Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate Course

Course Aim

Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate aims to build on the knowledge and capabilities acquired in Sanskrit Elementary. 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 Pre-Intermediate 1 introduces students to Epic Sanskrit. Students will read and prepare passages from Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa with a dual focus. On one hand, it will be concentrating on structured and methodical grammar revision of the issues most important for textual analysis such as the system of Sanskrit participles, and on the other, it will be thinking about practices of translation and interpretation. 

Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate 2 gives students the opportunity to become acquainted with non-literary texts. The course will read from pedagogical and technical texts such as passages from the Manusmṛti and Kāmasūtra on the creation of the world and on the nature of dharma. The Sanskrit of these scholastic texts tends to be very different from that of the Epics and of literature and these texts give students a window into the Sanskritic worldview on the social norms, cultural practice, and religious beliefs of pre-modern South Asia. 

Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate 3 gives students the opportunity to explore Sanskrit kāvya, poetry, specifically a selection from the Kumārasaṃbhava or Raghuvaṃśa by Kālidāsa. This ornate literature requires a connoisseur’s training and we will be making regular reference to ideas of Sanskrit aesthetics. We will additionally continue practicing our scholastic Sanskrit as the readings will be accompanied by two commentaries which we will also be referring to throughout the term. 

Upon completion of Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate, students will be eligible to continue in Sanskrit Intermediate 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 Pre-Intermediate (i.e. Pre-Intermediate 1), you should have completed Sanskrit Elementary 3 at SOAS Language Centre or have an equivalent knowledge of 120 guided learning hours. The progression route from Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate 1 is to Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate 2; from Pre-Intermediate 2 to Pre-Intermediate 3. Please contact the Language Centre if you have had previous Sanskrit training and would like to discuss joining any of the Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate groups. 

Please note, that each term, classes are subject to quorum requirements.

For course dates and information, please see our timetables