Subhashita #0018

Traditionally, before a student would begin studying the Vedas, the knowledge of the six limbs of the Vedas would be imparted to him. Vyākaraṇa or Sanskrit-grammar is the first and foremost limb of the Vedas. Pāṇini says 'mukhaṁ vyākaraṇaṁ smṛtam' — "Sanskrit Grammar is the effulgent face of the Vedas". The students first learn grammar for many years in the Gurukula before being taught the Vedas. By learning Sanskrit grammar, one learns how to pronounce words correctly. A subhāṣita-verse speaks about the importance of learning grammar:

yadyapi bahu nādhīṣe tathāpi paṭha putra vyākaraṇam
sva-janaḥ śva-jano mā bhūt sakala śakala sakṛc chakṛt

"O Son! Even if you don't study much of anything else, at least study grammar properly. By doing so, you will avoid the mistake of mispronouncing sva-jana (relatives) as śva-jana (dogs), or the mistake of mispronouncing sakala (entire) as śakala (partial), or the mistake of mispronouncing sakṛt (once) as śakṛt (stool)."

— Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra, Vaiyākaraṇa-praśaṁsā, page 42, Verse 2)

[Import: While singing in Sanskrit, although its true that Krishna accepts the mood of the devotee and does not consider the mistakes in pronunciation, this should not become a sorry excuse for deliberately not learning the correct pronunciation. Many times we mispronounce and say — yasya prasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi. This is incorrect and it is an offensive statement which means — "By the guru's mercy, one cannot make any advancement."

The correct pronunciation is — yasyāprasādān (with the long ā in the middle), not yasya prasādān. Sometimes we say — he rādhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-śūno kutaḥ — O Radha! Lalita! O fat girls of Nanda, where are you?" The correct pronunciation is nanda-sūno not nanda-śūno. As devotees, we should try to improve our pronunciations as much as possible, because the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam says that a single mispronunciation caused Vṛtāsura to be killed by Indra.]

(Originally posted on Facebook on 7th April 2015).