Reviews (5)

THE Sanskrit Beginner's Book!
In my opinion as a Sanskrit teacher there is simply no better text ever written. As other reviewers have noted the content, the high quality of the Devanagari font etc. make this a sine qua non for the beginning student. To Prof. Mauer I say: "Uttamam!"

Very engrossing
Though I have read only the first 50-60 pages till now, I find this book very engrossing.
Superbly writtten.
I love this book for its organization, its exercises, and its explanations. It makes learning Sanskrit easy, and is evidently a labor of love by it author. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - General    2. Grammar    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Sociology    6. Grammar & vocabulary    7. Sanskrit    8. Social Science / Ethnic Studies   

Reviews (5)

sieg heil swastika
today � have received this treasure and � enjoy it from the very moment � turned the first page. Thank you t.egenes for creating this work, thank you motilal banarsidass for printing this treasure in premium quality paper and thank you amazon.com for speedy shipment as always.I recommend this book to everyone interested in the language of once highly advanced civilization.As far as I know there is no better source for learning Sanskrit than the method used by t.egenes.time after time � failed in my attempts due to the intimidating features of Coulson, Maurer, Whitney and Lanman.To be sure this time � set my mind on continuing with my Sanskrit.

An excellent "pre-primer"
Buy this excellent series of books before embarking on more classical studies.

Start here!
If you're interested in the Sanskrit language, whether for linguistic or philosophical reasons, this is the book you should start with.Read more

Subjects:  1. Language & Linguistics    2. Language Teaching & Learning (Other Than ELT)    3. Sanskrit   

Features

• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Exercise/Health    2. AòsòtÃ¥açnga yoga    3. Consumer Health    4. Hatha Yoga    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health/Fitness    7. Pronounciation    8. Reference    9. Spirituality - General    10. Terminology    11. Yoga    12. Yoga for exercise   

Reviews (1)

Pre-eminentDictionary of its type
Sir Monier Monier Williams work is definitelythe classic book of it's kind. In some respects, the work here has been surpassed by other references, but it has never been out-classed. In a rather perverse way, the Process of looking up a Sanskrit word gets easier as you know the word you are looking for in the book. This is hard to articulate given the nature of the Sanskritlanguage, so in a real sense , you need a range of other books as well as this dictionary; these would include, a Verbal Root book, a Classical grammer[sp?], as well as a Mediaeval grammer, since many popular texts come from the so-called mediaeval period... viz., the PURANAS.
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Subjects:  1. Ancient Languages - General    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. Reference    4. Bilingual dictionaries    5. English    6. Sanskrit   

Reviews (3)

The classical Hatha Yoga Manual with Sanskrit & English
This is a unique translation of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Sometime in the 15th Century, Yogi Svatmarama put down his principals of the practice of Yoga. Many of these include the mysteries of Kundalini --the coiled center of energy close to the base of the spine. But there is a lot more here for the student of yoga, including photos of the various "asanas" or positions, health, diet and mental hygiene. If you read Sanskrit, this would be a treasure. If you don't, you still have a line-by-line translation of this ancient and honored work. It's like listening to the yogi himself as he lectures his disciples. Fascinating reading--and if you are a practicing yogi or yogini, you'll find this insightful.

Closest thing to a "source code" that we have
The two best known English translations of Svatmarama's classical text on yoga from the Fifteenth Century are by Pancham Singh and Elsy Becherer.The former is 87 years old and the latter is a translation (with commentary by Hans-Ulrich Rieker) from the German, and is therefore twice removed from the original Sanskrit.Both books are out of print.Surprisingly there is virtually nothing else in English despite the fact that the hatha yoga teachings found in popular works, including B.K.S. Iyengar's celebrated Light on Yoga, are in no small part based on Svatmarama's text. Features the original Sanskrit side-by-side with English
Ably translated into English by Brian Dana Akers, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is the classic sourcebook on Hatha Yoga, written by an East Indian yoga master named Svatmarama in the fifteenth century C.E. to preserve for future generations his own experience and the wisdom of older works now lost. This faithful reproduction of the crucial text features the original Sanskrit side-by-side with the exacting English translation. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika reads as a selection of individual phrases describing the hatha yoga poses and giving insight into the spiritual nature of yoga. Black-and-white photographs illustrate several of the poses. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is an impressive and highly recommended reference for students and devoted practitioners of Hatha Yoga. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Diet / Health / Fitness    3. Health & Fitness    4. Health/Fitness    5. Hinduism    6. Meditation    7. Mysticism    8. Religion / Hinduism    9. Yoga    10. Christian mysticism    11. Health & Fitness / Yoga    12. Mind, body, spirit: disciplines & techniques    13. Sanskrit literature   

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Asia - India    3. History    4. History & Theory - General    5. History - General History    6. History and criticism    7. History: World    8. Indic literature    9. Linguistics    10. Political aspects    11. Sanskrit literature    12. To 1500    13. History / Asia    14. India    15. Literary studies: general    16. Sanskrit    17. Social history   

Reviews (6)

Excellent, BUT...
The author states in the introduction that this book is not meant for self-study and that it is expected that a knowledgeable teacher is available to answer any questions -- and, presumably, to check the answers to the exercises.This book is beautifully laid-out, clearly written, and is a joy to study -- right up until you complete an exercise and want to check your answers and find that the only way to do it is just go over and exercise repeatedly until you are sure your answers are correct.There is no other way to know.It is still a useful and productive book for self-study, definitely 5-star material, but I'm knocking off a star because of the lack of an answer key.

Excellent Book
Contrary to the author's suggestions I am using the book to study Sanskrit myself. It is excellent for that too although granted I speak two language of the Indo Aryan family - Hindi and Bengali. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to begin learning Sanskrit.

Methodical, patient, clear
This is a very well thought-out text. The author states that it is not intended for self-study, but if you have a facility for languages, have studied an inflection-driven language such as Latin and have had a year of a modern language that uses the Devanagri writing system, you should be ok. The format is similar to that of Moreland and Fleischer's Latin text, with brief lessons covering single-serving chunks of morphology, followed by vocabulary and exercises in translation and composition. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - General    2. Ethnic Studies - General    3. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    4. General    5. History    6. Indic & South Asian Languages - Hindi    7. Linguistics    8. Multicultural Nonfiction    9. Language teaching & learning material & coursework    10. Sanskrit    11. Social Science / Ethnic Studies   

Reviews (12)

The Very Best
I have read several retellings of the Ramayana and this one by Menon is now my favorite. It is very lyrical and the parts where Rama's divinity are revealed are so beautifully imagined it will arouse an indescribable longing in your heart.

Wow! This is a perfect balance of accuracy and drama.
There is always a difficulty in deciding how to move when confronted with an ancient text: should it err on the side of literal accuracy or in capturing the spirit of restless drama ancient epics expose?This translation continnually gets it exactly right.It captures you from the start in a breathless adventure but never makes the mistake of selling out proper accuracy, even when it's as painful to modern ears as the humiliation of Sita at the end is bound to be.Bravo!

My thanks for this version.
When traveling throughout Southeast Asia, I constantly came across statuary and other visual art based on characters or events in the Ramayana. I had never heard of this great epic, and cobbled together a rudimentary awareness of it by asking various guides what I was seeing.My thanks to Ramesh Menon, a very talented and patient writer, for this novelistic version of the story. I couldn't put it down.It's an incredible action story, a great tribute to a culture's religious belief, subtlety, and genius, and I came to regard the participants in the story with great fondness.I especially appreciated the characterization of Rama, who was not a stereotype, but instead had to struggle mightily to get out of the way of his own nature, and the arch-demon Ravana, the embodiment of evil, who contained much honor and good as well.I feel very enriched for having read the Ramayana, and thank Mr. Menon for making the story so accessible to a Western audience. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient, Classical & Medieval    2. Hinduism    3. Literary Collections    4. Literature: Classics    5. Religion - World Religions    6. Sanskrit Poetry    7. Religion / Hinduism   

Reviews (2)

Adequate but
The standard Sanskrit Dictionary for Sanskrit students is theMonier-William dictionary ... However, packing it around takes the entireback pack.For early years of study, the Apte dictionary is an adequatevolume to pack around.However, you'll still need a Monier-William athome.

a concise lexicon, with usable entries
Apte's dictionary is one of the handiest sanskrit lexicon's around.While nothing can beat Monier-Williams' for thoroughness, Apte's brief entries are highly usable.He has restricted himself to listing only the more frequent uses of words and roots.most entries do list multipledefinitions, as well as examples of usage culled from Sanskrit literature. This is a good portable dictionary.It served me quite well for the firsttwo years of Sanskrit study. As with all books published in India, thereare occassional pages where it is difficult to read the print--don'tcomplain, this is part of the Sanskrit experience.It is good preparationfor reading manuscripts. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Reference    2. Bilingual dictionaries    3. English    4. Sanskrit   

Reviews (8)

Best In Show 100 years and counting
As another reviewer put it, this is quite simply the only definitive Sanskrit-English dictionary. The monumental feat of scholarship required to compile this resource is staggering to imagine. It has completely answered every query for which I have consulted it and deserves 5 stars for this fact alone.
Dictionary with an agenda.
Useful as a quick reference because the entries are primarily in Roman script with diacritics, rather than Devanagari. Some of the entries, specifically those connected with scientific views, are outdated as they are subject to the scientific understanding of the time. Simply the best
The Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary is one of the heaviest books I own. If you are working in any field related to Indolology or Indian linguistics, you need it - it is the best by far. In every entry you feel that Monier-Williams spoke Sanskrit and loved India - a wonderful book, you can spend hours just browsing in it. The Monier-William and Platt's Urdu, Classical Hindi and English Dictionary represent the apex of British Indological Scholarship. A digital edition would be extremely useful... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bilingual dictionaries    2. Sanskrit   

Reviews (3)

A must for every sanskrit newbie
What makes this sanskrit primer special is the easy with which you can read it. In contrast to the chippy style of other more "classical" books, you will realy enjoy reading this one - it gives you a lot of interesting background information about the language, which as I found, makes learning the stuff much easier.
Comprehensive but very hard
Struggling with this book, it is anything but a book for beginners. Unless you are a god of linguistics or already know Sanskrit, probably better to start somewhere (anywhere) else. I will grant Coulson that - it is comprehensive...

The best book for beginners
This is by far the best introductory book for those interested in studying Sanskrit seriously on their own. The book is not easy, but then, neither is Sanskrit. Coulson presents Sanskrit grammar clearly, and his exercises are extremely useful. Completing this book will make it possible for a student to read relatively simple Sanskrit texts with a dictionary on his or her own. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient Languages - General    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Indic & South Asian Languages - General    5. Language    6. Foreign Language Study / Indic & South Asian Languages   

Reviews (3)

Classic - But often inaccurate
This dictionary is a classic, to be sure, but highly outdated. If you want to do Dharma translations, you're much better off looking at the new online Rangjung Yeshe dictionary which makes looking up words faster and has compiled the entries from a number of different, up to date sources.If you're interested in colloquial, or modern standard Tibetan, then the Goldstein dictionary is unrivaled.Das, as far as I'm concerned, is nothing but a dust collector.

A Definitive Work
The book is beautiful, no doubt about it, but the beauty doesn't compensate for the poor printing quality. This is the one factor that definitely influences the usability of the book, and it's a shame. It certainly is a remarkable book with respect to its tireless coverage of the Tibetan language and if it were printed on better quality paper with more legibility and uniformity in the way of Tibetan character depiction, it would be much more useful. The beauty of the Sanskrit-derived Tibetan language is in its wealth of expression, and the dictionary, however difficult a tool to use, is still a showcase for the myriad words and expressions of this ancient language-script. To have the dictionary for the pleasure of nonacademic perusal alone, is enough for me. The dictionary presents Tibetan words in alphabetical order (with a helpful listing of the Tibetan alphabet, a pronounciation guide, names and grammatical abbreviations in the beginning of the book) followed by the Sanskrit equivalent of each word and its English meaning. Sarat Chandra Das was thorough in his work; he used four ancient Tibetan dictionaries to compile the current work, one of which explains the Tantric portion of Buddhist scriptures. Even after Das' work was finished, if you will, three other scholars, one of whom had made Sanskrit and Pali works his specialty, were consulted. The dictionary covers three main periods in the development of the Tibetan language: The "Period of Translations" which stems from the study of Sanskrit and the subsequent invention of the Tibetan alphabet by the minister of King Srongtsan Gampo beginning in the second half of the seventh century; the Classical Period, "when Tibetan authors began to indulge in compositions of their own" (Jaschke) and from the first quarter of the 18th century onward when the sovereignty of the Dalai Lama was established. In the words of Das in 1902, "It is within this period that Tibet has enjoyed unprecedented peace under the benign sway of the holy Bodhisattvas, and its language has become the "lingua franca" of Higher Asia." This reader would like to see a revisiting of the text with special treatment to the later historical periods, including the latter part of the 20th century, as well as an improvement made upon the printing quality of this extremely important and definitive work.

Old and poorly printed but a translator's classic.
We use Das' dictionary in the intermediate classical Tibetan translation class.The only alternative for those who need both the English and Sanskrit equivalents is Jaschke, which is antique.Students who read and understand Chinese may find the Chinese-Tibetan dictionary a better tool linguistically. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bilingual dictionaries    2. English    3. Tibetan   

Reviews (12)

Ian Myles Slater on: Laying Down the Law?
The 1991 Penguin Classics translation of "The Laws of Manu," by Wendy Doniger (thus on the cover; earlier known as Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, and often so listed) and Brian Smith, is one of two relatively recent translations of the text. The other is "The Law Code of Manu: A New Translation," by Patrick Olivelle, in the Oxford World's Classics (2004), which was also published elsewhere with a new critical edition of the Sanskrit original. Olivelle had earlier translated four other, related, works as "Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Ancient India" (1999), for the same series.
Translator Hates Hinduism
Wendy Doniger, the "translator," of Manu calls the book "evil". Well, you won't confuse her as a cultural or moral relativist. She is quite happy to call attention to 'backwards' India from her Judeo-Christian ivory tower. Only buy this "translation" is you would also consider being taught Torah by an anti-semite.

A major disappointment
The book was supposed to be a translation, but the author has ended up publishing her biases in the garb of presenting it in narrative form. A quick search on the author reveals that she is a controversial character and that Encarta removed her contribution after investigating her scholarship.
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Subjects:  1. (Lawgiver)    2. (Lawgiver).    3. General    4. Hindu law    5. Hinduism    6. Indian Philosophy    7. Manavadharmasastra    8. Manu    9. Måanavadharmaâsåastra    10. Philosophy    11. Religion    12. Sanskrit Literature    13. History / India    14. India    15. Italian    16. Non-Western philosophy    17. Other prose: classical, early & medieval   

Reviews (4)

Whitney Sanskrit Grammar
I like the introductory sections and discussion of differences in classical and Vedic Sanskrit.Still it moves quickly into more detail than can be absorbed with casual study.It is a good reference text -- easier to find things than some of the other grammatical texts -- and it answers some basic questions, like the history of the word spacing in modern texts.But still engages in the vocabulary of advanced grammar without defining the terms -- for example, desiderative, aorist, etc.

Classic work in the field
Whitney is the prototype for Sanskrit grammars in English. I suspect the author had in mind Allen and Greenough's Latin grammar or H.W. Smythe's Greek grammar when designing the numeric scheme for each point, theme, and paradigm. It is a very useful system of notation for referencing from other works.
Exhaustive and well organized reference work
We have been using Whitney's Grammar in addition to Whitney's Roots and the Lanman Reader for the purposes of learning Sanskrit this year.Our professor teaches from a historical linguistic perspective for which thisbook is fairly well suited.This book is most remarkable for its extremelywell organized format and exhaustive treatment of the forms.The inclusionof Vedic forms is very nice.The Sanskrit Reader by Charles R. Lanman isthe perfect complement to this reference grammar.The excellent notes inLanman's reader refer the student to Whitney's Grammar, the vocabulary ishelpful and the stories are delightful.Whitney's Grammar is a must for athorough grasp of the forms though. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient Languages - General    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. General    4. Grammar    5. Language    6. Sanskrit language    7. Foreign Language Study / General    8. Language & Linguistics   

Reviews (3)

not rapid
of course this book and his grammar are valuable I think they are a little bit boring.First of all, Sanskrit Grammar and Roots, Verb Forms are written without devanagari scripts.For this reason one may use Introduction to Sanskrit 2 by Thomas Egenes because it gives the roots and the derivatives in devanagari though the roots are numerically fewer than that of Whitney's.

Wow!
The previous reviewer is absolutely correct. This slim bound package of dynamite will save you hours of page flipping in Monier-William's beast.
An indespensable reference work
Sanskrit must hold the record for the most verbal forms derivable from asingle verbal root.Whitney's work not only provides the forms - primaryconjugations, secondary derivations and some derivatives - but tags themwith the era of Sanskrit in which they occur - Vedas, Updanishads, Epic,Classical etc.This is a must in the library of anyone who reads - orattempts to read - Sanskrit. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Language    3. Language Arts & Disciplines    4. Grammar & vocabulary    5. Sanskrit   

Reviews (5)

The perfect text
I used this text from day one of my three years of Sanskrit study and must recommend it without reservations. Although dense with grammar, its organization and thoroughness are unsurpassed by any of the other texts commonly used, which I find lacking in such thorough explanations. Each section includes everything relevant to the topic as opposed to other texts that distribute information over several chapters. The key to working with this text, as my teacher who had been a student of the authors related to me, is that it must be constantly read and reread, not linearly gone through. Additionally, the decision to put all of the sandhi in one chapter makes for an excellent resource. Although this text may look intimidating, if one puts in the effort it will be extremely rewarding.Even 4+ years after beginning my studies it is my primary Sanskrit resource.

Outstanding "secondary" text
As a review grammar this is an outstanding textbook! It is orientated for 2nd-year students who wish to read the Ramayanan and as such is well-written. However, as Goldman writes in the introduction, it is not a beginner's book. As a Sanskrit teacher for over 30 years (Emory University, Atlanta, GA and Hindu University, Orlando, FL), I use it as a 2nd-year review grammar.
Be prepared to buy additional books
I have been assigned this text in my Sanskrit class. Goldman tries to introduce too many things at once and in too few chapters. Explanations are sketchy at best and the charts are difficult to understand unless you already know the information. My whole class is struggling with Goldman's text, we have had to buy additional books to supplement Devavanipravesika.
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Subjects:  1. Language   

Reviews (2)

elemental
The objective of this booklet with cassette is to provide the student with an elementary guide for the acceptable pronunciation of Sanskrit terms transliterated in Latin characters. As the author says: "...They should enable speakers of English to pronounce Sanskrit words so that they are recognizable to Indian Scholars..."
correction
This book is also available in hardback (a better edition) from South Asia Books sabooks@computerland.netRead more

Subjects:  1. Language    2. Language teaching & learning material & coursework   

Subjects:  1. Reference    2. Bilingual dictionaries    3. English    4. Sanskrit   

Reviews (13)

Rather than expose the scriptures Ms Doniger exposes her self which is least bit beautiful.
I have just been reading Hindu Myths by Wendy Doniger. I was quite disappointed in reading the translations and analysis in the book. It seems quite obvious to me that Ms. Doniger does not have any love for the hindu scriptures that she's translating, though she professes in the preface that the selection of stories in the book are her favorites. Everything from the choice of the titles to the naming of the characters to the descriptions of the conversations to the conclusions that she draws from the myths seem to be designed to expose hidden sexual/erotic meanings and reduce the tales and myths to rubbish produced by peurile and perverted imbeciles. The book's main contents page cleverly hides the outrageous themes that she has chosen as subheadings in the main text. It is not clear why exactly this was done, probably to increase the sales. At least unsuspecting readers like me would not be discouraged when we look at it before we buy the book. Her narrative rarely evokes the feeling that is intended in the text that she is translating. She has a single minded purpose of nailing the hidden unholy, scandalous message that the tale carries in her opinion. This book is definitely not intended to present any positive view to the readers. It is more like a brief of an investigation specifically designed to malign hindu faith.
A poorly written/opinionated book written by an opinionated individual
this book may portray some of the facts of hinduism, but it does not seem to want to portray it in an inoffensive manner. what the author doesn't or does understand is that this is a religion, it would be like writing a book on christianity and refering to the noah and adam and eve stories as myths. then researching it half-assed and writing on personal opinions that are highly offensive to christians. matters of faith should not be tried in court, so there is no way you can look at it in a factual or intellectual manner. it just does not make sense, unless you want to visit the places where these Gods were born and look at the evidence and speak of it or read the palm leaf that still exists in India that predicted the birth of jesus...which was predicted in the Hindu religion.

Grossly inaccurate and condescending
For those who want to truly learn about hinduism, I would recommend the Bhagavad Gita translations. Versions by Ram Dass, Eknath Easwaran, Parmahansa Yogananda are quite good though there is no replacement for the original text in Sanskrit. Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Hinduism    3. Mythology, Hindu    4. Mythology. Indic    5. Religion - World Religions    6. Myths & mythology   

Reviews (2)

Meeting Shams of Tabriz
Who was Rumi's beloved? Who was this dervish who overturned Rumi's world, leading him to leave the safe path of knowledge and enter the burning path of love? Who was he before he met Rumi and how was he changed by this encounter? If you, like me, wondered about this timeless story of lover and beloved, you can meet Shams in this book and read his own words in English for the first time. Although it lacks a narrative structure, it brings him alive in moments of vitality. The story of Rumi and Shamsis the story of the meeting of two human beings that, like the conjunction of two planets, realigned the fates. My novel about them, like Siddhartha or Last Temptation of Christ, is the tale of the lover of God, the mythic story of the human soul. This book offers a description of the human beloved who stood, for Rumi, as the divine beloved.

long-awaited Autobiography - Shams, the strange Companion
"When a sincere man begins to dance,
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Subjects:  1. Asian - Indic    2. Eastern - General    3. Indian Philosophy    4. Islam - Sufism    5. Literary Criticism    6. Religion - World Religions    7. Sanskrit Poetry    8. Biography: general    9. India    10. Islam    11. Sanskrit