How to greet someone in Sanskrit

Do modern words have Sanskrit names?

Sanskrit is said to be the oldest language in the world, which is in practice till date ! While the most ancient of scriptures are found to be written in Sanskrit, do you know that there is no dearth of words of Sanskrit names for contemporary objects? For example Sanganaka for  computer 💻, antarjaala  for internet and chitragrahaka for camera 📷 !

Is Sanskrit usable in daily life and social media?

Being a Devabhasha i.e. the language of Gods doesn't stop the common man from conversing fluently in Sanskrit. Today increasingly, the language is loved by scholars and laymen alike! On one hand, we observe that Mahakavyas (epic poetries) have been written in Sanskrit and on the other we observe that even the latest fad of making memes can also be practiced in Sanskrit. We're sure you've seen the viral meme of Kim Jong-Un.

Question:  

tava nāma kim?   तव नाम किम्?
Kim:

mama nāma kim? मम नाम किम्?
mama nāma kim। मम नाम किम्।

Sanskrit has short words like 'na' meaning 'no' and long words like ‘ujjwalakanakashrinkhalarachitarashmikalapakalitaya’* meaning ‘tied with the lustre of a bright golden chain’. Poetic isn't it? I am sure you want to jump at the opportunity of learning Sanskrit and discover more and more treasures hidden within the language.

Greeting someone in Sanskrit

'Namo namah! Namaskarah!' This is how you greet someone in sanskrit.

But what next? How do you carry the conversation further in Sanskrit? In India, the conversation is carried forward by a question regarding general wellbeing.

Let us check out 5 ways to say ‘how are you?’ in Sanskrit 

• api kushalam sarvam? अपि कुशलं सर्वम् ?’

This means is everything good? This is a general way of asking anyone if everything good. This can be asked to one person, or many people at once and to all genders.

• api kushalee bhavan? अपि कुशली भवान्?  or Api kushalinee bhavatee? अपि कुशलिनी भवती?

Both the above mean, 'are you doing good? Here bhavaan भवान् refers to the person being addressed being a male and bhavatee भवती  refers to the person being referred to being a female. to you (feminine). भवान् and भवती are used when we want to be formal and are using the 'formal you' that is api.

• katham asti bhavaan? कथम् अस्ति भवान्? or Katham asti bhavatee? कथम् अस्ति भवती?

Both the above sentences mean 'how are you', where bhavaan - भवान् and  bhavatee भवती refer to male and female respectively.

• katham asi twam? कथम् असि त्वम्?

Here is a question with 'informal you' which is  twam - त्वम्  in the sentence. It also means ‘how are you?’

• atr kushalam tatrapstu. अत्र कुशलम् , तत्राप्यस्तु। 

While writing letters in Sanskrit, this phrase is often used to enquire about general wellbeing. It means, 'all is well here, may it be the same there'. 

Wasn't that easy? So, why stop? Hop on to Language Curry App and begin a wonderful journey of learning Sanskrit through various sections of the App which include 'Subhashitas', 'Vocabulary' and 'Saptavarna' (online sanskrit monthly magazine for kids and beginners) and ofcourse the entire course material - all for free!