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Learn Sanskrit through self study
 
Why Study Sanskrit?
http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/tutor.php
Introduction
The study of languages is always fascinating. For this reason alone, one can study or learn Sanskrit.The members of the Samskritapriyah group are more than fascinated by this language. They come fromdifferent disciplines and have had a long lasting association with Sanskrit. This group, comprisingscientists, linguistic scholars, computer scientists, Indologists and above all, well respected Sanskritscholars, feels convinced that there are aspects to Sanskrit not yet seen or observed in other languages.While the lessons are the primary means to learning the language, the information presented alongsidewill more than arouse the curiosity of the reader. It must be emphasized that the views expressed hereare not intended to start a big debate on the language itself. The group has carefully studied theinformation presented here, for validity, correctness and authenticity. As a consequence, the informationshould appeal to the scientific mind.
DISCLAIMER 
 
The Views expressed here are specific to the Samskritapriyah group and the SamskritEducation Society. IIT Madras, has only made available the web pages as a courtesy to thegroup.
Sanskrit, earliest of the ancient languages.
There is sufficient evidence available today to say that Sanskrit is the oldest language of the world.Among the current languages which possess a hoary antiquity like Latin or Greek, Sanskrit is the onlylanguage which has retained its pristine purity. It has maintained its structure and vocabulary even todayas it was in the past.The oldest literature of the world, the Vedas, the Puranas and the Ithihasas which relate to the Indiansubcontinent, are still available in the same form as they were known from the very beginning. There aremany many scholars in India who can interpret them today, much the same way great scholars of Indiadid years ago. Such interpretation comes not by merely studying earlier known interpretations butthrough a steady process of assimilation of knowledge linking a variety of disciplines via Sanskrit.
Sanskrit is as modern as any language can be
Sanskrit is very much a spoken language today. Even now, as we enter the twenty first century,Sanskrit is spoken by an increasing number of people, thankfully many of them young. Among thelearned in India, it continues to be a bridge across different states where people, in spite of their ownmother tongue, use it to exchange scholarly and even general information relating to the traditions of thecountry. The News service offered by the Government of India through television and radio continues tofeature daily Sanskrit program catering to local as well as international news.The grammar of Sanskrit has attracted scholars world over. It is very precise and upto date and remainswell defined even today. Of late, several persons have expressed the opinion that Sanskrit is the bestlanguage for use with computers. The Samskritapriyah group does not subscribe to this view however.
Sanskrit is a Scientist's paradise
 
Sanskrit, the vocabulary of which is derived from root syllables, is ideal for coining new scientific andtechnological terms. The need to borrow words or special scientific terms does not arise.From the very beginning, scientific principles have been hidden in the verses found in the Vedas,Upanishads and the great epics of India. Concepts and principles seen in present day mathematics andastronomy, are all hidden in the compositions and treatises of many early scholars of the country. Someof these principles and concepts will be shown in the information section that will accompany thelessons.
Linguistics 
The precise and extremely well defined structure of Sanskrit, coupled with its antiquity offers a number of areas in linguistics research including Computational Linguistics. Also, Sanskrit distinguishes itself inthat it is the only known language which has a built-in scheme for pronunciation, word formation andgrammar.
Sanskrit, a language for Humanity
Sanskrit is a language for humanity and not merely a means for communication within a society. Theoldest surviving literature of the world, viz. the Vedas, encompass knowledge in virtually every sphere of human activity. The fact that many profound principles relating to human existence were givenexpression through Sanskrit, continue to amaze those who study Sanskrit. A Sanskrit Scholar understands the world better than most others.Sanskrit perfectly depicted (and continues to depict) the social order of the day and offers clues tohistorical developments within the Society. The language has been used effectively to describe thevirtuous and the not so virtuous qualities of great men, women, kings and queens, the philosophers andSaints of the country.
 
Philosophy, Theology and Sanskrit
Sanskrit abounds in Philosophy and Theology related issues. There are so many words one encounterswithin Sanskrit that convey subtly differing meanings of a concept that admits of only one interpretationwhen studied with other languages. The language thus has the ability to offer links between conceptsusing just the words.
Sanskrit for your emotions
 
The connoisseurs of the Sanskrit language know that it is the language of the heart. Whatever be theemotion one wishes to display, be it devotion, love, affection, fear, threat, anger, compassion,benevolence, admiration, surprise and the like, the most appropriate words of Sanskrit can flow like agushing stream.
Some Unique Characteristics of the language
 
Sanskrit is co-original with the Vedas.. The vedas cannot be studied without the Vedangas, which aresix in number. The first three deal with the spoken aspects of the language. The first of these three,namely Siksha, tells us how to pronounce the letters of the aksharas. Siksha divides the letters into threeclasses- Swaras, Vyanjanas and Oushmanas. Depending on the effort (Prayatna), place of origin in thebody (Sthana), the force used (Bala) and the duration of time (Kala), the letters differ from each other intheir auditory quality and meaning.Vyakarna, known as the grammar of Sanskrit, is the second Vedanga which describes meaningful wordformations. This is usually referred to as Sphota or meaningful sound.The third Vedanga, Niruktam, describes certain fundamental root words used in the Vedas.Classification of words into groups of synonyms is an example. For instance, approximately a hundredand twenty synonyms for water are given in Niruktam.The fourth Vedanga, Chandas, describes the formation of sentences in metrical form. Unlike Englishwhich used a very limited number of metres (basically four), Sanskrit offers about two dozen Vedicmetres and innumerable conventional metres.The remaining two Vedangas, Kalpa and Jyothisha deal with space and time.
The letters of Sanskrit
 
Sanskrit comprises fifty one letters or aksharas. In other languages, we refer to the letters of thealphabet of the language. We know that the word alphabet is derived from the names of the first twoletters of Greek. The term alphabet has no other meaning except to denote the set of letters in thelanguage.In contrast, the word "akshara" in Sanskrit denotes something fundamental and significant. One of thedirect meanings of the word is that it denotes the set of letters of Sanskrit from the first to the last. Theword also means that the sound of the letter does not ever get destroyed and thus signifies the eternalquality of the sound of the letters. The consequence of this meaning is that the sound of a word isessentially the sounds of the aksharas in the word, a concept which will help simplify text to speechapplications with computers.There are two aspects of non destruction in the above explanation. The first one refers to the phoneticcharacteristics of the language, i.e., in any word, the aksharas retain their sound. The second aspect of non destruction, amazingly, is that the aksharas retain their individual meanings as well! To give anexample, the word "guru" consisting of the aksharas "gu" and "ru" stands for a teacher- one who dispelsdarkness (ignorance) of the the mind (person). "gu" means darkness and "ru" means the act of removal.Now, aren't we beginning to see something very interesting?The popular Sanskrit language is based on root syllables and words. Unlike the other languages of theworld, every word in Sanskrit is derived from a root. It is a well accepted fact that all Indo-Europeanlanguages have a common origin. On the basis of the above mentioned fact that all the words of Sanskrit
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laboredrunt4

Thanks. Great tutorial mate... Here's the Video Tutorial: http://bit.ly/cXQPGN - If you prefer video like myself. Don't get me wrong, I still like ur tutorial!

reply04 / 18 / 2010
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