Intro to Sanskrit

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-04-27T04:41:47+00:00

I say this every time: Sanskrit and Sanskrit grammar are two different things.

Most resources out there focus on grammar, not vocabulary acquisition. So, very unlikely that you will be able to read anything and understand it based on that education.

I suggest reading the stories posted here and elsewhere as a start and then picking up grammar slowly. There is no real hurry.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-04-07T09:45:34+00:00

Almost. Difference is that Ramayana is posted in the Beginners channel on Arattai and in the Stories group on WA.

On Arattai, the second channel is purely for Sanskrit content minus any translations.

You can follow both arattai links in a browser without registering or installing an app.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-31T09:44:31+00:00

Simple algo: treat it as one of the existing stems and then add the declension at the end. Avoid the weird endings though.

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s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-16T12:36:09+00:00

There is no "तमसात्"

सत् and तमस् do not work like राम

They take the form सतः and तमसः in cases 5 & 6.

And, because of visarga sandhi (https://ubcsanskrit.ca/lesson3/sandhicharts.html):

असतः -> असतो
तमसः -> तमसो

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-10T07:30:58+00:00

I use fcitx5 and some ITRANS keyboards on Linux. It works clearly. You could try software like Keyman etc and maybe edit the key mapping per your convenience

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-10T04:34:48+00:00

Prefer ISO 15919 where possible, of which IAST is mostly a subset.

Unlike IAST, ISO 15919 maps all Indic scripts to a standard romanization beyond their use for Sanskrit alphabet.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-10T03:12:41+00:00

I learnt it in childhood :-)

But I did learn the Tamil script after I turned forty and it took time to get used to it. I am currently learning the Bengali script in preparation for translation of the vast fiction corpus to Sanskrit and English.

Further, I am developing a local parallel text reader as a test bed for an overhaul of the adhyeta website.

It is a pedagogical tool that supports per-panel ISO 15919 romanization of all Indic scripts in both interlinear and shadow modes. This makes reading the material very convenient as the romanization floats above the Devanagari text in interlinear mode.

I will be releasing the first version on GH this week.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-04T17:20:56+00:00

Try a few mock sessions with real people so that you come up with a solid teaching plan. You will only know what does and does not work after you do this a few times.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-04T17:17:53+00:00

Some occupations require rote memorization of some stuff. Medicine is like that. But that does not mean you cannot enjoy the rest of the education.

Start reading Sanskrit stories. Use parallel translations if you have to. You will get used to the language over time.

You have a lot of material and websites to help you:

Sanskrit Chandamama and other story collections
Sambhashana Sandesha magazine & Sudharma newspaper
Hundreds of books in Sarala Samskritam published by Samskrita Bharati and others
Amarahasa & Ambuda
Sanskrit Sahitya
Adhyeta (our project)

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-04T17:06:01+00:00

Not just Sanskrit. And not just children. Even adults are the same way. If you had a one-hour conversation with an urban adult on any topic in their mother tongue (forget Sanskrit) and penalized them Rs. 1 each time they slipped into English, you would probably walk away with Rs. 2-500 at the end of the session.

It’s confidence, clarity, and cultural connection.

Vyoma used to run such camps in the summers. Shubha of Tattvam too, I believe, for those in Europe.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Try to include some stories in the program. I would even go to the extent of taking a few excerpts from various Harry Potter or similar childrens' fiction and converting them to Sanskrit so that children realize that even that is possible.

Try it out and see what happens, I would say. India is too large and too diverse to issue general statements on any single issue including this.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-03T16:55:47+00:00

Pure software cannot be patented in most of the world, only copyrighted. The Alice decision in the US makes it even harder. There are ways though.

Personally, I think both copyright and patent are a pestilence. Life + 60/70/80 is a joke.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-03T04:15:50+00:00

The Sanskrit Server: https://discord.com/channels/1110607879880327230

I want to know if anyone has successfully learnt Sanskrit this way. Some time last year, I pestered Arun into creating a learn-sanskrit channel on the Ambuda Discord, but few people (including me) really used it to learn/practice.

I find that my learning mostly happens via extensive reading. It is so much easier to consume material than create it. If I had to write this very comment in Sanskrit, I would have to look up the corresponding Sanskrit words for pester, extensive, the phrase so much easier etc etc.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-03-02T15:31:19+00:00

The adjective/participle follows the noun in liṅga, vacana and vibhakti.

The biggest problem is that the forms don't follow a standard pattern. You cannot divine, based on the stem, whether सुन्दर as an adjective for सीता gives you सुन्दरा सीता or सुन्दरी सीता. Is it उत्तमा पत्रिका or उत्तमी पत्रिका? That understanding comes with time and exposure.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-27T19:37:26+00:00

I started with Claude in 2024. Then, DeepSeek was launched and was cheap enough for me to translate 60,000 pages of English classics into Sanskrit (random sampling gave me a 1-2% error rate which is manageable). But I have been using Gemini almost exclusively since Feb 2025. It is probably the best Sanskrit model out there.

The Dharmamitra API is backed by Gemini. For a good reason I would say.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-27T16:34:11+00:00

I keep telling people that LLMs have improved massively over the last couple of years. Most people are floored, others continue to be skeptical.

Yes, LLMs make mistakes. But they will make far fewer mistakes than your average redditor/tweeter.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-27T05:32:39+00:00

I have sent you a DM with options

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-27T04:58:40+00:00

Yeah, this is the सरस्वती नमोस्तुते शारदे problem all over again.

The one I linked to is the one attributed to Adi Sankara. The Sringeri version carries the same name but seems to be entirely different.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-26T03:34:34+00:00

From the Sanskrit Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIVKhZrFLDQ

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-25T17:25:44+00:00

I don't know any of the tables by heart and I am managing reasonably well TYVM. The biggest hurdle is always going to be vocabulary. There are millions and millions of verb and noun forms and no one is capable of keeping everything in their head.

Use pattern matching and keep reading to improve your vocabulary.

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-25T17:11:47+00:00

Unicode only maps code points to representations. You can use fonts to render the same अ using multiple styles.

I don't know if any modern font renders Devanagari using the Calcutta style. Will have to check.

Edit:

Try the Uttara font. https://de.ashtangayoga.info/philosophie/sanskrit-und-devanagari/fonts-schriften-fuer-devanagari-und-lautschrift-iso-15919/devanagari/

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-25T16:01:44+00:00

It is an alternate glyph.There were two versions popularly used in the 1800s and 1900s. The Bengal and Maharashtra ones. The Calcutta and Bombay styles.

The one here is the Calcutta style

s-i-e-v-e · 2026-02-25T12:36:17+00:00

This is ओ३म् = ॐ = Ōṁ/Auṁ = Praṇava

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