7-bit Sanskrit text for conversion, with comment on encoding

[Michael Everson]

Jamie Hubbard has agreed to try to translate the following text into
8-bit CSX, set it in WordPerfect, and send it to me to see what
text changes are performed by conversion to Mac format. As I was
typing in some text I noticed that the 7-bit encoding generally
used seems very cumbersome, so I'm forwarding the text here with
comment.
 
Michael Everson
==========
o;m -apy-ayantu mam-a;ng-ani v-akpr-a.nak/sca/sru.h /srotramatho
balamindriy-a.ni ca sarv-a.ni sarva;m brahmaupani.sada;m m-aha;m
brahma nir-akurya;m m-a m-a brahma
nir-akarodanir-akara.namastvanir-akara.na;m me'stu tad-atmani
nirate ya upani.satsu dharmaste mayi santu te mayi sante! o;m
/s-anti.h /s-anti.h /s-anti.h! (Ch-andogyopani.sad 0.1)
 
Omityetadak.saramudg-ithamup-as-ita! omiti hyudg-ayati
tasyopavy-akhy-anam!! 1 !! e.s-a;m bh-ut-an-a;m p.rthiv-i rasa.h
p.rthivy-a -apo rasa.h! ap-amo.sadhayo rasa o.sadh-in-a;m puru.so
rasa.h puru.sasya v-agraso v-aca .rgrasa .rca.h s-ama rasa.h
s-amna udg-itho rasa.h!! 2 !! sa e.sa ras-an-a.m rasatam-a param-a
par-ardhyo'.s.tamo yadudg-itha.h!! 3 !!
(Ch-andogyopani.sad 1.1.1-3)
 
yatra n-anyatpa/syati n-anycch.r.noti n-anyadvij-an-ati sa
bh-um-atha yatr-anyatpa/syatyanyacch.r.notyanyadvij-an-ati
tadalpa;m yo vai bh-um-a tadam.rtamatha yadalpa;m tanyartya;m sa
bhagava.h kasminprati.s.tita iti sve mahimni yadi v-a na
mahimn-iti! (Ch-andyogopani.sad 7.24.1)
 
(a -a i -i u -u) (.r -r .l -l) (e ai o au) (.m .h ') (ka kha ga
gha ;na) (ca cha ja jha ?na) (.ta .tha .da .dha .na) (ta tha da
dha na) (pa pha ba bha ma) (ya ra la va) (/sa .sa sa ha)
 
By the way, and I know the standard has been long set, but it
really is a pain typing this way. The whole syllabary can be
written unambiguously in 7-bit with only three characters: /
(slash), + (plus), and * (asterisk). I write / as the "default
diacritic" except for long vocalic r+, long vocalic l+, velar n*,
and palatal n+, and palatal s+, which too I write as simply as
possible. The advantage of this system is that characters commonly
used for punctuation . (stop), ; (semicolon), - (hyphen), ?
(question mark) are not used as diacritics. It's also faster to
type, and unambiguous for conversion to 8-bit for typesetting.
The argument about typewriters:
 
   <diacritical.marks>:
   Punctuation marks are used to code diacritics. All diacritics
   are typed in front of the letter to which they belong. This
   imitates the traditional "layout" of typewriters where accents
   etc. are placed on dead keys and need to be typed before the
   character is typed.
 
isn't very relevant these days in my opinion as it refers to unput
rather than encoding in the text stream. And while TeX requires
that the diacritic precedes its character, Unicode/ISO10646
stipulates that diacritics MUST follow their characters. Encoding
7-bit with the diacritics following will permit easier text
transfer to 16-bit standards when they become available.
 
This is just food for thought. An example of the texts above in
the 3-mark encoding is given below.
 
om/ a/pya/yantu mama/n*ga/ni va/kpra/n/aks+cas+ruh/ s+rotramatho
balamindriya/n/i ca sarva/n/i sarvam/ brahmaupanis/adam/ ma/ham/
brahma nira/kuryam/ ma/ ma/ brahma
nira/karodanira/karan/amastvanira/karan/am/ me'stu tada/tmani
nirate ya upanis/atsu dharmaste mayi santu te mayi sante! om/
s+a/ntih/ s+a/ntih/ s+a/ntih/! (Cha/ndogyopani/sad 0.1)
 
Omityetadaks/aramudgi/thamupa/si/ta! omiti hyudga/yati
tasyopavya/khya/nam!! 1 !! es/a/m/ bhu/ta/na/m/ pr/thivi/ rasah/
pr/thivya/ a/po rasah/! apa/mos/adhayo rasa os/adhi/na/m/ purus/o
rasah/ purus/asya va/graso va/ca r/grasa r/cah/ sa/ma rasah/
sa/mna udgi/tho rasah/!! 2 !! sa es/a rasa/na/m/ rasatama/ para,a/
para/rdhyo's/t/amo yadudgi/thah/!! 3 !!
(Cha/ndogyopanis/ad 1.1.1-3)
 
yatra na/nyatpas+yati na/nycchr/n/oti na/nyadvija/na/ti sa
bhu/ma/tha yatra/nyatpas+yatyanyacchr/n/otyanyadvija/na/ti
tadalpam/ yo vai bhu/ma/ tadamr/tamatha yadalpam/ tanyartyam/ sa
bhagavah/ kasminpratis/t/ita iti sve mahimni yadi va/ na
mahimni/ti! (Cha/ndyogopanis/ad 7.24.1)
 
(a a/ i i/ u u/) (r/ r+ l/ l+) (e ai o au) (m/ h/ ') (ka kha ga
gha n*a) (ca cha ja jha n+a) (t/a t/ha d/a d/ha n/a) (ta tha da
dha na) (pa pha ba bha ma) (ya ra la va) (s+a s/a sa ha)
==========
 
Michael Everson
School of Architecture, UCD; Richview, Clonskeagh; Dublin 14; E/ire
Phone: +353 1 706-2745  Fax: +353 1 283-8908  Home: +353 1 478-2597