When was the last time you had a vocabulary lesson? Well get ready, because the language of Yoga is part of its power.
Sanskrit has been called the mother of all modern languages and has even been deemed the most “perfect” language by historians. It is the original source of 36 world languages, not including 21 in India alone! The German language can be traced directly to Sanskrit (famous German airlines “Lufthansa” can be broken down into ‘luft’ meaning lost and ‘hansa’ meaning swan and the word literally means the ‘lost swan’) and rules of French language can be traced back to Sanskrit, too.
Even in today’s world, Sanskrit is relevant.
- “Computers require algorithmic programming and scientific research has found Sanskrit to be the perfect language for this purpose. Its preciseness and variety owe to this research.
- Sanskrit is one language that can convey the biggest word meanings, quantitatively and qualitatively in the least amount of words. Owing to the abundance of words and preciseness of letters, it is most expressive. It is sometimes called the “poems of everyday life”.
- Sanskrit has the largest library of words in comparison to any language. It is said to have 102 Arab, 87 Crore and 50 Lakh words (Hindi units have been used) that have been used via scriptures, books, speaking etc. In fact professors say that a similar amount of words can be generated from these words within the next 100-150 years.”
So let’s learn some Sanskrit terms that we use regularly in Yoga classes!
- Pada = feet (padangusthasana = big toe pose)
- Janu = knee (Janu Sirsasana = head-to-knee pose)
- Hasta = hands (Hasta Bandha = hand energy)
- Drsti = gazing (a focal point)
- Adho = downward (Adho Mukha Svanasana = downward facing dog)
- Anandha = happy, bliss (Ananda Balasana = happy baby)
- Chandra = moon (Ardha Chandrasana = half moon)
- Eka = one (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana = one leg pigeon)
- Tada = mountain (Tadasana = mountain pose)
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