Sanskrit Main Course

Based on the fundamental knowledge of Sanskrit grammar and vocabulary acquired in the Basic Course (Level 1 — AA) we will now enter the field of practical application. For this aim, a systematic study of the 700 verses of the Bhagavad-gita will be our main focus. We have selected this work out of two reasons:

1. The Bhagavad-gita is the most popular and important work in Sanskrit literature. Its spiritual message and philosophical meaning has deeply influenced human culture in East and West.

2. For beginners the Sanskrit of the Bhagavad-gita offers an ideal learning field. Although easily understandable, all important linguistic methods are demanded to gain a thorough understanding of the text.

By analyzing each verse in terms of vocabulary and grammatical construction, the student will be guided through the vast ocean of this beautiful language with all its depths and currents. By this, the learning experience will be enlivening and comprehensive at the same time. The main task of the student will be to compose a prose version of the Bhagavad-gita poems (technically called anvaya), with the help of a similar work of the famous Gita commentator Shridhara Swami. Whenever interesting grammatical constructions appear, the student will learn to analyze them with the help of the correspondence material. Thus, many topics that were only briefly introduced in the Basic Course (like verbal conjugation, or word sandhi) will now find a thorough introspection.

The collected homework assignments, together with a written exam at the end of the course, will qualify the student for the Certificate in Sanskrit.