| Count | What it includes |
|---|---|
| 44 | 11 vowels + 33 consonants — the standard core |
| 46 | plus ऋ and a second ल-type vowel |
| 48 | plus the conjuncts क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, श्र |
| 52 | plus borrowed sounds ज़, फ़, ख़, ग़, क़ and others |
None is wrong. They are counting different things.
They are not arranged arbitrarily like A–B–C. They run from the back of the mouth to the front: throat (क ख ग घ ङ), palate (च छ ज झ ञ), roof of the mouth (ट ठ ड ढ ण), teeth (त थ द ध न), lips (प फ ब भ म).
Say each row aloud and you will feel the sound moving forward. Ancient grammarians organised it this way long before phonetics existed as a discipline.
About 30 covers almost everything you will read. The rare ones — ङ, ञ, ऋ — appear in a handful of words and can wait.
Learn five letters, then read real words made from them. Trying to memorise all 44 before reading anything is the most common way people give up.
Reading an answer is one thing; being corrected while you say it is another. EkGuru tutors teach one to one from $6 a lesson, and most offer a trial.