ELEMENTARY
SANSKRIT
16-week online course
taught by Luke Gibson
Course Overview
South Asian sages, thinkers, and poets have long grappled with the fundamental questions of existence, offering diverse insights into all facets of human life, including both worldly or outward-focused pursuits (pravṛtti) and spiritual or inward-focused activity (nivṛtti). Their contributions have nourished the cultural and intellectual landscapes of many ancient civilizations—from China and Japan to Thailand or Tibet—and have even left a lasting mark on the development of Western culture, inspiring figures from Schopenhauer to the American transcendentalists or serving as a wellspring for the modern yoga and mindfulness movements.
At the heart of this vibrant and enduring civilization lies Sanskrit—a language that, in addition to being the gateway to India’s vast literary and spiritual heritage, invites us with its intricate grammatical system to slow down, nurturing a more deliberate, mindful approach to engaging with ancient texts. This slow reading that the study of Sanskrit requires of us sharpens our capacity for analytical thinking and cultivates a greater sensitivity to the nuances within the text and the challenges of translation.
Whether you are drawn to Sanskrit to explore Indian philosophy and religious traditions, appreciate its literary masterpieces, or simply enjoy the process of learning a new language, this course offers a structured and accessible starting point. No prior knowledge of Sanskrit or a particular gift for languages is required—only an inquisitive spirit and the perseverance needed to experience first-hand a language that has shaped millennia of thought, literature, and spiritual practice across cultures.
“If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions of some of them which well deserve the attention even of those who have studied Plato and Kant—I should point to India.”
Max Müller (German-born British philologist)
India: What Can it Teach Us?
Course Features
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Exposure to Authentic Texts
Students engage with a curated selection of beginner-friendly original Sanskrit texts. By the end of week 8, they can fully comprehend and recite their first subhāṣita (versified maxim). By the end of the course, we are ready to begin reading simple verses by major classical authors such as Aśvaghoṣa and Kālidāsa.
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Onus on Syntax and Usage
Traditionally, Sanskrit pedagogy emphasizes word formation (morphology) at the expense of sentence structure and usage (syntax). By giving proper attention to this crucial topic, this course ensures that students acquire a solid foundation in the distinctive, and at first unfamiliar, ways in which Sanskrit expresses meaning.
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Language and Culture
Learning a language involves more than grammar and vocabulary. Through the textbook readings and supplementary materials, we will also explore South Asian literature, philosophy, and religion, taking the Buddhist tradition as our entry point into South Asia's vast world of thought.
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Extensive Course Materials
Students are introduced to a wide range of learning resources, including audio recordings by the instructor, Anki vocabulary flashcards, PowerPoint presentations, video recordings of each class, and weekly supplementary materials provided in PDF format.
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Regular Assignments for Steady Progress
Weekly exercises are assigned and reviewed in class to ensure students progress steadily and meet the learning goals at each stage of the course.
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Interactive Learning Environment
The course encourages students to be active participants—ask questions freely, share their answers to the weekly exercises, and embrace making mistakes as an essential part of the learning process. A group chat allows students to engage with their peers and receive real-time feedback from the instructor between classes.
Teaching Material
To complement the textbook, weekly supplementary materials offer additional linguistic insights and bite-sized introductions to relevant cultural context. These materials also include a diverse range of widely-recited Sanskrit texts, from Vedic chants (e.g., Puruṣa Sūkta, Śrī Sūkta), mantra-s (Gāyatrī Mantra, Ṣaḍakṣarī Mahāvidyā), and hymns of praise (Madhurāṣṭaka, Prajñāpāramitā Stotra) to songs from langages closely related to Sanskrit (Awadhi Hanumān Cālīsā or Pāli Mettā Sutta).
These cultural asides and texts, accompanied by links to recordings of traditional and modern renditions, showcase the historical richness and enduring vitality of Sanskritic culture across religious traditions.
This course uses the instructor’s textbook, Reading Sanskrit: A Complete Step-by-Step Introduction with Texts from the Buddhist Tradition (Columbia University Press, 2025), which offers a fresh approach to learning Sanskrit that draws from the Buddhist tradition’s vast Sanskrit corpus to introduce the student to a thematically coherent collection of Sanskrit texts, including narrative, philosophical, and poetic writings. Reading Sanskrit immerses the reader in one of the major strands of South Asian spirituality and culture while highlighting Buddhism’s connection to other religious and literary traditions.
The Rāmāyaṇa, one of the two great epics of Sanskrit literature, is one of several cultural topics we explore in the classroom during this course. This video is an excerpt from the 2008 television series Ramayan by Anand Sagar, depicting the scene in which Rāma’s sons—Lava and Kuśa—appear before his court to meet their father and recite the story of the Rāmāyaṇa. By the end of this course, students will not only be able to make sense of the opening Sanskrit lines of the video but also recognize many familiar Sanskrit-derived words in this popular Hindi song.
The Teacher
Luke Gibson has been teaching Sanskrit for over a decade. With a background in French, Mandarin, Classical Chinese, and Pāli as well as Sanskrit, his passion for language learning and pedagogy inspired him to develop his own Sanskrit textbook and launch the Śabda·vidyā Sanskrit Studio, an online platform designed to share his passion with a diverse global audience of Sanskrit enthusiasts. As a relatively young teacher, he retains a vivid understanding of the challenges faced by beginner students. His interests span early Buddhist (Pāli) texts, Mahāyāna philosophy, Advaita Vedānta, Sanskrit poetry (kāvya), as well as the transmission and adaptation of South Asian traditions in East Asia—particularly Chan/Zen Buddhism—and the West.
Audio sample from the teacher—a Buddhist maxim from the Udānavarga (“Groups of Utterances”), the Sanskrit Dhammapada:
na hi vaireṇa vairāṇi śāmyantīha kadācana |
kṣāntyā vairāṇi śāmyanti eṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
“Never through hatred does hatred come to an end in this world;
hatred ceases rather through forgiveness (or ‘forbearance’). This truth is eternal.”
Teaching Assistant
Xinqiang Wang (王昕嬙) graduated from Beijing Normal University in 2015 with a master’s degree in psychology. Driven by a deep interest in Buddhist teachings, languages, and history, she began studying Sanskrit with Luke in 2019 at the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts. She also studied Sanskrit at Hangzhou Buddhist Academy and took part in the Second Ancient Languages Summer Program organized by the Guangqi International Center for Scholars at Shanghai Normal University, where she earned a completion certificate and a scholarship. In recent years, her work has focused on teaching English and Sanskrit, providing mental health counseling, and leading mindfulness meditation workshops.
Course Information
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Class Schedule: September 1, 2026 – December 17, 2026; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific Time (PT, UTC-7/-8); 16 weeks, 48 hours total.
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Class Format: All sessions will be conducted live online via Zoom.
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Teaching Material: Reading Sanskrit: A Complete Step-by-Step Introduction with Texts from the Buddhist Tradition (Columbia University Press).
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Language of Instruction: English.
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Tuition: $380. Ordained monastics are eligible for a 30% discount.
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Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of Sanskrit is required. While regular attendance and participation in class discussions are encouraged, they are not mandatory.
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Enrollment Limit: Enrollment is capped at 30 students to ensure an interactive learning environment.
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Contact: If you have any questions about the course, feel free to contact the TA or the teacher:
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Teaching Assistant: info@sanskritstudio.com
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Teacher: luke.gibson@sanskritstudio.com
How to Enroll
To enroll in this course, please complete the Registration Form below. Registrations are open until August 31 at 11:59 PM, or until all 30 places have been filled, whichever comes first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Banner image:
Sudhana, 11-12th century Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra manuscript, Nepal