Course Discription
Based on the fundamental knowledge of Sanskrit grammar and
vocabulary acquired in the Basic Course (Level 1 — AA) we will now
enter the field of practical application. For this aim, a systematic
study of the 700 verses of the Bhagavad-gita will be our main focus.
We have selected this work out of two reasons:
1.
The Bhagavad-gita is the
most popular and important work in Sanskrit literature. Its
spiritual message and philosophical meaning has deeply influenced
human culture in East and West.
2.
For beginners the Sanskrit
of the Bhagavad-gita offers an ideal learning field. Although easily
understandable, all important linguistic methods are demanded to
gain a thorough understanding of the text.
By
analyzing each verse in terms of vocabulary and grammatical
construction, the student will be guided through the vast ocean of
this beautiful language with all its depths and currents. By this,
the learning experience will be enlivening and comprehensive at the
same time. The main task of the student will be to compose a prose
version of the Bhagavad-gita poems (technically called anvaya),
with the help of a similar work of the famous Gita commentator
Shridhara Swami. Whenever interesting grammatical constructions
appear, the student will learn to analyze them with the help of the
correspondence material. Thus, many topics that were only briefly
introduced in the Basic Course (like verbal conjugation, or word
sandhi) will now find a thorough introspection.
The
collected homework assignments, together with a written exam at the
end of the course, will qualify the student for the title “Bachelor
of Art in Sanskrit” of the Florida Vedic College.

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