Sanskrit is a classical South Asian language that belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages family. It is one of the most powerful languages in the world because of its many amazing features, and a huge amount of texts on many important subject areas like Science, Arts, Philosophy, etc. were written in the language in the ancient Indian subcontinent. Yet the majority of the world does not know the language or even the significance of it. The reasons are many - misinformation, wrongly associating it with a particular religion, other languages being more prevalent, and so on. In this article, we will be breaking down those myths and also show you how you can easily master the language.
Before we get into how to learn Sanskrit easily, you may be curious about why learn it at all. It’s a very, very old language, right? Then why?
You would be wrong if you think Sanskrit language learning is all about the language itself. Benefits of learning Sanskrit go beyond simply the addition of a few new vocabularies:
You probably are aware that Sanskrit was the mother of the North Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, etc. However, did you know the languages of the countries China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, South East Asia, South Asia, and many of the words of these languages originated from Sanskrit? In fact, the languages spoken in even Europe and the United States have similarities with it; since Greek and Latin, the two ancient western languages, have several phonetic, grammatical, and scriptural parallels with Sanskrit. According to experts, once someone learns Sanskirt, learning every other language becomes much easier.
Sanskrit is known as "the perfect language" because it is one of the planet's most structured languages. Consequently, a better grasp of the language has been correlated with enhanced critical thinking, language processing, and verbal memory retention abilities. It has also been suggested that learning Sanskrit improves a child’s reading comprehension and speed as well, and some schools in the world have added Sanskrit language learning programs in their school curriculum.
Some of the greatest poets, authors, scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, historians, medical experts, philosophers, and many such wise people were born in ancient India, and they reported their groundbreaking ideas and research findings in Sanskrit, it being the official language at the time. Not only many of these studies remain undeciphered till today for a lack of Sanskrit scholars, but many of them have also been misinterpreted by the translators to propagate various political and other propaganda. If you know the language, you will be able to decode these texts on your own, without being fooled by others.
On the surface, Sanskrit may seem like a very difficult subject to learn. Maybe the words sound difficult to you, or maybe the grammar, or maybe something else. We are here to assure you that Sanskrit language learning is much less difficult than the traditional learning methods have made you believe. There are many easier ways to master the language, as you will find out below:
Grammar builds the foundation of a language. So learning the grammar and scripts, and reading as many materials (books, articles, magazines, etc.) written in the language as possible helps a person develop a theoretical knowledge of it which is invaluable. This way, you will always know when you are going wrong and correct yourself automatically.
Nevertheless, the conventional method of learning new words and mastering grammar may be boring for you. No worries, you are in the 21st century, and technology solves most problems. There are many learn Sanskrit apps that use gamification techniques so that Sanskrit for beginners becomes really fun and exciting.
This one you already know, as it is applicable to anything that you learn - practice. Grammar sure helps you be better at writing in Sanskrit, but to be a fluent speaker, you must listen to the language as much as possible and practice speaking it. However, unfortunately, Sanskrit is rarely used on regular days now, so you may not get many chances to do this. So you may have to make deliberate attempts to build opportunities for yourself to use Sanskrit. You can find people with similar goals and converse strictly in Sanskrit with them, write down any new words that you come across along with their meanings, and so on.
Do all of these sound too daunting? Don’t give up, you will get help simply if you ask for it. Quite a few learn Sanskrit apps have come forward to make the experience of your Sanskrit language learning interesting, fun, and convenient. The pronunciation of each word is added, there are verses that you can listen to and speak together, there are even chat areas where you may find people with the same goal as yours and practice the language with them. With these Sanskrit for beginners apps, you won’t have to worry about how to learn Sanskrit easily anymore - they will take care of everything for you.
Necessity is the mother of inventions. It is very natural to feel safe in comfortable situations. However, unless we get into a challenging circumstance, our brain tends to avoid learning new things. So one of the best ways to learn a new language is to put yourself in a condition where you are absolutely vulnerable to use the language, as there is no greater teacher than obligation. There are a few ways that you can do this:
Contrary to the popular belief, Sanskrit actually has a wide range of career choices that you can take up once you are a master of the language. So if you find yourself to be in love with it and want to officially become a Sanskrit Pandit, here are your options:
Courses in India:
Sanskrit was taught as a third language in several Indian schools until 2021. Sanskrit is now available at all levels of school as an option in the three languages that students can choose from, as well as in higher education, thanks to the revised education policy. Some states have made mastering the language mandatory for students in middle school.
India has 19 Sanskrit universities that specialize in teaching the language at the university level. Sanskrit is also offered as a course at other general universities. These programs offer respectively 3 and 2-year undergraduate (BA) and graduate (MA) degrees in the language. Courses such as Shastri, Acharya, Sanyuktacharya, Vedic Studies, Yogashastra, Vidyanidhi, Vidyavachaspati, and others are available. Separate Ph.D. programs in the language are also available, with students working in fields such as Language Studies, Culture Studies, Religion Studies, and others.
Undergraduate admission is based on performance decided by a qualifying examination administered in schools or a university-specific entrance exam. For postgraduate programs such as MPhil, Ph.D., and PG Diploma, candidates must pass an entry exam.
Certifications in India:
Along with their standard degree programs, Sanskrit universities in India offer shorter-duration certification courses in different areas of the Sanskrit language. Vedic studies, Keertanshastra, Yog, Darshan, Maharishi Ved Vigyan, Maharishi Vedic Swasthya Vidhan, Vyakaran, and Jyotish, Vastu Shastra, Karmkand, and Paurohitya are among the courses offered.
Sanskrit is a language rooted in the Indian subcontinent, but is now spoken and cherished all around the globe. Many countries across the world, which include western countries such as Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many European countries, are continually trying to revive this indigenous diction.
China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Korea, Vietnam, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, USA, Mexico, Israel, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, UK, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and several other countries offer professional courses in Sanskrit. In these countries, prestigious international universities such as Beijing University, Tel-Aviv University, University of Paris, University of Munich, University of Queensland, University of Australia, University of Oxford, and Harvard University offer a variety of Sanskrit courses. These universities offer courses and certifications in fields such as language studies, oriental studies, yoga philosophy, Sanskrit poetry, literary theory, and many others. They offer full-time undergraduate, graduate, and summer programs to teach the subject in both written and oral formats.
Offline courses are constrained by factors such as location, student credentials, and other factors; however, online courses are not. They can be sold by businesses in any part of the world, and they can be opted for by anyone.
The same universities listed above in India and overseas provide online courses and certificates over multiple platforms including their official ones. On top of that, there are a plethora of free and paid-to-learn Sanskrit apps available that teach you how to learn Sanskrit easily.
As you can see, it is a total fallacy that learning Sanskrit is difficult. It is one of the easiest languages to learn because of its disciplinary grammar and syntax. Every four years, the World Sanskrit Conference is held, as are numerous smaller conferences devoted to various aspects of the language. Sanskrit magazines are also distributed in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Therefore, once you do master the language, you be able to be a part of this large, esteemed community which will only flourish with more contributions of enthusiasts like you.
