The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit

Why learn Sanskrit? There are many good answers to this question. Sanskrit is studied by scholars of language, religion and literature, by historians, sociologists and anthropologists and anyone else with an interest in India’s cultural heritage. Sanskrit as a language is quite simply beautiful, its structure complex enough to be interesting, but straightforward enough to be manageable. Knowledge of Sanskrit grants access to an enormous body of literature. Literary writing uses the means of a language to not just express a thought, but to express it in an interesting, appealing, artful way. Thus it always is more rewarding to read a work of literature in its original language. Yet the fact that much may be lost in translation is especially true in relation to Sanskrit: the breadth of m…