After undergoing a phase of neglect by masses, Sanskrit language is picking its league–with the onset of internet technology and social media, there are many users around the world who want to learn Sanskrit. Though there are still very less people who could speak and converse in this language, there is an increased attention for learning this language among kids and even adults.
In the recent past, yoga has been promoted as a valid mechanism to maintain good physical as well as spiritual health, and this also has given a slight nudge to Sanskrit.
I have come across various people from around the world who want to learn at least basic Sanskrit if not the advanced studies. For such people, there are many books written by Indian as well as overseas authors–you can search for such books on internet and various e-commerce sites.
Here, I am providing a list of 5 Sanskrit learning books for beginners that can be used to start the basic study of Sanskrit like an initiation to the language.
Sanskrit Swyam Shikshak
This book is termed as one of the easiest and most popular books to learn Sanskrit language for beginners. The only handicap this book has is that it is in Hindi. People from outside India who want to learn Sanskrit won’t find it useful.
Complete Sanskrit
This book is almost the alternative for English-speaking audience. It lets you go up to the intermediate level beginning from the very start to learn Sanskrit. The book also contain mini Sanskrit-English and English-Sanskrit dictionaries, which is a real asset for a beginner of this language.
Sanskrit For Beginners
This book brings a mixture of Devanagari and English transliteration to establish confidence in the non-speakers of Hindi language so that they could make feel confident about learning Sanskrit. There are selections taken from epics like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, etc. to provide better context. This book has been adopted as the textbook to teach American students Sanskrit by Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.
Sanskrit Teacher for English Speaking People
As clear from the name itself, this book is written keeping non-speakers in mind. English-speaking learners would find this book quite good because it covers topics related to Sanskrit language right from the alphabet.
Introduction to Sanskrit (Part.I)
Some users who are native Indians and know Devanagari script have reported that they face difficulty in following this book as they progress along, but for English-speaking audience, this is a great book. Quite comprehensive if you want to go deep into learning classical Sanskrit.
Sanskrit-English Dictionary
While learning any language, it is almost essential to have a dictionary that can provide you better understanding and meanings of various words. In the case of Sanskrit, I haven’t found a better dictionary than this:
I personally use this dictionary and will recommend it to anybody who wants to learn Sanskrit through English language.
