संस्कृते विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

This paper by Shashi Kiran B N and Hari Ravikumar was presented at the international conference New Frontiers in Sanskrit and Indic Knowledge in June 2017 organized by the Chinmaya International Foundation.

Abstract

Sanskrit, one of the greatest gifts of India to the world, is unique in many ways. The Pāṇinian system of grammar, logical in its structure and exhaustive in its delineation, gave the language great strength in terms of word-generation ability, brevity, and freedom from ambiguity.

The pedagogy of language learning that is widespread today cannot be applied as is for Sanskrit education. Individuals (Sri Satchidanandendra Sarasvati, R G Bhandarkar, A A MacDonell, D N Shanbhag, Michael Coulson, etc.) and organizations (Samskrita Bharati, Benaras Hindu University, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Sura Saraswathi Sabha, Karnataka State Open University, etc.) who have worked towards teaching Sanskrit in the modern world have evolved their own methodologies, some of which work while some other do not. The present study draws from the best of the existing literature and posits that a kāvya-centric approach to learning is far superior to other approaches found in the surveyed pedagogies, both Eastern and Western.

The method of learning proposed in this paper stems from the traditional pedagogy but uses technology to optimize the process of self-study. An additional feature of the proposed method is that it takes into account different kinds of learners, categorizing them into four groups, viz.,

(i) the newcomer, who has never encountered the language,
(ii) a person who is familiar with the Indian ethos but is unfamiliar with literature in regional languages,
(iii) a person who is familiar with both the cultural heritage of India and the traditional literature in at least one Indian language, and
(iv) a person who has formerly studied the language, either formally or otherwise, and wishes to reconnect with it.

The authors have identified eight learning tools which will be appropriately tailored to suit the needs of the different learner groups. The existing framework comes with the possibility of individual students customizing the module to match their tastes and efficiency. The learning tools are eight in number and are enlisted as follows:

Exposure to classical Indian arts and culture,
Listening to various samples of Sanskrit verse and reciting the same,
Learning the orthography—typically the devanāgarī script—and practising writing,
Active engagement with Sanskrit literature in the form of stories, poems, and plays,
Familiarity with vyākaraṇam (grammar) and koṣaḥ (lexica)
Undergoing the traditional training in eight steps –
- vadanam (recitation of a verse by the guru, typically once)
- anuvadanam (repetition of the same verse by the student, typically twice)
- padacchedaḥ (word division)
- ākāṅkṣā (contextual questioning to aid understanding)
- anvayaḥ (rearranging the word order)
- vyākaraṇaviśeṣāḥ (grammatical rules and nuances)
- anye viśeṣāḥ (other nuances with regard to prosody, figures of speech, etc.)
- bhāvārthaḥ (overall import),
Playing an assortment of games to enrich the learning, and
Doing graded exercises to reinforce the learning.

Learners who employ the aforementioned language learning methodology will be able to actively use Sanskrit, be it for conversation, composing metrical poetry, or writing prose passages apart from reading and understanding the classics of Sanskrit literature that include the works of great poets like Vyāsa, Vālmīki, Kālidāsa, and Guṇāḍhya. This will doubtless be of great personal value to the students as it will connect them to the sublime thoughts of the world’s oldest civilization.

Introduction

Hailed as the language of the gods, Sanskrit is enmeshed with Indian heritage. Any attempt to separate it from the Indian cultural milieu will be the undoing of the entire fabric of this ancient civilization. For millennia, Sanskrit was the lingua franca of the Indian people as well as the language of kāvya (poetry) and śāstra (knowledge, science).

The very word ‘saṃskṛtam’—the Sanskrit word for Sanskrit—means ‘put together well’ or ‘highly refined.’ The development and refinement of the language must have taken place for hundreds of years, if not thousands, before it could even take the beautiful form that we see in the oldest available work in Sanskrit—and the oldest known treatise in the world—the Ṛgveda Saṃhitā.

The Sanskrit Language

The ancient Hindus tirelessly worked on every linguistic aspect of Sanskrit, making it robust and flexible. Here is a brief overview of the strengths of Sanskrit:

Phonetics: Sanskrit has a well-structured alphabet scheme, organized according to the production of the various sounds by the human voice. The sound production is based on four criteria – a. Sthāna (place of vocal origin),
- b. Prayatna (effort required to produce the sound),
- c. Kāla (duration of the sound produced), and
- d. Karaṇa (method of articulation).
Vocabulary: Sanskrit has an inbuilt etymological structure by which words are formed from dhātu (root words). The upasargas (prefixes; twenty-two in number) and pratyayas (affixes and suffixes; e.g. kṛt, taddhita, sannanta) give variety to the language and also help in word generation. A new word that is generated can be understood by a reader who hasn’t encountered it before but has a basic understanding of the language. This word-generation power gives Sanskrit an enormous vocabulary, with the highest possibility of creating synonyms and antonyms.
Euphonic combinations: Words (and syllables) are joined together by means of euphonic combinations known as ‘sandhi,’ thus enabling a natural pronunciation of words.
Grammar: Sanskrit has a perfect, almost water-tight system of Grammar developed by the grammarian Pāṇini (c. 7th century BCE).
Inflection: Sanskrit is a highly inflected language, with eight cases of noun inflection along with varied inflections in singular, dual, and plural forms for verbs and other substantives. This provides room for infinite variations of word order, thus making the language extremely flexible.
Word compounding: The strength of inflection is further increased by the compounding of words—known as ‘samāsa’—which lends brevity to the language. This is an easier alternative to clausal constructions. Furthermore, the compounding of words facilitates dhvani (suggestive expression) – for instance, the Tatpuruṣa-samāsa can be understood in seven cases depend on the context.

With such a sophisticated and structured grammar, poetry became the natural means of expression. These strengths of Sanskrit have a direct bearing on prosody and poetry. This also gave rise to a great deal of exploration; for example, the art of citrakāvya is unthinkable in a non-Sanskritic language.

In spite of this, historically only a small percentage of Sanskrit scholars focused on poetry alone. Traditional wisdom opined that learning Sanskrit was a means to entry into the study of a śāstra.

The Difficulty of Sanskrit Studies

The problem with Sanskrit education today is manifold. Sanskrit is not a widely-spoken language like, say, English or Hindi, and therefore it becomes difficult to blindly imitate an existing pedagogy for language learning. For instance, the rather popular ‘immersion approach’ might not be effective because Sanskrit speakers aren’t found everywhere.+++(4)+++ On the other hand, Sanskrit is a living language, and it will be limiting to employ a pedagogy used for learning dead languages like Latin or Aramaic.

A section of Sanskrit learners regard the language as an artefact of pride and they have blind faith that somehow a knowledge of Sanskrit can improve their knowledge of science, particularly in the area of computing and natural language processing. There is no substantial reason to believe so. Further, many of the knowledge systems of ancient India—all recorded in Sanskrit—have developed and progressed in varied degrees of sophistication over time and in the modern context they don’t need the crutch of Sanskrit. There are also many such knowledge systems that have become outdated.

The result of these misguided notions is simply that the aesthetic employability of Sanskrit is largely ignored. The attempt of this paper will be to showcase the primary strength of Sanskrit in the context of the 21st century – its aesthetic and linguistic beauty. Needless to say, this aspect of Sanskrit has timeless appeal.

Overview of Sanskrit Pedagogy

The available pedagogy in Sanskrit education may be broadly classified into:

a) Traditional gurukula method,
b) Modern classroom method, and
c) Self-study method.

The present work concentrates solely on the third method since the aim of the paper is to prescribe a new self-study approach to learn the language, drawing from the best of traditional wisdom and modern techniques.

Pedagogues in the past who have designed Sanskrit learning material have typically approached it in four ways:

Writing Sanskrit Primers

Perhaps the finest example in this category is the set of books authored in Kannada by Sri Satchidanandendra Saraswati Swamiji (Yellambalase Subbaraya Sharma in his pūrvāśrama). A few other noteworthy works include the ones by Shripad Damodar Satwalekar (in Hindi), Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (in multiple languages), The Aurobindo Ashram (in English), Motilal Banarsidass (in English), Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan (in Hindi and English), Sri Surasaraswathi Sabha (in Kannada and English), R S Vadhyar and Sons (in Malayalam and English), V S Apte (in English), R G Bhandarkar (in English), and Gary Tubb (in English).

Writing Grammar Guides

Since the 19th century, several grammar guides have been written, starting from A A MacDonell. Excellent grammar guides have been published by Samskrita Bharati (in multiple languages). The works of scholars like Pushpa Dikshita (in Hindi and Sanskrit), D N Shanbhag (in Kannada), Chakravarthy Anantachar (in English), P K Duraiswami Iyengar (in English), and M R Kale (in English) are noteworthy.

Preparing Conversational Sanskrit Texts

The efforts of Samskrita Bharati in this field are unparalleled. Apart from conducting conversation camps, they have produced several handbooks for easy learning of spoken Sanskrit.

Preparing Sanskrit Readers

Scholars like A A MacDonell and Charles Lanman as well as the Sahitya Akademi—under the editorship of scholars like V S Agrawala, V Raghavan, K Krishnamoorthy, and Pullela Sriramachandrudu—have composed anthologies of Sanskrit literature spanning five millennia.

This list is by no means exhaustive. Several scholars and organizations have produced Sanskrit learning material in various Indian languages as well as foreign languages such as German, French, Russian, etc.

Need for updating

Due to the scientific structuring of the subject matter, many of these self-study books have made Sanskrit accessible to students from around the world. However, most of them singularly lack emphasis on the poetic aspect of Sanskrit.

Some of these works are graded according to the level of one’s learning but none of the existing methods take into account the variety of learners. Further, since a sizeable number of these works were composed before computers and the internet became ubiquitous, they do not consider the latest technological tools available for language learning.

With a view to bridge this gap, the present work takes a kāvya-centric approach. On the one hand, it uses a framework of learner profiles and on the other hand, it draws from various technological tools available today. The philosophy of this approach is simply that in the modern context, Sanskrit is best valued for its own sake rather than as a medium for other gains.

Eight Learning Tools

The authors have identified eight learning tools that can be tailored to suit the needs of different learner groups, as will be shown in the following section of the paper. This framework comes with the possibility of individual students customizing the module to match their tastes and efficiency. The learning tools are enlisted below:

Exposure to classical Indian arts and culture.
Listening to various samples of Sanskrit verse and reciting them.
Learning the Sanskrit Alphabet – learning the pronunciation and then the orthography (typically the devanāgarī script).
Familiarity with koṣa (Lexica) and vyākaraṇa (Grammar).
Undergoing the Traditional Training in eight steps –
- vadanam (recitation of a verse by the guru, typically once)
- anuvadanam (repetition of the same verse by the student, typically twice)
- padacchedaḥ (word division)
- ākāṅkṣā (contextual questioning to aid understanding)
- anvayaḥ (rearranging the word order)
- vyākaraṇaviśeṣāḥ (grammatical rules and nuances)
- anye viśeṣāḥ (other nuances with regard to prosody, figures of speech, etc.)
- bhāvārthaḥ (overall import),
Active engagement with Sanskrit Literature in the form of stories, poems, and plays.
Playing an assortment of games to enrich the learning.
Doing graded exercises to reinforce the learning.

In the structuring and implementation of each of these learning tools, technology will play a vital role. Various resources—both online and offline—provide great audio-visual learning material for the learners. Computer games specially designed for education offer a great model for further development in the domain of Sanskrit learning.[1]

[1] Resources like YouTube have enormous audiovisual content, which can be employed in the service of Sanskrit learning. Audiobooks and animations are particularly valuable to ensure that the learning doesn’t become arduous. Softwares that recognize sandhis and poetic meters, e-books, and online dictionaries help simplify the learning process.

Tool #1. Exposure to Arts and Culture

Just like a child is first exposed to the arts and culture in his environment, it is valuable for the learner of a language to be exposed to the cultural milieu of the language. One who seeks to learn Sanskrit will greatly benefit from the following activities:

Watching classical dance performances[1] and theatre productions of traditional Indian plays[2]
Listening to classical music[3], specifically those with a focus on the lyrics
Participating in festivals[4] and rituals[5] – be it at the house-level, community-level or the societal level
Visiting temples[6] and other centres of culture, especially as part of a pilgrimage journey[7]
Reading Indian storybooks that have episodes from the Purāṇas and the Itihāsas[8]

The greatest benefit of this process is the sheer enjoyment derived from it. If a learner decides to discontinue even at this stage, it wouldn’t be a waste. The cultural immersion one gets from this process is invaluable. One will be exposed to the treasures of stories from the Indian epics and Purāṇas, which will later have a bearing on learning and writing kāvya. The lyrics (in musical compositions) and dialogues (in plays) will give a feel for the tonality of the sounds of Sanskrit, as will the various mantras recited at the rituals or stotras sung at temples. With this feel for the tonality, learning the pronunciation and phonetics of the language becomes easy.

Tool #2. Listening to the Language

Listening is an integral part of the learning process. The learner can begin by listening intently to Sanskrit compositions and repeating them. The typical process is that the teacher—or in this case, perhaps an audio clip—recites the verse once and the student repeats it twice. The verses chosen for this segment are stotras[9] and subhāṣitas[10] that are free from anvayakleṣa (complicated word order). The reason for choosing such verses—stotras and subhāṣitas—is primarily that they are self-contained and give a complete picture of a typical Sanskrit sentence, i.e. they have all the constituent elements of a sentence, like noun, verb, etc.

The basic group of verses is confined to five poetic meters— anuṣṭup, āryā, upajāti, vasantatilakā, śārdūlavikrīḍita—whose gati (rhythmic pattern) is naturally suited to Sanskrit. Verses composed in these meters are typically free of anvayakleṣa. Later, when the learner attempts composing in meter, he would do well to start with these five.

The next group of verses is chosen in order of metrical length. Starting with the vaṃśastha meter, the learner can move on to longer varieties, in the following order: praharṣiṇī, ruchirā, puṣpitāgra, aupacchandasika, mālinī, pañcacāmara, viyoginī, mandākrantā, śikhariṇī, hariṇī, pṛthvī, sragdharā, aśvadhāṭi, and daṇḍaka.

Listening and repeating classical verses ensures that the gati of the chandas is firmly established in the learner’s mind. This will later help in metrical composition. Doubtless, one will learn the pronunciation of Sanskrit words, but this process also gives the learner an intuitive understanding of sandhi. Further, if the learner is able to commit to memory several of these verses, it will be beneficial in myriad ways.

Tool #3. The Sanskrit Alphabet

It is important to learn the sounds of the individual Sanskrit letters and repeat them before learning the orthography. The pronunciation of the letters in sequence will give an intuitive grasp of the vargīkaraṇa (classification based on the places of origin of sounds) of the Sanskrit alphabet. Once the learner is familiar with the alphabet, this phonetic structure will be explained in detail.[11]

Historically, the Sanskrit language has been written down in multiple Indic scripts but with the advent of printing technology, the devanāgarī script became ubiquitous. However, to this day, Sanskrit texts can be seen printed in the Kannada, Telugu, or Malayalam scripts. In recent times, the IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration) has become popular. In many cases, it might be sufficient to learn IAST but it is beneficial to learn the devanāgarī script since many Sanskrit works are not available in IAST.

After learning the Sanskrit alphabet, both in pronunciation and in the written form (in devanāgarī), the student is introduced to the numbers in Sanskrit.

Tool #4. Vocabulary and Grammar

The traditional method to develop a strong vocabulary is to memorize the Amarakoṣa of Amarasiṃha (c. 4th century CE). Even today, this is a great tool for Sanskrit learners. This ancient thesaurus has been composed entirely in the anuṣṭup meter and is therefore easy to remember. While memorizing will be ideal, one may choose to listen and repeat the verses. By learning the Amarakoṣa, the learner will immediately become familiar with twelve thousand Sanskrit words. A good grasp of synonyms will make composition easier for the learner.[12]

If the learner wishes to have a grasp over the basics of Sanskrit grammar, the following aspects must be studied well: nāmapada (noun forms), kriyāpada (verb forms), sandhi (euphonic combination), samāsa (compounding of words), kāraka (case relationships), upasarga (prefixes), avyaya (indeclinables), pratyaya (affixes and suffixes), and prayoga (voice).[13]

Tool #5. Traditional Training

The ancient saying, ‘Śataślokena paṇḍitaḥ’+++(5)+++ indicates that a student who went through the eight-fold path of traditional training for one hundred verses was considered a pundit. While this might be an exaggeration, this rigorous and time-tested procedure enables the learner to approach any work of classical Sanskrit without any external help.

A good set of hundred to begin with is the ‘Saṅkṣepa Rāmāyaṇa,’ the first hundred verses of the epic Rāmāyaṇa. Having studied these verses in the traditional method, the learner can then select verses from the works of Kālidāsa and Bhartṛhari. Having become familiar with these, the learner can proceed to more complicated works, like those of Māgha, Śrīharṣa, and Nīlakaṇṭhadīkṣita.

Tool #6. Engagement with Literature

The starting point for engagement with literature can be the reading out of plays. In the order of complexity, the learner can read aloud the following works:

Level 1: Karṇabhāra, Svapnavāsavadatta, Ūrubhanga (Bhāsa)
Level 2: Avimāraka (Bhāsa), Mālavikāgnimitra, Abhijñānaśakuntala (Kālidāsa)
Level 3: Mṛcchakaṭika (Śūdraka), Uttararāmacarita (Bhavabhūti), Mudrārākṣasa (Viśākhadatta)

Upon reading out loud the aforesaid plays, the learner will get a sense of dialogue and usages. This will be the foundation upon which the student can mould his conversational skills. Using the materials prepared by Samskrita Bharati, the learner can begin to hold basic conversation in Sanskrit as well as develop a vocabulary of the common, day-to-day objects (in Sanskrit).[14] Care has to be taken that the idiomatic flavour of Sanskrit should not be sacrificed for short-term convenience.[15] It is particularly important that the learner constantly practices speaking in Sanskrit.

The student can explore different formats of Sanskrit literature for a deeper understanding of the language. Needless to say, he can appreciate the language in many more ways.

Stories:

Kathāsaritasāgara (Somadeva)
Pañcatantra (Viṣṇuśarma)
Vetālapañcaviṃśati (Śivadāsa)
Bhojaprabandha (Ballālasena)

Epics:

Rāmāyaṇa (Vālmiki)
Mahābhārata (Vyāsa)

Poems:

Raghuvaṃśa, Kumārasambhava, Meghadūta (Kālidāsa)
Madhurāvijaya (Gaṅgadevi)
Bhallaṭaśataka (Bhallaṭa)
Kirātārjunīya (Bhāravi)

Prose:

Kādambarī, Harṣacarita (Bāṇa)

Campu (a combination of prose and poetry):

Campu Rāmāyaṇa (Bhoja) Nīlakaṇṭhavijayacampu (Nīlakaṇṭhadīkṣita) Viśvaguṇādarśacampu (Veṅkaṭādhvari)

While none of aforementioned lists are exhaustive, the authors are of the opinion that these works will give a basic foundation in Sanskrit with which the interested learners can approach any work of classical Sanskrit literature. However, a mere knowledge of Sanskrit might not be sufficient for reading through a work in a specialized śāstra, just like knowledge of English does not automatically equip a person to read a book on a nuanced subject like, say, Archaeo-genetics.

Tool #7. Games

Games are an excellent way to lighten the learning process and reinforce some of the concepts through innovative means. While several games—particularly with the use of technology—can be devised, we can also draw from some of the ancient pastimes of India[16]. Based upon the pre-requisites for playing the games, they are best categorized according to the aforementioned tools. Here is an illustrative list:

Listening to the Language:

What’s the meter? – Identifying the poetic meter of a given verse.

Pratimālā – Popularly known as antyākṣarī, this memory-based game is played between two people (or teams). Person A recites a verse. Person B recites a verse that begins with the last syllable of the previous verse. This goes on until one of them is unable to recall a verse with the specific syllable.

The Sanskrit Alphabet:

What’s the letter? – Matching the sound with the script.

Word building – Played between two people. Person A gives out a syllable (vowel or consonant). Person B builds on it by adding another syllable, ensuring that there is a possibility of a word. The person who utters a syllable that completes a word is the loser. The objective is to explore the language.

Vocabulary and Grammar:

Synonym builder – Given a word, one has to come up with as many synonyms as possible within sixty seconds.

Flash cards – With a view of strengthening the learning of noun and verb declensions, two-sided cards are used. Using the information on one side of the card, the learner has to figure out what is on the other side. For instance, if one side of the card has “rāmasya” with the note: “Give the liṅga-vibhakti- vacana of the word,” then the other side has “a-kārānta-puṃliṅga-rāma-śabdaḥ ṣaṣṭhīvibhaktiḥ ekavacanam” with a note: “Give the noun declension.”

Traditional Training:

Pictionary – A popular game that involves one person drawing and the other person(s) guessing the word depicted through the picture. Also the word can be used to recall a verse having that word or about that word. This game can be used not only to identify a Sanskrit word but also an entire verse.

Dumb charades – Another popular game that involves one person acting out in mime and the other person(s) guessing the word acted out. Again, the word can be used to recall a verse.

Prahelikā – An ancient game of riddles. Typically by splitting the words differently or taking alternative meanings for a word(s), the riddle is solved.

Engagement with Literature:

Story building – A creative game that involves Person A giving out a sentence.

Person B builds upon it and gives out another sentence. Going ahead in this manner, a story is constructed.

Samasyāpūrṇa – An ancient lateral thinking game that involves the questioner giving a line of a verse—typically the fourth—which is either obscene or meaningless and the contestant composing the other three lines in such a manner as to remove the obscenity and/or render the verse meaningful.

Dattapadi – A traditional game of composing a verse using specific sounds chosen by the questioner. The contestant is given four words—often in a totally different language—and is expected to use those words in the same order, one in each line of the verse. Additional constraints involve specification of poetic meter and theme of the verse. To ensure the linguistic feasibility of such a construction, the questioner himself has to have composed a verse under the exact same constraints.

Tool #8. Exercises

Every Sanskrit pedagogy comes with a set of exercises aimed at evaluating the students’ understanding. Rarely, such exercises are also graded so that the questions get harder as the learner progresses. Exercises are perhaps inevitable to the learning process but we can certainly make them less taxing and burdensome to the learner. Drawing out a detailed set of exercises is beyond the scope of the present work, but a broad outlook to the structuring of exercises is attempted here.

The exercises (and the answers provided by the student) should necessarily be in Sanskrit. These exercises should be graded in terms of difficulty. It is ideal if the questions are fewer in number and are devised in an investigative frame, resembling popular puzzles. These will have to be composed in such a manner that all aspects of the topic at hand are covered. Further, such questions will help improve the reading comprehension of the learner. The questions can be presented in both oral and written formats. Similarly, the learner may choose to answer in either media. Since all this is in Sanskrit, the student begins to think in the language, which is the acme of language learning.

Additionally, translation exercises to and from Sanskrit will benefit the learner in the modern context since there is ample requirement for translations.

Learner Profiles

People who seek to learn Sanskrit typically fall into one of these four groups:

The Neophyte: A newcomer, who has never encountered the language. It is also possible that he knows nothing about the Indian cultural heritage.
The Urbanite: A person who is familiar with the Indian ethos but is unfamiliar with literature in any Indian language.
The Insider: Someone who is familiar with both the cultural heritage of India and the traditional literature in one or more Indian languages.
The Alumnus: A learner who has formerly studied the language, either formally or otherwise, and wishes to reconnect with it.

The learning tools may be employed appropriately for these learner profiles. The first six learning tools are ordered in logical sequence with the previous tool essential for the commencement of the next. The last two—games and exercises—will be a part of every step of learning. These make the learning process more enjoyable and well-grounded.

The Neophyte will have to undergo the training meticulously if he wishes to attain proficiency in the language.

The Urbanite too will have to follow all the steps but given his background, he may be able to go through some sections faster.

The Insider will already have a good exposure to Indian art and culture. He has possibly heard a fair bit of Sanskrit in his environment already. He may have to learn the devanāgarī script but will already be familiar with the alphabet.[17] His knowledge of one or more Indian languages would have already bestowed a fairly strong Sanskrit vocabulary, so he may begin with the rudiments of grammar. He may also choose to directly begin with the traditional training tool and refer to grammar texts as and when needed. With the confidence gained from the training, he can proceed to literature.

The Alumnus, having learnt the language earlier, will perhaps be in a position to chart out his own course of study, using the learning tools the manner in which he finds suitable to his needs. Nothing specific need be prescribed for such a learner.

The first and second groups can follow a ‘familiarity approach,’ which doesn’t expect them to memorize large chunks of words but instead helps them get familiarized gently with the language. The third and fourth groups may perhaps choose a ‘rote approach,’ which is more efficient but expects them to memorize a fair deal and persist in their engagement with the language.

Levels of Proficiency

Based on the learner profiles, having employed the learning tools appropriately, the student is expected to reach a basic level of proficiency in Sanskrit. Depending on the learner’s interest, he may choose to improve his skills in the language and take it to an advanced level. The tools have been designed in such a manner that they easily lend themselves to all levels. Broadly we can identify three levels of proficiency:

Basic: The learner can hold simple conversations in Sanskrit, identify letters, recite five verses each in ten poetic meters, read and understand a basic text like Saṅkṣepa Rāmāyaṇa, and compose a hundred-word essay about oneself or one’s surroundings.
Intermediate: The learner can have lengthy conversations in Sanskrit, recite ten verses each in twenty poetic meters, read and understand classical Sanskrit works like those of Kālidāsa, write a thousand-word essay on a given topic, and compose verses in the anuṣṭup
Advanced: The learner can give a public speech in Sanskrit, recite twenty verses each in twenty poetic meters, read and understand any work of classical Sanskrit, write a long-form essay on a given topic, and compose verses in at least five poetic meters.

Irrespective of the learner profile, the student can choose to reach any one of the three levels of proficiency based on his needs. In order to get his own learning whetted in a formal setting, he may choose to appear for a test at his preferred level of proficiency.

Conclusion

Sanskrit is the oldest language in the world that is still in use today. It helps us connect with the oldest known civilization. Just like Sanātana Dharma, Sanskrit is ancient yet relevant. Sanskrit is the most refined language in the world in terms of its structure, which has remained more-or-less unchanged for twenty five centuries.

A glaring lacuna in all the previous pedagogies of Sanskrit education is their refusal to emphasize the aesthetic aspect of the language over all others. In the modern context, it becomes all the more important that we consider the aesthetic factor as supreme. A failure to do so will amount to losing out on the core strength of the language.

The present work tries to fill this gap by providing an approach with a clear emphasis on the literary value of Sanskrit along with the possibility of great customization while astutely drawing on the existing technologies to make the learning more fun-filled and enriching.

Yadeva vidyayā karoti śraddhayopaniṣadā
tadeva vīryavattaraṃ bhavati… (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 1.1.10)

The authors express their deep gratitude to Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh who has been the sole inspiration to work in this area of Sanskrit education and undertake this study.

Thanks to Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh and Arjun Bharadwaj for their review of the present paper and offering their valuable suggestions for improvement.

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Shanbhag, D. N. Subodha-saṃskṛta-vyākaraṇa. Dharwad: Bharata Prakashana, 2010.

Sharma, N Ranganatha. Amarasiṃhana Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana athavā Amarakoṣa. Mysore: Kavyalaya Publishers, 2014.

Sriramachandrudu, Pullela. Sanskrit Idioms, Phrases, and Suffixational Subtleties. Tirupati: Rashtriya Samskrita Vidyapeetha, 2002.

Footnotes

[1] Notable examples include Padma Subrahmanyam, Kelucharan Mohapatra, Birju Maharaj, and Sundari Santhanam.

[2] For instance, Abhinaya Bharati’s theatre production of Bhāsa’s Svapnavāsavadatta.

[3] Any lyrical composition sung by M S Subbulakshmi, P B Sreenivas, Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, etc.

[4] Festivals like Varamahālakṣmī vrata, Gaṇapati utsava, and Navarātri parva.

[5] Rituals like udakaśānti, rudrābhiṣeka, and navagrahahoma.

[6] Temples that are ornately carved and are richly decorated with sculptures will be particularly valuable for the learner.

[7] Pilgrimage centers like Varanasi, Tirupati, and Vaishnodevi.

[8] Perhaps the finest examples include the Amar Chitra Katha series and the Chandamama magazines of yesteryear.

[9] Selections can be made from well-known stotras like Veṅkateśa-suprabhātam, Bhajagovindam, Viṣṇusahasranāma, Śivānandalahari, Mukundamālā, Gaṇeśa-pañcaratna, Dvādaśastotra, Śāradābhujaṅga, Ādityahṛdaya, Śivakavaca, and Viṣṇukavaca. Apart from this, one can also consider Bhagavad-Gītā verses. In general, the writings of Śaṅkara, Līlāśuka, Mūkakavi, Vedānta Deśika, and Yāmunācārya provide ample learning material.

[10] Traditional subhāṣita anthologies include Subhāṣitaratnabhāṇḍāgāra, Subhāṣitāvalī, Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa, and Saduktikarṇāmṛta. The writings of Bhartṛhari and Sundarapāṇḍya are also noteworthy. Modern anthologies are preferable to the older ones; notable ones include Subhāṣitas in two volumes (as a part of the Sahitya Ratna Kosha series published by the Sahitya Akademi), Subhāṣitamañjarī (in Kannada; published by the Kannada Sahitya Parishad), Subhāṣita Sampuṭa (English; published by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan), Subhāṣitasāhasrī (in English; selected and translated by Satyavrat Shastri), Bhaktisudhā (published by the Chinmaya Mission).

[11] For example, details such as: the twenty-five vargīya-vyañjanas are divided into five groups based on where the sounds originate – kaṇṭha (throat), tālu (palate), mūrdhā (roof of the mouth), danta (teeth), and oṣṭha (lips).

[12] In addition to listening and repeating the verses of the Amarakoṣa, one can also make use of the excellent exposition (in Kannada) of Vidwan N Rangantha Sharma on the work.

[13] In an earlier section of the paper, a few notable grammar guides have been listed. The learner can pick any of those.

[14] See for example, Saṃskṛtavyavahārasāhasrī (Bangalore: Samskrita Bharati, 2013).

[15] A text like Pañcatantra is a veritable treasure to learn idiomatic Sanskrit. It will give the student a good understanding of vācoyukti (idioms) and laukikanyāya (maxims), which are hallmarks of classical Sanskrit. Selections of prose passages from various plays will also help in this regard.

The student can refer to Pullela Sriramachandrudu’s compilation of idioms (published by Rashtriya Samskrita Vidyapeetha, Tirupati) and the anthology of maxims compiled by G A Jacob (published by Chowkhamba Vidyabhawan, Varanasi).

[16] Many of these are found in the sixty-four traditional arts of India enlisted in the Kāma Sūtra.

[17] With the sole exception of Tamil, which has fewer letters compared to Sanskrit.