Learning Sanskrit
Learning Sanskrit requires time, patience, and frequent repetition. I have been studying it with great joy since 2018.
The book Yogāvatāraṇam by my teacher Zoë Slatoff and the online courses she offers through the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies are, in my experience, an ideal way for yoga practitioners to begin learning Sanskrit.
In her book, Zoë uniquely combines the traditional approach to learning Sanskrit—through mantras, translations, and chanting—with an academic approach. It certainly helps that Zoë has over twenty years of experience teaching Ashtanga Yoga, and her examples and exercises often relate directly to yoga practice.
Zoë’s book also serves as the foundation for the introductory workshops and private lessons I offer.
Introductory workshops for Sanskrit
For several years, I have been offering private lessons and an annual introductory course in Sanskrit.
During the introductory weekend, you will learn to speak, read, and write the alphabet, and by the end, you will be able to write simple words in Devanāgarī.
Private classes
If you enjoy it and are willing to dedicate time for regular practice, I am happy to guide you further, offering in-depth Sanskrit learning through one-on-one classes either on-site or online. If you commit for a longer period, more affordable package options are available.
The word yoga in Devanāgarī
The origin of Sanskrit
The word Sanskrit or in transliteration saṃskṛta means „perfected, holy”.
There exist many myths around Sanskrit. So the creator god Brahma is said to have created Sanskrit first, and then through the power of the sounds of Sanskrit this universe. According to another myths, the wise seers first perceived the mantras, and only as a second step derived Sanskrit from the mantras.
According to tradition, it is therefore extremely important to pronounce vedic mantras in the correct intonation for them to be effective.
For me personally, Sanskrit has through its sounds a direct effect on the body – independent of the understanding of the individual words, just through the vibration. Often, I have the impression that deep down the meaning has arrived long before my mind is able to grasp it.
The language Sanskrit
Sanskrit belongs to the indoeuropean languages, just like English, German, Greek and Latin.
Its importance lies in the fact that already the eldest hymns still known today, the vedas, were sung in Sanskrit (“vedic Sanskrit”, as of about 1500 B.C.).
Sanskrit was systematized relatively early, by Panīṇī. He wrote a grammar of “classical Sanskrit” already in the 5th century B.C..
Transliteration
There are different systems of transliteration, e.g. the romanisation of Sanskrit. The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is considered to be the academic standard. It has been used for more than 100 years.
In order to represent sounds that have no correspondence in the latin alphabet, so-called diacritical signs are added to the letters, i.e. the hyphen above the a, i and u means that these vowels are pronounced two times as long as those without the hyphen.
Devanāgarī
Originally, Sanskrit was only passed on orally. Still today, there are priests who argue against the written transfer of for instance the vedic hymns.
Nevertheless, these days it is written in different scriptures, since about a millennium most often in Devanāgarī.
The word „Devanāgarī“ is composed of the words „deva“ (god, gods) and „nāgarī“ (city, area, residence). According to Zoë, a possible translation is “scripture of the gods”. It is often also translated as divine city writing.
Devanāgarī is written in syllables, e.g. each letter represents a syllable. There are 49 letters that are put in a certain order according to whether they are a vowel or a consonant and where within the mouth the sound is originating.
For Germans, pronounciation of the transliteration is relatively straight forward, with a few exceptions. For English speakers, it is important to learn the exact pronounciation of all letters, as there are many differences. For instance, the “i” in English would be pronounced like “eye”, whereas in Sanskrit like the English vowel “e”.
Sanskrit Alphabet
Recommended Reading:
Vaman Shivram Apte: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionnary. Nataraj Books, 2012.
Robert P. Goldman, Sally J. Sutherland Goldman: Devavāṇīpraveṣikā – An introduction to the Sanskrit language. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Dehli 2011 (1980).
Vyaas Houston: Sanskrit by CD. American Sanskrit Institute, 1991.
Zoë Slatoff: Yogāvatāraṇam. North Point Press, 2015.
William Dwight Whitney: Sanskrit Grammar. Dover Publications, 2003 (ursprünglich 1896).
Monier Williams: A Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language. Alpha Editions 2019.
Jutta Marie Zimmermann: Sanskrit – Ein Lehrbuch für Anfänger Band I und II. Raja Verlag, 2009, 2012. (in German)
„Words were originally magic.”