Vision
Language and Spiritual Cultivation
In our current moment, where attention is relentlessly fragmented by high-volume, low-quality information, classical language learning stands as a quiet form of spiritual resistance. Against the accelerating production of machine-generated content, it insists on a different set of values: stillness over speed, precision over approximation, and genuine encounter with other worlds of thought over confinement within one’s own informational bubble. It cultivates the capacity for sustained, sensitive engagement with detail and nuance, exploring texts crafted with the utmost care by the greatest thinkers, mystics, and poets of the ancient world.
To study a classical language is also a way of cultivating a new vantage point on our lives: stepping into another time and place, we gain a keener awareness of how we live now, uncovering hidden boundaries and unexpected possibilities. In our classes, I strive to blend the study of the Sanskrit language with a humanistic, non-sectarian exploration of classical South Asian culture, including its various outlooks on existence.
If you’re drawn to Sanskrit out of an interest in Indian philosophy, religion, or practices like yoga and meditation, you may appreciate how our courses engage these themes directly. Many university programs, by contrast, tend to focus heavily on narrative or “secular” literature in the early years—a perfectly valid approach, but one that can leave some students waiting a while before encountering the texts that brought them to Sanskrit in the first place.
The texts in our courses include both Buddhism and Hinduism—the two main streams of ancient South Asian spirituality—because a deep, well-rounded understanding of either tradition is enriched by some familiarity with the other.
“To learn a new language is to grow a new soul.”
—Adapted from a Czech Proverb
Bringing Sanskrit to Life
Though it may seem that way to us at first, languages—even ancient Indo-European languages—are not simply grammatical puzzles to be deciphered through dry linguistic analysis. With the proper encouragement, students can start developing an intuitive feel for classical languages like Sanskrit. To achieve this, I place a strong emphasis on reading texts aloud and on the memorization and recitation of Sanskrit verses—especially subhāṣita-s (versified maxims)—to help students internalize the language’s rhythm and syntax.
This approach is supported by the way classes are organized. The limit placed on the number of students in each class is intended to foster active student engagement: before receiving feedback from the teacher, participants consistently have the opportunity to practice reading or reciting texts and share their understanding or translation. Most importantly, I aim to create a relaxed and welcoming environment in which we can enjoy the learning process rather than rush toward quick results.
The Purpose of Śabda-vidyā
Śabda is one of the Sanskrit words meaning “sound” and, by extension, “word,” “speech,” or “language.” This semantic connection between sound and language highlights the deeply oral nature of Sanskrit culture. Unlike Classical Chinese, for example, Sanskrit is fundamentally a language that is meant to be voiced and heard aloud.
Śabda-vidyā means the “science (vidyā) of language” or “linguistics” (Chinese shengming 聲明). Used primarily in the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition, the term refers especially to the study of Sanskrit grammar (vyākaraṇa). About this field of learning, a well-known saying (subhāṣita) from the Pañcatantra (“Five Books”) says:
anantapāraṃ kila śabdaśāstraṃ svalpaṃ tathāyur bahavaś ca vighnāḥ |
sāraṃ tato grāhyam apāsya phalgu haṃsair yathā kṣīram ivāmbumadhyāt ||
“The science of language, they say, is boundless, yet life is short and full of obstacles.
Thus, let us focus on what is essential and set aside what is useless,
just as the haṃsa (a mythical bird) separates milk from water.”
—Viṣṇuśarman, Pañcatantra, verse 6
It is easy to lose oneself in the dense jungle of traditional Sanskrit grammar or the labyrinth of Western historical linguistics. Though exploring such depths can be fascinating, my approach—both in writing Reading Sanskrit and in teaching—is to focus on what is most relevant to students at their present stage of learning, rather than getting lost in the minutiae.
The Buddhist tradition’s inclusion of śabda-vidyā—the study of language—alongside four other sciences (logic, medicine, crafts, and inner or spiritual knowledge) as the first step of a practitioner’s program of self-cultivation also serves as an important reminder: language learning isn’t an isolated pursuit. In South Asian traditions, it has always been deeply connected to the larger quest for wisdom and a meaningful life. As the great 5th century poet and linguist Bhartṛhari once put it, “Language study is the doorway to liberation.”
—Luke Gibson
Banner image:
Bodhisattvas, Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā manuscript, 12th century, Bengal