Ancient, Medieval, Art and Culture 1

Important Literature – Ancient India

Vedas
• It is written in highly stylized poetic style and the language is full of symbols and myths.
• The Vedas were initially handed down orally by generations of Brahmin families but it
is estimated by historians that they were compiled around 1500 BC-1000 BC.
• In the Hindu tradition, they are considered sacred because they are the divine
revelations, which were determined by gods to guide humans eternally.
• They also have larger implications on our lives as they treat the universe and its
inhabitants as one big family and preach Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
• There are four major Vedas: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda.
These were mostly written by vedic seers and poets called the rishis who envisioned
the cosmic mysteries and wrote them in the form of Sanskrit poetry.
• All the Vedas give prominence to yagna (sacrifice). The Brahmanas, the Upanishads
and the Aranyakas accompany each Veda.

Brahmanas
• The Brahmanas are part of the Hindu sruti (revealed knowledge) literature. Each Veda
has a Brahmana attached to it, which is essentially a collection of texts with
commentaries on the particular Veda.
• They are usually a mixture of legends, facts, philosophy and detailed explanations of
Vedic rituals.
• They also consist of instructions as to how to properly conduct rituals and enunciate
the science of sacrifice.
• They also explain the symbolic significance of the sacred words used in the rituals.
• Each Veda has its accompanying Brahmana.

Arayankas
• The Arayankas are also texts attached to the Vedas and they describe the rituals and
sacrifices involved in the Vedas from various perspectives.

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• They are said to be compilations of ritualistic information on the birth and death cycles
as well as the complexity of the soul.
• It is argued that holy and learned men, called Munis, who preferred to dwell within
the limits of the forests, taught them.

Upanishads
• We have more than 200 known Upanishads and the teacher usually passed them
down verbally to his students in the forest while they sat in front of him.
• This tradition was part of the guru-shishya parampara.
• These are treatises written in Sanskrit and give an account of the Vedas in
predominantly monastic and mystical terms.
• As they are generally the last part of the Vedas, they are also known as Vedanta or
‘end (anta) of the Veda’.
• The Upanishads are said to have the ‘truth’ about human life and show the way
towards human salvation or moksha.
• Out of the above-mentioned 200 Upanishads, a set of 108 Upanishads has been called
the Muktika Canon.

Sanskrit Drama

Kalidasa Malavikagnimitra (The love story of Malavika a maiden of Queen and

Agnimitra the son of Pushyamitra Shunga) Vikramorvasiya (Love story
of Vikram and Urvasi) Abhigyana Shakuntala (the recognition of
Shakuntala)

Sudraka Mricchakatika (The Little Clay Cart) Love affair of young brahmin
Charudatta with a wealthy courtesan.

Vishakhdutta Mudra Rakshasa (is a political drama and narrates the ascent of king
Chandragupta Maurya to power in India) Devi Chandraguptam

Bhavabhuti Uttara Ramacharitam (the later life of Rama). It was written in 700 AD.

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Bhasa Swapnavasavadatta (Vasavadatta in a dream),

Pancharatra, Urubhanga (story of Duryodhana during and after his
fight with Bhima.

Harshavardhana Ratnavali (about the love story of princess Ratnavali, daughter of the
(wrote 3 Sanskrit king of Ceylon and king Udayana. We find here, the mention of the
plays) celebration of Holi for the first time).

Other Major Sanskrit texts

Charak Charak Samhita (Book on Medicine)

Sushruta Sushruta Samhita (Book on surgery).

Madhava Madhava Nidana (Book on pathology)

Varamihira Pancha-Siddhantika (Book on astrology) Brihat Samhita (book on wide-

ranging subjects like planetary movements, geology, architecture, etc.

Aryabhatta Aryabhatiya (Book on astronomy and mathematics)

Lagdhacharya Book on astrology

Pingala Book on Mathematics

Bhaskara Siddhanta Shiromani

Literature in Pali and Prakrit

• It is said that Lord Buddha used Pali to give his sermons and it is in the same language
that they have been recorded. The Buddhist literature can be divided into Canonical
and Noncanonical works.
• The Canonical literature consists of ‘Triptikas’ or baskets (of knowledge).
• The three Tripitakas are: Vinaya Pitaka, which covers the rules and regulations, which
should be followed by the Buddhist monks. The Sutta Pitaka contains dialogues and
speeches of the Buddha that deal with morality and righteous dharma. Lastly,
the Abhidhamma Pitaka that concentrates on the philosophy and metaphysics.

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• It also contains discussions on various topics like ethics, theory of knowledge and
psychology.
• The Jatakas are the best example of Buddhist non-canonical literature. These are
compilation of the stories from the previous births of Buddha.
• The stories of the Bodhisattva or the (future) would-be Buddha are also discussed in
these Jatakas. Although these stories propagate Buddhist religious doctrines, they are
available in Sanskrit and Pali. Each story of the birth of the Buddha is equivalent to a
Jataka tale.
• It was believed that Buddha passed through 550 births before he was born as
Gautama. These tales combine the popular tales, ancient mythology as well as
sociopolitical conditions in North India between 600 BC and 200 BC.
• The great epic Buddhacharita by Aswaghosha (78 A.D.) is another example of
Buddhist literature in Sanskrit. Another major religion, Jainism, produced texts in
Prakrit.
• They form the basis of the Jain canonical literature. Some of the Jain texts were also
written in Sanskrit like the Upamitibhava Prapancha Katha of Siddharasi (906 A.D.).
• The most important Jain texts written in Prakrit are the Angas, the Upangas and
the Parikramas. Apart from these the Chhedab Sutra and the Malasutra are also
considered to be sacred by the Jains.
• Amongst the secular writers attached to the Jains were Hemachandra who wrote a
treatise on lexicography and grammar. Mention could also be made of Haribhadra
Suri who wrote in the eighth century.
• These treatises help us to expound on the sociopolitical history of areas densely
populated by the Jaina community, which mostly comprised of traders.
• Lastly, Prakrit poetry has some elements of erotica through texts like
the Gathasaptashati (700 verses) by Hala written in 300 A.D.
• While Hala has only contributed 44 verses in this volume, what sets this apart is a large
number of female poetesses who have contributed to this work.
• The most prominent amongst them are Pahai, Roha, Sasippaha, Mahavi and Reva.

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Other Buddhist literary texts

• Dipavamsa: It was probably written in 3rd-4th centuries BCE in Anuradhapur (Sri
Lanka), during the reign of King Dhatusena. It literally means “Chronicle of the Island”.
It mentions about the visit of Buddha to Sri Lanka and the relics of Buddha.
• Milinda Panha: It contains a dialogue between King Meander (or Milinda) and
Buddhist monk Nagasena. It means “Questions of Milinda”. These are one of the
highest philosophical enquiries.
• Mahavamsa: It is an epic poem written in Pali language. It dates back to 3rd-4th
centuries BCE during the reign of King Vijaya. It is a historical account of various
kingdoms of South Asia.
• Mahavastu: It contains Jakata and Avadana tales. It is written in mixed Sanskrit, Pali
and Prakrit. It is said to compiled between 2nd century BC-4th century AD.
• Lalitavistara Sutra: meaning “The play in full”, it is an important Mahayana text. It
contains various stories associated with the life of Buddha till his first sermon at
Sarnath.
• Udana: It is one of the oldest Theravada (Old School) Buddhist text. It contains the
famous story of “Blind Men and the Elephant”.
• Bodhi Vamsa: It was prose-poem, written in century 10th century in Sri Lanka. It was
translated from a Sinhalese version. It was written by Upatissa and is written in Pali.
Udanavarga: It is a compilation which contains utterances of Buddha and his disciples.
It is written in Sanskrit.
• Mahavibhasa Shastra: It is said to be written around 150CE. It contains discussions
about other non-Buddhist philosophies also. It is essentially a Mahayan text.
• Abhidharmamoksha: It is written by Vasubandhu and is a widely respected text. It is
written in Sanskrit. It contains discussion on Abhidharma.
• Visuddhimagga: It is written by Buddhagosha in 5th century. It is a text of Theravada
doctrine. It contains discussions on various teachings of Buddha.

Jain Literature
• Apart from writing in Prakrit and Ardha Magadhi, Jain monks wrote in many other
languages depending on the era, region and the patrons who supported them.
• They wrote in Tamil during the Sangam Age in south India.
• They also wrote in Sanskrit, Shauraseni, Gujarati, and Marathi.

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• They can be broadly divided into two major categories; Canonical or religious texts
called Jain Agamas or Agam and non-canonical literary works.

Jain Agamas
• They are the sacred texts and are said to be the teachings of the Jain tirthankars. They
are said to be originally compiled by the Gandharas who were immediate disciples of
Mahavira.
• These texts are important for Svetambaras. The present Angas are said to re-compiled
in a council of monks of Svetambaras sect held in Vallabhi (Gujarat) during mid-5th
century AD.
• The Digamabara sect believes that original teachings were lost long ago and they do
not accept the authority of Agamas compiled in Valabhi. Agamas comprised of 46
texts.
• They are 12 Angas, 12 Upanga, 10 Prakirnakas, 4 Mulasutras, 6 Chedasutras, 2
Chulika Sutra. They were written in Ardha-Magadhi Prakrit language.
• The Angas teach reverence for all forms of life, strict codes of vegetarianism,
asceticism, compassion and non-violence.

The 12 Angas are:

1. Acharanga Sutra: Oldest agama.
2. Sutrakritanga: describes code of conduct for Jain monks, metaphysics etc
3. Sthananga Sutra.
4. Samavayanga Sutra: discussion on essence of Jainism, astronomy, mathematics, etc.
5. Vyakhyaprajnapti or Bhagavati Sūtra
6. Jnatrdharma Katha.
7. Upasakadasa
8. Antakrddaasah
9. Anuttaraupapatikadasah.
10. Prasnavyakaranani: Description of sins.
11. Vipakasruta: stories and illustrations.
12. Drstivada: contained 14 Purvas
• Digambaras gave sacred status to two works: the Karmaprabhrita (discussion on
Karma) or Shatkhandagama and the Kashayaprabhrita.
• Some other important Jain works and authors are:

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• Bhadrabahu (3rd century BC) is one of the greatest Jain monks and was the teacher of
Chandragupta Maurya. He wrote the sacred Uvasaggaharam Stotra, Kalpa
Sutra (Biographies of Jain Tirthankars). He was the pioneer of the Digambara sect.
• Acharya Kundkund’s Samayasara and Niyamasara discusses the Jain philosophy.
• Samanta Bhadra’s Ratna Karanda Sravakachara (Life of a Jaina householder)
and Aptamimansa was written around 2nd century AD.
• Ilango Adigal’s Silappadikaram considered one of the greatest epics of Tamil literature
written in 2nd century AD, is a moralistic discourse. It revolves around Kannagi, who
having lost her husband to a miscarriage of justice at the court of the Pandyan
Dynasty, wreaks her revenge on his kingdom.
• Tirutakkatevar’s Civaka Cintamani is also one of the epics of Tamil literature.
• Nalatiyar, an ancient Tamil text was written by Jain monks.
• Umasvati’s Tattvartha-sutra (1st -2nd century AD) is an important jain work in
Sanskrit on logic, epistemology, ethics, and astronomy.
• Jinasena (8th-9th centuries) was a revered Digamabara monk. He
wrote Mahapurana and Harivamshapurana. He was the disciple of another famous
Jain monk Virasena.
• Haribhadra Suri (6th century AD) a Jain author wrote in Sanskrit.
• Hemachandra Suri (12th century), a famous scholar wrote grammars of Sanskrit and
Prakrit.

Tamil (Sangam) Literature

• ‘Sangam’ means fraternity and this literature was very popular amongst the masses.
• This literature is a collection of works that contains approximately 2381 poems that
have been attributed to 473 poets and there is a corpus of literature written by 102
poets that remains anonymous.
• The poets included men and women from different classes of society. The literary
tradtion was so popular that the period between 300 BC and 300 AD, during which
most of these were composed and compiled, is often called Sangam period.
• There are two major schools of Sangam literature: aham/agam which is the ‘inner
field’ and concentrates on the abstract discussion of human aspects like love, sexual
relations, etc.

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• The second school is the ‘puram’ or the ‘outer field’ which discusses the human
experiences like social life, ethics, valour, customs, etc.
• This literature bears the name ‘Sangam’ because the kingdom of Pandya organised
assemblies where poets, bards and writers would flock from various parts of South
India.
• These assemblies were called ‘Sangamas’ and the literature produced in the duration
of these assemblies was called Sangam literature.
• There were three Sangams organized over a period of 600-700 years. However, the
conclusive historical account of the first two Sangams are not available.
• The first and second Sangams are considered legends and myths by many scholars.

There were three major Sangams organized:

Sangam Kingdom Place of Chairman Books
organization
First or Pandya Madurai Agastya or Shiva No book has survived. Used
Head Agattiyam as grammar.
Second or Pandya Kapatapuram Initially, it was Around 2,000 poems were
Middle Agastya and then his collected and compiled into
Sangam disciple Tolkappiyar Tolkappiyam. Tolkappiyam is
period took over. a textbook on Tamil grammar
giving the inflection and
syntax of words and
sentences and also includes
classification of habitats,
animals, plants and human
beings
Third Pandya Madurai Nakkirar Most of the existing corpus
of Sangam literature was
written.

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