Ancient Indian Literature

Ancient Indian Literature – History Study Notes & Stuff

Important details of Ancient Indian Literature writings

Rig veda (collection of lyrics) is the oldest text in the world, a collection of 1028 hymns written in Vedic Sanskrit.

Even though most of the literary works that have survived from ancient Indian literature are religious texts, it is not right to define ancient Indian literature based only on religion. Indian literature includes everything that can be included under "literature" - religious and mundane, epic and lyric, dramatic and didactic poetry, oral and lyric as well as narrative and scientific prose.

The Rig veda was followed by Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharvaveda. The Vedas are followed by other works known as Brahamanas and Aranyaka and are followed by the philosophical principles of the Upanishads. These form the part of Shruti literature.

• Sama Veda (book of chants) had 1549 verses and Veda is important for Indian music.
• Yajur Veda (book of sacrificial prayers) is a ritual veda.
• Atharva Veda (book of magical formulae) contains charms and spells to ward off evil and diseases.
• Brahamanas have a instructions and detailed explanation of Vedic literature.
• Aranyakas- are a treatise of forest and they were written mainly for the hermits and the students living in jungles. The Aranyaka are the concluding portions of the Brahamanas.
• The Upanishads — related to concepts about the origin of the universe, death and birth, material and spiritual world, written in poetry and prose as expressions of philosophical concepts. Earliest Upanishads are Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya. They explain the highest ideas described that can be felt by a man, according to the ancient sages, in simple and beautiful imagination.

Another type of work that emerged in the early period, the Vedangas, include astronomy, grammar, and phonetics. As a example, Ashtadhyayi written by Panini works on Sanskrit grammar.

Great Epics :

Ramayana and Mahabharata are the two epics in ancient Indian literature. These have evolved in their present form over the centuries, so they represent the ethnic memory of the Indian people. They were transmitted orally over time by singers and storytellers and their writings were written probably from around 2 century BCE.

The Ramayana is composed of 24,000 verses in seven books, known as khandas. It is written in the form of poetry which entertains while directing. It is the story of Rama which describes how the fourfold objectives of human life (Purushartha) can be achieved, such as - Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha.

• Dharma- righteous behavior or religion.
• Artha- achievement of worldly wealth and prosperity.
• Kama- fulfillment of desires.
• Moksha- ultimate liberation.

The Mahabharata contains 1,00,000 verses in 10 books, hence, it is the longest poem in the world. It is considered the Itihas Purana, that is, Mythical  history (because this history is not merely a depiction of events that happened, but these are words that will always occur and be repeated). It is written by Vyasa, about the story of the succession of the throne between the Pandavas and the Kauravas in which several stories combine together to form an epic. Along with the main story of the war, the later Bhagavad-Gita ensures a unified view of Dharma (Nishkarma performing religious duty in a selfless manner of karma).

Puranas:

They helped in the development of early Vedic religion towards Hinduism and the word "Purana" literally means "renewing the old". They were written to tell people the truth of the Vedas. The Puranas explain philosophical and religious truths through popular legends and mythology. Along with history (Ramayana and Mahabharata), the Puranas contain many stories and anecdotes of India's religious, social and cultural history.

Shastras and Smriti literature:

The scriptures include works of philosophy and science. They cover areas such as arts, mathematics and other sciences. Arthashastra is a work on the science of governance.

Smritis deal with the performance of duties, customs and laws that are prescribed in accordance with Dharma and the most important example is Manusmriti known as the laws of Manu.

Early Buddhist Literature:

The oldest Buddhist literature is written in Pali language. The Sutta Pitaka contains dialogues between the Buddha and his followers. Vinay Pitaka deals with the rules of organization of monasteries.

Milindapanho is a record of dialogue between the Buddhist sage Nagasena, and the Indo-Greek king Menander I of Bactria. The Jataka stories have another important contribution to early Buddhist literature, which has also been included in many sculptures.

Buddhacharita is a epic poem in the Sanskrit language, on life of Gautam Buddha, written by Ashvaghosha.

Ancient Sanskrit literature:

Just before the beginning of the Gupta age, many literary works have been written which had a secular character. Poetry and drama flourished during this period. The subject of these works were major political events, allegories, romance, comedies and philosophical questions.

• Among the compositions of Kalidas, Kumarsambhava, the Meghaduta, the Raghuvamsha, the Abhijnanshakuntalam are considered classics in the field of poetry and style.
• Banabhatta (known as Bana) wrote Harshacharita which is a biography of Indian emperor Harsha (King Harshavardhana).
• Bhavabhuti wrote Uttar-Ramayana.
• Bharavi wrote Kirtarjuniya.
• Vishakadutta wrote Mudra Rakshasa.
• Shudraka wrote Mricchakatika which covers social drama.
• Dandin wrote Daskumarcharita (the story of 10 prince).

There was also a large number of philosophical literature among which the most important are Shankaracharya. Pancatantra and Kathasaritsagara have a collection of stories.

South-Indian Literature:

In Southern India, ancient Indian writings were written in four Dravidian languages that developed their script and literature, these are Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada. Of these, Tamil is the oldest literature, dating back to the early centuries of the Christian era. This developed at different times during the three confluences (gatherings of poets and writers). Sangam literature covers the themes of love, war and politics to a large extent.

Ettuthogai and Tolkappiyam, Pathupattu, are important works of these times. Thiruvalluvar is the most famous writer of these days who wrote Kural and deals with many aspects of life and religion.

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