135 



Note of the Course of Study pursued by Students in the Sanskrit 

 College, Calcutta. By W. Seton Karr, Esq., B. C. S. 



The course of study pursued by the students of the Sanskrit College 

 is as follows : they begin by studying Vyakaranam, or grammar, for 

 the first three years. The grammar mostly used is one called the Mugda 

 Bodha, written in Sanskrit, as those written in Bengali are despised 

 by the Natives. It is a peculiarly native idea, that until a thorough 

 acquaintance with the rules of grammar, as seen theoretically, is obtain- 

 ed, nothing can be done towards acquiring the language by reading 

 other books ; no attempt is therefore made to combine the learning 

 of the rules of grammar with the reading of the Hitopadesa or other 

 books of an easy style. When, however, they have acquired such a 

 thorough knowledge of grammar as to be able to repeat whole pages of it 

 by heart, they plunge at once into some of the hardest books of the lan- 

 guage ; the next two years succeeding the three spent on grammar are 

 devoted to reading the following works : the Bhatti Kavya, or poem 

 of Bhatti, a work made principally to aid the acquisition of grammar, 

 every line being an illustration of some particular rule ; the Raghu 

 Vansa, the Kumara Sambhava, Naishadha, Sisupalabadha, Sacontala, 

 Veai Sanghara, Murari, Bharovi, Prasanna Raghava, Ultara Rama 

 Charitra, Raghava Pandavi, Vasavadatta. Several of the above works 

 are known by the name of " Mahakavya, or great poems," a title applied 

 to only six works ; those of the above which lay claim to it are the Raghu- 

 vansa, Kumara Sambhava, Sisupalabadha, and Naishadha. The next 

 year is devoted to Alankara, or rhetoric during which the following 

 works are read : Sahitiva Darpanam, Kavyo Prakasha, and Chando 

 Mangari, — all these they learn off by heart. 



The next year is devoted to the Vedantas, or works of later 

 writers, illustrating the scope and objects of several passages in the 

 Upanishads of the Vedas, relating to an abstract and speculative 

 monotheism. The works read are the Vedanta Sara, Panchdasti, and 

 Sharirika-shutra. 



The next year is devoted to Nyaya, or logic. Works read, Bhasha- 

 paricheda (the division of language) and the Gautama-sutra. 



The next year is devoted to mathematics. Books, the Lilavati and 

 Bijganita. 



