Learning Sanskrit on-line

[अभ्यंकरकुलोत्पन्नः श्रीपादः]

नमांसि सर्वेभ्यः !
"Learning Sanskrit on-line" इति शीर्षकेण एकं नवीनं पृष्ठं अधुनैव उपरीकृतं "संस्कृत-प्रसृतिः http://sanskritaprasruti.wordpress.com/ इत्यत्र |

सस्नेहम्
अभ्यंकरकुलोत्पन्नः श्रीपादः ।
"श्रीपतेः पदयुगं स्मरणीयम् ।"
My blogs -
1) संस्कृताध्ययनम् । http://slabhyankar.wordpress.com
2) गीतान्वेषणम् http://study1geetaa2sanskrit.wordpress.com
3) उपनिषदध्ययनम् http://upanishat.wordpress.com
4) संस्कृत-प्रसृतिः http://sanskritaprasruti.wordpress.com/
5) सरलं संस्कृतम् http://simplesanskrit.wordpress.com/
6) संस्कृत-व्याकरणस्य अध्ययनम् http://grammarofsanskrit.wordpress.com/
7) संस्कृतभवनम् https://sanskritabhavanam.wordpress.com/
8) http://slez-musings.blogspot.com

[Ajit Gargeshwari]

Then how does one learn any language any answers by Mahendra is welcome. Grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the Sanskrit language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

Please see this interesting article
http://brainmass.com/blog/writing/good-grammar-important/

Regards
Ajit Gargeshwari
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे।।2.20।।

2013/6/6 Mahendra <vrg...@gmail.com>

Is there any resource where we learn Sanskrit without learning grammar??

​ 

 

​

 

You can never learn any language by learning grammar.

 

Mahendra

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[Gopal Kris]

Though Grammar may be necessary to learn the language well, but insisting on learning it may drive many from learning sanskrit

The new push now is to teach sanskrit with minimal grammar in the initial stage.

Certainly to converse in sanskrit (Sambhoshanam) one need not master Sanskrit Grammar.

There are several free on line courses available for the beginners.

I would advise that Mahendra explore these sites and learn it at his pace without any time frame work imposed on him.

 http://samskrittutorial.in/  This is new and very well organized. 

http://www.vedamu.org/PageViewerImage.aspx?DivId=1533 . (If you have difficulty in accessing it try http://www.vedamu.org and work your way to the sanskrit lessons.)

http://www.chitrapurmath.net/sanskrit/step_by_step_level1.asp (This is very extensive and well explained) It has 64 classes and has some grammar

http://www.joglekar.com/joglekarfamily/Sanskrit/Sanskrit.asp (This helps more with conversational samskritam)

http://simplesanskrit.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/simple-sanskrit-lesson-1/ (This is good but also gives some grammar)

I hope that this gives you an introduction and get you involved in learning.

Also the Chinmaya Internattional foundattion offers both beginners and advanced sanskrit classes. They are good, but they are not free.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ_G6rCIBU8&feature=related

This link in the u tube has few lessons on early sanskrit (samboshana) based on the VCD tapes.

This link will open with a class by Dr.Viswas and on the right side you will see the links for other classes.

You can work your way from class 3-4 and up and above.

They are quite rudimentary but may help in refreshing, Not much grammer in this. Mostly teaches without grammar

http://www.ourkarnataka.com/learnsanskrit/sanskrit_main.htm

This has 45 lessons and mostly useful for conversation.

I hope that this helps with your choice and good luck .

Kris Gopal

[Subrahmanian R]

Sirs,

 

One learns one's mother tongue naturally and without the need for learning grammar. For any foreign language, learning grammar is the first step. One cannot learn Sanskrit without basic grammar, and it is one of the most difficult among the various languages.

 

Respects

R Subrahmanian

On 6 June 2013 19:08, Mahendra <vrg...@gmail.com> wrote:

I don't remember my mother teaching me grammar while talking to me in Gujarati. (My Mother-tongue). We learn the language and on the way learn grammar. If we want to really be fluent with a language, we should learn it like our mother tongue.

 

We cannot learn Sanskrit in English. We have to start understanding Sanskrit in Sanskrit. I wish to really learn to be fluent. Grammar definitely comes, but as an add-on.

 

I am talking about the methodology of learning. I would love to learn Grammar, but more than that I would love to start THINKING, UNDERSTANDING and TALKING in Sanskrit.

 

I apologise if I have irritated someone.

 

HariOm

 

Mahendra

[Anilkumar Veppatangudi]

Not only mother tongue but any language is learnt by being amongst people speaking that language and picking it up. There are any number of people speaking many languages very well without the faintest idea of each grammar and its numerous exceptions and deviations. Grammar is for academicians.

Anil Kumar

Dr.V.R.Anil Kumar

http://www.kalpaheritage.com

[Vasu Srinivasan]

mahendra-varya

bhAShA-jnaanasya ekaH eva mukhya-mArgaH - saMbhAShaNam | all other ways (translation, learn from grammar etc.) are like sidewalks. 

samskrita-bharati's initial classes are all oriented towards saMbhAShaNam (conversation). i strongly suggest you check out any local classes, find people who converse in samskritam and speak, speak and speak in samskritam. nAnya panthA vidyate bhASha-jnAnAya | 

Grammar knowledge should be a by-product of conversation, not the other way around.

learning mother-tongue (or any language) as a child is different, because we are not afraid (or ashamed) of making mistakes at that age. But as grown up there is a fear of making mistakes. That should be overcome, the belief that "making mistakes is fine, it will be corrected in due course" should happen.

Regards,
Vasu Srinivasan
-----------------------------------
vagartham.blogspot.com
vasya10.wordpress.com

2013/6/5 Mahendra <vrg...@gmail.com>

Is there any resource where we learn Sanskrit without learning grammar??

 

You can never learn any language by learning grammar.

 

Mahendra

On Monday, June 3, 2013 2:55:14 AM UTC+5:30, SL Abhyankar wrote:

[Rajagopal Iyer]

namo namaH,

On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 8:00 AM, Vasu Srinivasan <vas...@gmail.com> wrote:

mahendra-varya

bhAShA-jnaanasya ekaH eva mukhya-mArgaH - saMbhAShaNam | all other ways (translation, learn from grammar etc.) are like sidewalks. 

IMHO, the only way to to "embed" bhaashhaa is to think in one.

Regards,

--
aa no bhadraaH kratavo yantu vishvataH
(Let auspicious come from the Universe)

Rajagopal

[Prabha Pillai]

Once my sanskrit teacher asked us , which comes first. Language or grammer. Many people speak good english but if they have to write one sentence it  is difficult to tham.

[Hnbhat B.R.]

I missed this topic. 

First let me give my understanding of language as an human activity effective, but not the best means to express his ideas with others. Within the wider spectrum of language, not only a spoken language, but the languages used by used by the dumb people, has its own grammar and structure. Ignoring it is very funny element. when we learn a language, we use to acquire the structure itself and not the analytical units by languager acquisition which is a basic fact depending on the vocabulary and depth and scope of the network of the use of the specific language, technical or non-technical literary or spoken language or any language. 

The scope and circumference of Sanskrit language is not limited to only spoken language, but extends even most complicated sciences too, than literary works Vedic language and classical language. How much can be structure of the set up structure can be acquired, depends on the motive of language learning. If it is limited up to ten days learning camp or one months' Sanskrit teachers training camp for the purpose, no need of grammar to learnt. Like learning words used for daily home needs (here it depends whether homely language is dependent on the language, say the native speakers use for their needs since they learn to speak, the language they acquire (note it is not learning, in the academic sense, which many forget during these discussions) by hearing the people immediately around him (i.e. mother, and then father and others in the household). Hence it is called mother tongue, and not father tongue, or grand father tongue. All other languages are learnt in sequence, after one acquires his mother language, by 

comparing and contrasting it with the one he has already acquired.  Hence they are graded as second, third, and so on in acquisition and the efficiency in them depends on how much he is exposed to the language and not the method through which he "learns" or "acquires". Even staying in Tamilnadu, one can learn Tamil enough for speaking and enough to meet his every day needs with the people around whom he has to communicate. This is the limit of acquiring any "spoken language" (note the one which is used in every day life without which you cannot manage to meet your needs, is termed as spoken language and not any language a human being with faculty of speech can speak, either by learning or acquiring). This confusion between the two concepts is the main cause of dispute why Sanskrit cannot be learnt without grammar like any other spoken language in the world. But the one who learns to speak Tamil by residing in any region will have to learn grammar, if he is willing to understand from original work without any translation and saying Grammar is not needed to learn a language, won't help. He can speak even chennai tamil (chendamil), madhurai tamil or kovai tamil with variety of vocabulary and intonation depending on his capability to imitate what he hears and for which there is no need of learning grammar. Compare this with the learning of Sanskrit considering the motive in learning Sanskrit and continue the discussion.

I am not interfering in the pros and cons.

With regards

 

 

 

Dr. Hari Narayana Bhat B.R. M.A., Ph.D.,
Research Scholar(Retd),

Ecole française d'Extrême-OrientCentre de Pondichéry

16 & 19, Rue Dumas

[Vinodh Rajan]

Hi,

On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 2:38 PM, Mahendra <vrg...@gmail.com> wrote:

I don't remember my mother teaching me grammar while talking to me in Gujarati. (My Mother-tongue). We learn the language and on the way learn grammar. If we want to really be fluent with a language, we should learn it like our mother tongue.

 

We cannot learn Sanskrit in English. We have to start understanding Sanskrit in Sanskrit. I wish to really learn to be fluent. Grammar definitely comes, but as an add-on.

 

I am talking about the methodology of learning. I would love to learn Grammar, but more than that I would love to start THINKING, UNDERSTANDING and TALKING in Sanskrit.

The point is.. I suppose (Classical) Sanskrit was always learnt as an elite "second language".  It surely wasn't picked up as a mother tongue at least for the past 2000 years. N. Indians had their Prakrits as the native language, and S. Indians had their own bunch as well. 

So it always has been "taught" and "learnt".

I am not sure how Sanskrit was taught to the students in Ancient India. I assume it would have started with regional languages as the medium-of-instruction, progressing through complete immersion at the higher levels.

It would be nice if some one can point to any references to Sanskrit teaching in the literary works.

V

--
http://www.virtualvinodh.com

[Hnbhat B.R.]

 

We cannot learn Sanskrit in English. We have to start understanding Sanskrit in Sanskrit. I wish to really learn to be fluent. Grammar definitely comes, but as an add-on.

 

I am talking about the methodology of learning. I would love to learn Grammar, but more than that I would love to start THINKING, UNDERSTANDING and TALKING in Sanskrit.

The point is.. I suppose (Classical) Sanskrit was always learnt as an elite "second language".  It surely wasn't picked up as a mother tongue at least for the past 2000 years. N. Indians had their Prakrits as the native language, and S. Indians had their own bunch as well. 

 

It would be nice if some one can point to any references to Sanskrit teaching in the literary works.

V

I think this is a much talked topic in different groups. Why Sanskrit Can't be learnt through English or should be learnt through Sanskrit "like mother tongue" (NOTE it is like mother tongue, and not as mother tongue, though many have for different reasons, have recorded Sanskrit as their mother tongue, for the last census, which took the count of languages one speaks.)

There are so many best teachers who learnt Sanskrit (not through Sanskrit, but through their teachers through their mother tongues) and they have generated a generation of best Sanskrit teachers and scholars. So it is a fishy statement that it cannot be learnt through another language and it has nothing to do with the expertise with language, as it depends on the practical exposure to the language (either in written or spoken form - the difference doesn't exist in the case of Sanskrit as a Classical Language vs. Vedic, and not spoken and written language). The expertise in speech is independent of its grammar, as it is on the orator's capacity to give lecture in any topic whether he is expertise in the subject or a general reader of the interested subject. (There is no such distinction in Sanskrit, as every thing written is covered by the Sanskrit Language, and subject is different from the language in which it is expressed, which only few make differentiation).

Being the real state of Sanskrit today, only wish to make it mother tongue or national language will remain a wish unless there is a need for it felt by the nation as a whole for it.

In

Being 

I

[Surendra Mohan Mishra]

No doubt that learning Samskrit through other languages including
foreign languages has produced many great scholars.Patanjali lays
great stress on the actual use of the language,not to know the subject
only through knowing the language.So also Bhartrihari emphasises on
speaking the 'daivee vaak'.During 'Munitraya's times Samskrit was
struggling to survive and flourish.
Once in Kolkata a great scholar before an august audience started
speaking in his native tongue.he was requested by the organizers to
kindly speak in Samskrit as the audience was from all over India and
they may miss the points.Consequently he switched over to Samskrit but
with little success and fluency.Finally he returned to his native
speech and concluded early.
To know and comprehend and to make use of a language are two different
aspects.Our young champions of the language should be proficient in
both.I appreciate their zeal and commitment.Without making use of the
language you can't reinvent and restructure it in contemporary
times.If we fail to do this some among us will question the presence
of Samskrit in the constitution along with other Indian languages as
modern Indian languages.
Knowing Samsrit thru other mediums is like a 'post-mortem'.If we think
of Samskrit as 'anaadi-nidhanaa nityaa vaak' we have to make great use
of it in speaking and writing.We ought to remember Patanjali when he
says : " yastu prayunkte kushalo visheshe shabdaan yathaavad
vyavahaarakaale / so 'nantam aapnoti jayaM paratra vaagyogavid
dUshyati caapashabdaiH // "
In CBSE syllabus Samskrit is the projected medium for
teaching/learning and examinations up to 12th class.After that what
happens in graduate and post-graduate studies in different states is
well known.All languages including English are used as the
mediums.This is where Samskrit is sacrificed at the altar of our love
of comfortable ease and complacence !
Samskrit is used as cent per cent medium in traditional Samskrit
institutions.In college and university education Samskrit should
recover at least up to more than 50% of the space as a medium of
teaching/learning of Samskrit.Otherwise we shall be producing students
who will shy away from core Samskrit and shastra-s and will be mostly
inimical to Samskrit in due course ! 'Champions of error' said
Macaulay in a similar case for Sanskrit education.Such students,later
scholars, will dissuade masses from the virtues of Samskrit.Let the
best think and make the best possible !
Best regards.
SMM

> *Dr. Hari Narayana Bhat B.R. M.A., Ph.D.,
> **Research Scholar(Retd),
> *

> Ecole française d'Extrême-OrientCentre de Pondichéry
> 16 & 19, Rue Dumas
>

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*****
Surendramohan Mishra
Dept of Sanskrit,Pali & Prakrit
Faculty of Indic Studies,Kurukshetra University
KURUKSHETRA-136 119,Haryana,INDIA
Tel : (Off.)01744 238410(extn.)2504
(Mob.)098960 86579;(Res.)01744-238567
Blogs : http://surendrashastram.blogspot.com
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[vishal jaiswal]

What strikes me as strange is why learning Sanskrit "must" be linked to
making money.
But this is characteristic mentality of modern India, right ?
"...and now wait in vain for the gains that were to follow. "

----------
New life, old death for Sanskrit in Uttarakhand
Sanjay Singh Posted online: Sun Jun 09 2013, 01:15 hrs

Bhantola, Bageshwar :

What strikes you as you walk into Bhantola village in Uttarakhand’s
Kumaon region are the Sanskrit slogans on its walls. The fronts of all
houses bear ‘Sanskrit griham’, while a shop calls itself ‘apnnah’.
Bathrooms are marked out as ‘snanagrah’.

In January 2010, the then BJP government gave Sanskrit the status of
second official language in Uttarakhand, the only state in the country
to do so. Three-and-a-half years later, from state government offices to
the jobs that would have sustained this dying language, little has
changed on the ground. Two villages—Bhantola in Kumaon and Kimotha in
Garhwal—were named ‘Sanskritgram’ with much fanfare. Here, people learnt
to speak the language with much hope and now wait in vain for the gains
that were to follow.

“Yogen jayate muktih (Yoga ensures salvation)” declares a slogan on some
walls, while “Sanskrit bhasha newa klishta na cha kathina (Sanskrit
language is neither enigmatic nor tough)” says another in Bhantola.

“We have done it on our own,” says pradhan Chandra Joshi. “We have not
got any contribution from the state government for this wall campaign.”

Joshi, who herself has a Masters (‘Acharya’ degree) in Sanskrit, says
the state government has neither started the primary Sanskrit school nor
the library it promised at the time of making Bhantola a Sanskritgram.

Such was the initial enthusiasm that even women who had otherwise not
received formal education beyond Class V enrolled to learn Sanskrit. “I
had not touched a book after my marriage,” chuckles Haripriya (42), who
has been married nearly 20 years. “I saw the enthusiasm among the women
of my village to learn to speak Sanskrit and joined them.”

One of the reasons Bhantola was picked to be a Sanskritgram was that its
men belonging to the Brahmin caste have traditionally performed rituals
such as solemnising weddings, namkarans (naming of infants) and tying of
the sacred thread.

Manoj Adhikari had been selected at the time as ‘Acharya’ to teach the
villagers Sanskrit. Adhikari took his assignment seriously, regularly
visiting even the Dalit basti of the village to teach its residents a
language once considered a preserve of the upper castes. In Bhantola,
there is a lot of respect for Adhkari’s work.

However, it was after the completion of the first stage that the entire
enterprise got stuck. Sources in the government said the Bhantola
villagers who learnt Sanskrit were supposed to be appointed as teachers
(Acharya) in other villages that were to be given the status of
Sanskritgram. Since no other village was given that status after 2010,
Bhantola’s new Sanskrit speakers had no avenues left. With the BJP
government giving way to the Congress’s, there is no expectation of the
project being revived.

So far, precious money and resources have been spent on the scheme. The
annual expenditure of the state government on Sanskrit is about Rs 21
crore, including the salary of teachers in Sanskrit schools.

There is a separate Sanskrit Education Department, 88 government-aided
Sanskrit educational institutes, and 47 Sanskrit colleges giving
‘Shastri (BA)’ and ‘Acharya (MA)’ degress. The government’s plan to open
at least five primary schools in Sanskrit medium in every block is still
to see the light of day.

Besides, while the Sanskrit Shiksha Pariksha Parishad came into
existence in April 2010, it is yet to start conducting examinations for
the schools it controls. The board, in fact, functions from a rented
house in Dehra Dun, without a regular director. Assistant Director
Rashmi Badauni refused to comment on the state of Sanskrit education.

Another reflection of the state government’s empty promises is the
absence of Sanskrit nameplates bearing the names of the CM, ministers
and bureaucrats in the corridors of power.

Lalit Farshwan, the MLA from Kaptok of which Bhantola is a part, said he
would communicate the grievances of Bhantola villagers to the state
government. “They have become sentimental for Sanskrit,” he says.

Manju Updhayay of Bhantola agrees. Like others in her village, she
doesn’t regret learning the language. As she says, in jest, her only
regret is that “Gaali nahi sikhenge hamare bachche (Our children will
not know learn how to abuse).” However, as the government leaves it in
limbo, Bhantola’s anger may find an outlet in other ways.

[अभ्यंकरकुलोत्पन्नः श्रीपादः]

श्रीमन् "सुरेन्द्रमोहन मिश्र"-महोदय !
विचारयन्नस्मि "करुणा स्वगृहे प्रथमा" (Charity begins at home) इति न्यायेन भवतः संदेशः,

तत्रापि sams...@googlegroups.com-प्रति प्रेषितः
तथा great stress on the actual use of the language इत्याशयवाहकः च

संस्कृते एव अधिकेन रुचिरः भवितव्यः खलु ?
यदि Knowing Samskrit thru other mediums is like a 'post-mortem' इति भवतः निष्ठा, अन्यायां भाषायां लिखितस्य भवतः संदेशस्यापि किञ्चित् मृतदेह-सदृशं रूपम् वा ?
मम विचारेण सद्यस्मिञ्जगति (in today's world) संस्कृत-प्रसृत्यै आङ्ग्लभाषायाः उपयोगः आवश्यकः | अतः न मन्तव्यं Knowing Samskrit thru other mediums is like a 'post-mortem'

रशियास्थितेन मम मित्रेण रशियन-भाषामाध्यमेन संस्कृतं पठितम् | मह्यं संदेशान् आङ्ग्लभाषायां प्रेषयति | यथैव संस्कृतप्रसृतिः भवति तन्मह्यं आल्हादकारकमेव |

सस्नेहम्
अभ्यंकरकुलोत्पन्नः श्रीपादः ।
"श्रीपतेः पदयुगं स्मरणीयम् ।"

[Sethu Ramachandran]

Nice to hear the practical approach in learning the language is appreciated.
With this motto only THE SAMSKRITA BHARATY IS DOING THE JOB.
Kindly visit the site. For routine way of learning you can choose
Kalideaskendram's site.
Thanks & Regards,
Sethu.R

--

[vishal jaiswal]

This has been on my mind for the last couple of years, and its time I
laid out the outline for review.

Please note that I thought of this approach with children in mind as the
audience.
I have not included the spoken or listening skills here - these have to
be factored in.
What I note here concerns the reading and writing skills.

These are the components -

1. A dictionary as the base (call it beginner or level one or core)
which would have all the words that can be explained via illustrations.
This is not restricted to just vocabulary, but also simple basic
grammatical constructs.
For grammar via pictures, see this link,
http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/

2. Dictionaries for higher levels which would build on this first level
by giving explanations and meanings in Sanskrit comprised of words from
the lower levels - there must be no translation - it must be monolingual.
Something similar to monolingual learner's dictionaries.
An explanation for what should go inside such dictionaries is here,
http://www.antimoon.com/how/dictionary.htm

3. The most crucial scaffolding in the above has to be tons of
simplified literature that provides the relevant context for imbibing
and long term memory (again without translation). By simple, I really
stress simple - no philosophy, psychology, complex literary prose or
poetry, etc.
If bringing out paper books is cost prohibitive, electronic works should
suffice until that is possible.
We need graded readers, magazines, etc.

I suppose one can have artifacts related to multimedia and technology -
but being old-fashioned, I am happy with just books for implementing the
above.

And finally - this might not be an approach that most adults would take
for learning. I said this at the very beginning.

Please share your thoughts, opinions, comments, criticisms & ideas.
And specifically please provide input on how the listening and speaking
skills would fit in the above framework (the where, when and how)

I can give some time towards this. If others would like to chip in, and
someone more well versed in Sanskrit can provide guidance, the above can
slowly take concrete shape.

~vishal

[Mahendra]

Vishal,

 

I am in. I am dumb as far as Sanskrit is concerned. But we have brilliant people here to help us. Please go ahead with your plan.

 

Mahendra

~vishal

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