1. Aklujkar, Ashok, An Easy Introduction to an Enchanting Language, (and five audio tapes), Svadhyaya Publicaions, British Colombia, 1992.
This text is an unusually comprehensive set of four volumes which are designed for a two-year course of study. The first two volumes focus upon grammar and are extremely thorough. The second set of works contains readings and exercises. The only drawback here is that the stories are largely secular in nature and are not scriptural like in the Egenes text. The tapes are also useful letting the student hear the "real" Sanskrit.
2. Apte, Vaman Shivram, The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1993.
3. Coulson, Michael, Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language, NTC Publishing Company, Chicago, 1976.
This widely available text seems like a good introduction to the study of Sanskrit. It has a good treatment of the grammar issues, compounds and has a good glossary. The author is lighthearted and sometimes funny which is a nice addition as Sanskrit can sometimes be overwhelming.
4. Egenes, Thomas, Introduction to Sanskrit, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1989.
I feel that this is an excellent introductory textbook. This may be due to the fact that it is the one I am currently studying. Egenes is careful not to overload the student with all of the technicalities and exceptions to grammatical rules. He goes slow enough to not feel buried yet fast enough to accomplish a great deal. I also enjoy his readings which are drawn from scriptures such as the Veda, the Upanisads and the Gita.
5. Goldman, Robert and Sally J. Sutherland, Devavanipravesika: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language, The Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, Berkeley, 1987.
This text is highly respected within the field. It progresses very rapidly and would be good for people who have extensive language experience already. Often times the Sandhi is unclear or confusing. This is not a book I would attempt without instruction. Audio tapes are also available.
6. Gonda, Jan, A Concise Elementary Grammar of the Sanskrit Language, University of Alabama Press, 1968.
This text is a basic outline of the language and is completely devoid of readings. This is a good addition to a more complete textbook. It is composed entirely in roman script and thus keeps students stuck in that liminal study of language comprehension.
7. Macdonell, A.A. A Sanskrit Grammar for Students, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1993, Orig., 1927.
8. -----A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1954.
9. Monier-Williams, Monier, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1994, Orig., 1899.
Even though this text is almost 100 years old, it is still the classic and most trusted dictionary used by scholars today.
10. Perry, Edward D., A Sanskrit Primer, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1993.
This is an introductory textbook which contains a set of 42 translation exercises; although, there is no key (a serious drawback!) This text was originally published in 1885 and I think that it is on its way out as it is replaced by more modern texts. It is difficult to understand, poorly organized, and full of ethno-centric language.
11. Whitney, William Sanskrit Grammar, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1994,