Yogavataranam ─ The Translation of Yoga

The traditional Indian method of learning Sanskrit is through oral transmission, memorizing texts first and then learning the meaning. The western academic approach methodically teaches the alphabet, declensions, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary building.Yogavataranam, a new Sanskrit textbook, integrates the traditional and academic approaches for a full and practical study experience.
Yogavataranam approaches language systematically while at the same time allowing students to read important and relevant texts as soon as possible, while emphasizing proper pronunciation through its audio accompaniment. The first section teaches reading and basic grammar. The second covers more extensive grammar. By the third section the student can begin to read and understand even more complex texts such as theUpanisads.
Yogavataranam includes:
Step-by-step instructions on how to correctly write the alphabet
Guides to pronunciation
Exercises throughout the chapter along with review exercises for each chapter
Sidebars on Indian philosophy, culture, etymology and more
Vocabulary building based on important texts
Consideration of translating techniques and challenges
An extensive glossary of terms
Original translations of passages from central texts such as the Yogasutra, Bhagavadgita, Hathapradipika, and variousUpanisads
Web-based audio files which accompany each chapter to teach proper pronunciation


Yogavataranam is appropriate for all levels of study, whether a student is brand new to Sanskrit or already has experience in pronunciation, readingdevanagari script, interpreting meaning and studying grammar--and whether the class is academic or based in a yoga course. This new approach conjoins theory and practice to invoke an active experience of the philosophy, the practice and the culture, that together inform the multiplicity of meaning contained within that single and powerful word 'yoga.'

Zoe Slatoff-Ponte has a master's degree in South Asian language and culture from Columbia University. Her thesis was a translation and exploration of a Sanskrit text on yoga and Ayurveda. She has practiced yoga since the age of fifteen; has traveled to Mysore almost annually to study at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, R. Sharath, and Saraswathi; and has been teaching for more than sixteen years. Her school, Ashtanga Yoga Upper West Side, is located in New York City.