An Essential Guide To Sanskrit: For Spiritual Seekers (Paperback)

An Essential Guide To Sanskrit: For Spiritual Seekers Book Description

An Essential Guide to Sanskrit provides a two-level introduction to the Sanskrit language. Level one introduces the transliterated (Anglicised) alphabets used by books and the Internet for reproducing Sanskrit. Level two teaches the Devanagari script used for the true language and describes the main rules for combining letters and words. Correct pronunciation and writing are explained. A number of examples from Hindu scriptures are used to illustrate simple translation. There is a comprehensive glossary of commonly encountered spiritual words. The book will appeal to all serious spiritual seekers interested in Eastern scriptures (Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, etc.). The aim is to teach the reader sufficient o enable them to be able to look up Sanskrit words in a dictionary and to pronounce and write them correctly. In this respect it is analogous to a guide for the traveller in a foreign country wishing to learn sufficient to 'get by'.
CONTENTS
Introduction, General Introduction to the Language, Level 1 - The Transliterated Alphabet: A. The Five Basic Vowels, B. The Five Main Groups of Consonants, The Long Vowels, The Complex Vowels and Additional Sounds, The Semi-vowels, The Sibilants, G. h, H. The Complete Alphabet. Level 2 - The Devanagari Script: A. The Five Basic Vowels, Short and Long, B. The Five main Groups of Consonants, C. The Remaining Vowels, D. Table Showing the 16 mAtRRiKA, E. The Remaining Letters (semi-vowels, sibilants and h), F. The complete Alphabet, G. Conjunct Consonants or Ligatures, H. Some special Characters, I. The Numerals. Level 3 - Some Practical Examples: A. shivasUtrANi, B. Words and Sandhi, C. The Four MahAvAkya-s, D. Some Vedic Prayers and Quotations. Resources on the Internet: A. General Resources, B. Learning the Language, C. Dictionaries and Grammar Tools, D. Documents in Sanskrit. Glossary of Sanskrit Terms, Dictionary of Common Sanskrit Spiritual Words, Appendix 1-Transliteration Schemes, Appendix 2-Alternate Letter Forms, Appendix 3-Vowel Forms, with and Without Consonants, Appendix 4-Writing the Script, Appendix 5-Answer to Final Example, Bibliography, Index.

About the Author(s)
Dennis Waite (b 1948), following an intense scientific-based education through the nineteen sixties, emerged with a fundamental dissatisfaction with the perceived values and belief systems of Western society. Thus began his search for a philosophy that could provide satisfactory answers to the universal questions of life. He joined the Ouspensky influenced School of Economic Science in London in 1972 but left after several years, disillusioned with the lack of rigour and the mystical element. He renewed his involvement with them in the mid-eighties, by which time Sri Santanand Saraswati, one of the four Indian Samkaracharyas, was directing the School along a path incluenced by Advaita and Samkhya Yoga. He remained with the School until 1998, by which time he had been acting as a tutor for four years and was assisting in the teaching of Sanskrit. He left because some of the teaching methods and much of the material diverged from the tenets of pure Advaita. Waite, a member of the Ramana Maharishi Foundation in London, now devotes his life to writing.

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