This messages was contributed to advaita-l (www.advaita-vedanta.org)by SVS svsubrahmanian at yahoo dot com. It was reformatted by ravi atambaa dot org. Retain this header if you forward this message. Thank alot to Sri SVS.======================================================================My teacher has compiled a list of good Sanskrit grammar books that oneshould possess in order to be serious student of Sanskrit. I am sureyou understand that this list cannot be unique. It is one teacher'sopinion of what a simple/good collection is.I am forwarding this for the benefit any Sanskrit aspirants in thislist as members of such lists typically have overlapping interests. 1. The "Kasika" is the standard Sanskrit commentary (more than athousand years old) on the Panini's Astadhyayi. There are manyeditions available but I like the following one because it iscompletely error-free to the best of my knowledge: "Kasika" edited byVijayapala Vidyavaridhih, published by Ramlal Kapoor Trust. The aboveedition has only the original Sanskrit text with no translation orcommentary. The following two have translations: 2. "Kasika" (in 10 volumes) edited by Jayasankaralal Tripathi andSudhakar Malaviya published by Tara Printing Works, Varanasi. Thishas two of the best Sanskrit commentaries on Kasika along with a goodHindi translation. 3. "The Astadhyayi of Panini" by Srisa Chandra Vasu, published byMotilal Banarasidass. This is a good English translation of Kasika.4. "Astadhyayi of Panini" edited by Prof. Gopal Dutt Pandey,published by Chowkhamba Surabharati Prakashan, Varanasi. This is asmall book which has only the Astadhyayi sutras - Sutra Patha (with nocommentary), but with anuvrittis of the sutras and an alphabeticalindex of sutras at the back.5. "A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar" by Kashinath Vasudev Abhyankarand J. M. Shukla published in Gaekwad's Oriental Series #134. This isa really superb English explanation of pretty much all Sanskritgrammatical terms. It also gives the numbers of the sutras where theterm occurs. It is a must have book. 6. "The Tested Easiest Method of Learning and Teaching Sanskrit" -First Book. By Pandit Brahmadattaji Jihnasu. Published by RamlalKapoor Trust. For those who want to make a gradual entry into thePanian system this is a good book: This book is also available inHindi. There is a part two also (but only in Hindi.) by YudhishthiraMimamsaka, same publisher.7. Siddhanta Kaumudi==================== The Siddhanta Kaumudi is the re-ordering of Panini's Astadhyayi bytopic, done by the great grammarian Bhattoji Diksita about 400 yearsago. There are many editions and commentaries, but here are some goodones:7.1. "Siddhanta Kaumudi" with Tattvabodhini commentary edited byVasudev Lakshman Shastri Panashikar, published by Chaukhamba SanskritPratishthan, Delhi. This is a re-print of the famed old Nirnaya Sagaredition It has a good set of appendices (including Dhatu Patha, SutraPatha etc.) at the back.7.2. "Vaiyakarana Siddhanta Kaumdi" in 4 volumes, edited by GiridharSarma Chaturvedi and Parameswarananda Sarma Vidyabhaskar - publishedby Motilal Banarasidass. This edition has two Sanskrit commentaries -particularly the Balamanorama which is the easiest to read and hencethe most popular, even though it has some errors.7.3. "The Siddhanta Kaumudi" by Srisa Chandra Vasu published by Motilal Banarasidass. For those who prefer English:8. Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi==========================The most popular Sanskrit grammar text studied today is the LaghuSiddhanta Kaumudi, which as the name implies, is a condensed SiddhantaKaumudi containing about 1300 of the most important sutras organizedby topic. Here again there are many editions available but thefollowing Hindi translation is absolutely outstanding. This is thefirst place I go to when I have a question. It is a must have even ifyour Hindi is weak!8.1 "Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi" with Bhaimi Vyakhya (6 volumes) -published by Bhaimi Prakashan, 537, Lajpat Rai Market, Delhi - 110006.One should have at least one edition of the Kaasika and one of theSiddhanta Kaumudi. 9. dhaatu paaTha ================= Since the Sanskrit language is almost entirely based on the verbalroots, there are many commentaries on the Dhatu Patha which explainnot only the meaning of the Dhatu but also derive the forms which comefrom it. Here are some useful books:9.1. "KrdantaRupaMala" in 5 volumes published by The SanskritEducation Society, Madras. This is a superb collection of all theDhatus along with it's major forms - not only of the original verbalroot but also its causative and desiderative variations. Moreimportantly it gives all the necessary sutras and references fromliterature. An extremely useful reference, but unfortunately out ofprint. I am planning to make some more photocopies shortly.9.2. "Madhaviya DhatuVritti" edited by Vijayapala Vidyavaridhih,published by Ramlal Kapoor Trust. This is a very respected Sanskritcommentary on the Dhatu Patha by the great Vedic commentatorSayanacarya.9.3. "KshiraTarangini" commentary on the Dhatu Patha by Kshiraswami -edited by Yudhishthira Mimamsaka, published by Ramlal Kapoor Trust. Avery old standard commentary. A well edited work with good footnotes. 10. Dictionaries, etc.: ====================== The most well-known and original thesaurus of Sanskrit is undoubtedlythe AmaraKosa. No collection of Sanskrit books is complete withoutthis one. Of the various editions available I like the following:10.1. "Namalinganusasana alias Amarakosa" of Amarsimha with Sanskritcommentary, edited by Pandit Sivadatta Dadhimatha and revised byVasudev Laksmana Panasikara, published by Chaukhamba SanskrtiPratishthan (reprint of old Nirnaya Sagar edition). This edition isparticularly useful because the commentary gives all the sutrasnecessary for the etymology of each word.10.2. "Amarakosa" in 3 volumes with South Indian Sanskrit commentariesedited by Prof. A. A. Ramanathan, published by The Adyar Library andResearch Centre. Gives good explanations but without sutras. 10.3. "AvyayaKosa - A Dictionary of Indeclinables" published by TheSanskrit Education Society, Madras. This is a special dictionarycontaning all the indeclinable words in the language in alphabeticalorder. Very useful and full of good information including sutras. Volume I of "Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi" with Bhaimi Vyakhya (mentioned above) also has a very good list of indeclinables. 10.4. Unadi Kosa - Since not all Sanskrit words can be derived using theAstadhyayi, the Unadi sutras are like an appendix to the Astadhyayiwhich explain the etymology of words not covered by Panini. Some ofthese are very common words - like manas. Panini refers to the Unadisutras - see sutra 3.3.1 - but doesn't go into details. Unadi sutrasare also part of the Siddhanta Kaumudi. There are called Unadi becausethe first affix given is 'uN' The following is a well-edited handybook of Unadi sutras along with good appendices: "Unadi Kosa" editedby Yudhishthira Mimamsaka, published by Ramlal Kapoor Trust. 10.5. In addition to the DhatuPatha, which gives the list of verbalroots, there is also another important appendix to Panini's Astadhyayicalled the "GanaPatha" This gives the lists of nouns refered to byPanini in various sutras. Here is a good edition with a Sanskritcommentary: "GanaRatnavali" edited by Pandit Chandradatta Sarmapublished by Ramlal Kapoor Trust. 10.6.The best Sanskrit-English dictionary is Apte's PracticalSanskrit-English dictionary - Revised and Enlarged edition. There aremany different variations of Apte's dictionary but this particular oneis the most comprehensive of them all. The original publication isfrom Japan, but that is expensive ($100). There is an Indian reprintof the Japanese original, by Motilal Banarasidass which is affordable(about $15). 10.7. A very good all-encompassing reference book in English is Kale's "AHigher Sanskrit Grammar" published by Motilal Banarasidass. It alsocontains some Panini sutras as footnotes. 10.8. There is also the "Student's Guide to Sanskrit Composition" byV. S. Apte, re-published by Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office,Varanasi. Another great work by Apte. 10.9 For a quick guide (without sutras) to nominal declensions andverbal conjugations there is the "SabdaManjari" and "DhatuRupaManjari"published by R. S. Vadhyar & Sons, Palghat. These have a few errorsbut still handy references. 11. Gita, etc.==============11.1 The best BhagawadGeeta book for Sanskrit commentaries is"SrimadBhagawadGita" edited by Wasudev Laxman Sastri Pansikarpublished by Munshiram Manoharlal (re-print of the old famed NirnayaSagar edition). It is well edited with seven commentaries and isreally worth having. 11.2 For chanting purposes, a very good large type error-free Geetabook is the "Sri PancaRatnaGeeta" by Geeta Press (book # 21). Thishas VishnuSahasraNaamaStotram also. 11.3 For those who want to practice reading Sanskrit with the help of agood English (or Hindi) translation, I would recommend the followingGeeta Press books (I have some copies of the English versions):"Srimad Valmiki Ramayana" in 2 volumes with English translation -Geeta Press book numbers 452, 453. The Hindi version is book numbers75, 76. "Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana" in 2 volumes with Englishtranslation - Geeta Press book numbers 564, 565. The Hindi version isbook numbers 26, 27 Like all Geeta Press books, these are of a high quality and alsoinexpensive. Read the Ramayana first. It is much easier. 11.4 Finally there is the Bhatti Kavyam. Bhatti was a very greatgrammarian who wrote his version of the Ramayana with the intention ofteaching Panini sutras. No course on Panini's Astadhyayi can becomplete without Bhatti. It's not for beginners. A must read forserious students of Panini. Many editions are available.