Bible in Sanskrit page 1 www.sanskritweb.

net
Bible in Sanskrit


By the end of April 2008, I managed to buy a precious full-leather edition of a translation of
the New Testament from Greek into Sanskrit, published as second edition in the year 1851.
This seems to be the translation made by William Carey and Bengali Sanskritists in 1808:

The New Testament
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
in Sanscrit.
Translated from the Greek
by the Calcutta Baptist Missionaries
with native assistants.
Calcutta 1851
Second Edition

Dharmya-pustakasya ea
arthata
prabhun yu-khrena nirpitasya
ntana-dharmya-niyamasya
grantha-sagraha

On the pages 2 through 3, I reproduce Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Matthew as color scans.
And on the pages 4 through 7, the same text is re-typeset in Devanagari and transliteration.
Since the Sanskrit translation on account of its easy-to-read and straightforward language
makes ideal reading matter for Sanskrit beginners, I added grammatical notes for beginners
on all verbs of the athematic classes (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9) and on all perfect and aorist verb forms,
since these difficult conjugations are taught only in the final lessons of Sanskrit textbooks.

A special problem are Hebrew proper names resulting in strange consonantal declensions.
For instance, in Sanskrit, there is no noun, let alone a feminine noun, of the consonantal
declension ending in "m". Therefore, the Sanskritized Hebrew name "mariyam, f. = Maria"
with the accusative case "mariyamam" (see below page 7, verse 1-20) looks very strange.
For this reason, all Sanskritized Biblical names have been explained in the vocabulary.
Please also note that in case of these proper names, sandhi rules are usually not applied.
For example, the final "d" of dyd (David) remains "d" before surd "t" (e.g. dyd tam...).

Should there be interest, I will prepare further Matthew chapters for beginners of Sanskrit.


Ulrich Stiehl, Heidelberg, May 2008

Bible in Sanskrit page 2 www.sanskritweb.net

Bible in Sanskrit page 3 www.sanskritweb.net

Bible in Sanskrit page 4 www.sanskritweb.net
Gospel of Matthew Chapter One

Sanskrit - Transliteration - Vocabulary - Translation


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1-1 ibrhma santno dyd | tasya santno yu-khras_tasya prva-purua-vaa-re
1-1 ibrhm, m. = Abraham; dyd, m. = David; yu, m. = Jesus; khra = Christ
1-1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
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1-2 ibrhma putra imhk | tasya putro ykb | tasya putro yihds_tasya bhrtara_ca
1-2 imhk, m. = Isaac; ykb, m. = Jacob; yihds, m. = Judas
1-2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
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1-3 tasmd_yihdtas_tmaro garbhe peras_serahau jajte | tasya perasa putro hiro |
tasya putro 'rm
1-3 tmar, f. = Thamar; peras, m. = Phares; seraha = Zara; jan, jyate, 4. = to be born
(jajte, Perf. Du.); hiro = Esrom; arm, m. = Aram
1-3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat
Aram;
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1-4 tasya putro 'mmndab | tasya putro nahaon | tasya putra salmon
1-4 ammndab, m. Aminadab; nahaon, m. = Naason; salmon, m. = Salmon
1-4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
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1-5 tasmd_rhabo garbhe boyas jaje | tasmd_rto garbhe obed jaje | tasya putro yiaya
1-5 rhab, f. = Rachab; boyas, m. = Boos; jan, jyate, 4. = to be born (jaje, Perf. Sg.); rt, f. =
Ruth; obed, m. = Obed; yiaya = Jesse
1-5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
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1-6 tasya putro dyd-rja | tasmd_mtoriyasya jyy sulemn jaje
1-6 uriya = Urias; sulemn, m. = Solomon
1-6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been
the wife of Urias;
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1-7 tasya putro rihabiym | tasya putro 'biya | tasya putra s
1-7 rihabiym, m. = Roboam; abiya = Abia; ss, m. = Asa
1-7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
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1-8 tasya suto yihopha | tasya suto yihorm | tasya suta uiya
1-8 yihopha = Josaphat; yihorm, m. = Joram; uiya = Ozias
1-8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
Bible in Sanskrit page 5 www.sanskritweb.net
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1-9 tasya suto yotham | tasya suta has_tasya suto hikiya
1-9 yotham, m. = Joatham; has, m. = Achaz; hikiya = Ezekias
1-9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
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1-10 tasya suto minai | tasya suta mon | tasya suto yoiya
1-10 minai, m. = Manasses; mon, m. = Amon; yoiya = Josias
1-10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
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1-11 bbil-nagare pravasant_prvam sa yoiyo yikhaniya tasya bhrt_ca janaym_sa
1-11 bbil, f. = Babylon; yikhaniya = Jechonias; jan, jyate, 4. = to be born (janaym_sa,
Kaus. Perf.)
1-11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to
Babylon:
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1-12 tato bbili pravasana-kle yikhaniya altyela janaym_sa | tasya suta sirubbbil
1-12 altyela = Salathiel; sirubbbil, m. = Zorobabel
1-12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat
Zorobabel;
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1-13 tasya suto 'bhd | tasya suta ilykm | tasya suto 'sor
1-13 abhd, m. = Abiud; ilykm, m. = Eliakim; asor, m. = Azor
1-13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
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1-14 asora suta sdok | tasya suta khm | tasya suta ilhd
1-14 sdok, m. = Sadoc; khm, m. = Achim; ilhd, m. = Eliud
1-14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
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1-15 tasya suta iliysar | tasya suto mattan | tasya suto ykb
1-15 iliysar, m. = Eleazar; mattan, m. = Matthan;
1-15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
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1-16 tasya suto yaph | tasya jy mariyam | tasy garbhe yur_ajani | tam_eva khram
arthd_abhiikta vadanti
1-16 yaph, m. = Joseph; mariyam, f. = Mary; jan, jyate, 4. = to be born (ajani, Aor. Pass.)
1-16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called
Christ.
Bible in Sanskrit page 6 www.sanskritweb.net

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4ld d7U94l +ld 4ll4l7 9lPl7ld Dl2+4 l7 4ld d7U94l +ld
1-17 ittham_ibrhmo dyda yvat skalyena catur-daa-puru | dyda kld_bbili
pravasana-kla yvat catur-daa-puru bhavanti | bbili pravsa-klt khrasya kla
yvat catur-daa-puru bhavanti
1-17
1-17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David
until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away
into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
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9l Pl 4l 9l5"lPl +dl 4+
1-18 yu-khrasya janma kathyate | mariyam nmik kany yaphe vg-dattst | tad
tayo sagamt prk s kany pavitretman garbhavat babhva
1-18 as, asti, 2. = to be (st, Impf.); bh, bhavati, 1. = to be (babhva, Perf.)
1-18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
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1-19 tatra tasy patir_yaph saujanyt tasy kalaka prakayitum_anicchan
gopanena t parityaktu mana_cakre
1-19 k, manas karoti, 8. = to think (cakre, Perf. Atm.)
1-19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick
example, was minded to put her away privily.
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449 ll l4l Pl4PPl7ld Pl +4l 4d+d+4l + 9l5l7lPl 5+d
1-20 sa tathaiva bhvayati | tadn paramevarasya dta svapne ta darana dattv
vyjahra | he dyda santna yaph | tva nij jy mariyamam_dtu m bhai |
yatas_tasy garbhe pavitrd_tmano 'bhavat
1-20 h, vy--harati, 1. = to say (vyjahra, Perf.); bh, bibheti, 3. = to fear (m bhai, Aor.)
1-20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him
in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
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1-21 s ca putra prasaviyate | tad tva tasya nma yum_artht trtra kariyase |
yasmt sa nija-manujn te kaluebhya uddhariyati
1-21
1-21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save
his people from their sins.
Bible in Sanskrit page 7 www.sanskritweb.net

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1-22 ittha sati | iti yad_vacana prva bhaviyad_vaktr | vara kathaymsa |
tat_tadn siddham_abhavat
1-22 kath, kathayati, 10. = to tell (kathaym_sa, Perf.)
1-22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying,
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1-23 paya garbhavat kany tanaya prasaviyate | immnyel tadya ca nma-dheya
bhaviyati | immnyel_asmka sagvara ity_artha
1-23 immnyel, m. = Emmanuel
1-23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
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1-24 anantara yaph nidrto jgarita utthya paramevarya-dtasya nidenusrea
nij jy jagrha
1-24 grah, ghti, 9. = to take (jagrha, Perf.)
1-24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and
took unto him his wife:
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1-25 kitu yvat s nija prathama-suta na suuve tvat t nopgacchat | tata sutasya
nma yu cakre
1-25 s, sute, 2. = to give birth (suuve, Perf.); k, nma karoti, 8. = to name (cakre, Perf.)
1-25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name
JESUS.



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