[Advaita-l] Learning Sanskrit

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 8 Jun 2007, prem d p wrote:

> namaste...
>
>  dear sri vidyasankarji and other list members,
>
>  i would like to request you to kindly suggest the best way forward for
>  a self-study of sanskrit. the purpose is primarily to be able to read
>  our scriptures in general and shankara in particular, in original.
>
>  i have practically no knowledge of the language but has a rather
>  good familiarity with the vocabulary from my mother tongue and also
>  quite at home with devanagari.
>
>  i have recently actually embarked on this self-study using the CBSE
>  sanskrit textbooks and guides starting from Class V and working
>  my way slowly up. Is this the best way?
>

That's certainly one way to do it.  However I think it is better to pick 
one work and translate it word by word with a dictionary and grammar at 
your side.  The Bhagavadgita or Hitopadesha are two good choices as the 
Sanskrit is fairly simple yet the subject matter is interesting.  I think 
this makes the inevitable memorization of vocabulary and syntax more fun 
and thus more likely to stick in the mind than the random passages and 
exercises found in the textbooks.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>