संस्कृतम् — reading, grammar, and the language behind Vedānta study. Samskritam classes for adults, and a curated home for Sanskrit resources online.

This page provides (1) class schedule (2) a running collection of the best Sanskrit dictionaries, texts, and learning tools from around the web.

CLASS SCHEDULE (class time in USA east Coast times)

Devanagari Lipi	Friday	8:00-8:45pm ET
Sambhāṣṇaṃ Practice	Saturday	7:30-8:30pm ET
Sanskrit Grammar	Sunday	8:00-9:00pm ET
Sanskrit Reading Fluency	Monday	8:00-9:00 pm ET

Note: Class times are listed in USA East Coast times. Example, 8pm ET = 5pm PT = 7pm CT

The classes are free and online. Intended for those who don’t have access to in-person Samskrita Bharati classes, which remain the most effective way to learn Samskritam. Interested? Fill out the interest form

About the Instructor

Dr. Deepa Aier, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

I’ve taught Samskritam to both adults and children with Samskrita Bharati USA (SBUSA) since 2012, and have completed the Praveśa, Paricaya, Śikṣā, and Kovida examinations. I’ve also taught Samskritam at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam during Swami Viditatmananda ji’s Bhāṣyam Camp.

Since 2017, I’ve volunteered as Director of the Children’s Education Division at Samskrita Bharati, leading national efforts in curriculum development, teacher training, and the publication of Samskritam books for children. As a speech-language pathologist with a Ph.D. in early intervention, I bring more than 25 years of experience in language development and education to this teaching.

Outside of Samskritam teaching, I work in early childhood systems and speech-language pathology — you can read more about that work on the main RTA Pathways website.

Sanskrit resources

This is an ongoing collation of useful tools and resources students can use to gain confidence and proficiency in Samskritam.

Dictionaries & word lookup

• Ashtadhyayi.com An ocean of Sanskrit resources — grammar tools, dictionaries, and reference material in one place.
• Sanskrit Kosha A Sanskrit dictionary for quick word lookup.
• Arsha Drishti — Sanskrit ToolsA curated collection of Sanskrit dictionaries and grammar tools from Arsha Drishti’s Vedanta and Sanskrit program.

Learning sites & courses

• Samskrita Bharati USA An amazing space to learn spoken Samskritam in person and find like-minded people.
• Central Sanskrit University — Distance Learning Formal distance-learning programs in Sanskrit from Central Sanskrit University.
• Samskrit Tutorial Digitized textbooks and other self-study resources.

Texts, reading & magazines

• Shlokam.org A repository of shlokas.
• Sambhashana Sandesha A Sanskrit magazine to help build reading fluency.
• Chatravani A Sanskrit magazine with audio recordings and quizzes.
• Story Weaver (Pratham Books) An incredible collection of simple illustrated stories.

Spoken samskritam resources

• Spoken Samskritam Tutorials 120 videos of systematically learning spoken Samskritam
• Samskrita Bharati USA You Tube Channel An easy way for language immersion on a variety of topics
• Podcasts in Samskritam Samskritam immersion on the go!

Devanagari & transliteration typing tools

• IAST/ITRANS to Devanagari Transliteration is the process of converting a word from the alphabet of one language to another. It changes the letters from the word’s original alphabet to similar-sounding letters in a different one. 
  • For example, in Devanagari the word boy (baalakaH) is written as – बालक: (Devanagari). When letters in the same word is changed to similar sounding letters in another language e.g., here in the English language, बालक: -> baalakaH (ITRANS)  or bālakaḥ (IAST) . 
  • ITRANS and IAST are commonly used transliteration schemes you will find in Samskritam books. It is important to use the write tools to ensure there is no spelling errors in transliteration.  Once you learn the transliteration key – you don’t need this online link! You can do transliterate independently!  
• Online Devanagari Typing tool
  • Go to website ; Choose Sanskrit as the language.
  • Type the Sanskrit word using English letters as you would pronounce it and see it get converted to Devanagari script. 
  • Awesome tool to begin practice typing in Samskritam some of the words you have learned in the workshop! Once you have some basic knowledge of the Devanagari script you can proof read your Samskritam typing.

Resources Shared in class

This section will be populated with ongoing classes.

Devanagari Lipi Class (Fridays)
Sambhāṣaṇaṃ Practice (Saturdays)
Sanskrit Grammar (Sundays)
Sanskrit Reading Fluency (Mondays)

Questions about the class?

Reach out via email deepa.aier@gmail.com or via 1:1 message