A Survey of Indian LiteratureAntiquity Through the Middle Ages

Overview

EarlyEpicsVedasUpanishadsPoetry

Middle AgesPuranasPoetry

Sanskrit•Introduced by Aryans•Classic language of India

EpicsMahabharata

(Great Deeds of the Bharata Clan)

Ramayana (Song of Prince Rama)

Oral poems

Depicted tribal wars between Aryan families

Written down in 8th century BCE

Comparable to Iliad and Odyssey

VedasTranslates to “Sacred Knowledge”

Collection of:

Prayers

Sacrificial formulae

Hymns

1500-500 BCE

Oral, then written

Blends Indus and Aryan folk lore

Mark beginning of scientific inquiry in India

Teach worship through prayer and sacrifice

Upanishads250 prose commentaries on the Vedas

Reach enlightenment through meditation

Instruct individual on death and rebirth

No guidelines, dogma, or deity

Laying ground for Hinduism.

Upanishads

Establishes the concept of Brahman & Atman (self)

Atman:“soundless, formless, intangible, undying, tasteless, odorless, without beginning, without end, eternal, immutable, and beyond nature”

Seeks to be one with BrahmanAchieve Nirvana when unit

Early poetryBhagavad-Gita (Song of God)

Conversation between Arjuna (warrior hero) & Krishna (incarnation of Vishnu & Divine manifestation of Brahman)

Look for:Statement of resignationHindu thought

Medieval Literature

PuranasTranslates to “Old Stories”

Preserved myths of Hindu Gods

Oral until 5th Century

Vishnu Purana

“In the embrace of his beloved a man forgets the whole world—everything both within and without”

Different than Western literature of the time?

Reading 2.24 – The Treasury of Well-Turned Verse

1. List five characteristics of the poetry:

2. Compare this poetry to:1. Egyptian2. Greek 3. Roman

Medieval Indian Poetry

Medieval Indian PoetrySecular

Spoken, not sung

No rhyme

Word play50 different Sanskrit words for Lotus

Literature devices:Alliteration

Repetition of initial sounds in successive words

AssonanceSimilarity between vowel sounds

Medieval Indian PoetryRules:

1. Describe general and universal conditions

2. Exhibit a single characteristic sentimentanger, courage, etc

3. Grief cannot dominate poem

Medieval Indian PoetryOh yeah, highly erotic

Buddhist monk Vidyakara wrote down poems in 11th Century

The Treasury of Well-Turned Verse