Advaita

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 2 Jun 2000, S. V. Subrahmanian wrote:

> Dear Shri Jaldhar Vyas,
>
> Now that you have gone through the process of learning Sanskrit and are
> confident about it, can you guide a novice like me as to how he can pick up
> the language, systematically and completely(?).
>
> Could you enumerate the list of good books, references, teachers for someone
> in US and the best sequence of study ?  I am really anxious to get a strong
> hold on that dear language.
>
> If you can send it to everybody, it might help even people who have
> hesitated to ask.


I recall list member Shrikant Satyanarayana is involved with a group that
teaches Sanskrit.  Perhaps he can give you some details?  We are lucky in
the NY/NJ area that there are some learned Pandits who would only be too
happy to help you learn.  Try asking at one of the local mandirs for
advice.

Butala's Book Emporium in Jackson Heights (And on the web at
http://indousbooks.net/) has Sanskrit books including introductory
ones.  They have a couple of editions of the Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi.  The
one from Gita Press, Gorakhpur is the one I use.  There is is also an
edition from Motilal Banarsidass which has an English translation by
Col. Ballantyne.  Even with a proper teacher learning Sanskrit the
traditional way can be tedious and frustrating at first but the rewards
are great and I think people of an intellectual frame of mind will find it
a fascinating challenge.

Another good way of learning Sanskrit is to take up some text such as the
Gita and translate it on your own with the help of a dictionary.  The
language of the Gita and Puranas is relatively simple.

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

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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