स्वागतं भवद्भ्यः ।
Welcome
This website was the home of the Elementary Sanskrit course (W1401 and W1402) I taught at Columbia University (New York), based on Prof. Madhav Deshpande’s excellent textbook, the संस्कृतसुबोधिनी Saṃskṛtasubodhinī: A Sanskrit Primer (with audio). Although I have since moved on from Columbia, this site is still very much a work in progress. Although it was geared to students in the course and was not a stand-alone MOOC or even a digital Teach Yourself Sanskrit text, those interested in learning something about the language may find it of use as well. Since I continue to receive kind emails from students who work through this site independently, I will continue to augment it with an assortment of materials: video mini-lectures, expository overviews, audio recordings, and handouts for download (including those previously developed for Robert Goldman and Sally Sutherland Goldman’s textbook, देववाणीप्रवेशिका Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language). The focus here is largely on the general rules by which various forms are made (e.g., 1st class verbs, etc.) since that information is often not explained in detail by Deshpande and because class time was devoted for the most part to using the language.
Acknowledgements
Apart from the impressive array of online courses these days, this site has been inspired in particular by two kindred Sanskrit sites. The first is the Guided Sanskrit Lessons website for Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. That site is a model of clarity and accessibility, as well as a real tribute to Maurer’s text. The second inspiration is the UBC Sanskrit site, which is a remarkably beautiful and useful companion to the Goldmans’ देववाणीप्रवेशिका. Both textbooks and their dedicated websites have a lot to offer students working their way through Deshpande’s text in conjunction with this site.
In addition to Prof. Deshpande’s audio files, recordings of the nominal and verbal paradigms have been kindly produced by two students with excellent pronunciation: Sireesh Gururaja and Shiv Subramaniam.
In addition to Prof. Deshpande’s audio files, recordings of the nominal and verbal paradigms have been kindly produced by two students with excellent pronunciation: Sireesh Gururaja and Shiv Subramaniam.
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The author of our textbook is Madhav Deshpande, professor of Sanskrit and Hindu Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, with a joint appointment in the Department of Linguistics, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Professor Deshpande has not been consulted in connection with this website, so any errors in the material presented here are the author’s alone (see below).
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My name is Guy Leavitt and I'm the author of this site. I had the privilege of serving as the Lecturer of Sanskrit for many years at the University of Chicago, Harvard University and Columbia University.
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