How to Read and Write Sanskrit

Reading Sanskrit is more straightforward than reading English in one important way: every letter has one sound, and every sound is written. There are no silent letters and no guessing. The work lies in learning how letters combine. This article assumes you have seen the basic letters, described in Sanskrit Alphabet Explained, and shows how they join into words.

The inherent vowel and the virāma

Every consonant letter in Devanagari carries the short vowel a. The letter क is not k but ka. To write the bare consonant k, a small stroke called the virāma or halanta (्) is placed below the letter: क्. You will see this most often at the end of words, as in फलम् (phalam) and अपठत् (apaṭhat).

In Hindi the final a is usually dropped in speech, so कमल is read kamal. In Sanskrit it is pronounced: कमल is kamala. A word ends in a consonant only when the virāma is written.

Vowel signs (mātrā)

When a vowel follows a consonant, it is not written as a full letter. Instead a sign called a mātrā is attached to the consonant and replaces the inherent a. The table shows every sign with the consonant क.

Two points catch beginners. The sign for short i (ि) is written before the consonant but pronounced after it: कि is ki. And र takes its u-signs in an unusual place: रु (ru) and रू (rū).

Conjunct consonants (saṃyuktākṣara)

When two or more consonants come together with no vowel between them, they are written as one combined shape. Sanskrit uses conjuncts far more than Hindi does, so they deserve steady practice. Most are formed in one of a few ways.

• Half form: the first consonant loses its vertical stroke and joins the next, as in स् + त = स्त (अस्ति, asti) and न् + त = न्त (दन्त, danta).
• Stacked form: one letter sits above or inside the other, as in द् + ध = द्ध (बुद्धि, buddhi) and द् + य = द्य (विद्या, vidyā).
• र before a consonant becomes a hook above the following letter, called repha: र् + म = र्म (धर्म, dharma; कर्म, karma).
• र after a consonant becomes a slanting stroke below: प् + र = प्र (प्रश्न, praśna), ग् + र = ग्र (ग्राम, grāma).
• Special shapes that must simply be learnt: क्ष (kṣa), त्र (tra), ज्ञ (jña) and श्र (śra).

When you meet an unfamiliar conjunct, read it from left to right and from top to bottom. In धर्म the hook above म is read first: dha-r-ma.

Anusvāra, visarga and avagraha

A final म् is written as an anusvāra when the next word begins with a consonant: अहम् + पठामि is written अहं पठामि. Before a vowel or at the end of a sentence the म् remains.

Numerals

The numbers one to four change with gender; the forms above are the neuter forms normally used in counting.

Tips for writing neatly

1. Write the body of each letter first and add the top line (śirorekhā) last, across the whole word.
2. Work from left to right and top to bottom within a letter.
3. Use ruled paper and keep the letters hanging evenly from the top line.
4. Leave a clear gap between words; the top line of each word is separate.
5. Copy a few lines of printed Sanskrit daily. Copying trains the eye to recognise conjuncts faster than drills alone.

Practice reading

Read each line aloud slowly, syllable by syllable, before looking at the transliteration.

The last line is a well-known instruction from the Taittirīya Upaniṣad and is good practice for the anusvāra and the repha.

Next steps

Once you can read simple sentences without transliteration, start on short verses and on the grammar that explains the word endings; see Sanskrit Grammar Basics. For regular, corrected practice in both reading and handwriting, the Sanskrit Reading and Writing course is taught live online, one-to-one or in a small group.