"I have known Sakhyarasa Prem for over 40 years and his classes will be very informative and they will be fun, so you'll have a few good laughs while you learn wonderful shlokas. I think this is a very good opportunity to learn!" Mahatma Dasa, Bhakti School.
"My dear Sakhyarasa Prema prabhu, you are an enthusiastic Sanskrit pronunciation proponent. We want you to promote the re-formation of improved Sanskrit pronunciation in our worldwide ISKCON." Lokanath Swami, ISKCON Kirtan Minister.
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Here is a practical and effective 'Shlokarship' learning technique, especially for those who find it a challenge to memorise the verses. Please go ahead and print this out and post it on a wall or door or somewhere you can see this everyday:
Note: Before starting to memorize the verse, pinpoint the most difficult word(s) that come to your attention. They may be a set of conjunct words like sadap-noti-haya or tyaj-anty-asya and work on getting that correctly pronounced and memorized before you attempt to learn the verse.
Let's take each line of one of the verses we are learning: In this case Bhagavad Gita 18.57.
1. Repeat aloud the first two words three times, then the other word three times. Repeat the first line ten times.
cetasa sarva karmani
2. Repeat aloud the first two words of the second line three times, then the next two words three times. Repeat the second line ten times.
mayi sannyasya mat parah
3. Repeat aloud the first two lines up to fifteen times.
4. Repeat aloud the first two words of the third line three times, then the last word three times. Repeat the third line ten times.
buddhi yoga upashritya
5. Repeat aloud the first two words of the forth line three times, then the last word three times. Repeat the fourth line ten times.
mac cita satatam bhava
6. Repeat aloud the third and fourth lines up to fifteen times.
7. Repeat the first two lines five times, then the third and fourth lines five times.
8. Finally repeat the whole verse at least ten to twenty times. Keep repeating this verse throughout the day and isolate any difficult words by repeating them until you pronounce them clearly and precisely. Continue going through the verse until it is firmly embedded into your conscious and subconscious mind.
9. Pay attention to the long (dirgha) vowels, particularly A and I. Note the visarga H with a dot underneath pronounced as aha at the end of a word. Some short visargas (hrsva) are at the beginning or middle of a verse and some are long visargas (dirgha) at the end of a verse.
10. Repeat the first part of the first line of the translation at least ten to twenty times. Repeat the second half of the first line ten to twenty times. Repeat this throughout the whole translation. Continue going through the verse throughout the day and following days until it is firmly embedded into your conscious and subconscious mind.
Congratulations, you have just learned another gemlike Sanskrit verse to enhance your life and the lives around you.