Center for South Asian Languages

This course is designed for students who have completed an introductory first-yearcourse in Sanskrit and who are familiarized with the content of the Devavāṇīpraveśikā or an equivalent primer. Students will engage in the reading and translation of an important source from the Jain canon, along with its commentary. This course aims to deepen students' understanding of Sanskrit language and literature, as well as introduce them to the commentarial style and tradition. We may select specific texts that are relevant to students’ research and thus help students with their research in terms of translating primary sources. Learning Objectives • Develop advanced Sanskrit reading and translation skills.• Analyze and interpret complex Sanskrit texts.• Understand the commentarial style and tradition in Sanskrit literature with aparticular focus on the Jain tradition, but also in conversation with Hindu andBuddhist traditions.• Apply knowledge of Sanskrit grammar and syntax to translation.• Discuss nuances of South Asian philosophy, theology, languages, literature,culture, etc.• Assist and advise students regarding their research in terms of employment oftranslations of primary source texts.

This advanced Sanskrit course is a direct continuation of Sanskrit 3 and forms part of Arihanta Institute’s ongoing faculty–student research project on Hemacandra’s Yoga-śāstra and its Svopajña-vivaraṇa commentary. Designed for students who have completed a foundational first-year Sanskrit sequence and can read intermediate prose and verse texts, the course applies grammatical and interpretive knowledge to the translation and analysis of this seminal Jain treatise. Through the close reading of Yoga-śāstra passages and their commentarial explanations, students deepen their understanding of Sanskrit syntax, Jain philosophical vocabulary, and classical scholastic style while situating the text within broader South Asian intellectual traditions. In addition to its focus on Jain philosophy and hermeneutics, the course provides a linguistic foundation for understanding the evolution of Indo-Aryan languages. Mastery of Sanskrit at this level equips students for further study of the Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrits, Apabhraṃśas, and later vernaculars—languages that are central to the study of Jain and wider South Asian literary traditions. Emphasis is placed on developing publication-quality translation and research skills, integrating philological precision, hermeneutic awareness, and critical engagement with primary and secondary sources. By participating in a collaborative academic environment—where faculty and students contribute to an evolving body of Jain Studies scholarship—students refine their ability to produce rigorous, well-annotated translations suitable for conference presentation or publication. The course culminates in an independent research paper demonstrating mastery of Sanskrit language and commentarial analysis within the context of Hemacandra’s thought and Jain philosophy more broadly. This course is not offered directly for university credit from Arihanta Institute. However, students who wish to receive language credit from their home institutions (including the MA in Engaged Jain Studies at Claremont School of Theology) are encouraged to contact their administrations to explore the possibility of having this course count toward academic credit through their home institutions. Many universities, particularly at the graduate level, provide mechanisms such as a “special reading course,” “directed reading course,” or other forms of independent study that allow students to work with a faculty member at their institution to tailor a course to their specific needs. In the past, Arihanta Institute students have successfully arranged with their home institutions to take our language classes for university credits from their home institutions under such frameworks, with our instructors providing the final grade and grading rubric directly to their institution. If you are interested in pursuing academic credit in this way, please consult with your home institution’s administration about the available options, and Dr. Bohanec will be happy to work with them to submit your grade for the course to them. Learning ObjectivesDevelop advanced Sanskrit reading, translation, and philological skills, demonstrating mastery of complex grammar, syntax, and vocabulary through accurate and idiomatic renderings of primary texts.Analyze and interpret Sanskrit commentarial literature with attention to Jain philosophical frameworks—particularly Hemacandra’s Yoga-śāstra and Svopajña-vivaraṇa—while engaging in comparative hermeneutic dialogue with Hindu and Buddhist traditions.Apply linguistic and hermeneutic methods to assess philosophical arguments, religious language, and the structure of commentarial reasoning in premodern South Asian texts.Situate Jain philosophical texts within broader South Asian and global intellectual traditions, including comparative study of dharmic and Abrahamic perspectives on ethics, epistemology, and contemplative practice.Discuss and critique nuances in South Asian philosophy, theology, linguistics, literature, and culture, demonstrating both technical precision and interpretive depth.Produce publication-quality translation and research projects, integrating philological analysis, hermeneutic reflection, and ethical awareness appropriate to graduate-level scholarship.

In this course, which is Part 1 of 2, students will complete the equivalent of their first semester of graduate level Sanskrit. Students will gain necessary competency in University Sanskrit 1 as well as the important research skills necessary to translate Sanskrit texts by translating modified excerpts from Sanskrit literature. These research skills include basic philology such as etymology, the ability to identify inflexions and grammatical forms, and syntactical analyses. Upon completion of both of University Sanskrit 1 and University Sanskrit 2, we will have completed the Devavāṇīpraveśikā Sanskrit primer (Goldman and Goldman, 1980). In the process, students will learn to memorize, recognize, and recall all major paradigms of inflection (conjugations, declensions, indeclinable suffixes, prefixes, etc.) and use these skills when translating, reading, memorizing, or liturgically reciting Sanskrit texts. Competency with Sanskrit translation is a key skill for academics in the field of South Asian Studies. It is one of the most important research skills that give scholars access to resources that are the object of their research, and it is also a skill that, when demonstrated with translations in one’s publications, gives a great deal of much needed credibility to the academic work of scholars. The Sanskrit language can also be very helpful to strengthen and deepen one’s connection to one’s own spiritual tradition. For most Dharma traditions (Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism), Sanskrit is often the medium of liturgical practices, and Sanskrit texts also tend to form the doctrinal, philosophical, and practical foundation for individual and collective spiritual practices in those traditions. Dharma traditions are deep reservoirs of spiritual wisdom that have the power to transform us personally and collectively in profound ways, and Sanskrit is one of the most important keys to unlocking that great reservoir of ancient spiritual wisdom that is much needed in our own personal lives, and in our collective society at large. Learning Objectives1. Learn to read Sanskrit in Devanagari font.2. Acquire basic Sanskrit vocabulary.3. Learn to identify and understand the basic grammatical forms covered in class.4. Learn to understand key differences between Sanskrit and English syntaxes and to be able to convert Sanskrit syntax into English syntax.5. Learn basic skills for translation of Sanskrit primary sources for research6. Become familiarized with other cultural and intellectual elements of the broader Sanskrit tradition.

This course is an eight-week summer intensive that integrates University Sanskrit 1 and University Sanskrit 2 into a single, accelerated sequence. Designed for students seeking immersive language training, the course covers the full scope of the Devavāṇīpraveśikā Sanskrit primer (Goldman and Goldman, 1980), moving from foundational grammatical systems to more advanced forms required for sustained reading and translation of Sanskrit texts. Through daily instruction, sustained memorization, recitation, and guided translation practice, students will learn to recognize, recall, and apply the major paradigms of Sanskrit inflection, including nominal declensions, verbal conjugations, participial formations, compounds, indeclinable suffixes, and key syntactic constructions. Emphasis is placed on disciplined study habits and cumulative mastery, with the understanding that the accelerated pace of a summer intensive requires consistent engagement and regular review. Students will develop essential research skills in Sanskrit philology, including close attention to grammatical form, syntactical analysis, and methodical translation practice, by translating carefully selected and modified excerpts from Sanskrit literature. While the course moves more rapidly than a standard academic-year sequence, instructional pacing is intentionally structured to provide initial orientation and methodological grounding, followed by a period of accelerated coverage and a final phase of consolidation and integration. Competency in Sanskrit translation is a central research skill for scholars in South Asian Studies, providing direct access to primary sources and supporting credibility in academic writing. At the same time, Sanskrit study can also deepen engagement with lived religious traditions. For many dharma traditions—particularly Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism—Sanskrit functions as a primary medium of liturgy, doctrine, and philosophical reflection. Accordingly, this course supports both academic research preparation and informed engagement with the cultural, intellectual, and spiritual landscapes shaped by Sanskrit texts. By the end of the intensive, students will have completed the Devavāṇīpraveśikā primer in full and will be prepared to advance to more independent translation and textual study at the upper-division undergraduate or graduate level, including advanced 8003 | Sanskrit 3 and 8004 | Sanskrit 4 coursework. 

A significant amount of Indological scholarship considering the Jain tradition was written in German, making learning German for the study of Jainism crucial. And indeed for many students engaged in the study of religion, understanding German for reading and translation is a critical research skill. In this graduate course, students will learn the German grammar necessary to begin to confidently read and translate German texts, with the goal of preparing them to undertake advanced translation and/or pass their competency exams. Students will also learn to appreciate reading and translation as a personally transformative practice supported through, though irreplaceable by, artificial intelligence.One particularly unique feature of this course is its ongoing engagement with thebiography of artist Narendra Kumar Jain. Class exercises will focus on translatingGerman newspaper articles, interviews, and other media discussing Jain’s journey from India to Germany where he painted a mural on the Berlin Wall’s East Side Gallery.Through their translations, students will appreciate how his mural, titled The SevenStages to Enlightenment (Die sieben Stufen der Erleuchtung), emerges out of a richhistorical context where Jain and yogic values intersect with international politicsmanifesting in post-World War II Berlin. Course objective:The objective of this course is that students will be able to demonstrate proficiency inreading and translating German in academic and journalistic works, for the study ofreligion.