# Translation for Sanskrit or Hindi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402 "2003-06-21T12:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dalchini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dalchini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dalchini)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/1 "2003-06-21T12:05:09Z")
Well, someone sent me this e-mail that promises good luck if you say this mantra SHREE GANESH VANDANACHUKLAM BARATHARAM VISHNUMSHASHI VARNAM CHATURBHUJAMPRASANNA VADANAM DHYAYETSARVA VIGHNOPA SHANTAYEAGAJANANA PADMARGAM GAJANANAMAHIRSHAM ANEKA DANTAM BHAKTANAMEKA DANT! AM UPASMAHE I wasn’t able to find a translation, and the person hasn’t replied yet. Is this prayer commonly used by Hindus? Any light that could be shed? ---
**Author:** ![andy\_fl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@andy\_fl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andy_fl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/2 "2003-06-21T14:59:00Z")
Its just some prayer someone made up. i don’t think it brings good luck or anything - like that. Its Sanskrit - and its just praising the Hindu Gods - I’ll try to translate as much as I can (I’m not good at sanskirt) : SHREE - A common salutation or respect (sometimes it means creator too - “Lord” Vishnu is sometimes called Shree too ) GANESH - The Elephant Headed Hindu God. All prayers are supposed to start by praising ganesh. VANDANA CHUKLAM - Vandana means Praying. BARATHARAM - That maybe Ram and Bharat - another Hindu god’s VISHNUMSHASHI - Vishnu the indian god who sits on a snake. Shashi means younger son. VARNAM - Caste or creed CHATURBHUJAM PRASANNA - firs t word means “four handed” (refers to Vishnu) - Prasanna means makes him pleased. Okay this is getting boring. I think if u like to pray for luck - just say God give me luck - God understands all languages and I don’t think he gives better luck to people with better linguistic skills. So bite it. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/3 "2003-06-21T15:41:30Z")
Definetly Sanskrit. Definetly a prayer. No clue what it means! Welcome to the boards, **Dalchini**. Interesting name you got there! ---
**Author:** ![Dalchini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dalchini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dalchini)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/4 "2003-06-21T15:54:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andy\_fl \* > \*\*Its just some prayer someone made up. i don’t think it brings good luck or anything - like that. Its Sanskrit - and its just praising the Hindu Gods - I’ll try to translate as much as I can (I’m not good at sanskirt) : > > SHREE - A common salutation or respect (sometimes it means creator too - “Lord” Vishnu is sometimes called Shree too ) > > GANESH - The Elephant Headed Hindu God. All prayers are supposed to start by praising ganesh. > > VANDANA CHUKLAM - Vandana means Praying. > > BARATHARAM - That maybe Ram and Bharat - another Hindu god’s > > VISHNUMSHASHI - Vishnu the indian god who sits on a snake. Shashi means younger son. > > VARNAM - Caste or creed > > CHATURBHUJAM PRASANNA - firs t word means “four handed” (refers to Vishnu) - Prasanna means makes him pleased. > Okay this is getting boring. I think if u like to pray for luck - just say God give me luck - God understands all languages and I don’t think he gives better luck to people with better linguistic skills. So bite it. \*\* Thank you very much. I am not a Hindu, so I don’t believe in Ganesh, but the friend who sent it to me, is. So this prayer is just made up? Kind of like stringing up Latin words to make up a Catholic prayer. ---
**Author:** ![Dalchini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dalchini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dalchini)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/5 "2003-06-21T15:57:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gouda \* > \*\*Definetly Sanskrit. Definetly a prayer. No clue what it means! > > Welcome to the boards, **Dalchini**. Interesting name you got there! \*\* So is Sanskrit a dead Language? I picked Dalchini, I think it means cinnamon in Hindi, just randomly I guess. So even though your from India, you never heard the mantra before? ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/6 "2003-06-21T16:08:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dalchini \* > \*\*So is Sanskrit a dead Language? \*\* Sanskrit had only 500 or so speakers according to an Indian census right after independence. However, fifty years later the numbers of speakers has grown considerably, up to possibly 100,000. In India and United States there are several organisations which offer conversational Sanskrit courses and youth camps. UnuMondo, classicist thinking about going after a Sanskrit degree ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/7 "2003-06-29T08:13:16Z")
Nope, never heard the mantra before. Which isn’t really all that surprising, given that I know no mantras at all… I’m not really an ideal Hindu, or Indian either, for that matter. And yeah, dalchini is cinnamon is Hindi. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/8 "2003-06-29T13:22:29Z")
relevant hijacking : How could I know what’s the meaning of a sanskrit word when it’s written in sanskrit? I mean, I can’t just ask on this board, as the OP did, since I’ve no clue how it’s pronounced, and of course, I can’t type sanskrit characters with my keyboard… I know that I could try to find someone who could read sanskrit, but it isn’t important, so I was asking if there was an easy way to find out on the net. Or at least to find how the characters are pronounced or should be transcripted in latin characters in order to ask knowledgeable people on this board. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/9 "2003-06-29T14:16:23Z")
**clairobscur** , you could scan the image and link us to the image. Here’s a transliteration website: [http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/transliteration.html](http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/transliteration.html) Here’s a recent thread on Sanskrit: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=184400](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=184400) Perhaps **Jomo Mojo** might be able to answer the OP. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/10 "2003-06-29T14:27:26Z")
**Dalchini** , although it’s quite possibly a prayer, I have no clue what it means. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you whether it’s a common prayer. It’s certainly not among the most common, but then again there are just so many prayers, besides I’m neither Hindu nor do I pray. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/11 "2003-06-29T16:44:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xash \* > \*\ ***clairobscur** , you could scan the image and link us to the image. > > Here’s a transliteration website: > > \*\* Thanks, but I failed. The letters are drawn somewhat differently (more “simplified”, sort of, and less “round”) and since some look quite similar, I couldn’t figure out with certainty which letter it was looking at the table (for instance, I don’t know if the first letter should be transliterated “a” or “m.”) I was hesitating between several possibilities for several letters, and had no clue at all for another so I gave up since I would have most probably picked the wrong ones. There was only one letter I could identify with certainty. Thanks anyway. It wasn’t important, so it doesn’t matter. Just curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/12 "2003-06-29T16:51:58Z")
However, something is puzzling me. Apart from the first letter, all seem to be consonants (though I’m not sure which ones). Is that possible? Can vowels not be written in a sanskrit word, like, say in arabic or hebrew? The transliteration would look something like that (several letters picked close to randomly, so don’t try to make sense of it) : a b kh gh jh h Could there be words written, that way, only using consonants? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/13 "2003-06-29T17:33:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andy\_fl \* > \*\* > > GANESH - The Elephant Headed Hindu God. All prayers are supposed to start by praising ganesh. > > \*\* I don’t understand this. I thought that the 3 most important gods were Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Hmmm after looking at [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/ganesha.html](http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/ganesha.html) I see Ganesh/Ganesha is also the remover of obstacles. Is his name invoked to remove obstacles that may block the prayer from reaching the gods? Or to remove obstacles to the prayer being fulfilled? Could you start an ‘Ask The…’ thread for all my other questions on Hinduism? ---
**Author:** ![anoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@anoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anoman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/14 "2003-06-29T20:11:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clairobscur \* > \*\*However, something is puzzling me. Apart from the first letter, all seem to be consonants (though I’m not sure which ones). Is that possible? Can vowels not be written in a sanskrit word, like, say in arabic or hebrew? The transliteration would look something like that (several letters picked close to randomly, so don’t try to make sense of it) : > > a b kh gh jh h > > Could there be words written, that way, only using consonants? \*\* The devanagari “alphabet” is actually an alphasyllabary. Every consonant has an inherent vowel - a short “a” pronounced kind of like an English u in “put”. If you want to express vowels other than short a, the consonant is modified with additional strokes. See [Omniglot](http://omniglot.com/writing/devanagari.htm) for examples. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DocCathode \* > \*\*I don’t understand this. I thought that the 3 most important gods were Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. > > Hmmm after looking at [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/ganesha.html](http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/ganesha.html) > > I see Ganesh/Ganesha is also the remover of obstacles. > > Is his name invoked to remove obstacles that may block the prayer from reaching the gods? > > Or to remove obstacles to the prayer being fulfilled?\*\* Yes, Ganesh is invoked first to remove any obstacles that may hinder the ritual act of worship. Starting prayers with him doesn’t mean he is most important, in fact in Hindu ritual one always starts by worshipping the parivara devata (attendant deities) before worshipping the main deity; usually Shiva or Vishnu. As for the prayer in the OP, I found a slightly less mangled version with translation (I’ve done some slight alterations).They are actually two seperate slokas: Shuklaambara Dharam Vishnum Shashi Varnam Chatur Bhujam Prasanna Vadanam Dhyaayet Sarva Vighna Upashaanthaye We meditate on he who is clad in pure white, who is all pervading\*, whose complexion is like the moon, who has four arms, who is pleased of face, and who can pacify all obstacles. \*in this case, Vishnu (means “all pervading”) is not the name of the famous god, but a description of Ganesh. Agajaanana Padmaarkam Gajaananam Aharnisham Anekadantham Bhaktaanaam Ekadantam Upaasmahey I worship day and night the elephant faced one (a title for Ganesh) who is like sun to the lotus face of Mother. Giver of many boons, the single tusked One (another title), I salute Thee to give me a boon. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/15 "2003-06-29T20:55:46Z")
I don’t believe all prayers must start with praise for Ganesha. I think that’s untrue. About the vowels, let me roughly explain it: For example: a aa i (as in pit) ee u (as in put) oo a (as in hay) ai o au am aha are vowels. However, two or more consonants can follow each other without there being any vowels between them. The vowel sound “a” is implicit. e.g. If the consonants L and K were used, they would sound like Le (like the french Le) and the rhyming Ke. So if Le and Ke (both being consonants) were written together, they would read like “Luck”. The “a” sound between Le and Ke being implicit. If you add a dot on top of the Le, the dot would create a nasal sound, so Le dot Ke would now read “Lunk”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/16 "2003-06-29T21:17:41Z")
I spent a long time disentangling the garbled text and had other time commitments, and in the meantime someone else came along and answered with a translation. However, I put hours of work into this thing so here is what I figured out. SHREE ‘Auspicious; glorious; prosperity; sacred’ — used as honorific with names of deities. GANESH Elephant-headed deity traditionally invoked for beginnings. _Ganesha_ literally means ‘lord of the clan’. VANDANACHUKLAM BARATHARAM Misspelled with faulty word division. Should be _vandana shuklâmbaradharam_ ‘reverence for the white-clothed’ (_shukla_ ’ white’ + _ambara_ ‘clothed’) VISHNUMSHASHI VARNAM ‘the all-pervading moon-hare-colored’ (i.e. gray; the Indians see a hare in the moon instead of a man in the moon) CHATURBHUJAMPRASANNA VADANAM ‘Four-armed, of bright/gracious countenance’. Again, faulty word division. Should be _caturbhujam prasannavadanam_ DHYAYETSARVA VIGHNOPA SHANTAYEAGAJANANA PADMARGAM GAJANANAMAHIRSHAM More faulty word division and misspelling. Should be _dhyâyet_ ‘meditate’ _sarva_ ‘all’ _vighnopashântaye_ ‘obstacle pacifying’ ‘Meditate on him for the removal of all obstacles’ _agajânana_ ‘by the Mountain-Born’ (i.e. Parvati, mother of Ganesha) _padmârkam_ ‘lotus sunshine’ _gajananam_ ‘the elephant-faced’ _aharnisham_ ‘day and night, continually’ ANEKA DANTAM Misspelling; should be _aneka-dhâm_ ‘generously bestowing’ BHAKTANAMEKA DANT! AM Should be _bhaktânâm_ ‘the devotees’ _ekadântam_ ‘one tusked’ (Ganesha broke off one of his tusks) UPASMAHE ‘I salute’? This mantra is a popular one used by worshipers of Ganesha. However, the person who transcribed the text got it badly corrupted and obviously did not understand what he was writing. It was evidently transliterated into Tamil along the way, because of the confusion of ch/s, t/dh, and k/g that is characteristic of Tamil phonology. You would think that the devotees who believe in this mantra so much as to spam it al over creation would take more care to at least get it accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Dalchini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dalchini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dalchini)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/17 "2003-06-29T23:04:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\* It was evidently transliterated into Tamil along the way, because of the confusion of ch/s, t/dh, and k/g that is characteristic of Tamil phonology. You would think that the devotees who believe in this mantra so much as to spam it al over creation would take more care to at least get it accurate. \*\* You Are correct about the Tamil part, the one whossend it to me has parents from Sri Lanka, they are Tamils right? It is a shame that she did not get the mantra correctly, it would have made the translation easier to do. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/18 "2003-06-29T23:18:33Z")
Sri Lankan Hindus are Tamils, yes. I should point out that the majority of Sri Lankans are Moslem, and not Tamil- you could get killed confusing the two. ---
**Author:** ![anoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@anoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anoman)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/19 "2003-06-30T00:13:07Z")
Thanks for a reply from a real Sanskrit grammarian! I must admit my translation is simply the result of some smart googling and a basic Sanskrit vocabulary, not actual competence in Sanskrit grammar. One comment: I think Śrī Ganeśa Vandana is just the title that mistakenly got added to the main body of text, so the sloka starts with “Śuklâmbaradharam…” **dutchboy208** : the majority of Sri Lankans are Sinhalese Theravadin Buddhists. There is also a large Muslim community, who I believe are mostly ethnically Tamil, but they are certainly not a majority. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-for-sanskrit-or-hindi/183402/20 "2003-06-30T02:20:46Z")
Right, the Tamils of Sri Lanka are mainly Hindu, minority Muslim. The Sinhala people are the Buddhist majority. The epithet of Pârvati, Agajâna the Mountain-Born, is formed like this: _ga_ means ‘walk, go’ so with the negative prefix _a-_, _a-ga_ means ‘not going’, i.e. fixed in place, hence: a mountain. _ja_ means ‘born’, related to Greek _genesis_ and English _kin_. It gets a long _â_ vowel in the feminine: _jâ._ So _a-ga-jâ_ means ‘She who was born of the mountain’ (Himâlaya).