A Sanskrit Primer

In the preface to the work* of which the following is a revision, Prof. Bithler writes as follows: "The following Leitfaden was written last winter [1881 —82], and, printed in manuscript form, was used in the instruction of quite a large number of scholars. It is based upon the purely practical method of Sanskrit instruction, which was introduced at Haug's and my own instance into the Indian secondary schools, and has become established there by means of R. G. Bhandarkar's text-books. The attempt to transfer this method to European uni- versities is justified by the practical success which, as my ex- perience shows, is to be gained thereby. For I have found that beginners master the first difficulties of Sanskrit very rapidly, and that learners take the most lively and continued interest in the study, if opportunity for activity on their own part is given them from the very first, and they are. introduced at once into the living language. Moreover, the question of economy of time is made the more weighty by the fact that the elements of Sanskrit form an