Sanskrit literature

Literature in Sanskrit, one of India's two oldest languages and the basis of several modern languages in India. Given its extensive use in religious literature, primarily of Hinduism, and the fact that most modern Indian languages have been directly derived from or strongly influenced by Sanskrit, it is not surprising that the position of Sanskrit in Indian culture is not unlike that of Latin in European culture.

Sanskrit has a long tradition of literature. This article tries to touch the major phases of Sanskrit literature.

The Vedic Period

Composed between approximately 2000 BC and 500 BC, Vedic literature forms the basis for the further development of Hinduism. There are four books of Vedas - Rig, Yajus, Sāma and Atharva. Some people consider the first three as the more important ones. Each book has four types of associated literature - hymns, rituals, meditation and mystical philosophy. The Vedas were not written at any single time, and have been compiled over several centuries by thousands of people. As a result, the Vedas provide an insight into the historical and cultural development of India during this period. In terms of their content, the Vedas are extremely diverse, encompassing extremely different lines of thought and religious beliefs. The Upanishads form a part of the Vedas, and are strongly philosophical in content.

The Sanskrit used in the Vedic period is highly archaic and pithy, and is called "Vedic Sanskrit"; it is almost impossible to understand some sections without the aid of commentaries. Vedic Sanskrit bears a strong resemblance to Avestan, the language in which the scriptures of Zoroastrianism are written.

The Epics

The period between approximately the 12th and the 2nd centuries BC saw the composition of the two great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. They are known as itihaasa, or "that which occurred" and are both collective works, having evolved through the centuries before finally being put into writing sometime in the 2nd century AD.

The Ramayana

While not as big as the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is still twice as big as the Iliad and the Odyssey put together. Traditionally, the authorship is attribued to the Hindu sage Valmiki, who is referred to as Adikavi, or "first poet." Valmiki in Ramayana introduced the Anushtubh meter for the first time. The meter has become the most popular meter in sanskrit poetry.

Akin to the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is also handed down orally and evolved through several centuries before being put into writing. The first and last chapters (Balkanda and Uttarakanda) of the epic are added at a later stage. Like its larger but younger counterpart, it has become a seminal text of the Hindu faith. It includes tales that form the basis for modern Hindu festivals and even contains a description of the same marriage practice still observed in contemporary times by people of Hindu persuasion.

The story deals with Prince Rama (Indian vernaculars: Raam or Sri Ram), his exile and the abduction of his wife by the Rakshas king Ravana, and the Lankan war. Similar to the Mahabharata, the Ramayana also has several full-fledged stories appearing as sub-plots.

The Ramayana has also played a similar and equally important role in the further development of Indian culture as the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata

The Mahabharata (Great India) is one of the largest poetic works in the world. While it is clearly a poetic epic, it contains large tracts of Hindu mythology, philosophy and religious tracts. At 100,000 stanzas, it is 8 times as big as the Iliad and the Odyssey put together. Traditionally, authorship of the Mahabharata is attributed to the sage Vyasa. However, Vyasa's historical veracity cannot be verified by independent sources. Also, it is clear that the Mahabharata was not written by any single person at any single time. Indeed, the first stanza of the Mahabharata mentions that the name of the book is Jaya ("victory"), even though the book is now called Mahabharata. Scholarly estimates are that the epic had about 10,000 stanzas when it was first composed (by Vyasa?). It was orally transmitted for several centuries, making it easy for anyone to add a few lines here, remove/modify a few lines there. Over several centuries, the work expanded in size, several sections being added or existing sections being elaborated upon. Thus, the Mahabharata simply evolved alongside Indian culture and is a veritable storehouse of cultural mores, mythology and religious and philosophical schools, reaching its zenith of philosophical sophistication in the seminal work of the Hindu religion, the Bhagavad Gita, which appears in the tenth Parva (chapter) of the Mahabharata. The finished product is the 100,000 stanza Mahabharata as we now know it.

The broad sweep of the story of the Mahabharata chronicles the story of the conflict between two families for control of Hastinapur, a city in Ancient India. It also contains numerous sub-plots, which are independent stories in their own right.

The impact of the Mahabharata on India and Hinduism cannot be stressed enough. Having been molded by Indian culture, it has in turn molded the further development of Indian culture. Thousands of later writers would draw freely from the story and sub-stories of the Mahabharata. The epic has inspired numerous later works, leaving a huge imprint on Indian literature, religion, folklore and philosophy.

At once grand and encyclopedic, the Mahabharata summarizes itself as: "What can be found here, may be found elsewhere; what cannot be found here, will not be found elsewhere."

Other major works from the same period include the Brihat-katha, Panchatantra, Jataka Tales, and the Puranas.

Impact of the Mahabharata on Oppenheimer ?

The Gita of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Panini and Ashtadhyayi

Arguably, no grammarian has had as much influence over the grammar of any language as much as Panini has had over Sanskrit grammar and phonetics. Panini was a grammarian from approximately the 5th cent BC. The Ashtadhyayi is the name of his grammar and is a masterwork of brevity and completeness. The book completely standardized Sanskrit grammar and phonetics. Panini's grammar became widely accepted and is still the standard (a common way to classify ancient Sanskrit books is to classify them as Pre-Panini or Post-Panini).

However, Panini's stroke of brilliance lies in the fact that the grammar he wrote, in addition to being a descriptive grammar, is also a generative grammar. Panini used metarules, transformations, and recursion in such sophistication that his grammar has the computing power equivalent to a Turing machine. The Backus-Naur Form or BNF grammars used to describe modern programming languages have significant similarities with Panini's grammar rules. In applying his rules to Sanskrit verse he used such texts as the Shiva Sutras, thereby establishing principles of harmony and linguistic wholeness.

Sanskrit Plays

India has a rich tradition of theatrical arts, much longer than that of the western world. The theatrical tradition of India was not born out of the Greek invasion as believed by several scholars. Theatre has existed as an indigenous institution at least since the Vedic period. Later Hellenistic influences on Sanskrit theatre however cannot be denied.

The earliest forms of theatrical arts could have existed in the form of dance-dramas as evidenced by iconography from the Indus Valley Civilisation. As the Indus Valley Civilisation died out, the old theatrical tradition, if it did exist probably died out along with it. Its place was however supplanted by the dramatic forms of the Vedic Age. Vedic drama like Greek drama owed its origins to religion. The Yama-Yami episode in the Rig-Veda for instance presents one of the earliest forms of drama in Indo-European literature. This drama was probably enacted by the brahmanas as part of ancient Vedic ritual.

Drama eventually developed into a tradition that was independent of religious ritual. Hellenistic influences following Alexander the Great's invasion of India also greatly enhanced Sanskrit drama. The curtain used in Sanskrit theatre for instance was called the Yavanika, which was derived from the word 'Yavana', the Sanskrit word for 'Greek'. Despite the Hellenistic influences, Sanskrit plays often greatly differed from their Greek counterparts. The nature of the plays ranged from tragedy to light comedy. Dramatists often worked on pre-existing myothological or historical themes that was familiar with the audience of the age. For instance many plays, drew their plot lines from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the great epics of India.

Famous Sanskrit dramatists include Sudraka, Bhasa, Asvaghosa and Kalidasa. Though numerous plays written by these playwrights are still available, little is known about the authors themselves. This is mainly because of the reticence that Sanskrit writers displayed about writing about themselves in their forewords. Most of the information about these playwrights has been available by the references made to the writers by other writers of the same or later periods.

Mricchakatika (The Little Clay Cart)

One of the earliest known Sanskrit plays in the post-Vedic age, this play is thought to have been composed by Shudraka in the 2nd century BC. Rife with romance, sex, royal intrigue and comedy, the juicy plot of the play has numerous twists and turns. The main story is about a young man named, Charudatta, and his love for a rich courtesan, Vasantasena. The love affair is complicated by a royal courtier, who is also attracted to Vasantasena. The plot is further complicated by thieves and mistaken identities, and thus making it a greatly hilarious and entertaining play.It invited widespread admiration when staged in New York in 1924. The play was made into a 1984 Bollywood movie Utsav, directed by Girish Karnad.

Bhasa's plays

The plays written by Bhaasa were only known to historians through the references of later writers, the manuscripts themselves being lost. Manuscripts of 13 plays written by him were discovered in an old library in 1913 by the scholar Ganapati Shastry. A 14th play was later discovered and attributed to Bhāsa, but its authorship is disputed.

Bhasa's most famous plays are Svapna Vasavadattam (Swapnavāsadatta) (Vasavadatta's dream), Pancharātra and Pratijna Yaugandharayaanam (The vows of Yaugandharayana). Some other plays being Pratimanātaka, Abhishekanātaka, Bālacharita, Dūtavākya, Karnabhāra, Dūtaghatotkacha, Chārudatta, Madhyamavyāyoga and Ūrubhanga.

Karnabhara is a critically acclaimed play and it is being subjected to lot of experimentation by the modern theatre groups in India.

Bhasa is considered to be one of the best Sanskrit playwrights, second only to Kalidasa. Kalidasa in his many plays tells about Bhasa

Kalidasa

Kalidasa (3rd-4th cent AD) is easily the greatest poet and playwright in Sanskrit, and occupies the same position in Sanskrit literature that Shakespeare occupies in English literature. He deals primarily with famous Hindu legends and themes; three famous plays by Kalidasa are Vikramorvaśīya (Vikrama and Urvashi), Mālavikāgnimitra (Malavika and Agnimitra), and the play that he is most known for: Abhijñānaśākuntala (The Recognition of Shakuntala). The last named play is considered to be greatest play in Sanskrit. More than a millennium later, it would so powerfully impress the famous German writer Goethe that he would write:

"Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline

And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,

Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?

I name thee, O Sakuntala! and all at once is said. "

Kalidasa also wrote two large epic poems, Raghuvamsham (The Genealogy of Raghu) and Kumarasambhavam (Birth of Kumara), and two smaller epics, Ritusamhaara (Medley of Seasons) and Meghadutam (The Cloud Messenger), another 'perfect' work.

Kalidasa's writing is characterized by the usage of simple but beautiful Sanskrit, and by his extensive use of similes. His similes have earned him the saying, Upama Kalidasasya (Kalidasa owns simile).

Other important plays written in this period include Ratnavali and Nagananda, by Sri Harsha in the 7th century.

Other Major Plays

There are lot of other great plays like Mahendravikramavarman's Mattavilasaprahasana, Shaktibhadra's Aascharyachoodamani (Āscharyachūdamani), Sri Harsha’s Nagananda, Kulasekhara’s Subhadradhananjaya and Tapatisamvarana, Neelakantha’s Kalyana Saugandhika and Sri Krishna Charita.

Sanskrit Theatre

All Sanskrit plays were much popular and were staged in ancient times all over India. Now the only surviving ancient Sanskrit drama theatre is Koodiyattam. Which is being preserved in Kerala by the Chakyar community. All major Sanskrit plays such as that of Bhasa, Sri Harsha, Shaktibhadra etc. are performed in Koodiyattam. Noted Natyashastra scholar and the authority of Koodiyattam, legendary actor, Guru Nātyāchārya Vidūshakaratnam Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār choreographed and directed plays like Kalidasa's Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra ; Bhasa's Swapnavāsadatta and Pancharātra for the first time in the history of Koodiyattam. He popularised Koodiyattam and rejuvanated the only surviving Sanskrit drama theatre in India.

Bharata's Natyasāstra

The Natyasastra (literally "Scripture of Dance," though it sometimes translated as "Science of Theatre'") is a keystone work in Sanskrit literature on the subject of stagecraft. Almost nothing is known about its author, Bharata. Bharata is also the name of a character in Hindu mythology; though the author of the Natyasastra bears no relationship to the mythological character. The Natyasastra was written somewhere between 500 A.D. and 300 B.C., though it is usually thought to have been composed around the second century A.D. The title is sometimes Anglicized as Natyashastra or Natya Shastra.

The Natyasastra specifically describes the proper way one should go about staging a Sanskrit drama. It addresses a wide variety of topics including the proper occasions for staging a drama, the proper designs for theatres, the types of people who are allowed to be drama critics and, most especially, specific instructions and advice for actors, playwrights and (after a fashion) producers.

While the Natyasastra primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music, dance, and literature as well. Thus, an argument can be made that the Natyasastra is the foundation of the fine arts in India.

One of the most important concepts in the Natyasastra is the experience of rasa (translated sometimes as 'emotions,' 'sentiments' or 'flavor'). Rasa are the emotional states that the refined and educated Sanskrit Drama audience members experiences as they watch a play. Each rasa experienced by the audience is associated with a specific bhava portrayed on stage. For example, in order for the audience to experience srngara (the 'erotic' rasa), the playwright, actors and musician work together to portray the bhava called rati (love).

The Natyasastra identifies eight rasa and eight corresponding bhava:

Rasa                  Bhava
Adbhuta (Marvelous)   Vismaya (Astonishment)
Hasya (Comic)         Hasya (Mirth)
Srngara (Erotic)      Rati (Love)
Bibhatsa (Odious)     Jugupsa (Disgust)
Vira (Heroic)         Utsaha (Energy)
Karuna (Pathetic)     Soka (Sorrow)
Bhayanaka (Terrible)  Bhaya (Terror)
Raudra (Furious)      Krodha(Anger)

A ninth rasa, called Shaanta (Peace), was later extrapolated from the eight identified in the Natyasastra.

Classical Poetry

This refers to the poetry produced from the 3rd to approximately the 7th centuries. Kalidasa is the foremost example of a classical poet. While Kalidasa's Sanksrit usage is simple but beautiful, later Sanskrit poetry shifted towards highly stylized literary accents: stanzas that read the same backwards and forwards, words that can be split in different ways to produce different meanings, sophisticated metaphors, and so on. A classic example is the poet Bharavi and his magnum opus, the Kiratarjuniya (6th-7th century).

The greatest works of poetry in this period are the five Mahakavyas, or great epics:

Kumarasambhavam by Kalidasa
Raghuvamsham by Kalidasa
Kiratarjuniya by Bharavi
Shishupala Vadha by Sri Maagha
Naishadiya Charitam by Sri Harsha

Other major literary works from this period are Kadambari by Bana Bhatta, the first Sanskrit novelist (6th-7th centuries), Kama Sutra (कामसूत्र) by Vatsyayana.

Later Sanskrit literature

Some important works from the 11th century include the Katha-sarit-sagara and the Geeta Govinda.

The Katha-sarita-sagara (An Ocean of Stories) by Somadeva was a poetic adaptation in Sanskrit of Brihat-katha, written in the 5th cent BC in the Paishachi dialect. The Paishachi manuscript of the Brihat-katha has not been found. The thousands of short stories embedded in this book inspired numerous later stories, most notably several stories of the Arabian Nights (note that the Arabian Nights was first compiled in the 9th century and that this book was written only in the 11th cent. However, the stories in this book have existed since the 5th cent BC). One of the famous series of stories in this work is the Vikrama and Betaala series, known to every child in India.

The Geeta Govinda (The song of Govinda) by Jayadeva is the story of Krishna's love for Radha, and is written in spectacularly lyrical and musical Sanskrit. A central text for several Hindu sects in eastern India, the Geeta Govinds is recited regularly at major Hindu pilgrimage sites such as Jagannath temple at Puri, Orissa. The Ashtapadis of the Geeta Govinda also form a staple theme in Bharatanatyam and Odissi classical dance recitals.

Beyond the 11th century, the use of Sanskrit for general literature declined, most importantly because of the emergence of literature in vernacular Indian languages (notably Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu). Sanskrit continued to be used, largely for Hindu religious and philosophical literature. Sanskrit literature fueled literature in vernacular languages, and the Sanskrit language itself continued to have a profound influence over the development of Indian literature in general.

References

Richmond, Farley P., Darius L. Swan and Phillip B. Zarelli (1990). Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance (3rd ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1190-9.
Natyakalpadrumam (Theatrical Study) by Mani Madhava Chakyar,1975

External links

Sanskrit-English dictionary list of 13.000 basic-terms
Sanskrit, Tamil and Pahlavi Dictionaries Monier-Williams dictionary online
Harivenu Dâsa - An Introductory Course based on S'rîla Jîva Gosvâmî's Grammar a vaishnava version of Pânini's grammar: (pdf-file)
Vedabase.net vaishnava literatures with word for word translations from Sanskrit to English.
Sanskrit Quotes Archive
Clay Sanskrit Library publishes classical Indian literature, including the Mahabharata and Ramayana, with facing-page text and translation. Also offers numerous downloadable materials.
GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages a cumulative register of the numerous download sites for electronic texts in Indian languages.
www.odia.org Download Jayadeva's Geeta Govinda (Geet Govind in pdf format) from here.