The Reader is designed to serve as an introduction to the subject for the students and to provide knowledge of Sanskrit to the teachers of high schools, academies and colleges. The work helps to correct some of the false notions which are prevalent respecting the relations of Sanskrit to other languages of the Indo-European family. It also keeps to save the literature from undue depreciation and from exaggerated praise. The author has made selections from various Sanskrit writings keeping two aims in mind: firstly to provide abundant material for thorough drill in the language of classical period; and secondly, to furnish a brief introduction to the works of the Vedic period, Mantra, Brahmana and Sutra best suited for beginners. Among the Vedic hymns (or Mantra material) are, first, some of the easiest: then some taken an account of their poetic or dramatic merit, or their ethical interest and finally some taken because of their historical importance. For the most part, a repetition of the hymns given by Delbruck and Bohtlingk in their chrestomathies have been avoided. The Brahmana pieces are chosen in such a way as to show the relation of this kind of literature to the hymns or Mantras. The selections from the Grihya-sutras are the two most interesting chapters of Indian private antiquities, the wedding and the burial service. Care has been taken that all the stanzas here cited by their first words should be given in full among the selections of the hymns. The Reader is made a companion-volume to Whitney's Sanskrit Grammar.
