Learn to Read IAST
in Five Minutes
A simple crash course for beginners on reading Sanskrit written with Roman letters.
IAST is a way of writing Sanskrit with English letters.
At first, words such as Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Śrī, and Viṣṇu may look difficult. But most letters are pronounced just as you would expect. The marks above or below certain letters simply tell you how to read them.
You don't need perfect pronunciation to begin. Learn these few rules, read slowly, and improve naturally through listening and practice.
Most Letters Are the Same as English
Most IAST letters are familiar:
- k as in king
- g as in go
- p as in pen
- b as in boy
- m as in mother
- y as in yes
- v as in victory
- l as in love
- h as in home
Some letters have an extra line or dot:
- ā, ī, ū
- ṛ
- ṭ, ḍ
- ṇ, ñ, ṅ
- ś, ṣ
- ṃ, ḥ
The Vowels
Short and long vowels
Sounds like the u in umbrella.
- naन
- maम
- namaḥनमः
Sounds like the a in father. Hold it longer.
- Rāmaराम
- Nārāyaṇaनारायण
- bhagavānभगवान्
Sounds like the i in sit.
- hariहरि
- viṣṇuविष्णु
Sounds like ee in see.
- Śrīश्री
- devīदेवी
- Lakṣmīलक्ष्मी
Sounds like the u in put.
- guruगुरु
- mukundaमुकुन्द
Sounds like oo in food.
- bhūmiभूमि
- pūrṇaपूर्ण
Sounds like ay in say.
- devaदेव
- vedāntaवेदान्त
A combination of 'a + i'. Sounds like eye.
- vaiṣṇavaवैष्णव
- caitanyaचैतन्य
Sounds like the o in go.
- govindaगोविन्द
- yogaयोग
Sounds like ow in cow.
- gauraगौर
- kauśalaकौशल
For quick reading, pronounce ṛ — ऋ like a short ri.
- Kṛṣṇaकृष्ण
- amṛtaअमृत
- ṛṣiऋषि
Pronounce Every Written a
In Sanskrit, a consonant normally carries the short vowel a — अ unless another vowel is written or the consonant joins another consonant.
- ka — क
- ga — ग
- ta — त
- da — द
- pa — प
- ma — म
The a — अ sounds like the u in umbrella.
Examples
- nama — नम
- kamala — कमल
- Rāmānuja — रामानुज
- bhagavata — भगवत
Don't remove the final a
The written a — अ should be pronounced:
- Rāmaरामnot "Rām"
- yogaयोगnot "yog"
- mantraमन्त्रnot "mantr"
- Kṛṣṇaकृष्णnot "Kṛṣṇ"
Modern Hindi often removes the final a — अ during ordinary speech. Some speakers may also stretch a short a — अ into ā — आ. Neither habit should be carried into careful Sanskrit recitation.
You don't need to become anxious about small mistakes. Just remember to pronounce the vowels that are written. This preserves the rhythm and wording of the Sanskrit.
When Consonants Join
Sometimes two or more consonants appear together without a vowel between them. Read them together.
pra प्र
not "pa-ra"
bra ब्र
not "ba-ra"
tra त्र
not "ta-ra"
śrī श्री
not "shi-ri"
kṣa क्ष
not "ka-sha"
jña ज्ञ
not "ja-nya"
Join the consonants and then pronounce the written vowel.
The Special Consonants
A few consonants need a small extra note before you can read them with confidence.
cच
The letter c — च sounds like ch in chapter.
- caraṇa — चरण
- candra — चन्द्र
- ācārya — आचार्य
- jaya — जय
- Rāmānuja — रामानुज
sस,śश,ṣष
s — स sounds like the s in sum. Whenever you see a mark above or below s, pronounce it like sh in shut.
When you see s, pronounce it as you already know.
Whenever you see anything on top or bottom of the s — like ś or ṣ — pronounce it as sh.
Plain s — sounds like the s in sum
- sītā — सीता
- sevā — सेवा
- sundara — सुन्दर
ś and ṣ — sound like sh in shut
- śrī — श्री → "shree"
- śaraṇa — शरण → "sharana"
- viṣṇu — विष्णु → "vishnu"
- Kṛṣṇa — कृष्ण → "Krishna"
For extra-curious readers: ś — श and ṣ — ष are technically separate Sanskrit sounds. For now you can safely pronounce both as sh.
tत,dद and ṭट,ḍड
When you see t or d, pronounce them as you already know.
When a dot appears underneath — ṭ or ḍ — pronounce them as the t and d heard in the English word 'dot'.
Soft sounds — t and d
- t — त sounds closest to the 'th' in eighth or tenth.
- d — द sounds closest to the 'th' in 'this' or 'that'.
Hard sounds — ṭ and ḍ (the "dot" trick)
- ḍ — ड sounds closest to the 'd' in 'dot', 'drum' or 'drain'.
- ṭ — ट sounds closest to the 't' in 'dot', 'but' or 'let'.
nन,ṇण,ñञ,ṅङ
Pronounce n — न, ṇ — ण, ñ — ञ, ṅ — ङ all as a normal n sound.
If you're a native Indian language speaker, pronounce ṇ — ण as the familiar ण sound, it's like pronouncing 'ḍa' but with the n sound.
- Nārāyaṇa — नारायण
- Kṛṣṇa — कृष्ण
- pañca — पञ्च
- aṅga — अङ्ग
Special note for Indian readers
Please pronounce ṇ — ण as the familiar ण sound. The tongue is placed in the same position as for ṭa or ḍa in Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, pūrṇa.
jñज्ञ
For quick reading, jñ — ज्ञ may be pronounced approximately as gy.
- jñāna — ज्ञान → "gyāna"
- vijñāna — विज्ञान → "vigyāna"
- prajñā — प्रज्ञा → "pragyā"
Special note for Hindi readers
Read jñ — ज्ञ just as you would normally read ज्ञ in words such as ज्ञान and विज्ञान.
The spelling jñ is used because the Sanskrit combination is formed from j + ñ — ज् + ञ.
Letters Followed by h
When a consonant is followed by h, release it with a little extra air.
- k → kh
- g → gh
- c → ch
- j → jh
- t → th
- d → dh
- ṭ → ṭh
- ḍ → ḍh
- p → ph
- b → bh
Examples in words
- bhakti — भक्ति
- bhagavān — भगवान्
- dharma — धर्म
- kathā — कथा
- phala — फल
- śaṅkha — शङ्ख
th — थ is an airy t, not the English sound in thin. ph — फ is an airy p, not an English f. bh — भ is an airy b.
Dotted m — ṃ — ं
For this beginner guide, read both m — म and ṃ — ं like m.
- oṃ — ॐ → "om"
- ahaṃ — अहं → "aham"
- saṃsāra — संसार → "samsāra"
- śaraṇaṃ — शरणं → "sharanam"
Two Dots 'ः' aka ḥ
The letter ḥ — ः is read like a soft h at the end.
- namaḥ — नमः → "namah"
- Rāmaḥ — रामः → "Rāmah"
- Hariḥ — हरिः → "Harih"
- guruḥ — गुरुः → "guruh"
That simple rule is enough to begin reading.
The Fastest Way to Read a Word
Don't try to understand the entire word at once. Look at it in small groups of three or four letters.
Break it visually
Nārā|yaṇa
Read by sound
Nā – rā – ya – ṇa
Break it visually
Rāmā|nuja
Read by sound
Rā – mā – nu – ja
Break it visually
bhaga|vān
Read by sound
bha – ga – vān
Break it visually
prapa|dye
Read by sound
pra – pa – dye
Break it visually
Lakṣ|mī
Read by sound
Lakṣ – mī
Five-Minute Cheat Sheet
A quick reference you can come back to while reading.
Vowels
- aअu in umbrella
- āआa in father
- iइi in sit
- īईee in see
- uउu in put
- ūऊoo in food
- eएay in say
- aiऐeye
- oओo in go
- auऔcombination of "a + i", "ow" in cow
- ṛऋshort "ri"
Special letters
- cचch in chapter
- sसs in sum
- ś, ṣश, षsh in shut
- t, dत, दt like the 'th' in eighth, d like the 'th' in 'this'
- ṭ, ḍट, डt and d, as in 'dot' or 'date'
- n, ṇ, ñ, ṅन, ण, ञ, ङread as n for now
- jñज्ञread as 'gy' as in 'gyāna' or 'jy' as in 'jyāna'
- ṃंread as m for now
- ḥःsoft h
- <consonant> + h<consonant> + हadd a puff of air, like 'k' + 'ha' = 'kha'
The four main rules
- A line over a vowel makes it longer.
- Pronounce every written a — अ.
- Don't add vowels between joined consonants.
- Read long words in groups of three or four letters.
Practice
Try reading these words on your own.
Śrī
श्री
Rāma
राम
Kṛṣṇa
कृष्ण
Govinda
गोविन्द
Nārāyaṇa
नारायण
Viṣṇu
विष्णु
Lakṣmī
लक्ष्मी
bhagavān
भगवान्
ācārya
आचार्य
bhakti
भक्ति
jñāna
ज्ञान
namaḥ
नमः
śaraṇaṃ
शरणं
Rāmānuja
रामानुज
prapadye
प्रपद्ये
Gītā slokas to try
Read three verses from the Bhagavad-gītā
Take each line slowly, sound by sound. Use the same four rules from the cheat sheet.
Gītā 2.47
IAST
karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi
Devanagari
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर् मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि
Gītā 15.17
IAST
uttamaḥ puruṣas tv anyaḥ paramātmety udāhṛtaḥ yo lokatrayam āviśya bibharty avyaya īśvaraḥ
Devanagari
उत्तमः पुरुषस्त्वन्यः परमात्मेत्युदाहृतः यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः
Gītā 18.65
IAST
man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ mad-yājī māṃ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṃ mat-parāyaṇaḥ
Devanagari
मन्मनाभव मद्भक्तः मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवम् आत्मानं मत्परायणः
Begin by reading slowly.
Pronounce every written vowel, and divide longer words into small groups. Listening to a good reciter will make the sounds feel natural very quickly.
