5 Best Books to Learn Sanskrit Grammar

For beginners and even enthusiasts who have a bit of knowledge of this language because they studied it in the school and were later disconnected, picking up a Sanskrit grammar book to get back to the basics of this beautiful language is a very hard task. There are many small to medium-sized grammar books but only a few of them cater to the modern mind and language ability of a contemporary student, who is looking for a neat design, proper explanation, and even if possible good graphics.

I personally fall in the category of people who studied the Sanskrit language up to middle school level, but later on, after completing graduation and post-graduation in professional courses found out that Sanskrit deserves a more sincere study and concern. I started searching for easy-to-understand books that could help me get started in the basic rules of Sanskrit grammar; a bit of commonly used phrases and sentences that could help me in Spoken Sanskrit; and maybe a bit of understanding of the translation rules.

However, after buying many books published and distributed by many organizations in India, I could not feel satisfied. The internet also does not have any comprehensive source of Sanskrit learning, and a lot of enthusiastic students are left with no choice but to find a good teacher in or around their area and learn it in physical classes, which is not the ideal scenario in present-day dynamics. I still believe that it is ideal to have a teacher teach you the nuisance of this language, but the scarcity of teachers eliminates any possibility of a primary brace with the language. This is where finding some good and helpful Sanskrit grammar books is handy.

Here are 5 such books that could really help the students understand the language a bit better:

Sanskrit Grammar and Reference Book

A voluminous read of 686 pages for Sanskrit lovers, this book is a classic in all its sense: both the Devanagari script and English transliteration is provided for an easy read. The book contains charts, flowcharts, rules, dictionaries, and every possible element of the Sanskrit grammar with direct explanation and without the unnecessary verbiage. A must-buy for the Sanskrit enthusiasts.

A Practical Grammar of Sanskrit Language

This book is considered a complementary read for people who already have the Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary and lays out almost all possibilities of verbs being used in various forms and tenses etc. The book has 428 pages and provides lucid examples for the reader to understand the Sanskrit language in an easy way.

A Sanskrit Grammar Text: Basic Principles, Rules and Formats with Reference Tables and Vocabulary

Can be called fairly ‘tried and tested’. This version of the books is an improved presentation and provides a transliterated explanation to the students who yet do not read the Devanagari script. A good complement to the Sanskrit dictionary by the same author.

Sanskrit Alphabet Devanagari Study Book: Conjunct Consonants & Exercises on Mantras and Sloka

The whole set of books written by Medha Michika is a wonderful collection of Sanskrit study material for students. Right from the very basic understanding of the Devanagari script, this books leads the students systematically to further chapters and rules.

Sanskrit Teacher, All-In-One

Once again, a volume worth reading by a serious Sanskrit student–contains more than 700 pages. The book contains 37 chapters and 10 large appendices to make everything available to the student and also the text has transliteration so that readers who can’t read the Devanagari script yet could understand the essence in a better way.