With the current transition of knowledge transmission from the printed to the digital medium, it is essential that students of Sanskrit, as students of every discipline, learn to use the technologies of this new medium. While the written manuscript and the printed book dominated as the principal media of knowledge transmission it was essential for students to learn how to read and write and to use pen and paper, and the facilities that help to navigate books such as tables of contents, alphabetical indices, and page numbers. In the digital age now there are new facilities to navigate knowledge in the digital medium: Web-pages, links, and search interfaces. Yet the digital medium offers many more complex methods of discovering knowledge relevant to one’s interests, such as automated information retrieval and information extraction. Conversely, the facilities available for interlinking resources and the expectations of users now in the digital age demand greater attention to various facets of the preparation of knowledge for distribution. Our programs in digital humanities prepare students to handle knowledge in Sanskrit and related languages in the digital age.

• Semester I (Sept.–Dec. 2023)

1. Reorienting orientalism and holistic understanding of life (UG102)

2. Sanskrit language course (Sanskrit 101) 

Śabdabrahman Exercise Platform

3. Philological and data-management computer skills (UT101)

4. History of Sanskrit literature I: वेद (veda) and वेदाङ्ग (vedāṅga) (UH101)

• Semester II

1. Sanskrit language course (Sanskrit 102)

Śabdabrahman Exercise Platform

2. History of Sanskrit literature II: Epics: रामायण (Rāmāyaṇa) and महाभारत (Mahābhārata) (UH102)

3. Research methodology: introduction to secondary literature and resources (UR101)

4. Digital philology (UT102)

• Semester III

1. सङ्क्षिप्त-महाभारत (Saṅkṣipta-mahābhārata) (US110)

2. History of Sanskrit literature III: धर्मशास्त्र and दर्शन (dharmaśāstra and darśana) (UH103)

3. Introduction to Pāṇinian grammar; लघुसिद्धान्तकौमुदी: सन्धि कारक समास (Laghusiddhāntakaumudī: sandhi, kāraka samāsa) (US202)

4. Web technologies for philology (UT 103)

• Semester IV

1. पञ्चतन्त्र (pañcatantra): कथामुख (kathāmukha), Fourth and Fifth तन्त्र (tantra) (US111)

2. History of Sanskrit literature IV: buddhist and Jain literature, पुराण (purāṇa), काव्य (kāvya), and अलङ्कारशास्त्र (alaṅkāraśāstra) (UH104)

3. Advanced higher-level encoding (UT104)

4. Research project

• Quarter I

1. Reorienting orientalism and holistic understanding of life (UG102)

2. Sanskrit language course (Sanskrit 101)

Śabdabrahman Exercise Platform

• Quarter II

1. Sanskrit language course (Sanskrit 102)

Śabdabrahman Exercise Platform

2. History of Sanskrit literature I: वेद (veda) and वेदाङ्ग (vedāṅga) (UH101)

• Quarter III

1. सङ्क्षिप्त-महाभारत (Saṅkṣipta-mahābhārata) (US110)

2. History of Sanskrit literature II: Epics: रामायण (Rāmāyaṇa) and महाभारत (Mahābhārata) (UH102)

• Quarter IV

1. Introduction to Pāṇinian grammar; लघुसिद्धान्तकौमुदी: सन्धि कारक समास (Laghusiddhāntakaumudī: sandhi, kāraka samāsa) (US202)

2. History of Sanskrit literature III: धर्मशास्त्र and दर्शन (dharmaśāstra and darśana) (UH103)

• Quarter V

1. पञ्चतन्त्र (pañcatantra): कथामुख (kathāmukha), Fourth and Fifthe तन्त्र (tantra) (US111)

2. History of Sanskrit literature IV: buddhist and Jain literature, पुराण (purāṇa), काव्य (kāvya), and अलङ्कारशास्त्र (alaṅkāraśāstra) (UH104)

• Quarter VI

1. Research methodology: introduction to secondary literature and resources (UR101)

2. Philological and data-management computer skills (UT101)

• Quarter VII

1. Digital philology (UT102)

2. Web technologies for philology (UT 103)

• Quarter VIII

3. Advanced higher-level encoding (UT104)

4. Research project

The vast body of Sanskrit knowledge — the largest body of knowledge in the world prior to the invention of the printing press — will become unavailable to future generations if efforts are not undertaken now to bring that vast knowledge into the digital medium. It is therefore of the utmost urgency to train students of Sanskrit to make Sanskrit works available in the digital medium. While a number of informal platforms have sprung up on the Web to display Sanskrit texts and offer courses in Sanskrit, and digital humanities have become popular at universities in the U.S. and Europe, there is no program anywhere in the world in digital Sanskrit. Now is the prime time to initiate such a course which focuses on accessing and preparing access to the traditional Sanskrit knowledge according to the needs of scholars, students and lovers of Sanskrit.

Students who complete this course will be empowered with highly marketable skills in computing and website development as well as valuable analytic skills, philological acumen, and training in contemporary modes of academic expression.

We provide our students advanced technical tools to learn Sanskrit. The Śabdabrahman Exercise Platform is a uniquely designed pleasant interactive Web-based platform for homework exercises that provides vocabulary and reference material at one's fingertips and immediate feedback thereby enriching the students knowledge with each item and eliminating doubt and frustration. A similar platform is designed for reading the सङ्क्षिप्त-महाभारत (Saṅkṣipta-mahābhārata).