Learn Saṃskṛt and Devanāgarī

Put Sanskrit into practice

Look up a word, convert a text or practise letters and vocabulary. Choose a tool or learning game that helps you take your next step.

Look up Sanskrit words and their meanings

Search for a Sanskrit word or part of a word. Compare dictionary entries, follow its derivation and find passages where it occurs.

Convert Sanskrit between scripts and transliteration

Convert Sanskrit between Devanāgarī and Latin transliteration. Select the input and output writing systems, then enter your text.

Learn Devanāgarī by matching letters and transliteration

Learn to read Devanāgarī by matching its characters with Latin transliteration. Choose a group of characters and practise in short rounds.

Practise Sanskrit words and explore their word families

Match Sanskrit words with their meanings. Choose words from a source text or passage and include their roots and other source words.

Handwritten Devanāgarī lines on a manuscript page.

Sanskrit declensions

Practise how Sanskrit words change with case and number. Choose a classical or Vedic table and match the forms with their translations.

Learn to recognise Sanskrit verb forms

Start with the present tense or choose another verb table. Match forms with their translations and compare how they are formed.

Explore the Sanskrit Workshop

Understand Sanskrit

Saṃskṛt pronunciation: meditation, precision, and clarity

The sound of Saṃskṛt has a profound effect on the mind. Conscious articulation can become meditation in sound, allowing mantras and ślokas to reveal their clear beauty.

Devanāgarī script: learn to read and write

Devanāgarī is sound made visible. It represents the pronunciation of Saṃskṛt with precision, and the act of reading and writing can become a meditation in itself.

Transliteration: read Saṃskṛt in a familiar script

Transliteration renders Devanāgarī in a familiar roman script, making Saṃskṛt easier to read, pronounce, and type with standards such as IAST, ISO 15919, and ITRANS.

Sandhi: pronunciation and spelling of words and sentences

Saṃskṛt was long transmitted primarily through oral recitation. The rules of sandhi show how sounds merge at word boundaries, making speech more fluid and melodic.

Saṃskṛt metres: rhythm and verse

Many yoga source texts are composed in metre. Understanding Saṃskṛt metres helps you hear the rhythmic order of the verses and experience recitation more consciously.

Compounds in Saṃskṛt: understanding compound words

Compounds are a defining feature of Saṃskṛt literature. In Saṃskṛt, compound words often form complex structures of meaning that become clear only through careful analysis.

Fonts for Devanāgarī and Roman transliteration

These fonts support Devanāgarī and Roman transliteration with diacritics according to ISO 15919, making it easier to write and display Saṃskṛt cleanly.

Photographer: Tom Rosenthal

Learn Saṃskṛt and Devanāgarī: sound, script, and grammar