About my Sanskrit courses at Jiva this autumn

 जीव तीर्थ संस्कृतम्

I don't want to leave Vrindavan or my cave in the Jiva Institute, but I have been obliged to change my plans somewhat and resume a responsibility towards my family because of these very painful circumstances.

These are the crazy years of Covid. I will continue giving classes in Sanskrit and even if I cannot be back in Vrindavan by Karttik (because of visa and flight restrictions) I will continue to give them on Zoom, as currently.

It is best when we have live students present physically on the premises, but in the current circumstances, easy movement between countries has been disrupted, and India is considered to be a particularly tough place for Covid, even though in terms of cases per population [342 per million, compared to USA nearly 2000 or Brazil 2700.], it is quite far down the list. But there are still a huge number of cases.

So the new normal appears to be Zoom. Let me state unequivocally, however, that I am committed to my students and I am looking forward to starting the Bhagavad Gita with commentary Sanskrit reading course at the scheduled date.

This last repetition of the current iteration of the course, which is approaching completion now, has resulted in many great improvements.

It appears now that if someone follows and does the homework, they should be able to attain basic competency within six months. And with the addition of the reading course, they will have the tools to handle any text--with the help of a dictionary of course.

It will also make access to Babaji's Hari-nāmāmr̥ta-vyākaraṇa course much easier, so it opens the doors to a more thorough knowledge of Sanskrit grammar, as all the basic terms and usages will have been introduced. Many of Babaji's students who worked with me are telling me this is so.

I have worked hard to design a course that gives access to the Bhāgavatam and our Gauḍīya texts. The orientation is towards rasa, or getting a taste for the language as well as getting a feel for the specific genius of Sanskrit and its unique ways of expression.

Most students have found it an enjoyable experience because of the chanting and memorization of iconic illustrative verses from the scriptures as well as daily "calisthenics" of declension and conjugation recitation.

For anybody wishing to do an intensive six-month course (5 days a week) covering all the basics, then I recommend taking this opportunity, because it is one that, like the human body itself, is both sulabha and sudurlabha.

There is a lot of competition out there, but I strongly feel the approach I have devised is a superior one, but it takes commitment for the six month period and then seriousness about continuing one's engagement with Sanskrit afterwards.

* Knowing the Sanskrit alphabet is a prerequisite for the course. So start learning NOW.

Please contact Malatimanjari Dasi (info@jiva.org) if you are interested. Jai Radhe.