Shortest path for beginner

[Xarcade! Outreach]

Hello all,

I am a beginner in sanskrit, but have some intuition of some words such as names of gods, etc as I am hindu. What books do I need to go through till I will be able to read texts such as Puranas and Upanishad Bhashya By shankaracharya using a dictionary? I’ve heard of A first book in sanskrit and second book in sanskrit by  Bhandarkar, are these sufficient? I’m also interested in reading kavyas such as Ramodantam and raghuvamsa, can I read these direcly with a dictionary? What else would i need to read these? I want to learn Sanskrit in the traditional way. Would greatly appreciate a response to any of these questions .Thanks! 

[संस्कृत संवादः]

You would need to build a strong base with patience and learn through any good medium and then you will be able to comprehend those texts but you would still need to consult translations from time to time.