Lesson 26. He who knows his pronouns... यद् and किम्
One of my most treasured memories of this year's Chaturmasa is Parama Pujya Swamiji's rendition of the अपराजितास्तोत्रं in His Divine mellifluous voice.
That Devi, she who resides in all, as forgiveness, knowledge, modesty...( there are many verses in the stotra, each verse revealing a quality)....to Her my salutations.
या देवी सर्वभूतेषु श्रद्धारूपेण संस्थिता |
नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ||
Doesn't the stotra reinforce the feeling of oneness with the Supreme Being -- the Devi, the Lord?
There are many stotras that come up with the words " She Who" , " He Who" or "Whose." They are pronouns and can be easily understood if translated in Hindi by the word जो | The pronoun is यद् and is declined in three different ways....masculine, feminine and neuter. The masculine and neuter are exactly alike except for the first two vibhaktis.
Another pronoun, किम् ,is used to ask questions. That too is declined in the three genders. Take a look at Supplement 10 which will give you the complete declensions of यद् and किम् |
The entire lot are so rhythmic and musical that it is pretty easy to memorize them. Trust me.
Keep the supplement handy to refer to while i go on with the lesson.
यद् and किम् are used extensively in conversations and riddles. i may ask...
यः प्रकाशं यच्छति, सः कः ? He who gives light, who is He?
यः प्रकाशं यच्छति, सः सूर्यः | He who gives light, He is the Sun.
Or i may ask...केन सह रामः गच्छति? And someone might answer...
येन सह रामः गच्छति, तस्य नाम रमेशः |
कया सह रामः गच्छति? सीतया सह रामः गच्छति |
यं देवम् अहं नमामि, तं देवं त्वम् अपि नमसि |.... जिस देव को मैं नमस्कार करती /करता हूँ , उस देव को तुम भी नमस्कार करते हो |
Fairly simple isn't it?
Now over to our exercise lesson 26 A.
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