Dhīvāk : PrārabdhiḥSanskrit Through its Texts: Level 1
Courses that focus on reading ancient texts are usually grammar heavy. In this course however, we aim to teach the full version of the Sanskrit language, using a more intuitive approach rather than a rules-based approach.
Overview
The course follows a reading-based pedagogy - treading ancient texts early on and by encountering the most commonly occurring words, phrases and grammatical endings, which allows learners to pick up the language intuitively through pattern recognition and contextual reading/understanding.
Intent
Unlike other courses that demand memorizing verb tables or learning every case ending in detail before getting to read a single authentic sentence, this course aims to help you engage with the world of Sanskrit meaningfully with tools that actually work.
Grammar is not avoided - it is just introduced in a way that supports and clarifies your reading instead of overwhelming it. If you are a learner who just wants to read and understand ancient Sanskrit texts without feeling suffocated by excess grammatical technicalities, this course is for you.
Structure
This course, while interesting and engaging, is not a passive watch-and-forget course and is designed for learners who are seriously committed to building their Sanskrit reading ability and hence comes with some non-negotiable expectations:
- Knowledge and proficient reading of the Devanāgarī script is a must.
- Reading proficiency in at least one Indian language (e.g., Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu etc.), as this speeds up comprehension and recognition of sanskrit terms/idioms etc. shared across Indian languages.
- The course is designed for adult learning (must be at least 16 years of age).
- This course is not suitable for learners whose only reading language of comfort is English, or who have been exposed to only a heavily Anglicized form of an Indian language.
This is an intensive course. You will be required to:
- Attend 4 hours of live class each weekend.
- Dedicate at least 1 additional hour every week for homework, self-study, and revision.
This is not a lecture-style course where you can sit back and absorb. Active classroom engagement is required — this includes:
- Asking and answering questions
- Reading aloud when prompted
- Participating in exercises and discussions
Contents
Day 1
1 :
Declensions of nouns - राम , सीता , फल, जननी, भूमि
Day 2
2 :
Declensions of pronouns - तत् (that), एतत् (this), इदम् (this)
Day 3
3 :
Verb tenses - लट् (Present), लङ् (Past), लृट् (Future), लृङ् (Hypothetical), लिट् (Historical Past)
Day 4
4 :
Suffixes - क्त (past passive participle), क्त्वा and ल्यप् (gerund), तुमुन् (infinitive), तर (comparative), तम (superlative)
Day 5
:
Session Recordings
Day 1
1
Day 2
2
Day 3
3
Day 5
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Key Takeaways
Identify
key verb forms in present, past (perfect and imperfect), future and hypothetical (conditional) tenses
Understand
long sentences involving the use of the gerund क्त्वा suffix
Recognize
and translate forms of the nouns and adjectives whose stems end in अ/आ/ई
Build
a repository of 100 most frequently occurring verb roots
Learn
to recognize the ‘Past Passive Participle’ — the most frequent paradigm in classical Sanskrit —and its use in multiple contexts
Begin
reading abridged extracts from the Itihāsas and Purāṇas with good comprehension
Access
to all the course material + 400 most important verb roots of classical Sanskrit
E-book
of 300 pages written by the instructor himself; contains bonus content and reading exercise
Mini Lexicon
of about 2000 most important words used in ancient literature sorted by parts of speech (noun class, adjective, verb, indeclinable etc.)
Who is this course for?
- 1. Students of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS): Learners engaged in courses or research in IKS, who wish to directly access Sanskrit texts like the Upaniṣads, Itihāsas, Dharmaśāstra, Arthaśāstra or Purāṇas without depending entirely on translations. 2. Scholars of Philosophy, History, Culture, or Linguistics: Academicians or postgraduates in disciplines such as Indian Philosophy, Comparative Religion, Cultural Studies or South Asian Studies who require first-hand access to primary Sanskrit sources. 3. Educators and Curriculum Designers: School and university teachers who are integrating classical texts, IKS themes or ancient Indian wisdom into contemporary education. 4. Spiritual Seekers and Practitioners: Those interested in reading original ślokas, bhajanas and spiritual texts like the Bhagavad Gītā or Saundarya Laharī in Sanskrit, without depending on translations. 5. Writers, Translators, and Content Creators: Professionals engaged in translation, content development or Indic publishing, who wish to build a reliable foundation in Sanskrit to ensure scriptural and linguistic accuracy. 6. Temple Priests and Karmakāṇḍa Practitioners: Those familiar with chanting or rituals who want to comprehend the meaning behind mantras and ślokas. 7. Policy Makers and Government Stakeholders in Education or Culture: Officers, consultants and stakeholders designing courses or initiatives on Bharatiya knowledge traditions who need to strengthen their linguistic engagement with original texts. 8. Students and Teachers of Traditional Indian Arts: Students of traditional Indian arts like nāṭya and Sangīta who want to explore the philosophical foundations of their art by accessing their foundational texts in Sanskrit like the Nāṭyaśāstra and Sangītaratnākara.
Know your Instructor
Śrī Rama Seshan
Rama Seshan earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 2024 and his academic research focuses on applications of differential geometry to engineering problems.
However, outside of academics, he is a life-long student and reader of Sanskrit and other ancient languages such as Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew and Classical Arabic. He enjoys experiments in blending traditional learning with modern pedagogical techniques. Rama’s language teaching is known for his clarity, rigor and a deep love for the content, inviting students into the language not as a subject to master, but a universe to enter and explore.
He developed this course in order to ease students into reading ancient Sanskrit texts right from the beginning by providing a right balance between grammar and inductive reading and also inculcating modern pedagogical techniques that enhance learning of any new language.
Dhīvāk : PrārabdhiḥSanskrit Through its Texts: Level 1
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