Zoo Station

I am reading the Vishnu Sahasranaamam after a while, and one thing that strikes me is the sheer length of some of the words. The first few verses after Dhhyaanam are a case in point. Here they are in Harvard-Kyoto.

kzIrodanvatpradeze zuchimanivilasatsaikatemauktikAnAm
mAlAklRptAsanasthaH sphaTikamaNinibhairmautikairmanDitAngaH
zubhrairabhrairadabhrairuparivirachitairmuktapIyUSa varSaih
AnandI naH punIyAdarinalinagadA SaGkhapANirmukundaH.

Long words, eh? It is one of the first things that Americans notice about Indian names, although this is really a problem mostly only with certain South Indian Hindu names. In the above verses, I have followed the same word-splitting as the one followed at Bhaarat.com's site I had referenced earlier. But since these are compound words, you can split them up into the constituent words as well. M.S. Subbulakshmi, in her rendition, also tends to reel off the compound words as single entities. You've gotta hear her go 'zubhrairabhrairadabhrairupari...". Without pausing for breath.

In trying to read the Sankrit version, I am now facing a problem similar to the one Americans face with Indian names in English. The words are just so humongous. It is hard to split up the words into smaller, more readable units. The trick is to identify the appropriate substrings. Here is a version of the same verses by S.G. Srinivasan from Ramanuja.org. This version splits up the verses into smaller chunks.

kshIrodanvat-pradese suchi-mani-vilasat-saikate mautikAnAm
mAlA-kliptA-sanasthaH sphtika-mani-nibhaiH mautikaiH manditAngaH
Subhrair-abhrair-adabhraiH upari virachitaiH mukta-pIyUsha-varshaih
AnandI naH punIyAdari-nalina-gadA-Sankha-pAniH mukundaH.

Ah, much more readable. Srinivasan's post also translates the verses. Which is really cool. Or maybe not. That takes away one of my last remaining reasons for not chanting.

Back to pronouncing long Indian words. There are only a few common substrings for the "80% case", and knowing these substrings definitely helps. Practice also helps. The art of pronouncing compound words definitely seems like something you can forget once you're out of touch, as I realized when reading the verses in Sanskrit. I remind myself of random telemarketers trying to reach 'Mr. Maaaneeekooo-you-know-who-I-mean'. Having a long name is the best revenge.