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Course Aim

Sanskrit Intermediate aims to build on the knowledge and capabilities acquired in Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate. The course includes three terms during which students will gain reading fluency in a variety of Sanskrit texts. 

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to work with most Sanskrit sources independently.

Method

The course aims are reached with the help of in-depth textual analysis paired with grammar revision based on issues that arise when working with original Sanskrit sources. Lecture-based teaching is kept to a minimum and emphasis is placed on idiomatic usages of the Sanskrit Language.  

Sanskrit Intermediate 1 

Introduces students to technical texts that deal with rasa (‘taste, flavour’), the emotional core of the aesthetic experience that is triggered by ‘literature that is seen’ (drama) and ‘literature that is heard’ (poetry). We shall read passages from the seminal Treatise on Drama ascribed to Bharata (Nāṭyaśāstra, early centuries CE-ca. 9th c.); Ānandavardhana’s revolutionary treatise on poetry, titled Light on Suggestion (Dhvanyāloka, 9th c.); and Abhinavagupta’s (c. 1000) commentaries on these treatises, known respectively as The New Dramatic Art/Abhinava’s Dramatic Art (Abhinavabhāratī) and The Eye (Locana). 

Students will become acquainted with linguistic and stylistic features that are very different from those of the epics and of classical literature. 

Sanskrit Intermediate 2 

Gives students the opportunity to return to Sanskrit classical poetry (kāvya), which we started exploring during the Pre-Intermediate 3 module. We shall read a selection of verses from The Birth of Kumara (Kumārasaṃbhava), a poem composed by the quintessentially ‘classical’ author Kālidāsa (4^th-5^th c.). 

This ornate literature requires a connoisseur’s training: thus, we will be making regular reference to ideas of Sanskrit aesthetics explored during the Intermediate 1 module. We will additionally start gaining familiarity with scholastic Sanskrit, as we shall read some of Kālidāsa’s verses in conjunction with Mallinātha’s commentary (14^th-15^th c.). 

Sanskrit Intermediate 3 

Will introduce students to classical Sanskrit prose. We shall be reading a selection of tales from Daṇḍin’s Adventures of Ten Princes (Daśakumāracarita) (7^th-8^th c.). Students will enjoy the opportunity to read longer prose passages with a gripping narrative trajectory, as the adventures of the ten princes are replete with sorcery, supernatural creatures, violence, as well as vividly described love affairs. Daṇḍin’s prose will provide new challenges and rewards to students who up to this point have been mostly exposed to either poetry or technical/scholastic prose. 

Upon completion of Sanskrit Intermediate, students will be eligible to continue in Sanskrit Pre-Advanced courses at the SOAS Language Centre, or will be able to continue with further research of Sanskrit texts on their own.  

Material

All materials will be provided by the lecturer. 

Entry requirements and progression route 

For the first stage of Sanskrit Intermediate (i.e. Intermediate 1), you should have completed Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate 3 at the SOAS Language Centre or have an equivalent knowledge of 135 guided learning hours. The progression route from Sanskrit Intermediate 1 is to Sanskrit Intermediate 2; from Intermediate 2 to Intermediate 3. 

Please contact the Language Centre if you have had previous Sanskrit training and would like to discuss joining any of the Sanskrit Intermediate groups.  

Each term, classes are subject to quorum requirements. For course dates and information, please see our timetables.