[Buddha-l] sanskrit self-study

[Richard Nance]

On 8/11/05, curt <curt at cola.iges.org> wrote:
> I am starting to teach myself Sanskrit. I do have a friend
> who is kindly tutoring me (which he brushes up on his
> Sanskrit), but for the most part I will be doing this auto-
> didactically. Does anyone have any recommendations
> for books that are good for Sanskrit self-study? 

I'll be surprised if you get a lot of feedback on this, chiefly
because I don't know of anyone (apart from Roberto Calasso, and I have
no idea how good his Sanskrit actually is) who has managed to learn
Sanskrit auto-didactically. I'd suggest starting with the Coulson
book, and moving on to Goldman, Aklujkar, or Deshpande (I'm unfamiliar
with Maurer; Richard might be right that it beats the competition
hands down). On the other hand, I didn't learn Sanskrit
auto-didactically, so I really have no idea what I'm talking about.

Having just finished working with a group of Sanskrit students at the
University of Wisconsin's SASLI summer intensive, I can testify to the
power of the language to break even the most ardent student's morale
over and over again. The students in SASLI were exceptional, and
managed to learn a remarkable amount in a very short time -- but they
also suffered a great deal: 4 hours of class time a day, five days a
week; at least 4 hours of homework every day after class (one student
confessed that it was taking him 9 hours to finish the assignments);
quizzes every day, tests once a week. We used Goldman, but I don't
think I'd recommend it for self-study.

I'm not sure that there's any way to learn Sanskrit without a certain
amount of pain -- and if one is attempting to teach oneself, one will
do everything one can to avoid this sort of pain. This isn't to say
that you shouldn't try (by all means, please do) -- just make sure
that you recognize that, well, Sanskrit is difficult -- and it's
recognized as such within the tradition of Sanskrit learning itself,
as the following verse from the Nyaayama~njarii nicely testifies:

du.s.tagrahag.r.hiito vaa bhiito vaa raajada.n.data.h /
pit.rbhyaam abhi'sapto vaa kuryaad vyaakara.ne 'sramam //

"Born under a bad sign, or afraid of a king's punishment, 
Or cursed by [his] parents -- such a person would study grammar." 
   
Sanskrit has typically been learned at the feet of demanding teachers.
If you don't have a demanding teacher at hand, Coulson's book is
probably as good a place as any to start.

Good luck,

R. Nance