Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 43

Sanskrit literature

Sanskrit literature broadly comprises all literature in the Sanskrit language. This includes texts
composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic
Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some mixed and non-standard forms of Sanskrit.[1][a]
Literature in the older language begins with the composition of the Ṛg·veda between about 1500
and 1000 BCE, followed by other Vedic works right up to the time of the grammarian Pāṇini around
6th or 4th century BCE (after which Classical Sanskrit texts gradually became the norm).[3][b]

A 17th-century Devimahatmya
manuscript written in Newari script

Sanskrit Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā


Sūtra manuscript written in the
Ranjana script. India, early 12th
century.

Jain Manuscript, Kalakacarya Katha.

Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the extensive liturgical works of the Vedic religion, while Classical
Sanskrit is the language of many of the prominent texts associated with the major Indian religions,
especially Hinduism, but also Buddhism, and Jainism.[c] Some Sanskrit Buddhist texts are also
composed in a version of Sanskrit often called Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit or Buddhistic Sanskrit,
which contains many Middle Indic (prakritic) elements not found in other forms of Sanskrit.[6]

Early works of Sanskrit literature were transmitted through an oral tradition[d] for centuries before
they were written down in manuscript form.[8][9][10]
While most Sanskrit texts were composed in ancient India, others were composed in Central Asia,
East Asia or Southeast Asia.

Sanskrit literature is vast and includes religious scripture, various forms of poetry (such as epic and
lyric), drama and narrative prose. It also includes substantial works covering secular and technical
sciences and the arts. Some of these subjects include: law and custom, grammar, politics,
economics, medicine, astrology-astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, music, dance, dramatics, magic
and divination, and sexuality.[11]

Overview

Literature in the Vedic and the Classical language differ in numerous respects. The Vedic literature
that survives is almost entirely religious, being focused on the prayers, hymns to the gods (devas),
sacrifices and other concerns of the Vedic religion.[12] The language of this archaic literature (the
earliest being the Rigveda), Vedic Sanskrit, is different in many ways (and much less regular) than
the "classical" Sanskrit described by later grammarians like Pāṇini.[13] This literature was
transmitted orally during the Vedic period, only later was it written down.[14][15]

Classical Sanskrit literature is more varied and includes the following genres: scripture (Hindu,
Buddhist and Jain), epics, court poetry (kavya), lyric, drama, romance, fairytale, fables, grammar,
civil and religious law (dharma), the science of politics and practical life, the science of love and
sexual intercourse (kama), philosophy, medicine, astronomy, astrology and mathematics, and is
largely secular in subject-matter.[16] On the other hand, the Classical Sanskrit language was much
more formalized and homogeneous, partly due to the influence of Sanskrit grammarians like Pāṇini
and his commentators.[17]

Sanskrit was an important language for medieval Indian religious literature. Most pre-modern Hindu
literature and philosophy was in Sanskrit and a significant portion of Buddhist literature was also
written in either classical Sanskrit or Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.[18] Many of these Sanskrit Buddhist
texts were the basis for later translation into the Chinese Buddhist Canon and Tibetan Canon.[19][20]
Many Jain texts were also written in Sanskrit, like the Tattvartha sutra, Bhaktamara Stotra, etc.[21][22]

Classical Sanskrit also served as a common language of scholarship and elites (as opposed to
local vernacular who were only understood regionally).[23]

The invasions of northern India by Islamic powers in the 13th century severely damaged Indian
Sanskrit scholarship and the dominance of Islamic power over India eventually contributed to the
decline of this scholarly language, especially since Muslim rulers promoted Middle Eastern
languages.[24][25][26] However, Sanskrit remains in use throughout India, and is used in rituals,
religious practice, scholarship, art, and other Indian traditions.[27]

Vedic literature

Hymn 10.85 of the Rigveda, which


includes the Vivaha-sukta (above). Its
recitation continues to be a part of
Hindu wedding rituals.[28][29]

Chronology

Five chronologically distinct strata can be identified within the literature of Vedic Sanskrit:[30][31][e]

1. Ṛg·vedic Hymns

2. Mantras

3. Saṃhitā prose

4. Brāhmaṇa prose

5. Sūtras

The first three are commonly grouped together, as the Saṃhitās[A] comprising the four Vedas:[B] ṛk,
atharvan, yajus, sāman, which together constitute the oldest texts in Sanskrit and the canonical
foundation both of the Vedic religion, and the later religion known as Hinduism.[35]

Ṛg·veda

The Ṛg·veda, the first and oldest of the four Vedas, is the foundation for the others. The Ṛg·veda is
made of 1028 hymns named sūktas, composed of verses in strictly regulated meters. These are
collected into saṃhitās. There are about 10,000 of these verses that make up the Ṛg·veda. The
Ṛg·vedic hymns are subdivided into 10 maṇḍalas, most of which are attributed to members of
certain families. Composition of the Ṛg·vedic hymns was entirely oral, and for much of its history,
the Ṛg·veda has been transmitted only orally, written down likely no sooner than in the second half
of the first millennium of the Common Era.[36]

The later Vedas

The Sāmaveda is not an original composition: it's almost entirely (except 75) made of stanzas taken
from the Ṛgveda and rearranged with reference to their place in the Soma sacrifice. This book is
meant to be sung to certain fixed melodies, and may thus be called the book of chants, sāman. The
Yajurveda like the Sāman is also largely made of verses taken from the Ṛgveda, but also contains
several prose formulas. It is called the book of sacrificial prayers yajus.[37]

The last of the four, the Atharvaveda, both by the internal structure of the language used and by
comparison with the Ṛg·veda, is a much later work. However, the Atharvaveda represents a much
earlier stage of thought of the Vedic people, being composed mainly of spells and incantations
appealing to demons, and is rife with notions of witchcraft, derived from a much earlier period.[38][f]

Brāhmaṇas

The Brāhmaṇas (a subdivision within the Vedas) concern themselves with the correct application of
Vedic ritual, and the duties of the Vedic priest (hotṛ: 'pourer, worshiper, reciter') the word being
derived from bráhman meaning 'prayer'. They were composed at a period in time by which the Vedic
hymns had achieved the status of being ancient and sacred revelations and the language had
changed sufficiently so that the priests did not fully understand the Vedic texts. The Brāhmaṇas are
composed in prose, unlike the previous works, forming some of the earliest examples of prose in
any Indo-European language. The Brāhmaṇas intend to explain the relation between the sacred text
and ritual ceremony.[39][g]

The later part of the Brāhmaṇas contain material which also discuss theology and philosophy.
These works were meant to be imparted or studied in the peace and calm of the forest, hence their
name the Āraṇyakas ("Of the forest") The last part of these are books of Vedic doctrine and
philosophy that came to be called Upaniṣads ("sitting down beside"). The doctrines in the Vedic or
Mukhya Upaniṣads (the main and most ancient Upaniṣads) were later developed into the Vedānta
("end of the Vedas") system.[40]
Vedic Sūtras

The Vedic Sūtras were aphoristic treatises concerned either with Vedic ritual (Kalpa Vedanga) or
customary law. They arrived during the later period of the Brāhmaṇas when a vast mass of ritual and
customary details had been accumulated. To address this, the Sūtras are intended to provide a
concise survey of Vedic knowledge through short aphoristic passages that could be easily
memorized. The Sūtras forego the need to interpret the ceremony or custom, but simply provide a
plain, methodical account with the utmost brevity.[h] The word sūtra, derived from the root siv-, 'to
sew', [i] thus meaning 'sewn' or 'stitched together' eventually became a byword for any work of
aphorisms of similar concision.[j] The sutras in many cases are so terse they cannot be understood
without the help of detailed commentaries.[41]

The main types of Vedic Sūtras include the Śrautasūtras (focusing on ritual), Śulbasûtra (on altar
construction), Gṛhyasūtras which focus on rites of passage and Dharmasūtras.

Hindu religious literature

A 19th-century illustrated Sanskrit manuscript


from the Bhagavad Gita, composed c. 400 BCE
– 200 BCE.

Most ancient and medieval Hindu texts were composed in Sanskrit, either Epic Sanskrit (the pre-
classical language found in the two main Indian epics) or Classical Sanskrit (Paninian Sanskrit).[42]
In modern times, most ancient texts have been translated into other Indian languages and some in
Western languages.[43] Prior to the start of the common era, the Hindu texts were composed orally,
then memorized and transmitted orally, from one generation to next, for more than a millennium
before they were written down into manuscripts.[44][45] This verbal tradition[k] of preserving and
transmitting Hindu texts, from one generation to next, continued into the modern era.[44][45]

Classification

Hindu Sanskrit texts are often subdivided into two classes:


Śruti ("that which is heard") are believed to be 'revealed', examples being the Vedas and the early
Upaniṣads. Many scholars include the Bhagavad·Gītā and Āgamas as Hindu scriptures.[C][43][47][48]
Dominic Goodall also includes Bhagavata Purāṇa and Yājñavalkya Smṛti.

The Smṛti Sanskrit texts are a specific body of Hindu texts attributed to an author,[49] as a
derivative work they are considered less authoritative than Śruti in Hinduism.[50] The Smṛti
literature is a vast corpus of diverse texts, and includes but is not limited to Vedāṅgas, the Hindu
epics, the Sūtras and Śāstras, the texts of Hindu philosophies, and the Purāṇas, while some
traditions also include Kāvya (courtly poetry), Bhāṣyas,[D] and numerous Nibandhas (digests)
covering politics, ethics, culture, arts and society.[51][52]

Indian Epics

The first traces of Indian epic poetry are seen in the Vedic literature, among the certain hymns of the
Ṛgveda (which contain dialogues), as well as the Ākhyānas (ballads), Itihāsas ('traditional accounts
of past events') and the Purāṇas found in the Vedic Brāhmaṇas.[53] These poems were originally
songs of praise or heroic songs which developed into epic poems of increasing length over time.
They were originally recited during important events such as during the Vedic horse sacrifice (the
aśvamedha) or during a funeral.[53]

Another related genre were the "songs in praise of men" (gatha narasamsi), which focus on the
glorious deeds of warriors and princes, which also developed into long epic cycles.[54] These epic
poems were recited by courtly bards called sutas, who may have been their own caste and were
closely related to the warrior caste. There was also a related group of traveling singers called
kusilavas.[55] Indian kings and princes seem to have kept bards in their courts which sung the
praises of the king, recite poems at festivals and sometimes even recite poetry in battle to
embolden the warriors.[56]

While there were certainly other epic cycles, only two have survived, the Mahābhārata and the
Rāmāyaṇa.[57][58]

Mahābhārata

The Mahābhārata is in a sense not just a single 'epic poem', but can be seen as a whole body of
literature in its own right, a massive collection of many different poetic works built around the heroic
tales of the Bharata tribe.[59] Most of this literature was probably compiled between the 3rd century
BCE and the 3rd century CE by numerous authors, with the oldest preserved parts not much older
than around 400 BCE.[60]
Already in the Ṛgveda, the Bharatas find mention as a warlike tribe, and the Brāhmaṇas also speak
of Bharata, the son of Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā. The core of the Mahābhārata is a family feud in the
royal house of the Kauravas (the descendants of Bharata), leading to a bloody battle at Kurukshetra.
Over the centuries, an enormous mass of poetry, myths, legends, secondary tales, moral stories and
more was added to the original core story. The final form of the epic is thus a massive 100,000
ślokas [l] across 18+1 books.[61][62]

According to Winternitz, the Mahābhārata also shows the influence of the Brahmin class, which he
argues was engaged in a project of appropriating the poetry of the bards (which was mainly a
secular heroic literature) in order to infuse it with their religious theology and values.[63]

The most influential part of the Mahābhārata is the Bhagavadgītā, which became a central scripture
for the Vedanta school and remains widely read today.[64]

Another important associated text, which acts as a kind of supplement (khila) to the Mahābhārata, is
the Harivanhśa, which focuses on the figure of Krishna.[65]

Rāmāyaṇa

In contrast to the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyaṇa consists of only 24,000 ślokas divided into seven
books, and in form is more purely regular, ornate epic poetry, a form of style which is the basis of
the later Kāvya tradition.[66][67] There are two parts to the story of the Rāmāyaṇa,[68] which are
narrated in the five genuine books. The first revolves around the events at the court of King
Daśaratha at Ayodhya with one of his wives vying for the succession of the throne to her own son
Bharata in place of the one chosen by the king, Rāma. The second part of the epic is full of myth
and marvel, with the banished Rāma combating giants in the forest, and slaying thousands of
demons. The second part also deals with the abduction of Rāmā's wife, Sītā by king Rāvaṇa of
Lankā, leading Rāma to carry out to expedition to the island to defeat the king in battle and recover
his wife.[69]

Purāṇa

The Purāṇa are a large class of Hindu scriptures which cover numerous topics such as myth,
legends of the Hindu gods, cosmogony, cosmology, stories of ancient kings and sages, folk tales,
information about temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar and Hindu theology and philosophy.[70]
Perhaps the most influential of these texts is the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, a central text for Vaishnava
theology.[71][72] Other Purāṇas center on different gods, like the Shiva Purāṇa and the Devī Bhāgavata
Purāṇa.
Later Upaniṣads

The principal Upaniṣads can be considered Vedic literature since they are included within the
Brahmanas and Aranyakas.[73][74] However, numerous scriptures titled "Upaniṣads" continued to be
composed after the closure of the Vedas proper. Of these later "Upaniṣads" there are two categories
of texts:[75][76]

95 canonical Upaniṣads which are part of the Muktikā canon. These were composed from about
the last centuries of 1st-millennium BCE through about 15th-century CE.

Newer paracanonical Upaniṣads, which were composed through the early modern and modern
eras and which deal with numerous non-Vedic topics.

Post-Vedic aphoristic literature

19th-century manuscript of Patanjali's


Yoga-bhāṣya, preserved at the
University of Pennsylvania.

Sūtra style aphoristic literature continued to be composed on numerous topics, the most popular
being on the different fields of Hindu philosophy.[77]

The main Sūtra texts (sometimes also called kārikās) on Hindu philosophy include:[78]

Sāṁkhyakārikā

Sāṁkhyapravacanasūtra

Mīmāṁsā Sūtra

Nyāya Sūtra

Vaiśeṣika Sūtra

Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali

Brahma Sūtra (i.e. Vedanta sutra)

Gauḍapāda Kārikā
Pāśupata Sūtras

Shiva Sūtras

Spandakārikā

Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā of Utpaladeva

Commentaries

A manuscript of the Isha Upanishad,


the small text in the margins and
edges are an unknown scholar's notes
and comments in the typical Hindu
style of a minor Bhāṣya.

The various Sanskrit literature also spawned a large tradition of commentary texts, which were
called Bhāṣyas, Vṛṭṭis, Tikas, Varttikas and other names.[78] These commentaries were written on
numerous genres of Sanskrit texts, including on Sūtras, on Upaniṣads and on the Sanskrit
epics.[79][80][81]

Examples include the Yogabhāṣya on the Yoga Sūtras, Shankara's Brahmasūtrabhāṣya, the
Gitabhāṣya and Sri Bhāṣya of Ramanuja (1017–1137), Pakṣilasvāmin Vātsyāyana's Nyāya Sūtra
Bhāshya and the Matharavṛṭṭi (on the Sāṁkhyakārikā).

Furthermore, over time, secondary commentaries (i.e. a commentary to a commentary) also came
to be written.[82]

Tantric literature

There are a varied group of Hindu Tantric scriptures titled Tantras or Agamas. Gavin Flood argues
that the earliest date for these Tantric texts is 600 CE, though most of them were probably
composed after the 8th century onwards.[83]

Tantric literature was very popular during the "Tantric Age" (c. 8th to the 14th century), a period of
time when Tantric traditions rose to prominence and flourished throughout India. According to
Flood, all Hindu traditions, Shaiva, Vaishnava, Smarta and Shakta (perhaps excepting the Srautas)
became influenced by Tantric works and adopted some Tantric elements into their literature.[83]
Other

There are also numerous other types of Hindu religious works, including prose and poetry.

Among prose works there are important works like the Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha (which is important in Advaita
Vedanta), the Yoga-Yājñavalkya and the Devi Mahatmya (a key Shakta work).

When it comes to poetry, there are numerous stotras (odes), suktas and stutis, as well as other
poetic genres. Some important works of Hindu Sanskrit poetry include the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, the
Hanuman Chalisa, the Aṣṭāvakragītā, Bhaja Govindam, and the Shiva Tandava Stotra.

Another group of later Sanskrit Hindu texts are those which focus on Hatha Yoga, and include the
Dattātreyayogaśāstra (13th century), the Gorakṣaśataka (13th century), the Haṭhayogapradīpikā (15th
century) and the Gheraṇḍasaṁhitā (17th or 18th-century).[84]

Scientific & Secular literature

Over time, Sanskrit works on the secular sciences (śāstra or vidyā) were composed on a wide
variety of topics.[85] These include: grammar, poetry, lexicography, geometry, astronomy, medicine,
worldly life and pleasure, philosophy, law, politics, etc.[86]

The learning of these secular sciences took place by way of a guru expounding the subject orally,
using works of aphorisms, the sūtra texts, which on account of their terseness would be meaningful
only to those who knew how to interpret them. The bhāṣyas, the commentaries that followed the
sūtras were structured in the style of student-teacher dialogue wherein a question is posed, a partial
solution, the pūrvapakṣa, proposed, which is then handled, corrected and the final opinion
established, the siddhānta. In time, the bhāṣyas evolved to become more like a lecture.[87]

The sūtras were initially regarded as definite. This was later circumvented, in the field of grammar,
by the creation of vārttikas, to correct or amend sūtras. Another form often employed was the śloka,
which was a relatively simple metre, easy to write and remember. Sometimes a mix of prose and
verse was used. Some of the later work, such as in law and poetics, developed a much clearer style
which avoided a propensity towards obscurity that verse was prone to.[88]

The study of these secular works was widespread in India. Buddhist institutions like Nalanda also
focused on the study of four of these secular sciences, known as the vidyāsthānas. These are:
linguistic science (sabdavidya), logical science (hetuvidya), medical science (cikitsavidya), science
of fine arts and crafts (silpakarmasthanavidya). The fifth main topic studied at Buddhist universities
were the spiritual sciences (adhyatmavidya).[89] These Indian Sanskrit language disciples also had
an influence on Himalayan cultures, like Tibet, which not only adopted Buddhist religious literature
but also these secular works.[90] The Tibetan scholar Sakya Pandita (1182-1251) was a well known
scholar of Sanskrit, and promoted the study of these secular disciplines among Tibetans.[91][92] The
study of Sanskrit grammars and prosody was also practiced in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, even
when the Pali language focused Theravada school rose to prominence in those regions.[93][94]

Linguistic literature

Birch bark manuscript from Kashmir


of the Rupavatara, a grammatical
textbook based on the Sanskrit
grammar of Panini. It was composed
by the Sinhalese Buddhist monk
Dharmakirti. The manuscript was
transcribed in 1663.

By the time of the Sūtra period, the Sanskrit language had evolved sufficiently to make increasing
parts of the older literature hard to understand, and to recite correctly. This led to the emergence of
several classes of works intended to resolve this matter. These works were styled like the religious
Sūtras, however they were not religious per se but focused on the linguistic study of the Sanskrit
language.[m] The main topics discussed in these works were grammar (vyākaraṇa), phonetics (śikṣā)
and etymology (nirukta). These are traditionally part of the vedāṅga ("limbs of the Veda"), six
auxiliary disciplines that developed along with the study of the Vedas.[96]

One of the earliest and most important of these works is the Vedic era Prātiśākhya Sūtras, which
deal with accentuation, pronunciation, prosody and related matters in order to study the phonetic
changes that have taken place in Vedic words.

The Sanskrit grammatical tradition

The early grammatical works of the linguist Yāska (some time between 7th and 4th century BCE),
such as his Nirukta, provides the foundation of the study of Sanskrit grammar and etymology.[97]

The most influential work for the Indian Sanskrit grammatical tradition is the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini, a
book of succinct Sūtras that meticulously define the language and grammar of Sanskrit and lay the
foundations of what is hereafter the normative form of Sanskrit (and thus, defines Classical
Sanskrit).[98] After Pāṇini, other influential works in this field were the Vārttikakāra of Kātyāyana, the
Mahābhāṣya of the grammarian Patañjali and Bhartṛhari's Vākyapadīya (a work on grammar and
philosophy of language).[99]

Over time, different grammatical schools developed. There was a tradition of Jain grammarians and
Buddhist grammarians and a later tradition of Paninian grammarians.[100]

Lexicography

There were numerous lexicographical works written in Sanskrit, including numerous dictionaries
attributed to figures like Bana, Mayura, Murari, and Sriharsha.[101] According to Keith, "of lexica two
main classes exist—synonymous, in which words are grouped by subject-matter, and homonymous
(anekartha, nanartha), but the important synonymous dictionaries usually include a homonymous
section."[101]

One of the earliest lexicons (kośaḥ) is Amarasiṃha's Nāmalingānusāsana, better known as the
Amarākośa. According to Keith, Amarasiṃha, who possibly flourished in the 6th century, was
"certainly a Buddhist who knew the Mahāyāna and used Kālidāsa."[102] Other lexica are later works,
including the short Abhidhānaratnamālā of the poet-grammarian Halāyudha (c. 950),
Yādavaprakāsha's Vaijayantī, Hemacandra's Abhidhānacintāmaṇi and Anekarthasabdakosha of
Medinikara (14th century).[103]

Dharma literature

A manuscript of the Nāradasmṛti, a


Dharmaśāstra work which focuses
solely on legal matters.

The Vedic practice of sūtras pertaining to the correct performance of ritual was extended to other
matters such as the performance of duties of all kinds, and in social, moral and legal spheres.
These works came to be known as Dharmasūtras and Dharmaśāstras in contradistinction to the
older gṛhyasūtras and śrautasūtras although no distinction was felt initially. Like other sūtras, this
was terse prose peppered with a few ślokas or verses in triṣtubh metre to emphasize a doctrine
here and there. More broadly, works in the field of civil and religious law come under the banner of
dharmaśāstra.[104]

Examples of such works are:

Gautamīya dharmaśāstra

Hāritā dharmaśāstra

Vasiṣṭha dharmaśāstra

Baudhāyana dharmaśāstra

Āpastambīya dharmasūtra

Vaiṣṇava dharmaśāstra

Vaikhānasa dharmaśāstra

The most important of all dharma literature however is the Manusmṛiti, which was composed in
verse form, and was intended to apply to all human beings of all castes.[105] The Manusmṛiti deals
with a wide variety of topics including marriage, daily duties, funeral rites, occupation and general
rules of life, lawful and forbidden food, impurity and purification, laws on women, duties of husband
and wife, inheritance and partition, and much more. There are chapters devoted to the castes, the
conduct of different castes, their occupations, the matter of caste admixture, enumerating in full
detail the system of social stratification. The Manu·smṛti has been dated to the couple of centuries
around the turn of the Common Era.[106][107] According to recent genetic research, it has been
determined that it was around the first century CE that population mixture among different groups
in India, prevalent on a large scale from around 2200 BCE, ground to a halt with endogamy setting
in.[108]

Other secular literature

A Nepalese manuscript of the


Kamasutra, with Buddhist illustrations.
Sanskrit literature also covers a variety of other technical and secular topics including:[109]

The Bārhaspatya sūtras, a work of the materialistic Charvaka school of Indian philosophy.

Astrological and Astronomical literature (Jyotisha), including the Jyotiṣavedāṅga, the Āryabhaṭīya,
the Sūrya Siddhānta, and the Varāhamihira Bṛhatsaṃhitā. These works also discuss other topics
like divination and agriculture.

Closely associated with jyotisha are Indian Mathematical works such as the
Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta

Alchemical literature (Rasāyana), including the works of Nāgārjuna, such as the Rasaratanakaram

Works on politics, statecraft and other related topics, the most famous of which is the
Arthaśāstram.[110] Others include the Nitisara of Kamandaki, the Nitivakyamrta of Somadeva Suri
and the Yuki-ḵalpataru ascribed to Bhoja.[111]

Works on archery (dhanurveda) and the science of horses (asvāyurveda).[112]

The study of jewels (ratnaśāstra).[113]

Medical Ayurvedic literature, including the great Ayurveda classics such as the Carakasaṃhitā, the
Suśrutasaṃhitā and the works of Vāgbhaṭa.[114]

Kāma Śāstras (works on love, pleasure and sexuality), the most famous of which is the Kāma-
sūtra. Other works include Kokkaka's Ratirahasya (13th century) and Kalyanamalla's (16th century)
Anangaranga.

Indian Architectural literature (vāstuśāstra), such as the Manushyalaya Chandrika and the
Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra.

Literature on arts and crafts (śilpaśāstra), such as works on sculpture, music (such as the
Saṅgītaratnākara), acting and dance (described in the Nāṭyaśāstra), painting (Vishnudharmottara),
etc.

Buddhist literature
Seven Leaves from a Manuscript of
the Gandavyuha-sutra, Eastern India,
Pala period.

In India, Buddhist texts were often written in classical Sanskrit as well as in Buddhist Hybrid
Sanskrit (also known as "Buddhistic Sanskrit" and "Mixed Sanskrit").[115][116] While the earliest
Buddhist texts were composed and transmitted in Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrits, later Indian Buddhists
translated their canonical works into Sanskrit or at least partially Sanskritized their
literature.[117][118][115]

Beginning in the third century, Buddhist texts also began to be composed in classical Sanskrit.[117]
Over time, Sanskrit became the main language of Buddhist scripture and scholasticism for certain
Buddhist schools in the subcontinent, especially in North India. This was influenced by the rise of
Sanskrit as a political and literary lingua franca, perhaps reflecting an increased need for elite
patronage and a desire to compete with Hindu Brahmins.[119] The Buddhist use of classical Sanskrit
is first seen in the work of the great poet and dramatist Aśvaghoṣa (c. 100 CE).[120] The
Sarvāstivāda school is particularly known for having translated their entire canon into Sanskrit.[121]

Other Indian Buddhist schools, like the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda and Dharmaguptaka schools,
also adopted Sanskrit or Sanskritized their scriptures to different degrees.[122][123] However, other
Buddhist traditions, like Theravada, rejected this trend and kept their canon in Middle Indic
languages like Pāli.[118]

Sanskrit also became the most important language in Mahayana Buddhism and many Mahāyāna
sūtras were transmitted in Sanskrit.[118] Some of the earliest and most important Mahayana sutras
are the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, many of which survive in Sanskrit manuscripts.[124][125]

Indian Buddhist authors also composed Sanskrit treatises and other works on philosophy, logic-
epistemology, jatakas, epic poetry and other topics. While a large number of these works only
survive in Tibetan and Chinese translations, many key Buddhist Sanskrit works do survive in
manuscript form and are held in numerous modern collections.[126]

Sanskrit was the main scholastic language of the Indian Buddhist philosophers in the Vaibhasika,
Sautrantika, Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools.[127] These include well known figures like
Kumāralatā, Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva, Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Yaśomitra, Dignāga, Sthiramati,
Dharmakīrti, Bhāviveka, Candrakīrti, Śāntideva and Śāntarakṣita.[127] Some Sanskrit works which
were written by Buddhists also cover secular topics, such as grammar (vyākaraṇa), lexicography
(koṣa), poetry (kāvya), poetics (alaṁkāra), and medicine (Ayurveda).[128]
The Buddhist Nalanda university was
a major center of Sanskrit language
learning in India from the 5th century
CE until the 12th century.[129]

The Gupta (c. 4th–6th centuries) and Pāla (c. 8th–12th centuries) eras saw the growth of large
Buddhist institutions such as Nālandā and Vikramashila universities, where many fields of
knowledge (vidyasthanas) were studied in Sanskrit, including Buddhist philosophy.[130] These
universities also drew foreign students from as far away as China. One of the most famous of these
was the 7th century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who studied Buddhism in Sanskrit at Nalanda and
took over 600 Sanskrit manuscripts back to China for his translation project.[131][132] Chinese
pilgrims to India like Yijing described how in these universities, the study of Buddhist philosophy
was preceded by extensive study of Sanskrit language and grammar.[133]

During the Indian Tantric Age (8th to the 14th century), numerous Buddhist Tantras and other
Buddhist esoteric literature was written in Sanskrit. These tantric texts often contain non-standard
Sanskrit, prakritic elements and influences from regional languages like apabhramśa and Old
Bengali.[134][135] These vernacular forms are often in verses (dohas) which may be found within
esoteric Sanskrit texts.[136]

Jain literature

A 12th-century manuscript of Hemachandra's


Yogasastra, notable for the miniaturized
Devanagari script.

The earliest Jain scriptures, the Jain Agamas, were composed and orally transmitted in Prakrit.[137]
Later in the history of Jainism (after about the 8th century CE), Jain authors began composing
literature in other languages, especially classical Sanskrit while also retaining the use of Jain
Prakrit.[138]
The most important Jain Sanskrit work is Umaswati's (c. sometime between the 2nd-century and
5th-century CE) Tattvarthasūtra (On the Nature of Reality). The Tattvarthasūtra is considered an
authoritative work on Jain philosophy by all traditions of Jainism and thus it is widely studied.[139]

Other influential Jain Sanskrit authors include: Samantabhadra, Pūjyapāda (who wrote the most
important commentary to the Tattvarthasūtra, entitled Sarvārthasiddhi), Siddhasēna Divākara (c. 650
CE), Akalanka, Haribhadra-sūri (c 8th century) author of the Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, Hemachandra (c.
1088-1172 CE) who wrote the Yogaśāstra, and Yaśovijaya (1624–1688) a scholar of Navya-
Nyāya.[140]

Kāvya

Kalidasa composing the Meghadūta

There is a large corpus of classical Sanskrit poetry from India in a variety of genres and forms.[141]
According to Siegfried Lienhard in India, the term Kāvya refers to individual poems, as well as
"poetry itself, i.e., all those works that conform to artistic and literary norms."[142] Indian poetry
includes epic and lyrical elements. It may be entirely in prose (gadya), entirely in verse (padya) or in
a mixed form (misra).[143] Kāvya works are full of alliteration, similes, metaphors and other figures
of speech.[144][145]

Indians divided poetry into two main categories: poetry that can be seen (drsya, preksya, i.e.
drama/theater) and poetry that can only be listened to (sravya).[146]

Metrical Indian poetry can also be divided into two other categories:[143]
Mahākāvya (Major Poetry), also known as sargabandha, which are large poems divided into
sections or cantos (sargas)

Laghukāvya (Minor Poetry), shorter poems or single stanzas

According to Lienhard "whereas metrical poetry led a flourishing existence both as mahakavya and
laghukavya, prose poems (gadya) and literature in mixed prose and verse (campu) tended to
assume the major form. The only exceptions are the panegyric inscriptions (prasasti) and religious
epistles (lekha) commonly found in Buddhist societies which may both be composed in the kavya
style. Both are written either all in prose or in a mixture of alternately prose and verse and must
therefore be counted as belonging to the minor form representing prose kavya or campu - a point
that Indian theorists seem to have neglected."[147]

Kāvya was employed by court poets in a movement that flourished between c. 200 BCE and 1100
CE.[n] While the Gupta era is considered by many to have seen the highest point of Indian Kāvya,
many poems were composed before this period as well as after.[149] Sanskrit Kāvya also influenced
the literature of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Malay Archipelago.[150] The study of Sanskrit
Kāvya also influenced Tibetan literature, and was promoted by Tibetan Buddhist scholars like Sakya
Pandita.[89]

Sanskrit Kāvya poetry also flourished outside the courts, in towns, learned schools and the homes
of pandits and other elites and continues to be composed and studied today.[151] Kāvya was often
recited in public gatherings, court receptions and in societies which gathered specifically for the
study and enjoyment of poetry. Kavis (Kāvya poets) also competed with each other for rewards and
for the support of elites and kings (who often appointed court poets).[152] Kavis were highly
educated and many of them would have been pandits with knowledge of other sciences such as
grammar, lexicography and other fields. Indian authors held that an important quality of these poets
was said to be pratibhā, poetic imagination.[153]

The beginnings of Kāvya is obscure. Lienhard traces its beginnings to "the close of the Late Vedic
Period (about 550 B.C.)...as this was a time that saw the slow emergence of poetic forms with
characteristics of their own, quite different both functionally and structurally from previous
models."[154] The earliest Kāvya poems were short stanzas in the minor form (laghukāvya),
sometimes just being one stanza poems (muktakas). Few of these early works have survived.[155]

Laghukāvya

Laghukāvya mainly refers to short poems, which can be single stanza (muktaka), double stanza
poems (yugmaka), and several-stanza poems (kulakas). Short poetry was also termed khandakavya
and a collection of stanzas or anthology was called a kosa.[156] The earliest laghukāvyas were in
prakrits, but some also began to be written in Sanskrit in time.[156]

The earliest laghukāvyas where muktakas (also sometimes called gāthā), single stanzas. These
were most commonly lyrical nature poems, lyrical love poems, religious poems or reflective didactic
poems.[157] According to Lienhard "muktaka poetry generally paints miniature pictures and scenes,
or else it carefully builds up a description of a single theme."[157]

Some of the earliest of these early poems are found in the Buddhist canon, which contain two the
verse anthologies: the Theragāthā (Verses of the Elder Monks) and Therīgāthā (Verses of the Elder
Nuns). Only the Pali versions of these survive, but they also existed in Prakrit and Sanskrit.[158]

There are also some surviving stanzas which are attributed to important figures like the grammarian
Panini, the scholar Patañjali, and Vararuci, but these attributions are uncertain.[159]

Some important Sanskrit poets whose collections of short poems have survived include Bhartṛhari
(fl. c. 5th century CE), known for his Śatakatraya, Amaru (7th century), author of the Amaruśataka
(which mainly contains erotic poetry) and Govardhana (12th century), author of the
Āryāsaptaśatī.[160]

There are numerous anthologies which collect short Sanskrit poetry from different authors, these
works are our main source of short Sanskrit poems.[161] One widely celebrated anthology is the
Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa (Anthology of Well Said Jewels) of the Buddhist monk and anthologist Vidyakara
(c. 1050–1130).[162][163] Other important anthologies include: Jalhana's Subhāṣitamuktāvalī (13th
century), Sridharadasa's Saduktikarṇāmṛta (1205), Śārṅgadharapaddhati (1363) and Vallabhadeva's
Subhāṣitāvalī (Chain of Beautiful Sayings, c. 16th century).[161]

Samghatas and Khandakavyas

In between muktaka and mahākāvya there are medium length Sanskrit poems which are linked
stanzas (between eight and one hundred stanzas) using one Sanskrit metre and one theme (such
as the six Indian seasons, love and eros, and nature). They are variously called "series of stanzas"
(samghata) or khandakavya.[164]

Examples of these medium length poems include: the Ṛtusaṃhāra, the Ghatakarpara Kavyam, and
the Meghadūta of Kālidāsa (the most famous of all Sanskrit poets) which popularized the sandeśa
kāvya (messenger poem), Jambukavi's Candraduta (8th to 10th century), Jinasena's Parsvabhyudaya
(a Jain work), Vedanta Desika's Hansasandeśa, the Kokila Sandeśa, and Rūpa Gosvāmin's
Haṃsadūta (16th century).[165] Another genre of medium length poems were panegyrics like the
Rājendrakarṇapūra of Sambhu.[166]

Religious medium length kāvya style poems (often called stotras or stutis) were also very popular
and they show some similarities with panegyrics. According to Lienhard, some of the figures which
are most widely written about in medium length religious poems include: "Gautama Buddha, Durga-
Kali (or Devi), Ganesa, Krsna (Govinda), Laksmi, Nrsimha, Radha, Rama, Sarasvati, Siva, Surya, the
Tathagatas, the Tirthamkaras or Jinas, Vardhamana Mahavira and Visnu."[167] Only some of the
Sanskrit hymns to the gods can be considered literary kāvya, since they are truly artistic and follow
some of the classic kāvya rules.[168]

According to Lienhard, the literary hymns of the Buddhists are the oldest of these. Aśvaghoṣa is
said to have written some, but they are all lost.[169] Two Buddhist hymns of the poet Mātṛceṭa* (c. 70
to 150 CE), the Varṇārhavarṇa Stotra or Catuḥśataka and the Satapancasataka or Prasadapratibha
((Stotra) on the Splendour of Graciousness (of the Buddha)) have survived in Sanskrit. They are some
the finest Buddhist stotras and were very popular in the Buddhist community in India.[169] There are
also some Buddhist stotras attributed to other Buddhist masters like Nagarjuna (2nd-3rd century
CE), Chandragomin (5th century) and Dignāga as well as two Buddhist stotras by King
Harshavadana.[170] Some important later Buddhist stotras are Sragdharastotra (about 700) by
Sarvajñamitra, Vajradatta's Lokesvara-sataka (9th century), the tantric Mañjuśrīnāma-saṃgīti and
Ramacandra Kavibharati's 15th century Bhaktisataka (which is influenced by the Bhakti
movement).[171]

There are also many Sanskrit Jaina stotras, most of which are dedicated to the Jain Tirthankaras.
They include the Bhaktacamarastotra by Manatunga (7th century), Nandisena's Ajitasantistava, the
Mahavirastava by Abhayadeva (mid 11th century) and the stotras of Ramacandra (12th century).[172]

There are numerous literary Hindu hymns which were written after the time of Kālidāsa. Some of the
most important ones are Bāṇabhaṭṭa's Caṇḍīśataka, the Suryasataka by Mayurbhatta, numerous
hymns attributed to Adi Shankara (though the majority of these were likely not composed by him),
the Mahimnastava, the Shaiva Pañcāśati (14th century), Abhinavagupta's Shaiva stotras, the
southern Mukundamala and Narayaniyam, the Krishnakarṇāmrutam, and the poems of Nilakantha
Diksita, Jagannātha Paṇḍitarāja, Gangadevi, Ramanuja, Jayadeva, Rupa Goswami, and Bhaṭṭa
Nārāyaṇa (17th century).[173]
Mahākāvya

According to Lienhard, the most important feature of mahākāvya (Long poems) is that they are
divided into chapters or cantos (sargas). Fully versified Mahākāvyas (called sargabandhas) are
written in many different metres. Mahākāvyas may also be written fully in prose or in a mixture of
verse and prose (mostly called campu).[174] Sargabandhas commonly center around a hero and also
include villains. They almost never end in a tragic manner.[175] Indian epic poetry like the Rāmāyaṇa
forms an important influence on Sanskrit mahakāvya literature.[176]

The oldest extant mahākāvyas are those of the Buddhist poet and philosopher Aśvaghoṣa (c. 80 –
c. 150 CE).[176] His Buddhacarita (Acts of the Buddha) was influential enough to be translated into
both Tibetan and Chinese.[177][178][179] The Chinese pilgrim Yijing (635–713 CE) writes that the
Buddhacarita was "...extensively read in all the five parts of India and in the countries of the South
Sea (Sumātra, Jāva and the neighbouring islands)...it was regarded as a virtue to read it in as much
as it contained the noble doctrine in a neat compact form."[180] Another mahākāvya by Aśvaghoṣa is
the Saundarananda, which focuses on the conversion of Nanda, Buddha's half-brother.[181][182]

The great mahākāvyas

Kālidāsa, called by many the Shakespeare of India,[o] is said to have been the finest master of the
Sanskrit poetic style. Arthur Macdonell describes this great poets' words as having a "firmness and
evenness of sound, avoiding harsh transitions and preferring gentle harmonies; the use of words in
their ordinary sense and clearness of meaning; the power to convey sentiment; beauty, elevation,
and the employment of metaphorical expressions".[184] Kālidāsa's greatest Kāvyas are the
Raghuvaṃśa and the Kumārasambhava.[p][185]

This Raghuvaṃśa (The Genealogy of Raghu) chronicles the life of Rāma alongside his forefathers
and successors in 19 cantos, with the story of Rāma agreeing quite closely that in the Rāmāyaṇa.
The narrative moves at a rapid pace, is packed with apt and striking similes and has much genuine
poetry, while the style is simpler than what is typical of a mahakāvya. The Raghuvaṃśa is seen to
meet all the criteria of a mahākāvya, such as that the central figure should be noble and clever, and
triumphant, that the work should abound in rasa and bhāva, and so on. There are more than 20
commentaries of this work that are known.[186][187] The Kumārasambhava (The Birth of Kumāra)
narrates the story of the courtship and wedding of Śiva and Pārvatī, and the birth of their son,
Kumāra. The poem finishes with the slaying of the demon Tāraka, the very purpose of the birth of
the warrior-god. The Kumārasambhava showcases the poet's rich and original imaginative powers
making for abundant poetic imagery and wealth of illustration. Again, more than 20 commentaries
on the Kumāra·sambhava have survived.[188][189]
These two great poems are grouped by Indian tradition along with four more works into "the six
great mahākāvyas". The other four greats are: Bhāravi's (6th century CE) Kirātārjunīya, Māgha's (c.
7th Century CE) Śiśupālavadha, the Bhaṭṭikāvya (also known as Rāvaṇavadha) and Śrīharṣa's (12th
century CE) Naiṣadhīyacarita, which is the most extensive and difficult of the great mahākāvyas (and
contains many references to Indian philosophy).[190] Over time, various commentaries where also
composed on these poems, especially the Naiṣadhīyacarita.[191]

Later mahākāvyas

Between Kālidāsa's time and the 18th century, numerous other sargabandhas were composed in the
classic style, such as Mentha's Hayagrīvavadha (6th century), King Pravarasena II's Setubandha, the
Sinhalese poet Kumaradasa's Janakiharana, Rajanaka Ratnakara's Haravijaya, the Nalodaya, the
Buddhist Sivasvamin's Kapphinabhyudaya (9th century), and Buddhaghosa's Padyacudamani (a life
of the Buddha, c. 9th century).[192] Later sargabandhas tended to be more heavily loaded with
technical complexity, erudition and extensive decoration.[193] Authors of these later works include
the 12th century Kashmiri Shaivas Kaviraja Rajanaka Mankha and Jayaratha, Jayadeva, author of
the innovative and widely imitated Gitagovinda, Lolimbaraja's Harivilasa (mid 16th century),[194] the
Shaivite Bhiksatana(kavya) of Gokula, Krsnananda's 13th century Sahrdayananda, and the numerous
works of Ramapanivada.[195]

After the 8th century, many sophisticated Jain mahākāvyas were written by numerous Jain poets
(mainly from Gujarat), including Jatasimhanandi's Varangacarita (7th century), Kanakasena Vadiraja
Suri's Yasodharacarita, and the Ksatracudamani by Vadibhasimha Odayadeva.[196] Jain authors also
wrote their own versions of the Ramayana with Jain themes, such as the Padmapurana of Ravisena
(678 A.D.).[197]

Other later mahākāvyas are poems based on historical figures which embellish history with classic
poetic themes such as Parimala's Navasāhasāṅkacarita, Bilhana's Vikramāṅkadevacarita (11th
century) and Madhurāvijayam (The Conquest of Madurai, c. 14th-century) by Gangadevi, which
chronicles the life a prince of the Vijayanagara Empire and his invasion and conquest of the Madurai
Sultanate.[198][199][200][201]

Some later poems focused on specific poetic devices, some of the most popular being
paronomasia (slesa) and ambiguous rhyme (yamaka). For example, the poems of Vasudeva (10th
century), such as Yudhiṣṭhira-vijaya and Nalodaya, were all yamaka poems while the Ramapalacarita
of Sandhyakara Nandin is a slesakavya.[202]

One final genre is the Śāstrakāvya, a kāvya which also contains some didactic content which
instructs on some ancient science or knowledge. Examples include Halayudha's Kavirahasya (a
handbook for poets), Bhatta Bhima's Arjunaravaniya (which teaches grammar) and Hemacandra's
Kumarapalacarita (grammar).[203]

Prose mahākāvya

While most early mahākāvyas were all in verse, the term mahākāvya could also be applied to any
long prose poem and these became more popular after the 7th century, when the great masters of
prose (gadya) lived. These are Daṇḍin (author of the Daśakumāracarita) Subandhu (author of the
Vāsavadattā) and Bāṇabhaṭṭa (author of Kādambari and Harshacarita).[204] Prose mahākāvyas
replaced virtuosity in metre with highly complex and artistic sentences.[205] Other important writers
of Sanskrit prose poems include Bhūṣaṇa bhaṭṭa, Dhanapala (the Jain author of the Tilakamañjari),
and Vadibhasimha Odayadeva (author of the Gadyacintāmaṇi).[206]

Campū

Campū (also known as gadyapadyamayi) is a poetic genre which contains both verse and prose.
This genre was rare during the first millennium CE, but later grew in popularity, especially in South
India.[207] The earliest Sanskrit example of this genre is Trivikramabhatta's Nalacampu (or
Damayanticampu, c. 10th century).[207] While many other Sanskrit works also contain a mixture of
verse and prose, like Āryaśūra's Jātakamālā, Lienhard notes that these are not true campūs. This is
because "in true campū there is a calculated balance between prose that is as perfect as possible
and stanzas in the genuine kavya style."[208]

Some important campūs include Somaprabha Suri's Yaśastilakacampū (9th century, Jain),
Haricandra's Jivandharacampū (Jain), the Ramayanacampū, Divakara's Amogharaghavacampu, the
17th century female poet Tirumalamba's Varadambikaparinaya, Venkatadhvarin's
Visvagunadarsacampu, Jiva Gosvamin's voluminous Gopalacampu, and Raghunathadasa's
Muktacaritra.[209]

Works on prosody and poetics

There are also numerous Sanskrit works which discuss prosody and poetics. The earliest work
which discusses poetics is Bharatamuni's Nāṭyaśāstra (200 B.C. to 200 A.D.), a work which mainly
deals with drama.[210] Piṅgalá (fl. 300–200 BCE) authored the Chandaḥśāstra, an early Sanskrit
treatise on prosody.

Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri lists four main school of Indian poetics and their main figures:[211]
The Alaṅkāra school which draws on Bhāmaha's (c. 7th century) Kāvyālaṅkāra, Udbhaṭa's
Alankarasamgraha and Rudrata's Kāvyālaṅkāra.

The Riti school - Daṇḍin's (fl. 7th–8th century) Kāvyādarśa is influenced by the Alaṅkāra school
and introduces the concept of guna. The Kāvyādarśa was very influential for Vāmana, the 8th
century founder of the Riti school and author of the Kāvyālaṅkāra Sūtra.

The Rasa school draws on the Nāṭyaśāstra's aphorism on rasa (emotional flavor). The key figure
of this school is Bhaṭṭanāyaka, author of the Hṛdayadarpaṇa.

The Dhvani school which makes use of Anandavardhana's (c. 820–890 CE) Dhvanyāloka and the
commentary of Abhinavagupta (who also wrote the Abhinavabharati, a commentary on the
Nāṭyaśāstra). This school emphasizes "aesthetic suggestion" (dhvani).

Later influential works on poetics include Mammaṭa's (11th century) Kāvyaprakāśa, the writings on
poetics by Kshemendra, Hemacandra's Kavyanusasana, Vagbhata's Vagbhatalankara, and Rupa
Gosvamin's Ujjvalanilamani.[212]

Subhāṣita

Outside of Kāvya proper are also numerous poetic works (often called subhāṣita, "well said") which
can be classified as gnomic poetry and didactic poetry.[213][214] These are mainly poems which
contain some wise saying, aphoristic lesson (often ethical), popular maxim or a proverb
(lokavakya).[215][216] These are thousands of Subhāṣitas on many themes.[217] The Dharmapada is
one important early collection of aphorisms.[213]

There are also many didactic works attributed to Cāṇakya (but actually written by numerous
authors), such as the Rājanītisamuccaya, Cāṇakyanīti, Cāṇakyarājanīti, Vṛddha-Cāṇakya, and the
Laghu-Cāṇakya.[218] Another important collection of gnomic sayings is the Nisataka of
Bhartrhari.[219]

Later examples of this genre include the Jain Amitagati's Subhasitaratnasaridoha, Kṣemendra's
Cārucaryā, Darpadalana and Samayamatrka, Kusumadeva's Dṛṣṭāntaśataka, Dya Dviveda's Nitimañjari
(1494), and Vallabhadeva's Subhāṣitāvalī (15th century).[220][221] There are also numerous
anthologies of subhāṣita, such as the Cātakāṣṭaka.[222]
Sanskrit drama

Nirupama Rajendra in a musical of


Shakunthala

Indian classical drama (dṛśya, nātaka) was also mainly written in Sanskrit and there are many
examples of this Sanskrit literary genre. Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra (3rd century CE) is the earliest work
which discusses Sanskrit dramaturgy.[223] Sanskrit drama focuses on the sentiments and on heroic
characters. Classically, the endings are happy, never tragic.[224] References to Sanskrit drama are
found throughout ancient Sanskrit texts, including the great epics.[225]

Some of the earliest Sanskrit dramas are those of Aśvaghoṣa (only a fragment of his
Śāriputraprakaraṇa survives) and the many plays of Bhāsa (c.1st century BCE), most of which are
based on the two great epics (Mahabharata and Ramayana).[226][227] Kalidasa is widely considered to
be the greatest Sanskrit playwright, hailed for his linguistic mastery and economy of style.[228] He
wrote three plays: Vikramōrvaśīyam,[E] Mālavikāgnimitram,[F] Abhijñānaśākuntalam.[G]

Other important plays include the Mṛcchakaṭika (The Little Clay Cart, 5th century) and the
Mudrārākṣasa.

Harṣa, a 7th-century Indian emperor, was also known as a great playwright with a simple and
delicate style.[229] His Ratnavali, Nagananda, and Priyadarsika are well known Sanskrit dramas.[230]

The Mattavilāsaprahasana (A Farce of Drunken Sport) is a short one-act Sanskrit play. It is one of the
two great one act plays written by Pallava King Mahendravarman I (571– 630CE) in the beginning of
the seventh century in Tamil Nadu.[231]

Bhavabhuti (8th century) is one of the great playwrights after Kalidasa.[232] Other major Sanskrit
playwrights include Visakhadatta, Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa, Murari, Rajasekhara, Kshemisvara,
Damodaramishra, and Krishnamishra.[233]

Later Sanskrit dramaturgical texts also continued to be written in the second millennium, such as
the Shilparatna which discusses dance and drama.
Other Sanskrit narratives

There are various classical Sanskrit collections of fables one of the most influential of which is the
early Pañcatantra, a work that was widely immitated.[234] Other works include the Hitopadeśa and
Srivara's Kathakautuka.[235] Buddhist Jatakas (tales of the Buddha's past lives) is a similar genre and
includes the Divyāvadāna, Āryaśūra's Jātakamālā (a collection of Buddhist fables), and Ksemendra's
various works like the Avadānakalpalatā.

Folk tale (or fairy tale) collections include the Vetala Pañcaviṃśati, Siṃhāsana Dvātriṃśikā, and the
Suktasaptati.[236] There is also Somadeva's Kathāsaritsāgara (Ocean of the Streams of Stories).

There are also poetic historical chronicles like the Rajatarangini of Kalhana.[237]

Hemacandra's (1088-1172) Trisastisalakapurusacaritra is one example of Jain didactic narrative in


Sanskrit.[238]

There are also abridged retellings of more ancient lost texts, such as Budhasvāmin's
Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha.[239]

Modern Sanskrit literature

A 1999 stamp dedicated to the 175th


anniversary of the Sanskrit College

Literature in Sanskrit continues to be produced. These works, however, have a very small
readership. In the introduction to Ṣoḍaśī: An Anthology of Contemporary Sanskrit Poets (1992),
Radhavallabh Tripathi writes:[240]

Sanskrit is known for its classical literature, even though the creative
activity in this language has continued without pause from the medieval
age till today. [...] Consequently, contemporary Sanskrit writing suffers
from a prevailing negligence.
Most current Sanskrit poets are employed as teachers, either pandits in pāṭhaśālas or university
professors.[240] However, Tripathi also points out the abundance of contemporary Sanskrit literature:

On the other hand, the number of authors who appear to be very


enthusiastic about writing in Sanskrit during these days is not negligible.
[...] Dr. Ramji Upadhyaya in his treatise on modern Sanskrit drama has
discussed more than 400 Sanskrit plays written and published during the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In a thesis dealing with Sanskrit
mahākāvyas written in a single decade, 1961–1970, the researcher has
noted 52 Sanskrit mahākāvyas (epic poems) produced in that very decade.

Similarly, Prajapati (2005), in Post-Independence Sanskrit Literature: A Critical Survey, estimates that
more than 3000 Sanskrit works were composed in the period after Indian Independence (i.e., since
1947) alone. Further, much of this work is judged as being of high quality, both in comparison to
classical Sanskrit literature, and to modern literature in other Indian languages.[241][242]

Since 1967, the Sahitya Akademi, India's national academy of letters, has had an award for the best
creative work written that year in Sanskrit. In 2009, Satyavrat Shastri became the first Sanskrit
author to win the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award.[243]Vidyadhar Shastri wrote two epic
poems (Mahakavya), seven shorter poems, three plays and three songs of praise (stavana kavya, he
received the Vidyavachaspati award in 1962. Some other modern Sanskrit composers include
Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra (known as Triveṇī Kavi, composer of short stories and several other genres
of Sanskrit literature), Jagadguru Rambhadracharya (known as Kavikularatna, composer of two
epics, several minor works and commentaries on Prasthānatrayī).

Another great Sanskrit epic that remained largely unrecognised till lately is "Dhruv Charitra" written
by Pandit Surya Dev Mishra in 1946. He won laurels of appreciation by renowned Hindi and Sanskrit
critics like Hazari Prasad Dwiedi, Ayodhya Singh Upadhyay "Hariaudh", Suryakant tripathi "Nirala",
Laldhar Tripathi "Pravasi".[244]

See also

Literature portal

Literature Buddhist texts List of Sanskrit poets


Sanskrit drama
Early Medieval literature List of ancient Indian writers
Hindu scripture
Indian literature
Legendary creatures in List of Sanskrit universities in List of historic Sanskrit texts
Sanskrit mythology India
Symbolic usage of Sanskrit
Revival and significance
List of Sanskrit academic
Sanskrit revival Sanskrit Wikipedia
institutes outside India
Clay Sanskrit Library

Notes

a. "Since the Renaissance there has been no event h. "According to [a characteristic aphorism that's
of such worldwide significance in the history of been preserved] the composers of grammatical
culture as the discovery of Sanskrit literature in Sūtras delight as much in the saving of a short
the latter part of the eighteenth century" - vowel as in the birth of a son"! - Macdonell
Macdonell[2]
i. compare Latin sutura (suture)
b. "The Ṛg·veda is a monumental text with signal
j. An example is the Anukramaṇīs, indexes,
significance for both world religion and world
designed to preserve the text of the Vedas from
literature" - Jamison & Brereton [4]
loss or change, each of which quotes "the first
c. 'The style of the [Vedic] works is more simple word of each hymn, its author, the deity
and spontaneous while that of the later works celebrated in it, the number of verses it
abounds in puns, conceits and long contains, and the metre in which it is
compounds. Rhetorical ornaments are more composed. One of them states the total number
and more copious and complex and the rules of of hymns, verses, words, and even syllables,
Poetic and Grammar more and more rigidly contained in the Ṛg·veda, alongside other
[5]
observed as time advances.' - Iyengar, minute details" - Macdonell

d. The preeminent Sanskritist Sir William Jones is k. "The Vedas are still learnt by heart as they were
said to be the first who ever printed an edition long before the invasion of Alexander, and could
of a Sanskrit text - the Ṛtusaṃhāra of even now be restored from he lips of religious
Kālidāsa.[7] teachers if every manuscript or printed copy of
them were destroyed.", Macdonell, 1900 [46]
e. "The literature of the Veda is one of the most
original and interesting productions of human l. the account based on the actual historical 18-
[32]
endeavor." - Jan Gonda day battle itself takes up 20,000 ślokas

f. Originally only the first 3 Vedas were taken as m. "In various branches of scientific literature, in
canonical, being termed the trayī·vidyā, 'three- phonetics, grammar, mathematics, astronomy,
fold knowledge' medicine, and law, the ancient Indians also
achieved notable results. In some of these
g. The Brāhmaṇas produced "a ritual system far
subjects their attainments are, indeed, far in
surpassing in complexity of detail anything the
advance of what was accomplished by the
world has elsewhere known" - Macdonell
Greeks.", Macdonell[95]
n. While it has been demonstrated that there was o. Monier Williams said to be the first to do so.[183]
a vigorous court-epic tradition during this entire
p. "both distinguished by independence of
period, almost none of it from the first few
treatment as well as considerable poetic
centuries has survived.[148]
beauty" - Macdonell

Glossary

A. 'compiled', 'put together'[33] E. Vikrama and Urvaśī

B. from vid-, 'to know', cognate with Eng. 'wit'[34] F. Mālavika and Agnimitra

C. hearing, heard G. The Recognition of Śakuntalā

D. commentaries

Brahmic notes

Brahmic transliteration

References

1. Fortson, §10.23.

2. Macdonell, p. 1.

3. Burrow, §2.1.

4. Jamison & Brereton p. 1.

5. Iyengar, p. 2.

6. Edgerton, Franklin. The Prakrit Underlying Buddhistic Hybrid Sanskrit. Bulletin of the School of Oriental
Studies, University of London, Vol. 8, No. 2/3, page 503.

7. Macdonell, p. 3.

8. Keith, §1.

9. Macdonnell, §1.

10. Burrow, §2.9.

11. Winternitz (1972) Vol I, pp. 3-4.

12. Iyengar, p. 4.
13. Richard Gombrich (2006). Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo
(https://books.google.com/books?id=jZyJAgAAQBAJ) . Routledge. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-1-134-90352-8.

14. Meier-Brügger, Michael (2003). Indo-European Linguistics (https://books.google.com/books?id=49xq3UlK


WckC) . Walter de Gruyter. p. 20. ISBN 978-3-11-017433-5.

15. Keith, A. Berriedale (1993). A History of Sanskrit Literature (https://books.google.com/books?id=GNALtBM


Vbd0C) . Motilal Banarsidass. p. 4. ISBN 978-81-208-1100-3.

16. Iyengar, p. 5.

17. Gérard Huet; Amba Kulkarni; Peter Scharf (2009). Sanskrit Computational Linguistics: First and Second
International Symposia Rocquencourt, France, October 29–31, 2007 Providence, RI, USA, May 15–17, 2008,
Revised Selected Papers (https://books.google.com/books?id=t2f1hneiV08C) . Springer. pp. v–vi.
ISBN 978-3-642-00154-3.

18. John Kelly (1996). Jan E.M. Houben (ed.). Ideology and Status of Sanskrit: Contributions to the History of
the Sanskrit Language (https://books.google.com/books?id=_eqr833q9qYC&pg=PA87) . BRILL
Academic. pp. 87–102. ISBN 978-90-04-10613-0.

19. Stephen K. Stein (2017). The Sea in World History: Exploration, Travel, and Trade [2 volumes] (https://books.
google.com/books?id=QmOWDgAAQBAJ) . ABC-CLIO. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-4408-3551-3.

20. Charles Taliaferro (2010). A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion (https://books.google.com/books?id=CfW


oAwAAQBAJ) . Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 245–246. ISBN 978-1-4411-8504-4.

21. J.F. Staal (1976). Herman Parret (ed.). History of Linguistic Thought and Contemporary Linguistics (https://
books.google.com/books?id=hQh0bC5RAe8C&pg=PA102) . Walter de Gruyter. pp. 102–130. ISBN 978-3-
11-005818-5.

22. Paul Dundas (2006). Patrick Olivelle (ed.). Between the Empires : Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC) . Oxford University Press. pp. 395–396. ISBN 978-0-19-
977507-1.

23. Burrow, Thomas (1973). The Sanskrit Language (3rd, revised ed.), p. 60. London: Faber & Faber.

24. Pollock, Sheldon (2001). "The Death of Sanskrit". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 43 (2): 392–
426. doi:10.1017/s001041750100353x (https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fs001041750100353x) .
S2CID 35550166 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:35550166) .

25. Hanneder, J. (2002). "On 'The Death of Sanskrit' " (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:102136613


1934) . Indo-Iranian Journal. 45 (4): 293–310. doi:10.1163/000000002124994847 (https://doi.org/10.11
63%2F000000002124994847) . JSTOR 24664154 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/24664154) .
S2CID 189797805 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:189797805) .

26. Deshpande, Madhav M. (1993). Sanskrit & Prakrit, Sociolinguistic Issues. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 118–
124. ISBN 978-81-208-1136-2.
27. Moriz Winternitz (1996). A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 37–39.
ISBN 978-81-208-0264-3.

28. Singh, N. (1992). "The vivaha (marriage) Samskara as a paradigm for religio-cultural integration in
Hinduism". Journal for the Study of Religion. 5 (1): 31–40. JSTOR 24764135 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/
24764135) .

29. Vivekananda, Swami (2005). Prabuddha Bharata (https://books.google.com/books?id=pJjXAAAAMAAJ)


[Awakened India]. Prabuddha Bharata Press. pp. 362, 594. ISBN 978-81-7823-180-8.

30. Witzel, 1989, p. 1.

31. Burrow, p. 43.

32. Gonda, p. 1

33. MWW, p. 1123.

34. MWW, p.963.

35. J&B, pp. 1-2.

36. J&B, pp. 2-3.

37. Macdonell, p. 30.

38. Macdonell, pp. 30-31.

39. Macdonell, p. 31-32.

40. Macdonell, p. 34.

41. Macdonell, pp. 35-36.

42. Winternitz (1972) Vol I, p. 46.

43. Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-20778-3, page ix-
xliii

44. Michael Witzel, "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in: Flood, Gavin, ed. (2003), The Blackwell Companion to
Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., ISBN 1-4051-3251-5, pages 68–71

45. William Graham (1993), Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion,
Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-44820-8, pages 67–77

46. Macdonell, p. 8.

47. Klaus Klostermaier (2007), A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition, State University of New York Press,
ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4, pages 46–52, 76–77

48. RC Zaehner (1992), Hindu Scriptures, Penguin Random House, ISBN 978-0-679-41078-2, pages 1–11 and
Preface
49. Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1988), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, Manchester University
Press, ISBN 0-7190-1867-6, pages 2–3

50. James Lochtefeld (2002), "Smrti", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen
Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8, page 656–657

51. Purushottama Bilimoria (2011), The idea of Hindu law, Journal of Oriental Society of Australia, Vol. 43,
pages 103–130

52. Roy Perrett (1998), Hindu Ethics: A Philosophical Study, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0-8248-
2085-5, pages 16–18

53. Winternitz, 1972, pp. 311-12.

54. Winternitz, 1972, pp. 314

55. Winternitz, 1972, pp. 315

56. Lienhard (1984), p. 58.

57. Winternitz 1972, p. 314.

58. Winternitz, 1972, pp. 314-15.

59. Winternitz, 1972, pp. 316-318.

60. Austin, Christopher R. (2019). Pradyumna: Lover, Magician, and Son of the Avatara (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=4jCoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21) . Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-19-005411-3.

61. Winternitz 1972, pp. 317–321.

62. Macdonell, p. 282.

63. Winternitz, 1972, pp. 317-319.

64. Eliot Deutsch; Rohit Dalvi (2004), The Essential Vedānta: A New Source Book of Advaita Vedānta, World
Wisdom, p. 97. Inc, ISBN 978-0-941532-52-5

65. Winternitz, 1972, pp. 443-444.

66. Macdonell, p. 303,310.

67. Winternitz 1972, p. 467.

68. Keith, p. 43.

69. Macdonell, pp. 311-314.

70. Bailey, Gregory (2001). Leaman, Oliver (ed.). Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, pp. 437–439. Routledge.
ISBN 978-0-415-17281-3.
71. Thompson, Richard L. (2007). The Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana 'Mysteries of the Sacred Universe (h
ttps://books.google.com/books?id=3TZmDSr-1msC&pg=PA10) . Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 10.
ISBN 978-81-208-1919-1.

72. Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-20778-3, page xli

73. Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanishads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-512435-4, pages 12-
14.

74. Bronkhorst, Johannes (2007). Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India, pp. 258-259. BRILL.

75. Olivelle, Patrick (1992). The Samnyasa Upanisads, pp. 5, 8–9.. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-
507045-3.

76. Varghese, Alexander P. (2008), India : History, Religion, Vision And Contribution To The World, vol. 1, p. 101.
Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, ISBN 978-81-269-0903-2

77. Gavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0,
pages 54–55

78. Keith (1956), pp. 470-520.

79. Richa Vishwakarma and Pradip Kumar Goswami (2013), A review through Charaka Uttara-Tantra,
International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda, Volume 34, Issue 1, pages 17–20

80. Karin Preisendanz (2005), The Production of Philosophical Literature in South Asia during the Pre-Colonial
Period (15th to 18th Centuries): The Case of the Nyāyasūtra Commentarial Tradition, Journal of Indian
Philosophy, Volume 33, pages 55–94

81. PV Kane (2015 Reprint), History of Sanskrit Poetics, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0274-2, page
29

82. Winternitz (1972) Vol I, p. 4.

83. Flood, Gavin D. (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism, pp. 158-159. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-
521-43878-0.

84. Mallinson, James (2016). "Śāktism and Haṭhayoga". In Wernicke-Olesen, Bjarne (ed.). Goddess Traditions
in Tantric Hinduism: History, Practice and Doctrine. Routledge. pp. 109–140. ISBN 978-1-317-58521-3.

85. Keith (1956), p. 403.

86. Keith (1956), pp. 403-408

87. Keith, pp. 406-407.

88. Keith, pp. 409-411.

89. Gold, Jonathan C. (2007). The Dharma's Gatekeepers, Sakya Pandita on Buddhist Scholarship in Tibet,
pp.14-15. State University of New York Press.
90. Matthew Kapstein. Other People's Philology: Uses of Sanskrit in Tibet and China, 14th -19th Centuries. (http
s://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02190087/document) L'espace du sens. Approches de la philologie
indienne/The Space of Meaning.Approaches to Indian Philology., 2018.

91. Pal, Pratapaditya (1997). Tibet: tradition and change, p. 49. Albuquerque Museum.

92. Gold, Jonathan C. (2007). The Dharma's Gatekeepers, Sakya Pandita on Buddhist Scholarship in Tibet, pp. 8-
9. State University of New York Press.

93. Gornall, Alastair (2022). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270,
pp. 37, 63. UCL Press.

94. Bronkhorst, Johannes. "The Spread of Sanskrit in Southeast Asia" (https://www.academia.edu/3271323/T


he_spread_of_Sanskrit_in_Southeast_Asia) in Pierre-Yves Manguin, A. Mani, Geoff Wade (2011) Early
Interactions between South and Southeast Asia. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814311175-015 .

95. Macdonell, p. 10.

96. James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vedanga" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen
Publishing, ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, pages 744-745

97. Bronkhorst, Johannes (2016), How the Brahmins Won: From Alexander to the Guptas, p. 171. BRILL

98. Macdonell, pp. 38-39.

99. Keith (1956), pp. 426-429.

100. Scharfe, Hartmut (1977). Grammatical Literature [A History of Indian Literature Vol V.], Otto Harrassowitz
Verlag.

101. Keith (1956), p. 412.

102. Keith (1956), p. 413.

103. Keith (1956), p. 414.

104. Keith, p. 437.

105. Keith, pp. 439-440.

106. Keith, pp. 442-444.

107. Deshpande, p. 85.

108. Moorjani, Kumarasamy, Reich... (5 September 2013). "Genetic Evidence for Recent Population Mixture in
India" (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82377598.pdf) (PDF). The American Journal of Human
Genetics. 93 (3): 422–438. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.07.006 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ajhg.2013.07.00
6) . PMC 3769933 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3769933) . PMID 23932107 (http
s://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23932107) . Retrieved 10 April 2021.

109. Sanskrit Scientific Literature (SKT2C08) (http://sdeuoc.ac.in/sites/default/files/sde_videos/scientific%20l


iterature.pdf) , University of Calicut, Kerala
110. Keith (1956), p. 452.

111. Keith (1956), pp. 462-463.

112. Keith (1956), pp. 464-65.

113. Keith (1956), p. 465.

114. "Ayurveda" (https://www.sahapedia.org/ayurveda-0) . Sahapedia. Retrieved 2022-06-27.

115. Edgerton, Franklin (1953). Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, Volume 1, pp. 1-3. MOTILAL
BANARSIDASS. ISBN 0-89581-180-4.

116. Winternitz (1972) pp. 226-227.

117. Marcus Bingenheimer, Editor in Chief; Bhikkhu Anālayo and Roderick S. Bucknell, Co-Editors. The
Madhyama Agama: Middle Length Discourses Vol I (Taishō Volume 1, Number 26). Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai
America, Inc. 2013. BDK English Tripiṭaka Series, p. xvi

118. Wayman, Alex. The Buddhism and the Sanskrit of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. Journal of the American
Oriental Society Vol. 85, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1965), pp. 111-115 (5 pages).

119. Johannes Bronkhorst. Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism. Handbook of Oriental Studies (Leiden:
Brill, 2011), 46-47, 129.

120. Burrow, Thomas; The Sanskrit Language, page 62.

121. Prebish, Charles S. (2010) Buddhism: A Modern Perspective, pp. 42-44. Penn State Press.

122. Eltschinger, Vincent. Why did the Buddhists adopt Sanskrit? Open Linguistics 2017; 3: 308–326 (https://w
ww.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opli-2017-0015/pdf) Degruyter.

123. von Hinüber, Oskar. 1989. Origin and Varieties of Buddhist Sanskrit. In Caillat, Colette (ed.), Dialectes dans
les langues indo-aryennes, 341-367. Paris: Collège de France, Institut de Civilisation Indienne.

124. Williams, Paul. Buddhist Thought. Routledge, 2000, p. 131.

125. Williams, Paul. Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd edition. Routledge, 2009, p. 47.

126. Nariman, J.K.; Introduction to the Early Buddhist Texts in Sanskritised Prākit from Literary History of Sanskrit
Buddhism (http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Reference/Early-Buddhist-Texts/02-EBT-Sanskrit-Canon.
htm) , Ch 1-6.

127. Howladar, Mithun. Buddhist Sanskrit Literature : A Discussion. Research Guru: Online Journal of
Multidisciplinary Subjects Volume-11, Issue-4, March-2018.

128. 2019, Shakya, M. (2019). The Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Project: Problems and Possibilities. (https://w
ww.academia.edu/39880535/The_Digital_Sanskrit_Buddhist_Canon_Project_Problems_and_Possibilities)
Volume 1 Digital Humanities and Buddhism (pp. 111-126). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.

129. Barua, Jyoti. Ancient Buddhist Universities in Indian Sub-Continent. Fulton Books, Inc., 2016.
130. The Gupta Empire by Radhakumud Mookerji p. 133 sq (https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYb
wC&pg=PA133)

131. Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh, story of Buddhism: "Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh, story of Buddhism" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20070314205301/http://www.indiaprofile.com/religion-culture/buddhisminandh
ra.htm) . Archived from the original (http://www.indiaprofile.com/religion-culture/buddhisminandhra.ht
m) on 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2006-06-27.

132. Garfield, J.L.; Westerhoff, J. (2015). Madhyamaka and Yogacara: Allies Or Rivals? (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=9a7qBgAAQBAJ) . Oxford University Press. pp. 139–142. ISBN 978-0-19-023129-3.

133. Gold, Jonathan C. (2007). The Dharma's Gatekeepers, Sakya Pandita on Buddhist Scholarship in Tibet, p.21.
State University of New York Press.

134. Newman, John. "Buddhist Sanskrit in the Kālacakra Tantra." 1988, Journal of the International Association
of Buddhist Studies.

135. Davidson, Ronald M. (2004). Indian Esoteric Buddhism: Social History of the Tantric Movement, pp. 267-
277. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.

136. Stephenson, Jackson Barkley (2021). "Bliss beyond All Limit: On the Apabhraṃśa Dohā in Tantric Buddhist
Texts" (https://doi.org/10.3390%2Frel12110927) . Religions. 12 (11): 927. doi:10.3390/rel12110927 (http
s://doi.org/10.3390%2Frel12110927) .

137. Winternitz 1972, p. 427.

138. Winternitz (1972), p. 427.

139. Dundas, Paul (2006), Olivelle, Patrick (ed.), Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE, pp.
395–396. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-977507-1

140. Keith (1956), pp. 497-498

141. Lienhard, Siegfried (1984). A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit (A History of Indian Literature
Vol. III) Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.

142. Lienhard (1984), p. 1.

143. Lienhard (1984), pp. 2, 46.

144. Macdonell, pp. 325-326.

145. Keith, p. 42.

146. Lienhard (1984), p. 45.

147. Lienhard (1984), p. 46.

148. Keith, ch. 2

149. Lienhard (1984), p. 48.


150. Lienhard (1984), p. 50.

151. Lienhard (1984), p. 2.

152. Lienhard (1984), pp. 16-18.

153. Lienhard (1984), p. 19.

154. Lienhard (1984), p. 53.

155. Lienhard (1984), pp. 63-64.

156. Lienhard (1984), pp. 65-66.

157. Lienhard (1984), pp. 71-75.

158. Lienhard (1984), pp. 75-76.

159. Lienhard (1984), p. 79.

160. Lienhard (1984), pp. 88-99.

161. Lienhard (1984), p. 87.

162. vidyAkara (Vidyākara) (1968). Sanskrit poetry, from Vidyākara's "Treasury". Translated by Daniel Ingalls.
Harvard University Press. pp. 346a. ISBN 0-674-78865-6.

163. Mohan Lal. Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Five (Sasay To Zorgot), Volume 5. Sahitya Akademi.
p. 4480.

164. Lienhard (1984), pp. 104-105.

165. Lienhard (1984), pp. 107-127

166. Lienhard (1984), pp. 128.

167. Lienhard (1984), pp. 128-129

168. Lienhard (1984), p. 130

169. Lienhard (1984), p. 132

170. Lienhard (1984), p. 133.

171. Lienhard (1984), p. 134.

172. Lienhard (1984), p. 136.

173. Lienhard (1984), pp. 137-149.

174. Lienhard (1984), pp. 161-162

175. Lienhard (1984), p. 161.

176. Lienhard (1984), p. 164


177. Macdonell, p. 319.

178. Keith, ch. 3.

179. E.B. Cowell, trans. The Buddha Carita or the Life of the Buddha, Oxford, Clarendon 1894, reprint: New Delhi,
1977, p. X (introduction).

180. J.K. Nariman: Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism, Bombay 1919. Aśvaghoṣa and his School (http://ww
w.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/XX-Early-Buddhist-Texts/05-EBT-Asvaghosa.htm) Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20110110133430/http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/X
X-Early-Buddhist-Texts/05-EBT-Asvaghosa.htm) 10 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine

181. Yoshichika Honda. 'Indian Buddhism and the kāvya literature: Asvaghosa's Saundaranandakavya.'
Hiroshima Daigaku Daigakuin Bungaku Kenkyuuka ronshuu, vol. 64, pp. 17–26, 2004. [1] (http://cat.inist.f
r/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16560383) (Japanese)

182. Johnston, E. H. (1928). Saundarananda (https://archive.org/download/TFIC_ASI_Books/SaundaranandaOf


Asvaghosa.pdf) (PDF). Lahore: University of Panjab.

183. Kale, p. xxvi.

184. Keith, p. 101

185. Macdonell, p. 326.

186. Macdonell, pp. 326-327.

187. Keith, §4.7.

188. Macdonell, p. 328.

189. Keith, §4.6.

190. Lienhard (1984), pp. 171-192.

191. Lienhard (1984), pp. 172 - 194.

192. Lienhard (1984), pp. 196-201

193. Lienhard (1984), p. 202

194. Lolimbaraja and his work (http://ccras.nic.in/sites/default/files/viewpdf/jimh/JIMH_2009/19%20to%202


8.pdf)

195. Lienhard (1984), pp. 201-211

196. Lienhard (1984), pp. 212-213

197. Lienhard (1984), pp. 213-214.

198. Ernst, Carl W. (1992). Eternal garden: mysticism, history, and politics at a South Asian Sufi center (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=VgIOryEPymcC&pg=RA1-PA297) (Illustrated ed.). SUNY Press. p. 297.
ISBN 978-0-7914-0884-1.
199. Jackson, William Joseph (2005). Vijayanagara voices: exploring South Indian history and Hindu literature (ht
tps://books.google.com/books?id=PxvDNBc4qwUC&pg=PA61) (Illustrated ed.). Ashgate Publishing.
pp. 61–70. ISBN 978-0-7546-3950-3.

200. Chattopadhyaya, Brajadulal (2006). Studying Early India: Archaeology, Texts and Historical Issues (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=m38UxgHNonIC&pg=PA141) . Anthem Press. pp. 141–143. ISBN 978-1-
84331-132-4.

201. Lienhard (1984), pp. 215-221.

202. Lienhard (1984), pp. 222-224

203. Lienhard (1984), pp. 225-227.

204. Lienhard (1984), pp. 228, 234-247

205. Lienhard (1984), p. 233.

206. Lienhard (1984), pp. 258-263

207. Lienhard (1984), p. 265

208. Lienhard (1984), p. 226.

209. Lienhard (1984), pp. 268-272

210. Lienhard (1984), p. 54.

211. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), pp. 150-153.

212. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), pp. 154-155.

213. Keith (1956), p. 227.

214. Sternbach, Ludwik (1974). Subhasita, Gnomic and Didactic Literature (A History of Indian Literature Vol. IV,
1. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.

215. L. Sternbach (1973), Subhashita - A forgotten chapter in the histories of Sanskrit literature, in Indologica
Taurinensia, Torino, Vol I, pp. 169-254.

216. Sternbach, Ludwik (1974). Subhasita, Gnomic and Didactic Literature, pp. 1-2. (A History of Indian Literature
Vol. IV, 1. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.

217. Kashinath Sharma (1952), Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara - A collection of over 10,000 subhasitas, Nirnaya
Sagar Press

218. Keith (1956), p. 228.

219. Keith (1956), p. 231.

220. Sternbach (1974) pp. 2-8

221. Keith (1956), pp. 237-240.


222. Keith (1956), p. 234.

223. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), p. 85.

224. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), pp. 8-92

225. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), p. 95

226. Samir Kumar Datta (1979). Aśvaghoṣa as a Poet and a Dramatist: A Critical Study, p. 123. University of
Burdwan.

227. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), pp. 97-103.

228. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), p. 104.

229. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), p. 107.

230. Harsha (2006). "The Lady of the Jewel Necklace" and "The Lady who Shows Her Love". Translated by Wendy
Doniger. New York University Press. p. 18.

231. Mahendravikramavarma Pallava (600). Lockwood, Michael; Bhat, Vishnu (eds.). Mattavilasa Prahasana
The Farce of Drunken Sport. Christian Literature Society.

232. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), p. 109

233. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), pp. 111-119.

234. Keith (1956), pp. 244-245, 259-263.

235. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), pp. 137-138

236. Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987), p. 138

237. Lienhard (1984), p. 218.

238. Keith (1956), p. 294.

239. Keith (1956), pp. 272

240. Radhavallabh Tripathi, ed. (1992), Ṣoḍaśī: An Anthology of Contemporary Sanskrit Poets (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=gXtWVxJCA7MC&q=%22Harshadev%22) , Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-7201-200-4

241. S. Ranganath (2009), Modern Sanskrit Writings in Karnataka (http://www.sanskrit.nic.in/digitalbook/m/ms


wk.pdf) , ISBN 978-81-86111-21-5, p. 7:

Contrary to popular belief, there is an astonishing Sanskrit writing is


qualitatively of such high order that it can easily be treated on par with the
best of Classical Sanskrit literature, It can also easily compete with the
writings in other Indian languages.
242. Adhunika Sanskrit Sahitya Pustakalaya (http://www.sanskrit.nic.in/ASSP/Index.html) , Rashtriya Sanskrit
Sansthan:

The latter half of the nineteenth century marks the beginning of a new era in
Sanskrit literature. Many of the modern Sanskrit writings are qualitatively of
such high order that they can easily be treated at par with the best of classical
Sanskrit works, and they can also be judged in contrast to the contemporary
literature in other languages.

243. "Sanskrit's first Jnanpith winner is a 'poet by instinct' " (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sanskrits-firs


t-jnanpith-winner-is-a-poet-by-instinct/410480/0) . The Indian Express. Jan 14, 2009.

244. Mishra, Mayank. Karma ka Pujari. Chandigarh : Unistar Publications, 2010. Print

Bibliography

Burrow, T (2001). The Sanskrit Language (2001 ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-1767-2.

Deshpande, Madhav M (1993). Sanskrit and Prakrit (1993 ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-
1136-4.

Fortson, Benjamin W (2010). Indo-European Language and Culture (2010 ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.


ISBN 978-1-4051-8895-1.

Gonda, Jan (ed.) A History of Indian Literature, Otto Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden.

Studies on Modern Sanskrit Writings: Ādhunika-saṃskṛta-sāhityānuśīlanam. (http://gretil.sub.uni-go


ettingen.de/gretil_elib/HaB014__Hanneder_Broo_eds_Studies_on_Modern_Sanskrit_Writings_15thW
SC-Panel_2012.pdf) Papers Presented in the Section on Modern Sanskrit Writings (Proceedings of
the 15th World Sanskrit Conference, 2012). Edited by Jürgen Hanneder and Måns Broo with an
introduction by R. V. Tripathi.

Iyengar, V. Gopala (1965). A Concise History of Classical Sanskrit Literature. Rs. 4.

Jain, Vijay K. (2011), Acharya Umasvami's Tattvarthsutra (https://books.google.com/books?id=zL


mx9bvtglkC) (1st ed.), Uttarakhand: Vikalp Printers, ISBN 978-81-903639-2-1, " This article
incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain."

Jaini, Padmanabh S. (1998) [1979], The Jaina Path of Purification (https://books.google.com/book


s?id=wE6v6ahxHi8C) , Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1578-5

Jamison & Brereton, Stephanie & Joel (2020). The Rigveda, A guide. Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-
063336-3.
Kale, M R (1972). A Higher Sanskrit Grammar (2002 ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-0177-
6.

Keith, A. Berriedale (1956). A History of Sanskrit Literature. Great Britain: Oxford University Press.

Lienhard, Siegfried (1984). A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit (A History of Indian
Literature Vol. III) Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.

Macdonell, Arthur Anthony, A History of Sanskrit Literature, New York 1900

Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford Clarendon Press.

Prajapati, Manibhai K. (2005), Post-Independence Sanskrit Literature: A Critical Survey, Standard


Publishers (India)

S. Ranganath, Modern Sanskrit Writings in Karnataka (http://www.sanskrit.nic.in/DigitalBook/M/M


swk.pdf) , Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, 2009.

Gaurinath Bhattacharyya Shastri (1987). A Concise History of Classical Sanskrit Literature. Motilal
Banarsidass Publ.

Bhattacharji Sukumari, History of Classical Sanskrit Literature, Sangam Books, London, 1993,
ISBN 0-86311-242-0

Whitney, William Dwight (January 2008). Sanskrit Grammar (2000 ed.). Motilal Banarsidass.
ISBN 978-81-208-0620-7.

Winternitz, M. A History of Indian Literature. Oriental books, New Delhi, 1927 (1907)

Winternitz, M. A History of Indian Literature Vol. I. Introduction, Veda, National Epics, Puranas and
Tantras. Oriental books, New Delhi, 1972

Winternitz, M. A History of Indian Literature Vol. II. Buddhist literature and Jaina literature. Oriental
books, New Delhi, 1972

Witzel, Michael (1989), Colette Caillat (ed.), Tracing the Vedic dialects, in Dialectes dans les
litteratures Indo-Aryennes (http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/dialects.pdf) (PDF),
Paris: de Boccard

External links

Sanskrit literature
at Wikipedia's sister projects

Media from Commons


Texts from Wikisource

Textbooks from Wikibooks

Resources from Wikiversity

GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (http://www.sub.uni-goettinge


n.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil.htm) a cumulative register of the numerous download sites for
electronic texts in Indian languages.

TITUS Indica (http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/indexe.htm?/texte/texte2.htm#ind)

Vedabase.net (https://web.archive.org/web/20060111075741/http://vedabase.net/) : Vaishnava


literatures with word for word translations from Sanskrit to English.

Official page (http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org) of the Clay Sanskrit Library, publisher of


classical Indian literature with facing-page texts and translations. Also offers numerous
downloadable materials.

Sanskrit Documents Collection (http://sanskritdocuments.org) : Documents in ITX format of


Upanishads, Stotras etc., and a metasite with links to translations, dictionaries, tutorials, tools and
other Sanskrit resources.

MAHE Mahabharata Digital Concordance (http://mahabharata.manipal.edu/) by Department of


Philosophy - Manipal (https://manipal.edu/philosophy.html/)

Sanskrit Literature (http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=sanskrit_literature) at the


Encyclopedia of Fantasy

You might also like