Sanskrit

Name of contributor: Kate Woodcock

Sections: Section 5 Learning Modules: 5.9, 5.13

We are lucky to have many options available for learning Sanskrit and I thought it might be helpful to list some of them.

As trainees (and students and teachers!) we can find out how to improve our pronunciation of the invocation and the names of āsanas. We can learn some simple vocabulary, which is repeated in the names of many āsanas, and makes it easier to remember them.

Later, when we already have so much familiarity with the names of āsanas, the invocation to Patañjali, and some sūtras, we can, if interested, start the wonderful journey of learning the Devanāgarī script and Sanskrit grammar in the hope of one day reading the sacred texts in the original rather than in translation.

The Mentoring Manual, Section 5: Learning Modules, encourages us to explore areas of study which are of particular interest. If you are interested in language, philosophy, mantra, chanting, reading sacred texts etc then engaging in some further study of Sanskrit is invaluable.

This document lists some key resources. This is not an exhaustive list but includes those I have benefitted from myself (Jonathan Duquette’s online courses; in person and online study of philosophy and Sanskrit language with Edwin Bryant) and others that are well respected and have been recommended by fellow yoga students.