अव्ययमालाClass 9 Sanskrit Amod Chapter 2 Notes – Maharashtra Board

Summary: अव्ययमाला

A सुभाषितम् is a 'well-said' saying: short, sweet, meaningful and easy to sing. Learning them makes your speech polished and helps in speeches and essays, so this garland is meant to be memorised.

Verse 1 prays to God who made the ears to hear, the mouth to speak, the nose to smell, feet to roam, eyes to see, hands to give and the mind to meditate — all shown by -तुम् forms. Verse 2 says good qualities act as messengers even for good people who live far away, just as bees come by themselves after smelling the केतकी flower.

Verse 3 praises cows: they eat dry grass and drink pond water, yet give milk to all — truly mothers of the world. Verse 4 says whatever little we get without hurting others, without visiting wicked people and without leaving the path of the good is plenty.

Verse 5 is a funny riddle: a woman refuses to marry a man who thinks विहस्य is a 6th-case form, विहाय a 4th-case form and अहं, कथम् 2nd-case forms. Verse 6 compares low, middle and best people by how they face obstacles; verse 7 says teeth, hair, nails and men lose their charm when they leave their place; verse 8 says never give up effort by trusting only fate — without effort, who can get oil from sesame?

अन्वयरचना: in prose the order is doer – object – verb, but verse mixes the words up. To make the अन्वय, find the verb, ask who? (कर्ता) and what? (कर्म), and rearrange the words in simple order. रम्यसंस्कृतम्: when two vowels meet they combine (स्वरसन्धि) — e.g. रवि + इन्द्रः = रवीन्द्रः, गण + ईशः = गणेशः.

Key points to remember

• सुभाषितम् = a well-said, short, meaningful verse
• Verse 1: -तुम् forms — श्रोतुं, वक्तुं, घ्रातुं, विहर्तुं, द्रष्टुं, दातुं, ध्यातुम्
• Verse 2: गुणाः act as दूताः (messengers); bees are षट्पदाः (six-footed)
• Verse 3: धेनवः लोकमातरः — cows are mothers of the world
• Verse 4: नञ् + ल्यप् / क्त्वा forms — अकृत्वा, अगत्वा, अनुत्सृज्य
• Verse 5: a प्रहेलिका (riddle) — विहस्य and विहाय are ल्यबन्त अव्यय, not case forms
• Verse 6: नीचाः never start, मध्याः stop midway, उत्तमाः never give up
• Verse 8: effort (उद्योगः) beats waiting for fate (दैवम्)
• अन्वयः = rearranging a verse into prose order (कर्ता – कर्म – क्रियापदम्)
• स्वरसन्धि: सवर्णदीर्घ, गुण (ए/ओ), वृद्धि (ऐ/औ) and यण् (य्/व्)

अव्ययमाला – Notes

1. 2.1 Verses 1–3: God's gifts, good qualities, cows

• Verse 1 lists each sense organ with its purpose using -तुम्: कर्णौ श्रोतुम् (ears to hear), आस्यं वक्तुम् (mouth to speak — and it is सुहास्यम्, nicely smiling), घ्राणं घ्रातुम् (nose to smell), पादयुग्मं विहर्तुम् (pair of feet to wander), नेत्रे द्रष्टुम्, हस्तयुग्मं दातुम्, चित्तं ध्यातुम्. The prayer: may He who made all this protect us (सः पातु).
• Verse 2: even when good people (सन्तः) live far away, their virtues travel like messengers and bring others to them. Example: bees (षट्पदाः) smell the केतकी flower (आघ्राय) and come by themselves (स्वयम् आयान्ति).
• Verse 3: cows eat dry grass (शुष्काणि तृणानि भुक्त्वा), drink water from a pond (जलाशयात् तोयं पीत्वा) and still give milk to people — so they are called लोकमातरः.
• Grammar in these verses: -तुम् (purpose), आघ्राय (ल्यबन्त, आ + घ्रा), भुक्त्वा and पीत्वा (क्त्वान्त).

2. 2.2 Verses 4–5: honest gain and a grammar riddle

• Verse 4 gives three conditions for good earning: अकृत्वा परसन्तापम् (without troubling others), अगत्वा खलमन्दिरम् (without going to a wicked man's house), अनुत्सृज्य सतां वर्त्म (without leaving the path of the good). What comes this way, even if small, is 'a lot'.
• अकृत्वा = अ (not) + कृत्वा; अगत्वा = अ + गत्वा; अनुत्सृज्य = अन् + उत्सृज्य. The negative particle (नञ्) joins the अव्यय.
• Verse 5 is a प्रहेलिका. A clever woman says: how can I become the second wife (द्वितीया) of a man for whom विहस्य is षष्ठी, विहाय is चतुर्थी and अहम्, कथम् are द्वितीया?
• The joke: विहस्य (having laughed) and विहाय (having left) are ल्यबन्त अव्यय that only look like देवस्य and गेहाय; अहम् is प्रथमा and कथम् is an अव्यय. The word द्वितीया is used in two senses — second case and second wife.

3. 2.3 Verses 6–8: courage, one's place, effort

• Verse 6 sorts people into three kinds. नीचाः (low) do not even begin a task for fear of obstacles. मध्याः (middling) begin but stop when obstacles strike (विघ्नविहताः विरमन्ति). उत्तमजनाः, even when hit by obstacles again and again, never leave what they started.
• Verse 7: teeth, hair, nails and men look bad once they fall from their proper place (स्थानभ्रष्टाः). Knowing this (विज्ञाय), a wise person should not leave his own position.
• Verse 8: thinking 'it is all fate' (दैवम् एव इति सञ्चिन्त्य), a man should not give up his own effort. Without effort (अनुद्यमेन) nobody can get oil from sesame seeds.
• Amarakosha lines asked here: दैवम् — दैवं दिष्टं भागधेयं भाग्यं स्त्री नियतिर्विधिः; नरः — मनुष्या मानुषा मर्त्या मनुजा मानवा नराः.

4. 2.4 अन्वयरचना — putting a verse in prose order

• Writing is of two kinds: पद्य (verse, bound by metre, can be sung) and गद्य (prose). Prose follows the simple order कर्ता – कर्म – क्रियापदम्; verse does not, so it can be hard to follow.
• अन्वय = split the verse into words, then rearrange them in simple order. It helps both understanding and translation. Sometimes you must supply missing words in brackets.
• Method: first find the verb, then ask कः? (who does it) and किम्? (what). In the model verse the verb is वीक्षते; who? — लोभाविष्टः नरः; what? — वित्तम्; what not? — सङ्कटम्.
• So the अन्वय reads like a comparison: just as a cat sees the milk but not the blow of the stick, so a greedy man sees the money but not the danger.

5. रम्यसंस्कृतम् — वर्णानां साहचर्यम् (स्वरसन्धि)

• When two sounds come very close, the change in sound is called सन्धि. Here the vowels themselves 'speak' and explain.
• Same vowels → one long vowel (सवर्णदीर्घसन्धि): न + अस्ति = नास्ति; रवि + इन्द्रः = रवीन्द्रः; भानु + उदयः = भानूदयः; मातृ + ऋणम् = मातॄणम्.
• अ/आ + इ/ई → ए; अ/आ + उ/ऊ → ओ (गुण): गण + ईशः = गणेशः; लम्ब + उदरः = लम्बोदरः. अ/आ + ए → ऐ; अ/आ + ओ → औ (वृद्धि): सदा + एव = सदैव; गङ्गा + ओघः = गङ्गौघः.
• इ/ई before a different vowel → य्; उ/ऊ before a different vowel → व् (यण्): करोमि + अहम् = करोम्यहम्; खलु + एतत् = खल्वेतत्.
• Besides स्वरसन्धि there are also विसर्गसन्धि and व्यञ्जनसन्धि. Without knowing सन्धि rules you cannot read Sanskrit with understanding.

स्वरसन्धि at a glance

Key terms

अव्ययमाला – Flashcards

Read the question, answer it in your head, then tap the card to check. 20 cards.

अव्ययमाला – MCQ Quiz

15 questions. Tap an option — you will see at once if it is right and why.

How to study अव्ययमाला

⏱ About 45 minutes

1. Learn (20 min)
   Learn two verses a day by heart; for each, say the meaning in English and pick out the अव्यय it uses.
2. Grammar (10 min)
   Practise making the अन्वय of one verse (verb → who → what), and write the स्वरसन्धि table with one example per row.
3. Practice (15 min)
   Write the 'Try it yourself' answers, solve the quiz, revise the flashcards and play the 🎮 Play game.