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xviii
Handbook of Hindu Mythology
readability, pronunciation, and use in moving through the literature on a given
topic. The Sanskritist will have no problem knowing a technical term when I
use a more popular Romanization of a Hindu term or the name of a god or goddess.
Conversely, it is the general reader who suffers when we use the most accurate
transliteration of Sanskrit. I will use as few diacritics as possible to help the
general reader in identifying precisely in Roman letters the term or name in
question, but will resist making these spellings too foreboding. Consequently, I
will use an s´ for one of the three “s” consonants in Sanskrit, as in S ´ iva. It is too
often spelled “Siva,” which gives no help in pronunciation, or “Shiva,” which
helps in pronunciation but does not alert the beginner to the study of Sanskrit
and hides the complexity of the multiple ways of spelling the name of this deity.
Long vowels will be marked to help in pronunciation. Sanskrit vowels are pronounced
much like Spanish or Latin vowels except for the short “a,” which is
pronounced as a short “u” (but). Aspirated consonants (such as “bh” or “dh”) are
best learned in oral practice from a teacher. “C” is pronounced as “ch” in
“check” but there is also an aspirated “ch” that doubles the aspiration. The
beginner should be alert to the fact that a word like âcârya might also be transliterated
as “acharya” by some.
An old rule of thumb in a beginning Sanskrit class to try to learn the rhythm
or cadence of the language is to give a consonant one count, a short vowel two
counts, and a long vowel three counts. Thus, diacritics will be used for long vowels
to help the general reader’s pronunciation and to avoid some hidden pitfalls.
Thus, “brâhmin” (priest) is pronounced with the first syllable twice as long as
the second. And the use of brâhmin for priest instead of brâhmana, or its often
shortened version, brâhman, chooses a later spelling rather than its more
ancient form so that the reader will not confuse brâhmin with Brahman, the
Absolute. Both words for priest, brâhmin and brâhman, have a long vowel in the
first syllable and omitting the diacritical mark leaves one with no distinction in
the written word between a priest and the Absolute—a confusion that priests
have not minded, but one that needs to be avoided nonetheless.
This text will follow the academic custom of not capitalizing the words god
and demon. This can be justified from most Hindu perspectives as well, since
the Absolute, the Supreme Being, is not being referred to as a whole. When the
Absolute, or the entirety of the Godhead, is indicated, then God will be capitalized.
There is no theological truth intended, even though almost all capitalization
has disappeared from current English prose. This choice will not seem
scholarly enough for some and may seem too Western for others. Hopefully, the
reader should accept this practice for its face value as a modern attempt to avoid
too much capitalization while respecting a tradition.
The “n” used for neuter endings will be not used in instances where another