Scholastic Sanskrit: A Manual for Students (Treasury of the Indic Sciences) Review

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Scholastic Sanskrit: A Manual for Students (Treasury of the Indic Sciences) ReviewI had the good fortune to study Sanskrit for several years at an Ivy League University. Unfortunately, I was never able to take a class that involved a great deal of use of the commentaries that seem to accompany all major Sanskrit texts. I would just use them, when I could, to find word divisions, undo sandhi, etc.
Several years ago, I began to try to teach myself the commentatorial style. A former professor told me that the only works he knew of in Western languages on this style were a chapter in Teach Yourself Sanskrit Complete Course (Teach Yourself Language Complete Courses) and a German work, Nominale Ausdrucksformen im wissenschaftlichen Sanskrit - written in - at least to me - an impenetrable style of German, though I am told it is an essential text.
Then I ordered "Scholastic Sanskrit". I can not overemphasize how valuable it has become to me in the few short weeks I have owned it. It serves both as a reference text, and a teaching tool. It explains with example after example all the formulaic expressions that occurr in Sanskrit commentaries, such as ityarthah, -adi, etena...iti, and on and on and on!
The style is completely lucid and seems geared towards those, like myself, who are trying to learn this style without the benefit of a teacher. I have read only about the first 50 pages or so, but, with this text in hand, I am now able to see nuances and meaning in commentaries, where before I had just found frustrating confusion.
The authors recommend using the text in conjuction with the Anubandhas of Panini (Publications of the Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit), which I have also found quite helpful.
I am using "Scholastic Sanskrit" along with Panditaraja Jagannatha's Gangalahari: With the commentary by Sri Sadasiva & English translation. This text provides a Sanskrit commentary on the poem with a literal - and thoughtful - English translation. I cannot reccommend either of the books too highly for those trying to learn how to read Sanskrit commentaries without a guru. (I can also thoroughly reccommend the Ramopakhyana - The Story of Rama in the Mahabharata: A Sanskrit Independent-Study Reader )
My only negative comment on the book is that the indexes in the back sometimes provide references that are off by 2-4 pages. A minor point.
Many thanks to the authors for providing such a work!Scholastic Sanskrit: A Manual for Students (Treasury of the Indic Sciences) OverviewThis volume gives a complete introduction to the techniques and procedures of Sanskrit commentaries, including detailed information on the overall structure of running commentaries, the standard formulas of analysis of complex grammatical forms, and the most important elements of commentarial style. Since the majority of expository texts in Sanskrit are composed in the form of commentaries on earlier texts, this Manual will be of great use to many Sanskrit translators. Furthermore, because many philosophical and scientific texts are written in the style of formal debate using the same basic principles, the features covered in the manual are useful for reading all expository texts, whether they are commentaries or not. (8/1/09)

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Do You Need a Guru?: Understanding the Student--Teacher Relationship in an Era of False Prophets Review

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Do You Need a Guru: Understanding the Student--Teacher Relationship in an Era of False Prophets ReviewLikely to be controversial and at the very least provocative, Mariana Caplan's Do You Need a Guru: Understanding the Student-Teacher Relationship in an Era of False Prophets is an invaluable resource for any spiritual seeker who is considering or who is already involved in a guru-disciple relationship. In fact, if you have been outright opposed to such an arrangement, you may find this book an eye-opener. Yes, we have seen many scandals on the spiritual scene, many abuses of power, but we Westerners have also been enculturated to protect our independence and individualism at all costs, perhaps causing us to miss out on one of the most transformational relationships of our lives.
Weaving together her personal journey, extensive knowledge of psychological projection and power dynamics from her years as a psychotherapist, and interviews with teachers and students alike, Caplan makes the case for having a guru, emphasizing that the greatest benefits come from engaging the relationship as a conscious disciple. Her finely tuned discrimination continues to feed me as it did with her Halfway up the Mountain: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment. She tends to pose questions for the reader to consider, rather than revealing black and white or even gray answers. I was initially concerned that her anecdotes about her early encounters with New Age shamans, wannabe gurus, etc., would be distracting. Ultimately, however, I found these sections of the book to be refreshingly honest, poignant, funny and all too familiar!
While she never lets spiritual teachers off the hook with respect to their own integrity and their immense responsibility in shepherding their students through the labyrinths of the path, she insists that the more responsibility we as students take in selecting and relating, committing and surrendering to our teachers, the greater and richer our spiritual progress. Reading this book gave me a whole new embodied sense of how conscious surrender to the teacher could be an act of maturity, integrity and great strength, rather than a replay of childhood patterning around authority figures. At the same time, she never suggests that this path is easy or without its dangers, but for me she also fueled a yearning that makes a "safe" life feel like a death sentence! Warning: Read this book at your own risk-it's hot!Do You Need a Guru: Understanding the Student--Teacher Relationship in an Era of False Prophets OverviewMariana Caplan responds to the challenge of spiritual authority by suggesting the principle and practice of conscious disciplineship model that places the power and responsibility back into the hands and hearts of the spiritual student

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