Doubtless Sanskrit must be called a difficult language. This is a fact that cannot be helped. But even though nothing can be done about the language itself, some thoughts may be given to the preparation of teaching aids that can make the task of learning Sanskrit less arduous. The present collection of texts comprises 30 specimens from original literary works written in Sanskrit, which have been chosen employing objective criteria regarding script and language, and which are suitable as first reading material for learners who have already acquired a certain familiarity with Sanskrit grammar and lexicon. However, the choice of texts has not been guided by formal criteria alone, but also by considerations regarding content: For the most part, the specimens belong to the narrative genre; they have been taken from narrative literature, from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and from the Puranas. It goes without saying that all texts are printed in Devanagari characters.

Martin Pfeiffer studied and taught Indology at the Freie Universität Berlin. He published Elements of Kurux Historical Phonology (1972), Indische Mythen vom Werden der Welt (1994), Kurux Historical Phonology Reconsidered (2018) as well as several articles in Indological journals.