AIIS started offering Sanskrit instruction in the summer of 2001 Since then, Sanskrit has been among the most popular of programs: nearly 250 students—both graduate and undergraduate– have participated in the AIIS Sanskrit programs, including eleven students enrolled in the summer 2022 program.
In addition to providing rigorous structured instruction in the four skills areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking, students are invited to select Sanskrit texts, such as poems, scientific and medical texts, or selections from among the many Sanskrit epics, to read with instructors during personal tutorials. Texts studied during the regular classes and individual tutorials include Sanskrit literature such as Panchatantra / Hitopadesha Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Upanishads, Ghanaśyāma’s Ānandasundarī, the Natyashastra, Adi Shankaracarya’s Brahma Sutra Bhasya, Shataka literature, Sanskrit drama, and Temple epigraphy.
AIIS is immensely grateful for the support provided to its Sanskrit program over many years by the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for South Asia Studies. This support has enabled many students, who otherwise would not have been able to obtain funding, to participate in our Sanskrit program.