Additional information
by Zoë Slatoff-Ponté (Author), Ben Ponté (Illustrator)
The traditional Indian method of learning Sanskrit is through oral transmission, by first memorizing texts and then learning their meaning. The Western academic approach methodically teaches the alphabet, declensions, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary building. Zoë Slatoff-Ponté's Yogavataranam integrates the traditional and academic approaches for a full and practical experience of Sanskrit study.
Yogavataranam approaches language systematically and at the same time allows 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, and by the third, students can begin to read and understand even more complex texts, such as the Upanisads. Yogavataranam includes: Step-by-step instructions on how to correctly write the alphabetExercises throughout, along with review exercises for each chapter
Sidebars on Indian philosophy, culture, etymology, and more
Vocabulary building based on important texts
An extensive glossary of terms
Consideration of translation techniques and challenges
Original translations of passages from central texts, such as the Yogasutra, Bhagavadgita, Hathapradipika, and various Upanisads In addition, Web-based audio files 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, reading devanagari script, interpreting meaning, or learning grammar-and whether the course is academic or based in yoga. This new approach joins theory and practice to invoke an active experience of the philosophy, the practice, and the culture that together inform the multiplicity of meanings contained within the single and powerful word "yoga."
Author Biography
Zoë Slatoff-Ponté 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.
Ben Ponté was born in Australia and now lives and works in New York City. He has an M.F.A. from the College of Fine Arts, Sydney. Ben has been traveling to India and practicing yoga since the late 1990s and is authorized to teach by R. Sharath Jois. His work draws on this experience to explore the perceptual process as a moment of translation, and he is currently focusing on the use and effect of mobile media devices on body/mind relationship in public space.
