Grantha Script Lessons

102 Pages·2012·8.566 MB·English

by  Vinodh Rajan

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Grantha Script Lessons
Grantha Lipi Pāṭhāḥ
�न् िलिप पाठाः
  
³ரத² பி பாடா²:
 ലിപി പാഠാഃ
ගන් ලි පාඨාඃ

คฺรนฺถ ลิปิ ปาฐา:
�គន្ លិ បិ បោឋ

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Contents

Buddhanusmriti 3
Grantha - 1 - Vowels 5
Grantha - 2 - Ayogavaha 11
Grantha - 3 - Consonants - Ka 17
Grantha - 4 - Consonants ca - ṭa 21
Grantha - 5 - Consonants ta - pa 25
Grantha - 6 - Consonants ya - ha 29
Grantha - 7 - Summary I 34
Grantha - 8 - Vowel Signs I 42
Grantha - 9 - Vowel Signs II 48
Grantha - 10 - Vowel-less Consonants 52
Grantha - 11 - Summary II 55
Grantha - 12 - Conjuncts I 61
Grantha - 13 - Conjuncts II 64
Grantha - 14 - Conjuncts III 70
Grantha - 15 - Conjunct IV 75
Grantha - 16 - Conjuncts V 80
Grantha - 17 - Grantha Fonts & Softwares 85
Sample Texts in Grantha 93
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buddhānusmṛtiḥ बदु ्धनु ु्समृ��³த³தா �ஸ்மʼதி:
⁴

oṁ namaḥ sarvabuddhabodhisattvebhyaḥ
ॐ�धुृ�सवबर दु ब्धबस��व्त तृ
ஓ்ʼ நம: ஸர்�³த³த ேபா³தி ஸததே்ே ய:
⁴ ⁴ ⁴

ityapi buddho bhagavāṁstathāgato'rhan
इ�तय��बदु ्�धोव्गनमं्ोम्ागरध ऽ
இதயபப��³த³ேதா ப க³்ா்ʼஸததா²க³ேதா(அ)ர்ஹ
⁴ ⁴

samyaksaṁbuddho vidyācaraṇasampannaḥ
समतयसबग दु ्�यवोत्वद्सम�रधृ
ஸ்யயஸ்ʼ�³த³ேதா ்பத³யாசரணஸ்பஹந:
⁴
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sugato lokavidanuttaraḥ puruṣadamyasārathiḥ
सुोम्�ल्कयवदध�ु मदृ��ुु रदमतस्दधंृ
ஸுக³ேதா�ேலாக்பத³�ததர: �மஷத³்யஸாரதி²:

śāstā devamanuṣyāṇāṁ buddho bhagavāniti
श्नम्�दतवुधुु त्््ग�बदु ्�धोव््ध्म
ஸா²ஸதா�ேத³்ம�ஷயாணா்ʼ �³த³ேதா ப க³்ாநிதி
⁴ ⁴

oṁ mune mune mahāmunaye svāhā | ॐ�ुुधत�ुुधत�ुग्ुुधतत�नव्ग्� �
ஓ்� ேந� ேந�ம்ா நேய�ஸ்ா்ா
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Grantha - 1 - Vowels

| ॐ�धुृ�सव्र ्त� �ஓ்ʼ நம: ஸர்வஜாய�|

|| अक्द्�ुुखृ�सवबर ु््र ्�ग ंोतधु��रध�व्म�ऽ �||
|| அகாேரா� க²: ஸர்த ரமாணா்ʼ ஆத³ய�தபஹநத்ாத�||
|| 'a' is the door to all Dharmas, fo⁴r they are all originally unproduced ||

Vijayadashami is usually a very special day to start, any related to Vidya. It is very auspicious to start
Akshara Abhyasa [अ�द�अ्त्स�அகர�அே யாஸ ] at this day.
Traditionally, Children are made to write the lette⁴r "அ�अ", and start their education.

So, in this auspicious day of Vijayadashami, let’s start our lessons on Grantha Lipi. :-)

We'll start our lesson with the Vowels a.k.a Svara-s. [ नवद्:�ஸ்ரா: - ஸ்ரரக் ]

Sanskrit has 14 Svara-s and 2 Ubhayākṣara-s [உப யாகர�उधत्�द ]
that go along with the Svara-s.
⁴

The 14 Svara-s in order are:
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a அ�अ

ā ஆ�ं

i இ�इ

ī ஈ�ई

u உ�उ
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ū ஊ�ऊ

மʼ ṛ ऋ

�ʼ ṝ ॠ

�ʼ ḷ ऌ

�ʼ ḹ ॡ
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e ஏ�ए

ai ஐ�ऐ

o ஓ�ओ

au ஔ�औ

As you would have noted, some letters are same as that in Tamil and some are similar to that of Tamil.
Lets sum up the similar letters:

Same letters as in Tamil:
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Letters similar to that in Tamil:

Therefore, you would need to remember, only the following distinct forms.

The other letters are only used very rarely, learn them at your own pace :-)

Pronunciation of Letters
I want to specifically write about the pronunciation of the following 4 letters. The other letters have the
same pronunciation as in Tamil.

- Must be pronounced similar to the 'ம’ in கி’ம’ஷணண.
Approximately, it has a pronunciation between /ri/ and /ru/