We did a fun exercise in one of my Sanskrit classes this week. Before I show you the exercise, let me say that every noun in Sanskrit may have 7 or 8 different cases. You can identify those cases by how the word ends. The case endings also differ depending on whether the word is male, female or neuter.

Whether a word is considered male, female or neuter is very different than in English. For example, the word for house is neuter, the word for cup is male, and the word for bottle is feminine!

Cases:

1^st case is the subject
2^nd case is the object
3^rd case – “with” (with a fork)
4^th case- “for” (for the beggar)
5^th case- “from” (from the city)
6^th case- possessive or “of” (boy’s; of the boy)
7^th case- “in, at, on”

So, with that introduction, here is the exercise we did!

Start with Subject and Verb

Karuna eats.
करुणा खादति
karunaa khaadati

Add 2^nd case

Karuna ice cream eats.
करुणा पयोदिमं खादति
karunaa payodimam khaadati

Add 6^th Case

Karuna chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चाकलेहस्य पयोहिमं खादति
karunaa caakalehasya payohimam khaadati

Add adjective

Karuna lots of chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunaa caakalehasya bahu payohimam khaadati

Add 3^rd case

Karuna, with a spoon, lots of chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunaa camasena caakalehasya bahu payohimam khaadati

Add 5^th case

Karuna, with a spoon, from a cup, chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चषकात् चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunaa camasena cashaakat caakalehasya bahu-payohimam khaadati

Add 7^th case

Karuna, with a spoon, from a cup, at home, chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चषकात् गृहे चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunnaa camasena cashakaat grihe caakalehasya bahu-payohimam khaadati

Add another 7^th case

Karuna, with a spoon, from a cup, at home, in the evening, lots of chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चषकात् गृहे सायङ्काले चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunnaa camasena cashakaat grihe saayangkaale caakalehasya bahu-payohimam khaadati

Add a direction and also another 7^th case

Karuna, with a spoon, from a cup, at home, in the evening, in front of the television, lots of chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चषकात् गृहे सायङ्काले दरदर्शनस्य पुरतः चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunnaa camasena cashakaat grihe saayangkaale dooradarshanasya purataha caakalehasya bahu-payohimam khaadati

Add another adjective

Karuna, with a spoon, from a cup, at home, in the evening, in front of the television, slowly, lots of chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चषकात् गृहे सायङ्काले दूरदर्शनस्य पुरतः मन्दं-मन्दं चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunnaa camasena cashakaat grihe saayangkaale dooradarshanasya purataha mandam mandam caakalehasya bahu-payohimam khaadati

Add another 3^rd case

Karuna, with a spoon, from a cup, at home, in the evening, in front of the television, slowly, with happiness, lots of chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चषकात् गृहे सायङ्काले दूरदर्शनस्य पुरतः मन्दं-मन्दं सन्तोषेण चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोहिमं खादति
karunnaa camasena cashakaat grihe saayangkaale dooradarshanasya purataha mandam mandam santoshena caakalehasya bahu-payohimam khaadati

Add 4^th case

Karuna, with a spoon, from a cup, at home, in the evening, in front of the television, slowly, with happiness, for fun, lots of chocolate ice cream eats.
करुणा चमसेन चषकात् गृहे सायङ्काले दूरदर्शनस्य पुरतः मन्दं-मन्दं सन्तोषेण परिहासाय चाकलेहस्य बहु-पयोदिमं खादति
karunnaa camasena cashakaat grihe saayangkaale dooradarshanasya purataha mandam mandam santoshena parihaasaya caakalehasya bahu-payohimam khaadati