The famous motto that Bharat is spreading across the world is वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् = The world is one family. This was also featured in the current G-20 Summit.
The source of this term is this shloka from the Panchatantra. This ancient text (300 BCE) is a narrative wherein a Guru tells a set of stories famously to instil good values in the princes of a royal family who were not easily teachable.
अयं निजः परो वेति गणना लघु-चेतसाम् ।
उदार-चरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ॥ ३७ ॥
ayaṃ nijaḥ paro veti gaṇanā laghu-cetasām |
udāra-caritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam || 37 ||
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To understand a Sanskrit shloka, we can analyse it in many layers. The most basic layer that fulfils the purpose of translators is the gist of the shloka. The next layer is important for students of Sanskrit as they want to know the role of each word and how it adds to the import of the entire shloka. Once its role is determined, we need to then in the third layer map out the grammar that is behind the word formation that allows each word to play its role by conveying a specific meaning linked to the other words. There is also the etymology that is behind the origin of each word which is the fourth layer.
In this, I am not going into etymology. But I shall cover the first three layers.
Basic meaning/gist of the shloka: In this world, most of us who are shallow-minded in our outlook consider people either as our own/on our side, or as those against us/not on our side. This is the typical "Us-Them" mindset of dividing the world and relating either positively or negatively to people around us. But the wise, who have a deep understanding of life, realise that the whole humanity is one single connected family and everyone is our own as we share our lives and our future together. We should not have the pro/anti attitude but cultivate the wisdom of universal cordiality.
Second level -word sequence and relationships:
अयं निजः परः वा इति - "Is this person my own (on my side) or an outsider (not on my side)?", गणना लघु-चेतसाम् (भवति)। - such thinking characterises the shallow-minded people.
उदार-चरितानां तु - On the other hand, for the large-hearted and broad-minded people,
वसुधा एव कुटुम्बकम् - the entire earth, with all its inhabitants, is but one family bound by love.
Third Level - Grammar
I thought I will apply my limited knowledge of Paninian grammar to analyse this shloka here. Panini, for those who may not know it yet, is the world's greatest grammarian and language analyst who created a set of rules/codes for Sanskrit titled Ashtadhyayi long before the Christian era. His sutras help explain the words in the Sanskrit language systematically. He is the originator of a meta-language (which can perhaps be employed to analyse any language in use).
(Source: Wikimedia)
पाणिनीयव्याकरणम् - Paninian grammar analysis
This is called the Prakriya (derivation). Each word in Sanskrit comprises the source word (prakriti) and affix (pratyaya). The affix is based on the intended role of the word in the sentence. In each sentence, there are subantas (nouns and avyayas) and tinantas (verbs).
This is called the Prakriya (derivation). Each word in Sanskrit comprises the source word (prakriti) and affix (pratyaya). The affix is based on the intended role of the word in the sentence. In each sentence, there are subantas (nouns and avyayas) and tinantas (verbs).
In this shloka, there is an implied verb "is" (भवति).
I give below the prakriti=pratipadika and the derivation through the Paninian rules from Ashtadhyayi (the actual sutra and its number are shown) which define the affix and its effect at each step.
अयम् इदम् पुल्लिँङ्ग मकारान्त प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ सुँ प्रत्ययः (१.१)
➔ इदम्+सुँ (इदमो मः ७.२.१०८)
➔ अय्+अम्+सुँ (इदोऽय् पुंसि ७.२.१११)
➔ अयम् (हल्ङ्याभ्यो दीर्घात् सुतिस्यपृक्तं हल् ६.१.६८) - This man
निजः निज पुल्लिँङ्ग अकारान्त प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ सुँ प्रत्ययः (१.१)
➔ निजस् (उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत् १.३.२. तस्य लोपः १.३.९)
➔ निजर् (ससजुषो रुः ८.२.६६)
➔ निजः (खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः ८.३.१५) - our own
परः पर पुल्लिँङ्ग अकारान्त प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ सुँ प्रत्ययः (१.१)
➔परस् (उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत् १.३.२. तस्य लोपः १.३.९)
➔ परर् (ससजुषो रुः ८.२.६६)
➔ परः (खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः ८.३.१५) - an outsider/not our own
वा - अव्ययम् - or
इति -- अव्ययम् - thus
गणना - गणना आकारान्त स्त्रीलिङ्गः प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ सुँ प्रत्ययः (१.१)
➔ गणना (हल्ङ्याभ्यो दीर्घात् सुतिस्यपृक्तं हल् ६.१.६८) - thinking/reckoning
लघुचेतसाम् - लघुचेतस् लघु चेतः येषां ते, लघुचेतसः, लघुचेतस् पुं, सकारान्त प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ आम् प्रत्ययः (६.३)
➔लघुचेतसाम् (वर्णमेलनम्) - shallow-minded
उदारचरितानाम् -उदाचरित पुल्लिँङ्ग अकारान्त प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ आम् प्रत्ययः (६.३)
➔ नुट्+आम् (ह्रस्वनद्यापो नुट् ७.१.५४) ➔ नाम् (हलन्त्यम् १.३.३, तस्य लोपः १.३.९)
➔ उदारचरिता +नाम् (नामि ६.४.३))
➔ उदारचरितानाम् (वर्णमेलनम्) - those of magnanimous thinking
वसुधा - वसुधा आकारान्त स्त्रीलिङ्गः प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ सुँ प्रत्ययः (१.१)
➔ वसुधा(हल्ङ्याभ्यो दीर्घात् सुतिस्यपृक्तं हल् ६.१.६८) - the planet earth with all its life
एव - अव्ययम् - itself
कुटुम्बकम् -कुटुम्बक अकारान्त नपुंसकलिङ्गः प्रातिपदिकम्
➔ सुँ प्रत्ययः (१.१)
➔ कुटुम्बक +स् (उपदेशेऽजनुनासिक इत् १.३.२. तस्य लोपः १.३.९)
➔ कुटुम्बक +अम् (अतोऽम् ७.१.२४)
➔कुटुम्बकम् (अमि पूर्वः ६.१.१०७) - One family.
There are also some Sandhis (conjuncts) in this shloka.
The first one is
निजः, परः - these words are originally निजस् परस्.
निजस् , परस्
➔ निजर्, परर् (ससजुषो रुः ८.२.६६)
➔निजः, परः (खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः ८.३.१५)
The second one is
वा+इति = वेति (आद्गुणः ६.१.८७)
The third one is
उदारचरितानाम्=उदारचरितानां (मोऽनुस्वारः ८.३.२३)
The fourth one is
वसुधा+एव = वसुधैव (वृद्धिरेचि ६.१.८८)
My intention in this exercise was to show a brief glimpse of how Sanskrit students would be taught to approach a shloka.
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॥ तस्मै पाणिनये नमः ॥
