Introduction

Sanskrit is the classical language of the Indian subcontinent. The oldest stage of the language is that of the Veda, the fundamental scriptures of Hinduism which date back to some twelve centuries BCE. The classical stage of the language, from some five centuries BCE onward, is the vehicle of a vast and varied literature from epics and poetry to Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious and philosophical texts, and scientific treatises on everything from astronomy and architecture to law and linguistics. Sanskrit was carried outside the Indian subcontinent to adjacent regions which came under the influence of Indian culture, Tibet and China, and Southeast Asia from Thailand to Indonesia. Hindu tradition heralds it as "the language of the gods." Today Sanskrit continues to be the primary language of Hindu rituals; traditional scholars, or pandits, still hold debates and write treatises in this medium; and poetry in Sanskrit continues to be cultivated. What ancient Greek has been for Greece and the Mediterranean world, and what Latin has been for Rome and Europe, Sanskrit has been for India and vast sections of Asia, but Sanskrit literature vastly exceeds Greek and Latin literatures combined, and with more enduring resonance today. In addition to being required to access this tremendous literature, a knowledge of Sanskrit is essential for comparative linguistics. Sanskrit represents one of the oldest branches of the family of languages known as Indo-European, which extend from India to Western Europe (and, with European expansion, to the New World). Sanskrit courses offered at Penn range from the elementary level to the most advanced and from Vedic to classical Sanskrit. Students may satisfy the Language Requirement with two years of Sanskrit with a grade of "B" or higher, or by passing a proficiency examination in classical Sanskrit.


Course Descriptions

Elementary Sanskrit SAST 460
In this two-semester course which begins in the Fall semester, students are introduced to the structure of classical Sanskrit. The object of the course is to develop a reading ability in the classical language. By the mid of the Spring semester, we begin reading a section of the epic, the Mahabharata, and stories from the Hitopadesha.

Second-year Sanskrit SAST 470
The object of the Fall semester is to develop a reading proficiency in a range of classical Sanskrit literature. We read sections of the Kathasaritsagara ("The Ocean of Stories"); of the epics, the Ramayana ("Rama's Journey") and the Mahabharata ("The Great Bharata War"), including the Bhagavadgita ("The Lord's Song"); of canonical literature such as the Manavadharmasastra ("The Laws of Manu"); and of other texts which may be of particular interest to students in the class. The object of the Spring semester is to introduce students to Vedic Sanskrit by reading increasingly older texts: the Grhyasutras, the Brahmanas, and the Vedas. Students who wish to focus on classical Sanskrit may substitute a rapid reading course in Sanskrit for the second semester.

	The following courses are semester-long reading courses in wich texts selected for study vary over the semesters according to student needs and special interests.

Readings in Sanskrit LiteratureSAST 581
Instructor: Dr. Harunaga Isaacson
(The following description is in Dr. Isaacson's words, edited for publication.) This is the kaavya class. We are just now going through a two year cycle in which we survey different genres. After reading muktakas in Fall 2003 and plays in Spring 2004, in Fall 2004 we shall be reading mahaakaavya. A term is too short, alas, to read any single mahaakaavya in its entirety; instead we shall read a sarga or two from (probably) three mahaakaavyas of increasing difficulty. All the works we will read from will be acknowledged masterpieces of classical Sanskrit literature.

Readings in Sanskrit Philosophical Literature (SAST 551, Fall & Spring, 1 c.u.)
Instructor: Dr. Harunaga Isaacson
(The following description is in Dr. Isaacson's words, edited for publication.) This is the "saastra class. In past terms we have read Nyaaya, Miimaa.msaa, and Vi"si.s.taadvaita Vedaanta. In Fall 2004, we will read selections from Buddhist philosophical literature. I shall choose some passages from, again, works that absolutely central to the tradition and have had profound influence on more than a millenium of philosophical thinking in India, Tibet, China, and Japan.

Seminar in Tantric Studies (SAST 710/AMES 710, Fall & Spring, 1 c.u.)
Instructor: Dr. Harunaga Isaacson
(The following description is in Dr. Isaacson's words, edited for publication.) This is the tantra class. I use this class to teach both Buddhist and non-Buddhist (mainly "Saiva) tantric texts; since we have, however, several graduate students specializing in "Saivism (and none in Buddhist tantra, alas), last year I concentrated on "Saiva materials, and I shall continue to do so in the coming year. In Fall 2004, we will read selections from "Saiva works of the so-called Krama-system, an esoteric goddess-oriented tradition. Our selections will touch on both doctrine and ritual.

Readings in Indian Grammatical Texts (AMES 610, 1 c.u.)
Instructor: George Cardona cardona@unagi1k.cis.upenn.edu
(The following description is in Dr. Cardona's words, edited for publication.) The time is to be arranged, but any students who are interested may get in touch with me by e-mail or telephone. During the coming year, I plan to read the Jaatisamudde'sa of the Vaakyapadiiya with Helaaraaja's commentary.

Online Resources

Study
	Indology
	Internet Resources for Indological Scholarship. Hosts the archives of the INDOLOGY mailing list.
	Sanskrit Study
	An online self-study Sanskrit study group. They are using Coulson's Teach Yourself Sanskrit and Deshpande's Samskrta-Subodhini: A Sanskrit Primer.
Texts
	GRETIL
	Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages: a repository of texts. Veda, Epics, Puranas, Religious Literature, Poetry, Philosophy and other texts.
	Sanskrit Document List
	Vedas, Puranas, Upanishad, Ramayana, Mahabharata and other texts.
	Buddhist Digital Library and Museum
	Sanskrit lessons and Buddhist Sanskrit texts. Also has resources for Pali, Tibetan and Chinese.
	TITUS
	News, events and teaching materials. Of special interest is their repository of Sanskrit texts. Unfortunately, some of the materials are available only to members. On the other hand, obtaining a "student account" is not hard.
	Gaudiya Grantha Mandira - A Sanskrit Text Repository
	Darshana, Kavya, Vyakarana, Tantra, Yoga and other genres. This site also has search capabilities.
	Virtual e-Text Archive of Indic Texts
	An attempt at compiling in one location all electronic texts available for Indic studies. Has several links to Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit texts.
	Sansknet
	Devanagari fonts and software for Sanskrit. The section labeled "content" has texts: Vedas, Vedanta, Upanishads, Vyakarana, Purana and others.
Dictionaries
	Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon Capeller's Sanskrit-English Dictionary
	Two dictionaries at the University of Cologne. The first one is actually a digitized version of Monier-Williams.
	Sanskrit Dictionary Software
	This is a software-based dictionary developed from the digital version of Monier-Williams created at the University of Cologne.
Software
	ITRANS
	Arcane software package for typesetting Devanagari.
	Utf-Skt
	A package for rendering Sanskrit in LaTeX using Unicode input.
	LaTeX for Sanskritists
	General documentation on the utf-skt package and specific information on how to install it on Slackware Linux 9.0.