Glayvin

Hello, again. After some googling, I'm also curious about the chandrabindu or moon-dot- ँ which seems to be used above the auM ligature instead of an anusvara.

What's the difference between a chandrabindu and an anusvara? I know that they sound the same and that the chandrabindu is used for bijas in mantra, but that's it.

Hello, everyone. Does anyone know the origins of the AUM ligature?

Why ॐ as opposed to ओ (with an anusvara)? How old is this symbol?

Thanks and namaste!

Hello, everyone!

I'm working with some sanskrit mantra and I wanted to clarify the translation.

The mantra is

"Om bhoginyei namaH"

It's a Lalita mantra that activates Kundalini energy.

The text I have referring to it is only in English, and specifies that "bhogin" is pronouced "bhogeen".

I know that "bhoga" means "joy" and that "bhogin" means "enjoyment".

Is bhogeen a form of bhoga?

The whole mantra as I visualize it is attached, does it look right to anyone else?

That makes sense, thanks.

So what principle/principles do/does the gum seed sound represent?

I read that the "gum" (g sound with short u sound) seed sound is related to Ganesha Ganapathi, unity and similar concepts.

I recently came across a mantra that uses the "gam" (g sound with short a sound) seed sound with Ganapathi, and the "gum" with the gurubhyo mantra.

Should I be pronoucing "gam" or "gum" with Ganapathi?

Hello, everyone on the forums!

I'm slowly teaching myself to read sanskrit by listening repeatedly to spoken mantras and by googling anything I don't understand.

I have two main questions:

1. What is the deal with the letter that sounds like "ksh" and is used to spell Lakshmi? I can't seem to find a definition for it and I'm wondering if it sounds like ş or ś?

2. The "ŗ" vowel when written confuses me. I have been using the Gayatri mantra (attached) in my spiritual disciplines and there are several instances where the sanskrit either uses a letter I've never seen to denote "ŗ" or uses nothing at all and I only know how to pronounce from the transliteration.

The words in questions are

"savitur" this word lacks any "ŗ" notation

"bhargo" also lacks any "ŗ" notation

"prachodayat" seems to have some notation on the "pa" letter, but I have no idea what it is.

Any help or indication of where I have fundametally misinterpreted sanskrit pronunciation would be much appreciated!!