Should i worry about learning sharada letters?
Dumb question, but im curious. Ive learned to read devanagari pretty well, but ive started working through Thomas Egenes' introduction to sanskrit, and though the book says we'll be learning devanagari letters, it starts off with (what i assume) the sharada forms of for example अ and आ. (EDIT!!! they are Calcutta style letters, not sharada, my bad) There are a few others, and i notice that some conjuncts are written differently than what im used to seeing in text.
Would it be worth it to tackle these alt letters/ conjuncts, or should i focus on expanding what i already know? I understand this is a rather convoluted question, my goal would ultimately be to read stuff like the Bhagavad Gita, or the words to chants for example. Just curious what the major difference would be as a new-ish learner. Thanks!!