Learn Sanskrit Through Correspondence
Posted March 27, 2009
Sanskrit Introductory Course
Sanskrit is a member of the Indo-European family of languages and of the Indo-Iranian branch of languages in particular. It shows many similarities in both grammar and vocabulary to ancient Greek and Latin, the classical languages of Europe. Sanskrit functioned for more than two thousand years as the basic vehicle of classical Indian literature. Knowledge of Sanskrit provides the key to a first-hand understanding of classical religion and philosophy of India. Sanskrit is also an important language for the study of "Vedic Sanatan Dharma" generally known as 'Hinduism', which includes various schools of philosophy, and it is indispensable for the student of comparative philosophy. The study of Classical Sanskrit provides a useful foundation for the study of Bhagavad-Gita, the great historical epics such as; Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Puranas and Upanishads. It is also helpful for some of the related languages such as Pali and of languages that have borrowed from Sanskrit such as Classical Tibetan.
This course offers a good introduction to the Sanskrit language, including the Devanagari alphabet, some basic grammar, and advice on how to use a Sanskrit dictionary. The whole course is about 150 pages long and I have divided it into fifteen lessons.
The aim of this course is to acquaint the student with the Devanagari script, which is most commonly used for printing texts in Sanskrit; the method of transliteration into Roman script; the most common vocabulary and the important grammatical features of the classical language as a preparation for reading.
Ram Swarup Shastri
P O Box 2024
Alachua, FL 32616
swarupji@vedicpurohit.com