A Sanskrit Reader: With Vocabulary and Notes (Lanman)
by Charles Rockwell Lanman · Internet Archive (free scan)
Graded anthology of original Sanskrit texts: the Nala episode of the Mahābhārata, the Hitopadeśa, Manu, and Vedic hymns and Brāhmaṇa prose. It has a full vocabulary and notes keyed to Whitney's grammar and is designed as the step from textbook to real texts.
More resources on Sanskrit
Sanskrit Studies
Interview podcast hosted by Sanskritist Antonia Ruppel, speaking with scholars about their work in Indology, linguistics, religious studies, philosophy and history. Listeners gain a picture of Sanskrit studies as an academic field, its texts and methods, and where language study can lead.
GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages
Free corpus of transliterated Sanskrit texts kept by Göttingen State and University Library. It covers Vedic Saṃhitās, Upaniṣads, the epics and Bhagavadgītā, Purāṇas, kāvya, and śāstra including yoga, Vedānta and grammar, plus Pali and Prakrit. This is where learners go for the original Vedic, Upaniṣadic and yoga texts.
Sanskrit Grammar (Whitney)
It is a lookup reference, not a teaching book. It is the one grammar that covers Vedic forms too. Reference grammar covering both Classical Sanskrit and the older Vedic and Brāhmaṇa language: phonology, accent, sandhi, declension, conjugation, and derivation of stems and compounds. The linked scan is free; Dover sells an unabridged reprint of the 1896 third edition.
Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries)
Every learner needs a dictionary once they start reading texts. This one is free, authoritative and searchable. Searchable digitisation of Monier-Williams' 1899 Sanskrit-English dictionary, the standard English-language reference lexicon. You can enter Devanagari or several transliteration schemes, and each entry links to the original page scan.
Learn Sanskrit Online (learnsanskrit.org)
Free, CC BY-licensed Sanskrit course covering Devanagari, sounds, sandhi, nominal and verbal inflection, and a grammar section organised around Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī. Also includes the Sanscript transliteration tool and a curated list of further resources. This is the best free, structured web course and the Free-First pick for beginners. It pairs well with Ruppel, and its Aṣṭādhyāyī-based grammar section serves learners who want the traditional framework.
The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit
This is the most modern of the canonical intro textbooks and it is built for self-study: the script is phased in gradually and every chapter has a free video. Textbook for Classical Sanskrit with no prior knowledge assumed. Devanagari is introduced over several chapters alongside transliteration, and grammar is built up with reading exercises. A free companion site (cambridge-sanskrit.org) has one video per chapter, flashcards, and exercise links.