभ्यतायाः मातृभूमिः। एषः भूभागः स्वस्य सांस्कृतिकसम्पदा प्रसिद्धः अस्ति। हिन्दुधर्मः, बौद्धधर्मः,जैनधर्मः, सिख्खधर्मः इत्येतेषां विश्वस्य चतुर्णां प्रमुखानां तत्त्वदर्शनानाम् उगमस्थानम् एतत्। क्रिस्ताब्दस्य प्रथमशतके अत्र प्रविष्टाः झरातुष्ट्रधर्मः, क्रैस्तधर्मः, इस्लामधर्मः च अत्र द्रष्टुं शक्याः।
There are tools for fonts. A link takes you to the dictionary for spoken Sanskrit that many of us use. There are also links to Apte’s dictionary and the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries. However, it is early days and hopefully, pages will keep getting added. At the moment, pages are taking a long time to load and some dictionaries (like the scientific one) don’t seem to be ready yet.
Never mind. There is still plenty of stuff to browse and add to your Sanskrit knowledge. रामायणे कति काण्डानि सन्ति? तानि कानि? No translation needed for this. Everyone knows how many kandas there are in the Ramayana and their names. But it is good to read the question and the answer in Sanskrit.
There is also a subhashitam section. षड् दोषाः पुरुषेणेह हातव्याः भूतिमिच्छता। निद्रा तन्द्रा भयं क्रोधः आलस्यं दीर्घसूत्रता॥ This is the current subhashitam. I am sure it will keep changing. This one is from Udyoga Parvata of the Mahabharata. जीवने औन्नत्यं प्राप्तुं यः इच्छति तेन एते षड् दोषाः परित्यक्तव्याः – निद्रा, तन्द्रा (श्रान्तता), भीतिः, कोपः, आलस्यं, दिर्घसूत्रता (करणीयस्य कार्यस्य अग्रे सारणम्) च। एते दुर्गुणाः यदि स्युः तर्हि तादृशः निरन्तरं प्रयासं कर्तुं न अर्हति। परिश्रमेण विना फलप्राप्तिः नैव शक्यम्। This is the explanation given in Sanskrit. I am not sure a translation is necessary for something as simple as this, but here goes. The translation of the main subhashitam is – “For a man who desires prosperity, there are six taints – sleep, exhaustion, fear, anger, laziness and procrastination.” Here is the translation of the Sanskrit explanation – “For a person who wishes to improve himself in life, there are six taints that have to be given up – sleep, exhaustion, fear, anger, laziness and procrastination (postponing work that needs to be done). If one has these bad qualities, then one is not able to continuously exert oneself. Without hard work, it is impossible to obtain the fruits.”
As I said, I think, as it develops, this can be a wonderful learning tool too.
