1.1
अथ योगानुशासनम्
atha yogānuśāsanam
The line
Now the teaching of yoga begins.
नेपालीमा
अब योगको शिक्षा सुरु हुन्छ।
Where it sits
The book opens by naming itself as a teaching, not as a description of a person. Everything after this line is that teaching.
Split: atha (अथ) + yoga (योग) + anuśāsanam (अनुशासनम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| atha (अथ) | indeclinable | now. At the opening of a teaching it means "the preparation is done; the instruction begins." |
| yoga (योग) | stem, inside the compound | yoga. What the book means by it is the next line. |
| anuśāsanam (अनुशासनम्) | nominative singular, neuter | instruction, the teaching that follows a tradition. anu (अनु) "along after," śāsana (शासन) "teaching, governing." |
The phrases
atha (अथ) stands alone. It is the bell at the start, not part of the definition.
yogānuśāsanam (योगानुशासनम्) is one compound. Read it from the end: an instruction, and the instruction is of yoga. The last member, anuśāsanam (अनुशासनम्), wears the nominative ending. yoga (योग) has no ending of its own, because inside a compound only the last member is declined.
There is no verb. Sūtra (सूत्र) style leaves out "is." The line says: now, the instruction of yoga.
Sanskrit in this line
Three facts, all used again immediately.
atha (अथ) is not the ordinary "now" of clock time. In a śāstra (शास्त्र) it marks that what follows is the instruction proper.
Vowel sandhi: yoga (योग) ends in a (अ), anuśāsana (अनुशासन) begins with a (अ), and a (अ) + a (अ) becomes ā (आ). That is why you hear yogānuśāsanam (योगानुशासनम्) and not yoga-anuśāsanam (योगअनुशासनम्). When you split the line, you put the short a (अ) back.
A compound is read from the end. Ask "what is the last member?" and then "the last member of what?"
Say it back
Cover this page below the Devanagari. Say the three words and what each one is doing. If anuśāsana (अनुशासन) will not come, stay here.