Unit-02

INDIAN LITERATURE, CULTURE, TRADITION, AND

PRACTICES

• Evolution of script and languages in India: Harappan Script and

Brahmi Script.
• The Vedas, the Upanishads and the Puranas
• The Ramayana
• The Mahabharata
• Buddhist And Jain Literature in Pali
• Prakrit And Sanskrit
• Kautilya‘s Arthashastra
• Famous Sanskrit Authors, Telugu Literature, Kannada Literature,
Malayalam Literature, Sangama Literature
• Northern Indian Languages & Literature
• Persian And Urdu
• Hindi Literature

1
 MODULE 2
INDIAN LITERATURE, CULTURE, TRADITION, AND PRACTICES

EVOLUTION OF SCRIPT AND LANGUAGES IN INDIA: HARAPPAN SCRIPT AND BRAHMI

SCRIPT
Difference between Language and Script
A language usually refers to the spoken language, a method of communication. A script refers to a collection
of characters used to write one or more languages. A language is a method of communication. Scripts are
writing systems that allow the transcription of a language, via alphabet sets.

Indus script (Harappan script)

After the pictographic and petroglyph representations of early man, the first evidence of a writing system
can be seen in the Indus valley civilization. The earliest evidence of which is found on the pottery and pot
shreds of Rahman Dheriand these potter‘s marks, engraved or painted, are strikingly similar to those
appearing in the Mature Indus symbol system.
Later the writing system can be seen on the seals and sealings of Harappan period. Most inscriptions
containing these symbols are extremely short (5 symbols), making it difficult to judge whether or not these
symbols constituted a script used to record a language, or even symbolize a writing system.
The long inscriptions are found in Gujarat particularly Dholavira where we find slabs of stone inscribed with
inscriptions which might represent name plates of the houses with 24 to 34 symbols.
The characters are largely pictorial but include many abstract signs. The inscriptions are thought to have
been written mostly from right-to-left (because there are several instances of the symbols being compressed
on the left side, as if the writer is running out of space at the end of the row there), but they sometimes
follow a boustrophedonic (sarphalekhana) style. The number of principal signs is about 400. Since that is
considered too large a number for each character to be a phonogram, the script is generally believed to
instead be logo-syllabic.
There were arguments that the Indus script is nonlinguistic, which symbolise families, clans, gods, and
religious concepts and are similar to totem poles. Based on the extreme brevity of the inscriptions, the
existence of too many rare signs and the lack of the random-looking sign repetition that is typical of
language.
But others have argued that it is a linguistic system and the debate shifted to whether it is the predecessor
of Dravidian script or the Brahmi script.
Some scholars have argued that the Brahmi script has some connection with the Indus system, but others,
such as Iravatham Mahadevan, have argued that the script had a relation to a Dravidian language. This
debate has been further fuelled by the arguments of who were the initial and original inhabitants of India the
Aryan‘s or the Dravidian‘s.

Brahmi script
Brahmi is the originator of most of the present Indian scripts, including Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, and
Malayalam etc. It developed into two broad types in Northern and Southern India, in the Northern one
being more angular and the Southern one being more circular. It was deciphered in 1838 by James Prinsep.
The best-known Brahmi inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to 250–
232 BCE.
Many scholars support that Brahmi probably derives from Aramaic influence and others support that the
Brahmi language can have some Indus script influence.

2
The Brahmi script confirms to the syllabic writing system and was used more for writing Prakrit, the
language spoken by ordinary people initially and later Sanskrit also was written in this script.
According to the epigraphers- All Indian scripts are derived from Brahmi. There are two main families of
scripts:
1) Devanagari, which is the basis of the languages of northern and western India: Hindi, Gujarati,
Bengali, Marathi, Dogri, Panjabi, etc.
2) Dravidian, which shows the formats of Grantha and Vatteluttu.

The evolution of various scripts of India from Brahmi Script

Kharosthi Script
It is the sister script and contemporary of Brahmi. It was written from right to left. It was used in the
Gandhara culture of North-Western India and is sometimes also called the Gandhari Script. Its inscriptions
have been found in the form of Buddhist Texts from present day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Gupta Script
It is also known as the Late Brahmi script. It was used for writing Sanskrit in the Gupta period. It gave rise
to the Nagari, Sarada and Siddhamatrika scripts which in turn gave rise to the most important scripts of India
such as Devanagari, Bengali etc.
Nagari Script
It was an Eastern variant of the Gupta script. It is an early form of the Devanagari script. It branched off into
many other scripts such as Devanagari. It was used to write both Prakrit and Sanskrit.
It is the main script at present to write standard Hindi and Nepali. It is also used presently to write Sanskrit
and is one of the most used writing systems in the world. It is composed of Deva meaning, God and Nagari
meaning city, which meant that it, was both religious and urbane or sophisticated.
It is written from left to right, has a strong preference for symmetrical rounded shapes within squared
outlines, and is recognisable by a horizontal line that runs along the top of full letters. In a cursory look, the
Devanagari script appears different from other Indic scripts such as Bangla, Oriya or Gurmukhi, but a closer
examination reveals they are very similar except for angles and structural emphasis.
Sarada Script
The Sarada or Sharada script of the Brahmic family of scripts, developed around the 8th century. It was used
for writing Sanskrit and Kashmiri. Originally more widespread, its use became later restricted to Kashmir,
and it is now rarely used except by the Kashmiri Pandit community for ceremonial purposes. Sarada is
another name for Saraswati, the goddess of learning.
Siddhamatrika script (Kutila)
This script was prominent in eastern India in 6th century AD leading to subsequent evolution of Gaudi
script. This Eastern Nagari script or Bengali-Assamese script defines the unified usage of Bengali
script and Assamese script thought minor variations within. Its usage is associated with the two main
languages Bengali and Assamese.

Western India
Landa script
The Laṇḍa scripts, meaning ―without a tail‖, is a Punjabi word used to refer to scripts in North India. Landa is
a script that evolved from the Sarada script during the 10th century. It was used to write Punjabi, Hindi,
Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi, Kashmiri, Pashto and various Punjabi dialects.
Gurmukhi script

3
Gurmukhi is an alphabetic developed from the Landa scripts and was standardized during the 16th century
by Guru Angad, the second guru of Sikhism. The whole of the Guru Granth Sahib is written in this script,
and it is the script most commonly used by Sikhs and Hindus for writing the Punjabi language.
Modi script
Modi is a script used to write the Marathi language, which is the primary language spoken in the state
of Maharashtra in western India. Modi was an official script used to write Marathi until the 20th century
when the Balbodh style of the Devanagari script was promoted as the standard writing system for Marathi.
Although Modi was primarily used to write Marathi.
Gujarati script
The Gujarati script, which like all Nagari writing system is a type of alphabet, is used to write
the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. It is a variant of Devanagari script differentiated by the loss of
the characteristic horizontal line running above the letters and by a small number of modifications in the
remaining characters. The Gujarati script is also often used to write Sanskrit and Hindi.

South India
Grantha Script
It is one of the earliest Southern scripts to originate from Brahmi. It branched off into Tamil and Malayalam
scripts, which are still used to write those languages.
It is also the predecessor of the Sinhala script used in Sri Lanka. A variant of Grantha called Pallava was
taken by Indian merchants in Indonesia, where it led to the development of many South-East Asian scripts.
It was used in Tamil Nadu to write the Sanskrit Granthas and hence, was named Grantha.
The Grantha script was widely-used between the sixth century and the 20th centuries by Tamil speakers
in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, to write Sanskrit, and is still in restricted use in
traditional Vedic schools. It is a Brahmic script, having evolved from the Brahmi script in Tamil Nadu.
The Malayalam script is a direct descendant of Grantha.
Vatteluttu Script
It was a script derived from the Brahmi and was used in the Southern part of India. It was used to write
Tamil and Malayalam. It removed those signs from Brahmi, which were not needed for writing the Southern
languages. Presently, both Tamil and Malayalam have moved on to their own Grantha derived
scripts. Vatteluttu is one of the three main alphabet systems developed by Tamil people to write the Proto-
Tamil language, alongside the ancient Granthi or Pallava alphabet and the Tamil script.
Kadamba Script
It is a descendant of Brahmi and marks the birth of the dedicated Kannada script. It led to the development
of modern Kannada and Telugu scripts. It was used to write Sanskrit, Konkani, Kannada and Marathi. The
Kadamba script was developed during the reign of the Kadamba dynasty in the 4th-6th centuries. The
Kadamba script is also known as Pre-Old-Kannada script. This script later became popular in what is today
the state of Goa and was used to write Sanskrit, Kannada, Konkani and Marathi.
Tamil Script
It is the script used to write the Tamil language in India and Sri Lanka. It evolved from Grantha, the
Southern form of Brahmi. It is a syllabic language and not alphabetic. It is written from left to right.
Kannada script
Kannada script is widely used for writing Sanskrit texts in Karnataka. Several minor languages, such
as Tulu, Konkani, Kodava, Sanketi and Beary, also use alphabets based on the Kannada script. The Kannada
and Telugu scripts share high mutual intellegibility with each other, and are often considered to be regional
variants of single script.
Telugu script
4
The Brahmi script used by Mauryan kings eventually reached the Krishna River delta and would give rise to
the Bhattiprolu script found on an urn purported to contain Lord Buddha‘s relics. The Bhattiprolu Brahmi
script evolved into the Telugu script by 5th century C.E.
Malayalam script
The Malayalam script, also known as Kairali script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write Malayalam,
which is the principal language of Kerala, India. Malayalam script is also widely used for writing Sanskrit
texts in Kerala.
Malayalam was first written in the Vatteluttu alphabet, an ancient script of Tamil. However, the modern
Malayalam script evolved from the Grantha alphabet, which was originally used to write Sanskrit. Both
Vatteluttu and Grantha evolved from the Brahmi script, but independently.

Medieval and Modern scripts

Urdu script
The Urdu alphabet is the right-to-left alphabet used for the Urdu language. It is a modification of the Persian
alphabet, which is itself a derivative of the Arabic alphabet.
The standard Urdu script is a modified version of the Perso-Arabic script and has its origins in 13th
century Iran. It is closely related to the development of the Nastaliq style of Perso-Arabic script.
Urdu script in its extended form is known as Shahmukhi script and is used for writing other Indo-Aryan
languages of North Indian subcontinent like Punjabi and Saraiki as well.
Santali script
Santali is a language in the Munda subfamily of Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari. Till the
nineteenth century Santali remained an oral language.
A recent development has been the creation of a separate OlChiki script for Santali by Pt. Raghunath
Murmu in the 1970s which is used exclusively by the Santali speaking people of the Singhbhum Jharkhand
and Odisha.

Conclusion
India has a long history of writing. While India has been a literate culture for millennia, it has also greatly
valued oral knowledge.
The ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, the oldest of which dated to around 1500 BCE were memorized
verbatim for at least a thousand years, if not more, before being committed to writing.
Only a few years ago, things did not seem to be going well for India‘s various alphabets, often known as the
Indic or Brahmic scripts after the historical Iron Age script that is the ancestor of modern South and
Southeast Asian writing systems.
Digitalization and the widespread proliferation of Roman-alphabet keyboards in India meant that Indian
users would often transcribe Indian languages using ad hoc Romanizations on the internet and via text.
In short, this is a golden age for Indic language script usage, due to technology and increased literacy.
The very nature of modernity, with its mass communication, advertisements, social platforms, and the
spread of information and entertainment to everyone with a smartphone, means that everyone will
eventually gain and utilize basic literacy.
And most of this literacy in India will be in local languages. This will be the first time in India‘s recorded
history that its scripts are being used so widely.

5
THE VEDAS
Considered as the earliest literary records of Sanskrit Literature, the Vedas compiled by Rishi Vyasa are
believed to be the oldest holy books in Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma). The Vedas are the large body of vast
knowledge and text; the religious and spiritual teachings of which encompasses all aspects of life.
Definition
Veda simply means ―Knowledge‖. It is a Sanskrit word from the root ―Vid‖, which means finding, knowing,
acquiring, or understanding. What you acquire or understand is knowledge. The term Veda as a common
noun means ―knowledge‖.
The ideas, teachings, and practices described in the Vedas formed the basis for the six major schools of
Hindu philosophy – Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, and Vedanta.

The 4 Vedas
There are four Vedas: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda, and all of them together
are attributed to as ‗Chaturveda‘. The Rig Veda serves as the principal one and all three but the Arthaveda
agree with one another in form, language, and content.
Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – The Samhitas, the most ancient layer of text
in the Vedas, consisting of mantras, hymns, prayers, and benedictions which has in literary terms put
together or joined the other three texts; the Aranyakas which constitute the philosophy behind the ritual
sacrifice, the Brahmanas which inturn has the commentary on hymns of four Vedas and the Upasanas, the
one that focuses on worship.

The Rig Veda

Rig Veda, one of the oldest texts of the Indo-Aryan Civilization still extant, is an ancient Indian collection of
Vedic hymns. Two Sanskrit words Rig and Veda constituting it translates to „praise or shine‟ and
‗knowledge‘ respectively. A collection of 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten different
Mandalas (or the books; Sanskrit), it is the principal and oldest of the four Vedas.
The cultural-linguistic records; mainly the variation in form of Sanskrit used (from present-day) point out
the origin of the Rig Veda to have been around 1600 BCE, though a wider approximation of 1700–
1100 BCE has also been given by experts. The initial written Rig Veda dates back to 1st millennium
BCE although the extant ones today date back only to somewhere between 11th and 14th centuries.
Rig Veda has been sub-classified into four major text types – the Samhitas or the hymns that sing the
praises of the Rig Vedic deities, some of whom are Indra, a heroic deity and the king of the highest heaven
called Saudharmakalpa who slain his enemy Vatra, Agni- the sacrificial fire, Soma, the sacred portion or the
plant which was a fundamental offering of the Vedic sacrifices and Ishwara, the supreme god-just to
mention a few; the Aranyakas which constitute the philosophy behind the ritual sacrifice, the Brahmanas
which in-turn has the commentary of the ancient sacred rituals and the Upasanas, the one that focuses on
worship.
The Mandalas of the Rig Veda which are ten in number and were composed by poets from different priestly
groups over a period of several centuries is structured based on clear principles – the Veda begins with a
small book addressed to Agni, Indra, and other gods, singing the praises of the Lord.
Rigveda, in contemporary Hinduism, has been a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride
for Hindus, with some hymns still in use in major rites of passage ceremonies, but to some experts, the
6
literal acceptance of most of the textual essence is long gone. Louis Renou wrote that the text is a distant
object, and ―even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the Vedas has come to be a simple raising
of the hat‖. Musicians and dance groups celebrate the text as a mark of Hindu heritage, and these have
remained popular among the Hindus for a long time. However, the contemporary Hindu beliefs are distant
from the precepts in the ancient layer of Rigveda Samhitas.

The Sama Veda

The words of Rig Veda put to music, and are to be sung rather than to just be read or recited. Sama Veda,
also the Veda of Melodies and Chants, is the third in the series of the four principle scriptures of Hinduism
– Four Vedas. The Sama Veda, divided into two major parts, first to include the four melody collections, or
the Saman, the songs and the latter the Arcika, or the verse books a collection (Samhita) of hymns, portions
of hymns, and detached verses. A liturgical text, relating to public worship, all but 75 verses of the total
1875 is derived from the Rig Veda.
Widely referred to as the ‗Book of Songs‘, it is derived from two words, Saman, of Sanskrit, meaning Song
and Veda, meaning Knowledge. The Sama Veda has served as the principal roots of the classical Indian
music and dance tradition, and proudly the tradition boasts itself as the oldest in the world. The verses of
Sama Veda, as the tradition had followed, is sung using specifically indicated melodies called Samagana by
Udgatar priests at rituals dedicated to different diets.
As it is the words of Rig Veda put to music, no wonder, alike the Rigveda, the early sections of Samaveda
typically begin with singing the hymns of Rig Vedic deities, Indra, a heroic deity and the king of the highest
heaven called Saudharmakalpa who slain his enemy Vatra, Agni- the sacrificial fire, Soma, the sacred potion
or the plant which was a fundamental offering of the Vedic sacrifices and Ishwara, the supreme god-just to
mention a few; but in the latter part shifts to abstract speculations and philosophy, the nature and existence
of the universe and God himself are questioned and so are the social and religious duties of a man in the
society.

Such has been the influence of Sama-veda on Indian classical music and dance. The essence of classical
Indian music and dance tradition is rooted in the sonic and musical dimensions of the Sama-Veda itself. The
Samaveda, in addition to singing and chanting, mentions instruments and also the specific rules and
regulations of playing them, so as to preserve the sanctity of those ancient instruments. If one were to
summarize the significance of the Sama Veda in a single line, Sama Veda, in contemporary Hinduism, has
been a reminder of the majestic ancient cultural heritage and a point of pride for Hindus; not to mention that
it still finds its usage in today‘s society.

The Yajur Veda

Yajur Veda, of Sanskrit origin, is composed of Yajus and Veda; the two words translate to ‗prose mantras
dedicated to religious reverence or veneration‘ and knowledge respectively. Third of the fourth canonical
texts of the Hindu dharma, this liturgical collection is famous as the ‗book of rituals‘. Of the ancient Vedic
text, it is a compilation of ritual offering formulas or the prose mantras to be chanted or muttered repeatedly
by a priest while an individual performs the ascertained ritual actions before the sacrificial fire or the Yajna.
It has been, since the Vedic times, the primary source of information about sacrifices and associated rituals,
more importantly, it has served as a practical guidebook for the priest, or the Purohits, as referred to as in
Hindu dharma who execute the acts of ceremonial religion.
The scholarly consensus points out the bulk of Yajur Veda dating to 1200 or 1000 BCE, which when
analyzed is younger than Rig Veda, whose origin has been approximated around 1700 BCE, but is
contemporaneous to the hymns of Sama deva and Atharva Veda.
7
Also, common to the other three Vedas and as the tales tell, humans did not compose the revered
compositions of the Vedas, but that God taught the Vedic hymns to the sages, who then handed them down
through generations by word of mouth. Also, the followers of the Hindu dharma regard the Vedas as
apauruṣeya; meaning not of a man or impersonal and also, according to some traditions in Hindu dharma
such as the Vedanta and Mimamsa schools of philosophy the Vedas are considered as Svatah
Pramana (Sanskrit, meaning ―self-evident means of knowledge‖). Some schools of thought even assert that
the Vedas as of eternal creation, mainly in the Mimosa tradition. In the Mahabharata, the creation of Vedas
is credited to Brahma, the Supreme Creator. However, the Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were
skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity.
The Yajurveda is broadly grouped into Krishna Yajurveda and Shukla Yajurveda, also referred to as the
Black Yajurveda and the latter as the White. In reference to the verses of the Krishna Yajurveda being un-
arranged, unclear, and disparate or dissimilar, the collection is too often referred to as Black Yajurveda. In
contrast, the well-arranged and imparting a particular meaning, the Shukla Yajurveda is known as the White
Yajurveda.
The earliest and most ancient layer of Yajur Veda, Samhita includes about 1,875 verses, that are distinct yet
borrowed from and built upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda. The middle layer includes the Satapatha
Brahmana, one of the largest Brahmana texts in the Vedic collection and The youngest layer of Yajur Veda
text includes the largest collection of primary Upanishads six in number, influential to various schools of
Hindu philosophy. These include the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the Isha Upanishad, the Taittiriya
Upanishad, just to name a few.
Yajurveda, in contemporary Hinduism, has been a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of
pride for Hindus. The text is a useful source of information about agriculture, economic, and social life
during the Vedic era. The verse, translated from the Shukla Yajurveda, for example, lists the types of crops
considered important in ancient India.

The Atharva Veda

The fourth and final of the revered text of the Hindu dharma, the Vedas, the Atharva Veda, in short, is
depicted as “knowledge storehouse of Atharvaṇas‖ Atharvaṇas meaning, formulas, and spells intended to
counteract diseases and calamities, or ―the procedures for everyday life‖. A late addition to the Vedic
scriptures, the word owes its roots to Sanskrit and the widely used epithet for the scripture is ‗the Veda of
Magic formulas‘. As it sides with popular culture and tradition of the day rather than preaching religious
and spiritual teachings, it is more often viewed not in connection with the three other Vedas, but as a
discrete scripture.
In popular context with being widely popular as the Veda of Magic formulas, Atharva Veda is a mixture of
hymns, chants, spells, and prayers; and involves issues such as healing of illnesses, prolonging life, and as
some claim also the black magic and rituals for removing maladies and anxieties.
However, many books of the Atharva Veda are dedicated to rituals without magic and to theosophy, a
philosophy in itself asserting that the knowledge of God can be achieved through spiritual practice or
intuition.
It is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books, with three Upanishads
embedded to it; Mundaka Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad, and Prashna Upanishad. As the tales have it
and alike other three Vedas, the believers of the Hindu dharma regard the Atharvaveda too as Apauruṣeya;
meaning, not of a man or impersonal and also not belonging to a particular author. The hymns and the verses
were written by the Rishis (or the Sages) and as the ardent believers of the Hindu dharma claim the revered
Lord himself taught the Vedic hymns to the sages, who then handed them down through generations by
word of mouth.
8
The Samhitas in the Atharva Veda have written accounts of Surgical and medical speculations, it includes
mantras and verses for treating a variety of ailments. For instance, the verses in hymn 4.15 of the recently
discovered Paippalada version of the Atharvaveda, it discusses how to deal with an open fracture, and how
to wrap the wound with Rohini plant (Ficus Infectoria, native to India). And so have speculations been made
about remedy from herbal medicines, on the nature of man, life, good and evil and even spells and prayers to
gain a lover. And some hymns were even about peaceful prayers and philosophical speculations, the origin
of the universe, and the existence of God himself. It is indeed a collection of all sort of speculations that
quite often leaves us bewildered.
As mentioned earlier, the contents of the Atharvaveda quite contrast with the other Vedas and is often
viewed as a discrete scripture rather than in connection with the three Vedas. The 19th century German
Indologist and historian Albrecht Weber has best put it as, ―The spirit of the two collections [Rigveda,
Atharvaveda] is indeed widely different. In the Rigveda there breathes a lively natural feeling, a warm love
for nature; while in the Atharva there prevails, on the contrary, only an anxious dread of her evil spirits and
their magical powers. In the Rigveda we find the people in a state of free activity and independence; in the
Atharva we see it bound in the fetters of the hierarchy and superstition.‖
The Atharva Veda still finds its relevance in today‘s contemporary society as it has been a pioneer in
influencing modern medicine and healthcare, culture and religious celebrations, and even literary tradition in
the Indian sub-continent as it contains the oldest known mention of the Indic literary genre. The fourth and
final of four Vedas still is one of the most cherished books for any Vedic scholar today.

THE UPANISHADS
Now, we discuss to the concluding part of the Veda namely ‗the Upanishads. The Upanishads come towards
the end of the Aranyakas. If the Samhita is likened to a tree, the Brahmanas are its flowers and the
Aranyakas are its fruit yet not ripened, the Upanishads are the ripe fruits.

Nature of Upanishads
The Vedas are generally considered to have two portions viz., Karma-Kanda (portion dealing with action or
rituals) and Jnana-Kanda (portion dealing with knowledge). The Samhita and the Brahmanas represent
mainly theKarma-Kanda or the ritual portion, while the Upanishads chiefly represent the Jnana-Kanda or
the knowledge portion. The Upanishads, however, are included in the Shruti. They are at present, the most
popular and extensively read Vedic texts.
The Upanishads are often called ‗Vedanta‗. Literally, Vedanta means the end of Veda, Vedasya antah, the
conclusion (Anta) as well as the goal (Anta) of the Vedas. Chronologically they came at the end of the Vedic
period. As Upanishads contain difficult discussions of ultimate philosophical problems, they were taught to
the pupils at about the end of their course. The chief reason why the Upanishads are called the ‗end of the
Veda‘ is that they represent the central aim of the Veda and contain the highest and ultimate goal of the
Veda as they deal with Moksha or Supreme Bliss.

Meaning of the word „Upanishad‟

The word ‗Upanishad‘ has been derived from the root Sad (to sit), to which are added two
prefixes: Upa and Ni. The prefix Upa denotes nearness and Ni totality. Thus, this word means ‗sitting near
by devotedly‘. This no doubt refers to the pupil‘s sitting down near his teacher at the time of instruction. The
word in course of time gathered round it the sense of secret teaching or secret doctrine (Rahasya) which was
imparted at such sittings. Upanishads are frequently spoken of as Rahasya (secret) or Guhya (mystery) also.
We find in Upanishads, that due to secrecy and mystery of the teachings, a teacher refuses to impart
instruction to a pupil who has not proved his worthiness to receive the instruction. Through another
9
definition, the word primarily signifies knowledge, yet by implication it also refers to the book that contains
that knowledge.

Number of the Upanishads

There is a good deal of speculation concerning the number of Upanishads. Traditionally, the old Upanishads
had their place in the Brahmanas and Aranyakas. There is only one instance of a Samhita containing
Upanishad – the Vajasaneyi Samhita comprises the Ishavasya Upanishad forming the 40th Book.
In later times, the Upanishads obtained a more independent position but still they professed to belong more
particularly to one or the other of the four Vedas.
It is difficult to ascertain the exact number that should be regarded as authentic Upanishads. A religious
system is considered valid in India only when it is supported by Shruti, hence the founders of religious sects
have sometimes written books and called them Upanishads in order to give their views scriptural authority.
The AllahUpanishad, for instance was composed in the sixteenth century, at the time of Emperor Akbar.
Different estimates of their number have been given by scholars and they have been put by some scholars at
as many as 200.
One hundred and eight Upanishads are enumerated in the Muktikopanishad and a popular edition contains
them. However, among these Upanishads, ten Upanishads, the names of which have been mentioned in the
Muktikopanishad, are considered the most important Upanishads from the point of view of Vedantic
Philosophy.
Ten Principal Upanishads known as ‗Dashopanishad‘ are : Isha, Kena, Katha , Prashna , Munda , Mandukya,
Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka.
Besides, Shvetashvatara, Kaushitaki and Maitrayaniya Upanishads are often listed in old Upanishads.

Division of the Upanishads

According to the Muktikopanishad 108 Upanishads are divided according to four Vedas are as follows:
10 Upanishads from the Rigveda
19 Upanishads from the Shukla-Yajurveda
32 Upanishads from the Krishna-Yajurveda
16 Upanishads from the Samaveda and
31 Upanishads from the Atharvaveda.

The Principal thirteen Upanishads, related to the Vedas are:

(A) Upanishads of the Rigveda :
(1) Aitareya Upanishad,
(2) Kaushitaki Upanishad
(B) Upanishads of the Shukla-Yajurveda:
(3) Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,
(4) Isha Upanishad
(C) Upanishads of the Krishna-Yajurveda:
(5) Taittiriya Upanishad,
(6) Katha Upanishad,
(7) Shvetashvatara Upanishad,
(8) Maitrayaniya Upanishad
(D) Upanishads of the Samaveda:
(9) Chandogya Upanishad,
(10) Kena Upanishad
10
(E) Upanishads of the Atharvaveda:
(11) MundakaUpanishad,
(12) MandukyaUpanishad,
(13) Prashna Upanishad.

Thirteen known Upanishads were composed from the middle of the 5th century through the 2nd
century BCE.
The first five of these—Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, and Kaushitaki—were composed
in prose interspersed with verse.
The middle five—Kena, Katha, Isa, Svetasvatara, and Mundaka—were composed primarily in verse.
The last three—Prasna, Mandukya, and Maitri—were composed in prose.

Major Theme of the Upanishads

The Upanishads are religious and philosophical treatises. They constitute the last phase of the Vedic
revelation. They represent the knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-Vidya). What is this world? Who am I?
What becomes of me after death? – Such questions are asked and answered in these Upanishads. The
essential theme of the Upanshads is the nature of the world and God. Already in the hymns of the Rigveda,
we notice here and there a shift of emphasis from the innumerable gods to the one Infinite as in the famous
passage. ‗Ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti ‗. This becomes more pronounced in the Upanishads and is very
well illustrated here. The doctrine of true knowledge and salvation are major subjects of the Upanishadic
philosophy. These treatises mark the culmination of the earlier line of investigation into the nature of
ultimate reality.
In the Upanishads, we get an intelligible body of verified and verifiable spiritual insights mixed with a mass
of myths and legends and cosmological speculations relating to the nature and origin of universe. Besides,
Brahman and His creation, are also discussed in these texts.. The principal contents of the Upanishads are
philosophical speculations. The spirit of their contents is anti-ritualistic. Although the subject-matter of most
of the Upanishads is almost the same, yet each Upanishad has its own unique idea or ideas and its own
method of enquiry.

Importance of the Upanishads

1) The Upanishads occupy a unique place in the development of Indian philosophical thought. They
contain the highest authority on which the various systems of philosophy in India rest. So Vedanta
Philosophy is directly related to the Upanishads. Not only the Vedanta philosopher professes his
faith in the ends and objects of the Veda, but the Sankhya, the Vaisheshika, the Nyaya and Yoga
philosophers, all pretend to find in the Upanishads some warranty for their tenets.
2) The Upanishads are associated with the Vedas and make the entire range of Vedic knowledge as
complete. ‗The Upanishads generally mention the Vedas and their study with respect. Certain verses
from the Vedas, such as the Gayatri, form the subject of meditation here.
3) Brahmavidya or the knowledge of Brahman, the Supreme Reality is the great kingdom of the
principal Upanishads. They give importance to ‗Knowledge‘ alone. Anyone having knowledge may
be Guru or Acarya. Even kings approached to them for the attainment of knowledge. The story of
Satyakama Jabala, who though unable to give his father‘s name, was yet initiated into spiritual life,
shows this fact. In the Chandogya Upanishad (4.1-3) Raikva a Brahmana not by caste but by his
knowledge, instructed king Janashruti. In the same Upanishad (5.3), the king Pravahana instructed
the Brahmana Gautama in the new doctrine of transmigration. This story together with the one in
which king Ashvapati kaikeya instructed five Brahmanas in the doctrine of Atman (Chan. Up. 5.11)
11
 shows that for Upanishads knowledgeable person is the most important and not the Brahmana,
Kshatriya or anyone else.
4) Each of the Vedas has many Mahavakyas or great sayings. But four Mahavakyas found in the
Upanishads related to four Vedas are very important, thought-provoking and powerful. These spell
out the non-duality of the Jiva and the Brahman-Prajnanam Brahma- –Rigveda Aham Brahmasm –
Yajurveda Tattvamasi –- Samveda Ayamatma Brahma –Aharvaveda
5) Without understanding the Upanishads, it is impossible to get an insight into Indian history and
culture. Every subsequent development of philosophy and religion in India has drawn heavily on the
Upanishads.

THE RAMAYANA
The Ramayana by the sage Valmiki is one of the great epics of the Sanskrit language, and is dated to
approximately 200 B.C.E. There are many version of Ramayana in Indian language beside Buddhist, Sikh,
and Jain adaptation. There are also Cambodian, Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, Lao, Burmese and Malaysian
version of tale.
Ramayan one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Mahabharata. Ramayan
narrates the life of Rama, Prince of legendary kingdom of kosala. Ramayana is one of the largest ancient
epics in world literature. It consists of nearly 24000 verses. In Hindu tradition Ramayana is considered to be
―Adi Kavya‖ which means first poem.

Origin
The original Ramayana written by the Sage Valmiki comprised of seven ―kandas‖ or books. Many scholars
question the authorship of the certain passages from the first book (Bala Kanda) and question the
authenticity of the last book (Uttara Kanda) for various reasons.
1) Bala Kanda: ―The Book of the Youth,‖ the boyhood and adolescence of Rama.
2) Ayodhya Kanda: ―The Book of Ayodhya,‖ the court of Dasaratha and the scenes that set the stage
for the unfolding of the story, including the exchange between Dasaratha and Kaikeyi and the exile
of Rama
3) Aranya Kanda: ―The Book of the Forest ,‖ life in the forest during the fourteen year exile and the
abduction of Sita by Ravana
4) Kishkindhya Kanda: ―The Book of The Empire of Holy Mokeys,‖ Rama‘s residence in
Kishkindhya, the quest for Sita, and the slaying of Bali
5) Sundara Kanda: ―The Book of the Beautiful (Hanuman),‖ sundara means beautiful, and this portion
of the book has passages of lyrical beauty; description of the landscapes over which Rama roams,
and the arrival of Rama and his allies in Lanka
6) Yuddha Kanda: “The Book of War,‖ the defeat of Ravana, the recovery of Sita, the return to
Ayodhya, and the coronation of Rama and
7) Uttara Kanda: ―The Book Beyond,‖ the ―later section‖, detailing Rama‘s life in Ayodhya, the
banishment of Sita, the birth of Lava and Kusa, the reconciliation of Rama and Sita, her death or
return to the earth, and Rama‘s ascent into heaven.

Ramayana: Lessons the epic taught us

This Hindu epic has given us number of lessons that we must not forget. These lessons help us better
ourselves and emerge as refined and reformed human beings with each passing day.

1) Truth Triumphs
12
 The basic teaching of Ramayana is that no matter how powerful evil is, it will always be defeated by
Good. Truth always wins, no matter how vicious or poisonous lie is because even bitter truth oozes
with positivity and the sweetest lie has the darkest agenda behind it. The win of good over evil is a
universal fate. A person should always have a noble heart and good values. That is how Lord Rama
defeated the most knowledgeable person in history Ravana.
2) Respect elders and be duty bound towards parents
Ram left for vanvas after his step-mother expressed her desire to see biological son Bharath as the
future king of Ayodhya.
3) Remain united with siblings even during the toughest of times
Bharat refused to accept the throne after his father‘s demise and waited for Ram to return from his
vanvas. Lakshman accompanied his brother Ram for the 14-year-long vanvas.
4) Be deeply committed to your duty
Besides being Sita‘s husband, Ram was also the King of Ayodhya. And the duty of the king is to
keep his subjects happy. And hence, he had to abandon his wife for the sake of the masses after they
questioned her chastity. As a husband, he was duty bound towards his wife. But as a King, he had to
think of his subjects‘ wishes ahead of his personal ones.
5) Choose the path of righteousness
Vibhishana, younger brother of Ravana chose to not support his sibling in the war against Ram. He
knew his brother had committed a sin by abducted someone—a married lady.
6) Remain humble no matter how powerful you become
Hanuman could have easily rescued Sita from Ravana‘s Ashoka Vatika. He had the power to single-
handedly fight against Ravana‘s army. But he chose to surrender to Lord Ram‘s divinity and let him
do the needful.
7) Never consider anyone inferior
Mighty prince Ram took the help of Vanar sena (monkey army) to build a bridge (Ram Setu) so that
he could reach Lanka to free Sita. The little monkeys not just helped him build the setu but also took
part in the war against Ravana.
8) All that glitters is not gold
Sita got attracted to a spotted deer that looked incredibly beautiful. She wanted Ram to get the deer
for her from the jungle. Actually, it wasn‘t a deer, but Mareech, Ravana‘s accomplice in disguise of
the animal.
9) Embrace all irrespective of caste, creed or colour
Prince Ram ate fruits that were already tasted by Shabri, a poor old woman who had nothing much to
offer but pure love.
10) Be loyal to your spouse
Ravana tried to lure Sita after abducting her. But Sita never let him succeed in his attempts. Ram
didn‘t remarry after Sita was forcefully abandoned by him even after conducting the ‗Agni Pariksha‘.
Being a King, he enjoyed the privilege of having many queens, but he chose to remain loyal to his
beloved wife – Sita.
11) Abandon the following
Kama (lust), Krodha (anger), Moha (desire), Lobha (greed), Mada (pride), Ahankar (ego), Irshya
(jealousy), Jaddata (insensitivity), Ghrina (hatred), Bhaya (fear).

Summary
The Ramayana is an all-popular epic in South and Southeast Asia. It is the story of King Rama who must
save his kidnapped wife, Sita. Along the way, it teaches Hindu life lessons. The Ramayana is told and retold
13
orally, through literature (and comic books!), plays, movies and is reference in many other forms of popular
culture today.

Story
Rama was the eldest son of the great king Dasharatha. The gods had declared that he was born for the
specific purpose of defeating the demon-king Ravana. He is considered to be the seventh incarnation of the
great god, Vishnu.
Rama won the hand of his wife Sita in an archery contest, in which he was the only contender able to bend a
bow that had once belonged to Shiva. Sita had been born of a furrow in the earth (this is what her name
means). The two were extremely happy together, and returned to live in Rama's home, in Ayodhya.
Rama's stepmother, Kaikeyi, wanted to promote her son Bharata as heir to the throne of her husband,
Dasharatha; Rama was eldest, and the honor rightly was due him. Kaikeyi called in several favors her
husband had promised her, and forced Dasharatha, who could not go back on his promises to his wife—-to
exile Rama for fourteen years. Rama's brother Lakshman and his wife insisted on accompanying him, and
they left together. Dasharatha died of grief, and Bharata attempted to persuade his brother to return. Rama,
also bound not to go back on his word, refused. Bharata pledged to rule in Rama's name until his return.
Rama, Sita, and Lakshman wandered in the forest until Rama was seen by an evil spirit, who fell in love with
him. Rama rejected her and she attacked with her allies, only to meet defeat at the hands of Lakshman and
Rama. She appealed to her brother Ravana, the strongest and most dangerous demon on earth at that time,
for help. Ravana decided to kidnap Sita, the wife of Rama.
Ravana devised a plan to abduct Sita after hearing about her incomparable beauty. He sent one of his
demons disguised as a magical golden deer to entice Sita. To please her, Rama and Lakshmana went to hunt
the deer down. Before they did though, they drew a protective circle around Sita and told her that she would
be safe for as long as she did not step outside the circle. After Rama and Lakshmana left, Ravana appeared
as a holy man begging alms. The moment Sita stepped outside the circle to give him food, Ravana grabbed
her and carried her to his kingdom in Lanka.
Upon returning and finding Sita gone, Rama despaired. Accompanied by his brother, he went in search of
her. On the way the two killed a demon whose liberated spirit told them to seek the help of Sugriva, the
monkey-king. Rama then sought the help of a band of monkeys offer to help him find Sita. Hanuman, the
general of the monkey band can fly since his father is the wind. He flew to Lanka and, finding Sita in the
grove, comforted her and told her Rama would come to save her soon. Ravana’s men captured Hanuman,
and Ravana ordered them to wrap Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail burning,
Hanuman escaped and hopped from house-top to house-top, setting Lanka on fire. He then flew back to
Rama to tell him where Sita was.
Rama, Lakshmana and the monkey army built a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka and crossed over to
Lanka where a cosmic battle ensued. Rama killed several of Ravana’s brothers and eventually confronted
the ten-headed Ravana. He killed Ravana, freed Sita and after Sita proved here purity, they returned to
Ayodhya where Bharata returned the crown to him.
Many versions of the Ramayana end thus with return of Sita and Rama to their kingdom after fourteen years
of exile, and the commencement of Ram Rajya, the glorious time of the rule of Ram. Other versions, such as
that by Valmiki, end with the questioning of Sita's loyalty during the time of her kidnapping, when she spent
so much time in another man's home. In such versions, Sita returned to her husband only to be put to a fire
test to prove her loyalty. She passed this test, only to be questioned again later. She was then banished with
her two unborn twin sons. Later asked to return to the kingdom, she did so only to stand before the
assembly, calling on the earth (from which she was born) to take her back again if she had remained pure.
The story ends with her absorption into her mother, the earth, and her ultimate vindication.
14
THE MAHABHARATA

Mahabharata, (Sanskrit: ―Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty‖) one of the two Sanskrit epic poems of
ancient India (the other being the Ramayana). The Mahabharata is an important source of information on
the development of Hinduism between 400 BCE and 200 CE and is regarded by Hindus as both a text about
dharma (Hindu moral law) and a history (itihasa, literally ―that‘s what happened‖). Appearing in its
present form about 400 CE, the Mahabharata consists of a mass of mythological and didactic material
arranged around a central heroic narrative that tells of the struggle for sovereignty between two groups of
cousins, the Kauravas (sons of Dhritarashtra, the descendant of Kuru) and the Pandavas (sons of Pandu).

It is written by Ved Vyasa. The poem is made up of almost 100,000 couplets—about seven times the length
of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined—divided into 18 parvans, or sections, plus a supplement titled
Harivamsha (―Genealogy of the God Hari‖; i.e., of Vishnu). Although it is unlikely that any single
person wrote the poem, its authorship is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa, who appears in the work as
the grandfather of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The date and even the historical occurrence of the war
that is the central event of the Mahabharata are much debated.

Along with its basic plot and accounts of numerous myths, the Mahabharata reveals the evolution of
Hinduism and its relations with other religions during its composition. The period during which the epic
took shape was one of transition from Vedic sacrifice to sectarian Hinduism, as well as a time of
interaction—sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile—with Buddhism and Jainism. Different sections of the
poem express varying beliefs, often in creative tension. Some sections—such as the Narayaniya (a part of
book 13), the Bhagavadgita (book 6), the Anugita (book 14), and the Harivamsha—are important sources of
early Vaishnava theology, in which Krishna is an avatar of the god Vishnu. Above all, the Mahabharata is
an exposition of dharma (codes of conduct), including the proper conduct of a king, of a warrior, of an
individual living in times of calamity, and of a person seeking to attain moksha (freedom from samsara, or
rebirth). The poem repeatedly demonstrates that the conflicting codes of dharma are so ―subtle‖ that, in
some situations, the hero cannot help but violate them in some respect, no matter what choice he makes.

The Mahabharata story has been retold in written and oral Sanskrit and vernacular versions throughout
South and Southeast Asia. Its various incidents have been portrayed in stone, notably in sculptured reliefs
at Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Cambodia, and in Indian miniature paintings.

Influence
In its scope, the Mahabharata is more than simply a story of kings and princes, sages and wisemen, demons
and gods; its legendary author, Vyasa, said that one of its aims is elucidating the four Purusarthas (goals of
life): Kama (pleasure), artha (wealth), dharma (duty), and moksha (liberation). The story culminates
in moksha, believed by many Hindus to be the ultimate goal of human beings. Karma and dharma also play
an integral role in the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata includes large amounts of Hindu mythology, cosmological stories of the gods and
goddesses, and philosophical parables aimed at students of Hindu philosophy. Among the principal works
and stories that are a part of the Mahabharata are the following (often considered isolated as works in their
own right):
15
 • Bhagavadgita (Krishna instructs and teaches Arjuna – Anusasanaparva)
• Damayanti (or Nala and Damayanti, a love story – Aranyakaparva)
• Krishnavatara (the story of Krishna, the Krishna Leela, which is woven through many chapters of the
story)
• Rama (an abbreviated version of the Ramayana – Aranyakaparva)
• Rishyasringa (also written as Rshyashrnga, the horned boy and rishi – Aranyakaparva)
• Vishnu sahasranama (the most famous hymn to Vishnu, which describes His 1000 names –
Anushasanaparva)

Summary

The epic employs the "tale-within-a-tale" structure popular in many Indian religious and secular works. It is
recited to the King Janamejaya by Vaishampayana, a disciple of Vyasa.

The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom ruled by
the Kuru clan. The two collateral branches of the family that participate in the struggle are the Kauravas, the
elder branch of the family, and the Pandavas, the younger branch.

The struggle culminates leading to the Great Battle of Kurukshetra, and the Pandavas are ultimately
victorious. The Mahabharata itself ends with the death of Krishna, and the subsequent end of his dynasty,
and ascent of the Pandava brothers to Heaven. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu age of Kali (Kali
Yuga), the fourth and final age of mankind, where the great values and noble ideas have crumbled, and man
is speedily heading toward the complete dissolution of right action, morality, and virtue. Some of the most
noble and revered figures in the Mahabharata end up fighting on the side of the Kauravas, due to conflicts of
their dharma, or duty. For example, Bhishma had vowed to always protect the king of Hastinapura, whoever
he may be. Thus, he was required to fight on the side of evil knowing that his Pandavas would end up
victorious only with his death.

Modern interpretations
In the late 1980s, the Mahabharata was televised and shown on India's national television (Doordarshan),
directed by B. R. Chopra and his son Ravi Chopra. It became the most popular Indian TV series in history.
When the Mahabharata was first broadcast in India, it shattered television records by reaching 97.8 percent
viewership there. It also entered the Guinness Book of World Records as having been watched by over 96
percent of the worldwide Indian population. It was also shown in the UK by the BBC, where it achieved
audience figures of 5 million, unheard of for a subtitled series being aired in the afternoon.

In the West, the most acclaimed and well-known presentation of the epic is Peter Brook‘s nine-hour play
which premiered in Avignon in 1985 and its five-hour movie version (1989), which was shown on other TV
networks, including PBS (through the "Great Performances" show) and Danmarks Radio (credited in the
movie's credits).
However, there have been film versions of the Mahabharata long before these two versions, the earliest of
which was shown in 1920.
A 2013 animated adaptation holds the record for India's most expensive animated film.

16
There is also a film version planned for release in 2020, which has the largest budget ever in the Indian film
industry.

Important Life Lessons From The Mahabharata That Are Relevant Even Today
The epic tale Mahabharata is something everyone should read at least once in their life. Even if you are not
into mythology and religion, this book will still hold great value in your life. There are plenty of life lessons
one can learn from the Mahabharata.

1) Being kind, humble and generous is not enough to live life.

The way Karna‘s life moved, we realised, more often than not, that the world is an evil place to
survive in. And to ace it, we must understand how it really works.
2) Bad company can ruin your life beyond imagination.
We all hate Shakuni mama, don‘t we? He literally destroyed everything that the Kauravas owned,
and he influenced them to be negative. If it wasn‘t for him, the war wouldn‘t have happened at all.
3) Unconditional support and loyal friends can take you places.
The Pandavas had Lord Krishna, and the Kauravas had Karna. Both of them always backed the two
parties, no matter what. In fact, Duryodhan was really weak without Karna.
4) You need to fight for what you think belongs to you.
The Pandavas never stopped fighting for what rightfully belonged to them. Their courage and
determination is definitely something to admire and learn from.
5) Being too emotional can be a bad idea.
Dhritrashtra‘s love for his son was blind. Throughout the epic, he remained torn between his
principles and keeping his son happy. Somehow this made Duryodhan even more evil than what he
already was, leading to awful consequences and the war.
6) Learning throughout life is the best gift you can give yourself.
Arjun grasped whatever came his way. Not only did he learn the best of military science from Drona,
but he was also interested in learning about divine weapons from Indra. He learnt about
Pashupatastra from Mahadev as well. Additionally,he treated Yudhishter and Krishna as his mentors
too, and continued learning whatever they had to offer.
7) Sometimes, enemies come in the form of friends.
Although the Kauravas were more in number, their supporters were not really in favour of them.
Bheeshma, Vidura and Drona secretly admired the Pandavas. Especially Vidura, who was the
ultimate guide in everything the Kauravas did.
8) Respect Woman
Draupadi had five husbands. They were strong and wealthy, but they all became helpless when she
was disgraced by multiple other men. They had everything, but failed to show courage. Draupadi‘s
anger and desire for revenge led to the war and downfall of the Kuru clan.
9) Half knowledge can be more dangerous than no knowledge
Abhimanyu wouldn‘t have died. Although we remember him for his bravery and undying courage,
he ultimately lost his life.
10) You cannot be stopped if you are passionate about what you do.
Most of us know that Arjun was the greatest archer in the world. But Eklavya was even better than
him. He hid himself behind the trees and grasped everything that Drona taught Arjun. His passion for
archery and hunger for knowledge made him even better than Arjun at archery.
11) A good strategy is what you need to sail your boat.

17
 If Pandavas didn‘t have Krishna and his master plan, they wouldn‘t have witnessed the victory they
did. Always have a plan.

Story
The story begins when the blindness of Dhritarashtra, the elder of two princes, causes him to be passed over
in favour of his brother Pandu as king on their father’s death. A curse prevents Pandu from fathering
children, however, and his wife Kunti asks the gods to father children in Pandu’s name. As a result, the god
Dharma fathers Yudhishtira, the Wind fathers Bhima, Indra fathers Arjuna, and the Ashvins (twins) father
Nakula and Sahadeva (also twins; born to Pandu’s second wife, Madri). The enmity and jealousy that
develops between the cousins forces the Pandavas to leave the kingdom when their father dies. During their
exile the five jointly marry Draupadi (who is born out of a sacrificial fire and whom Arjuna wins by
shooting an arrow through a row of targets) and meet their cousin Krishna, who remains their friend and
companion thereafter. Although the Pandavas return to the kingdom, they are again exiled to the forest, this
time for 12 years, when Yudhishthira loses everything in a game of dice with Duryodhana, the eldest of the
Kauravas.

The feud culminates in a series of great battles on the field of Kurukshetra (north of Delhi,
in Haryana state). All the Kauravas are annihilated, and, on the victorious side, only the five Pandava
brothers and Krishna survive. Krishna dies when a hunter, who mistakes him for a deer, shoots him in his
one vulnerable spot—his foot—and the five brothers, along with Draupadi and a dog who joins them
(Dharma, Yudhisththira’s father, in disguise), set out for Indra’s heaven. One by one they fall on the way,
and Yudhisthira alone reaches the gate of heaven. After further tests of his faithfulness and constancy, he is
finally reunited with his brothers and Draupadi, as well as with his enemies, the Kauravas, to enjoy
perpetual bliss.
The central plot constitutes little more than one fifth of the total work. The remainder of the poem addresses
a wide range of myths and legends, including the romance of Damayanti and her husband Nala (who
gambles away his kingdom just as Yudhishthira gambles away his) and the legend of Savitri, whose devotion
to her dead husband persuades Yama, the god of death, to restore him to life. The poem also contains
descriptions of places of pilgrimages.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the greatest Religious Spiritual Book. Considered to be a doctrine of universal
truth, it has long been influencing people not only of India but also overseas. As sage Ved Vyasa is known
for writing Mahabharata, Gita being part of it is also ascribed to him.
In the epic Mahabharata, when cousin brothers Pandava and Kaurava are about to fight among themselves
for the throne of Hastinapur, Pandava prince Arjuna feels weak in the battleground when he sees his
relatives, teachers and friends in the opposition. When the supreme personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna
sees him loosing strength and willingness to fight, he gives him what is known as ―Gita Gyan‖.
Teachings of Bhagavad Gita are still applicable, even after about 5040 thousand years after it was written.
These teachings are considered to be ultimate. It encompasses each and every aspect of life. One surely can
lead a peaceful life if the teachings of Bhagavad Gita are followed.

Bhagavd Gita shows path to the lost, answer to the confused and wisdom to all. It is considered to be one of
the greatest spritual books the world has ever known. The primary purpose of the Bhagavad- Gita is to

18
illuminate for all of humanity the realization of the true nature of divinity; for the highest spiritual
conception and the greatest material perfection is to attain love of God!
Some of the most popular and important teachings are listed below:

1. We should do our work without worrying about its result: When we work for getting fruits or the
result from a particular action, we can‘t really be our best in it. It also gives us a lot of worries about
the result. We may also feel disheartened if our task or action does not yield good outputs. Therefore,
just doing our work without really thinking about its result should be our motive.

2. Soul is immortal and our body is perishable Our soul never dies: Our soul never dies. Even after
our death, it exists. It is immortal. It just changes bodies after the death of a person. Moreover, our
body is made up of ‗Agni‘ (fire), ‗Jal‘ (water) ,‘Vayu‘ (wind), ‗Prithvi‘ (earth) and it combines with
them after the death. So we should not pay a lot of attention towards our outer body, but instead
should work for the inner soul, it‘s satisfaction.

3. World is perishable and whoever comes to this world surely has to go one day: This world is not
immortal. One who takes birth dies one day and that is the ultimate truth of this world. Nothing
exists permanently. One has to leave this world, even though he wishes not to. No magic can actually
help a person to stay forever. Everyone has their set life periods. They vanish after completing them.
No matter how great one is or how power one posses, all have to die one day.

4. Whatever happened was good, whatever is happening is good and what all will happen in the
future will be good: We should not repent about our past or worry about the future as the present is
going on. We should know that God has planned everything for us. He will not let anything bad
happen to us. Whatever happens is for our good only. We should be optimistic and should not stress
our self with these baseless worries of past and future. If things are not favourable, they surely would
be. Just have faith in the supreme personality of Godhead.

5. Progress and development are the rules of this universe: Things may not be the same, the way
they used to be. Things and circumstances change. We should neither expect people,
nor surroundings, not even society to be same. They all change with time. We move ahead. Universe
forgets old things and moves forwars, so do we. We should not stick on one point, this will make our
existence much more problematic in this world.

6. We did not bring anything to this world, neither are we going to take anything: We came to this
world empty handed. We have made everything over here, be it relations, money, love or respect.
We cannot take anything with us when we die. Everything would be left over here. So we should not
really do evil things when it comes to the question of our respect. Nor should we be really concerned
about making as much money as possible. We should be satisfied with what we have as everything
would be left over here in this material world, we won‘t be able to take anything with us.

7. Every action and deed of ours should be dedicated to Krishna: Whatever we do in the course of
our lifetime should be dedicated to the supreme personality of Godhead. This will always result in
giving us peace and satisfaction. One should consider remembering Krishna during their actions.
This makes us feel that God would be there with us and our actions would turn out to be positive.

19
 8. One should devote himself or herself to Krishna: The supreme personality of godhead is the
ultimate support of any human being. Our fellow humans may not care for us or support as or may
even leave us in our bad times but Krishna is always there for us. The person who knows this truth is
never really troubled by sadness or grief.

9. Krishna is the supreme: Krishna is the supreme personality of Godhead. He is the original cause of
all causes. He starts everything and ends everything too. He is there everywhere. He is omnipresent
and omnipotent. We are just puppets whom he controls. He is divine and transcendental.

10. Desires come and go: Desires come and go, but you should remain a dispassionate witness, simply
watching and enjoying the show. Everyone experiences, desires but one should not be moved by
them. They should not bother a person. People sometimes undertake really evil actions because of
their desires. So one should not come under the chains of desires.

11. Money mind cannot meditate: Bhagavad Gita talks a lot about meditation and it‘s importance.
Meditation is considered extremely helpful for inner peace and ‗sadhna‘. Moreover, a person who
thinks about making money all the time cannot really engage in meditation. When a person‘s mind is
not stable and he or she thinks only about money, then meditation would be a failed effort for such a
person.

12. Thoughts about big or small, your or mine should be kept out: We should not think about how
big or small we can really make things. All this is materialistic and engages people in tensions and
greedy activities. It makes one profit oriented. Thinking about yours or mine also does the same. All
the life we make and collect things for ourselves. This really doesn‘t make a difference when we
leave this world. We all are turned into ashes after death.

THE PURANAS
Purana, (Sanskrit: ―Ancient‖) in the sacred literature of Hinduism, any of a number of popular
encyclopaedic collections of myth, legend, and genealogy, varying greatly as to date and origin.
Purana is a Sanskrit word that means "ancient" or "old." It is a genre of ancient Indian literature found
both in Hinduism and Jainism. Puranas are encyclopedic texts that cover various topics such as cosmogony,
cosmology, folk tales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love
stories, theology and philosophy as well as the genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings, heroes, sages and
demigods.

It is believed that the first puranas were composed between the 3rd and 10th centuries C.E. The most famous
purana by far is the "Bhagavata Purana," which outlines the childhood and early life of Krishna, the
incarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu. There is a wealth of information about yoga contained within various
puranas. The "Bhagavata Purana" instructs the reader on Bhakti yoga practice, while other texts cover other
types of yoga and different branches of spiritual practice.

Traditionally, there are 18 main puranas and 18 minor puranas, which contain over 400,000 verses. Puranas
typically cover five signs, or topics.
1) Cosmogony
2) Cosmology
3) Genealogy of the gods, sages and kings
20
 4) Cosmic cycles
5) Legends during the times of various kings
Some other puranas, like the "Bhagavata Purana," add five more characteristics, expanding the list to 10:
6) Karmic links between the deities, sages, kings and living beings
7) Tales about god(s)
8) Finale or cessation
9) Spiritual liberation (moksha)
10) Refuge

The purpose of the puranas was to bring people closer to the gods. All of the purana texts are sectarian,
dedicated to certain deities -- some to gods, some to goddesses. Puranas also served to give the common
people access to and understanding of the essential teachings and complex yogic philosophies of the ancient
Vedic texts.
Puranas are the most revered and pertinent texts in the Bhakti yoga tradition, where the devotional aspect of
yoga is emphasized. This devotion is cultivated through the personification of the chosen deities in
entertaining myths and stories.
The "Bhagavata Purana" describes Bhakti yoga and outlines all the steps of its practice. Another text, the
"Linga Purana," covers the details about yama (disciplines), niyama (virtues) and pranayama (breathing
techniques). Meanwhile, the "Vayu Purana" contains information about pratyahara (withdrawal of the
senses), dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation).

Hinduism: The Puranas

Puranas were written almost entirely in narrative couplets, in much the same easy flowing style as the two
great Sanskrit epic poems, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The early Puranas were probably compiled
by upper-caste authors who appropriated popular beliefs and ideas from people of various castes. Later
Puranas reveal evidence of vernacular influences and the infusion of local religious traditions.
Traditionally, a Purana is said to treat five subjects, or “five signs”: the primary creation of the universe,
secondary creation after periodic annihilation, the genealogy of gods and patriarchs, the reigns of the Manus
(the first humans), and the history of the solar and lunar dynasties. Creation and dissolution (sarga,
―emission,‖ and samhara, ―gathering in‖) occur when Prajapati, a creator figure of the Vedic age, emits the
universe and opens it, but everything is always in it, just alternately revealed (manifest) or concealed
(latent); sarga lets it out, and samhara pulls it back in.
All the Puranas are strongly sectarian—some devoted to Shiva, some to Vishnu, and some to a goddess. But
even those officially devoted to a particular god often pay considerable attention to other gods. By far the
most popular Purana is the Bhagavata-purana, with its elegant treatment of the childhood and early life of
Krishna. There are also 18 ―lesser‖ Puranas, or upa-puranas, which treat similar material, and a large
number of sthala-puranas (―local Puranas‖) or mahatmyas (―magnifications‖), which glorify temples or
sacred places and are recited in the services at those temples.

Cosmogony
Puranic cosmogony greatly expands upon the complex cosmogonies of the Brahmanas, Upanishads, and
epics. According to one of many versions of the story of the origin of the universe, in the beginning the god
Narayana (identified with Vishnu) floated on the snake Ananta (―Endless‖) on the primeval waters.
From Narayana‘s navel grew a lotus, in which the god Brahma was born reciting the four Vedas with his

21
four mouths and creating the ―Egg of Brahma,‖ which contains all the worlds. Other accounts refer to other
demiurges, or creators, like Manu (the primordial ancestor of humankind).
The Vedas do not seem to conceive of an end to the world, but Puranic cosmogony accounts for the periodic
destruction of the world at the close of an eon, when the Fire of Time will put an end to the universe.
Elsewhere the destruction is specifically attributed to the god Shiva, who dances the tandava dance of
doomsday and destroys the world. Yet this is not an absolute end but a temporary suspension (pralaya), after
which creation begins again in the same fashion.

Cosmology
The Puranas present an elaborate mythical cosmography. The old tripartite universe persists, but it is
modified. There are three levels—heaven, earth, and the netherworld—but the first and last are further
subdivided into vertical layers. Earth consists of seven circular continents, the central one surrounded by the
salty ocean and each of the other concentric continents by oceans of other liquids. In the centre of the central
mainland stands the cosmic mountain Meru; the southernmost portion of this mainland is Bharatavarsa, the
old name for India. Above earth there are seven layers in heaven, at the summit of which is the world
of brahman (brahma-loka); there are also seven layers below earth, the location of hells inhabited by
serpents and demons.

The Mahapuranas
Of the many texts designated Puranas the most important are the Mahapuraṇas. These are always said to be
eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six.
1) Agni Purana (15,400 verses)
2) Bhagavata Purana (18,000 verses). One of the most celebrated and popular of the Puranas, telling of
Vishnu's ten Avatars. Its tenth and longest canto narrates the deeds of Krishna, introducing his
childhood exploits, a theme later elaborated by many Bhakti movements.
3) Bhavishya Purana (14,500 verses)
4) Brahma Purana (24,000 verses)
5) Brahmanda Purana (12,000 verses; includes Lalita Sahasranamam, a text some Hindus recite as
prayer)
6) Brahma Vaivarta Purana (18,000 verses)
7) Garuda Purana (19,000 verses)
8) Kurma Purana (17,000 verses)
9) Linga Purana (11,000 verses)
10) Markandeya Purana (9,000 verses; includes Devi Mahatmyam, an important text for Shaktas)
11) Matsya Purana (14,000 verses)
12) Narada Purana (25,000 verses)
13) Padma Purana (55,000 verses)
14) Shiva Purana (24,000 verses)
15) Skanda Purana (81,100 verses), the longest Purana, it is an extraordinarily meticulous pilgrimage
guide, containing geographical locations of pilgrimage centers in India, with related legends,
parables, hymns and stories. Many untraced quotes are attributed to this text.
16) Vamana Purana (10,000 verses)
17) Varaha Purana (10,000 verses)
18) Vishnu Purana (23,000 verses)

The Mahapuranas are frequently classified according the three aspects of the divine Trimurti,
22
 1) Brahma Puranas: Brahma Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya
Purana, Bhavishya Purana,
The Brahma Purana is one of the eighteen major Puranas genre of Hindu texts in Sanskrit
language. It is listed as the first Maha-Purana in all the anthologies, and therefore also called Adi
Purana. Another title for this text is Saura Purana, because it includes many chapters related
to Surya or the Sun god. The Brahma Purana is actually just a compilation of
geographical Mahatmya (travel guides) and sections on diverse topics.
Out of 245 chapters, 18 chapters of the Brahma Purana cover the cosmology,
mythology, genealogy, manvantara (cosmic time cycles) and topics that are required to make a text
belong to the Puranic genre of literature. Other chapters cover Sanskara (rite of passage), summary
of Dharmasastra, its theories on the geography of earth, summary of Samkhya and Yoga theories
of Hindu philosophy, and other topics. While many chapters of the Brahma Purana praise temples
and pilgrimage, chapters 38-40 of the text, a part of embedded Saura Purana, present arguments that
are highly critical of the theistic theories and devotional worship proposals of 13th-
century Madhvacharya and Dvaita Vedanta sub-school of Hindu philosophies.
The Brahma Purana dedicates a majority of its chapter to describing the geography, temples and
scenes around the Godavari River and of Odisha.

2) Vishnu Puranas: Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Naradeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Padma
Purana, Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana, Kurma Purana, Matsya Purana
The Vishnu Purana is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts
of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus.
The Vishnu Purana is among the shorter Purana texts, with about 7,000 verses in extant versions. It
primarily centers around the Hindu god Vishnu and his avatars such as Krishna, but it
praises Brahma and Shiva and asserts that they are one with Vishnu. The Purana, states Wilson,
is pantheistic and the ideas in it, like other Puranas, are premised on the Vedic beliefs and ideas.
Vishnu Purana, like all major Puranas, attributes its author to be sage Veda Vyasa.

3) Shiva Puranas: Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana, Vayu Purana
Shiva Purana is one of the eighteen major Puranas, a genre of Sanskrit texts in Hinduism, and part
of the Shaivism literature corpus. It primarily centers around the Hindu god Shiva and
goddess Parvati, but references and reveres all gods.
The Shiva Purana asserts that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelve samhitas (books).
It was written by the Romaharshana, a disciple of Vyasa belonging to Suta class.
The Shiva Purana contains chapters with cosmology, mythology, relationship between gods,
ethics, Yoga, Thirtha (pilgrimage) sites, bhakti, rivers and geography, and other topics. The text is an
important source of historic information on different types and theology behind Shaivism in early
1st-millennium BCE. The oldest surviving chapters of the Shiva Purana have significant Advaita
Vedanta philosophy, which is mixed in with theistic elements of bhakti.

According to the Padma Purana, the texts may be classified in accordance with the three gunas or
qualities; truth, passion, and ignorance:
1) Sattva ("truth; purity"): Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Naradeya Purana, Garuda Purana,
Padma Purana, Varaha Purana
2) Rajas ("dimness; passion"): Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana,
Bhavishya Purana, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana
23
 3) Tamas ("darkness; ignorance"): Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Linga Purana, Shiva Purana,
Skanda Purana, Agni Purana

The Upapuranas
The Upapuraṇas are lesser or ancillary texts: these are sometimes also said to be eighteen in number, with
still less agreement as to the canonical titles. Few have been critically edited. They include: Sanat-kumara,
Narasimha, Brihan-naradiya, Siva-rahasya, Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana, Bhargava, Varuna, Kalika, Samba,
Nandi, Surya, Parasara, Vasishtha, Devi-Bhagavata, Ganesha, Mudgala, and Hamsa.
The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which extols the
goddess Durga, has become (along with the Devi Mahatmya of the Markandeya Purana) a basic text for
Devi worshipers.
There are many others all over the Indian subcontinent.

Sthala Puranas
This corpus of texts tells of the origins and traditions of particular temples or shrines—the
word sthala means "spot" in Sanskrit. There are numerous Sthala Puranas, most written in vernaculars, some
with Sanskrit versions as well. Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas or Upapuranas. Some
Tamil Sthala Puranas have been researched by David Dean Shulman.

Kula Puranas
These Puranas deal with a caste's origin myth, stories, and legends (the word kula means "family" or "tribe"
in Sanskrit). They are important sources for caste identity though usually contested by rival castes. This
subgenre is usually in the vernacular and may at times remain oral. These have been little researched, though
they are documented in the caste section of the British Census of India Report and the various Gazetteers.

Jain Puranas
Jain Puranas deal with Jain myths, history and legends and form a major part of early Kannada
literature. The best known is the Mahapurana of Acharya Jinasena.

HISTORY OF BUDDHIST AND JAIN LITERATURE: PALI, PRAKRIT AND SANSKRIT

Introduction
The religious books of the Jains and the Buddhists refer to historical persons or incidents.

Buddhist Literature
The earliest Buddhist works were written in Pali, which was spoken in Magadha and South Bihar. The
Buddhist works can be divided into the canonical and the non-canonical.
The canonical literature is best represented by the – Tripitakas, that is, three baskets - Vinaya Pitaka,
Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka. Vinaya Pitaka deals with rules and regulations of daily life. Sutta
Pitaka contains dialogues and discourses on morality and deals with Dharma while Abhidhamma Pitaka
deals with philosophy and metaphysics. It includes discourses on various subjects such as ethics,
psychology, theories of knowledge and mataphysical problems.

The non-canonical literature is best represented by the Jatakas. Jatakas are the most interesting stories on
the previous births of the Buddha. It was believed that before he was finally born as Gautama, the Buddha
practising Dharma passed through more than 550 births, in many cases even in the form of animals. Each
24
birth story is called a Jataka. The Jatakas throw invaluable light on the social and economic conditions
ranging from the sixth century BC to the second century BC. They also make incidental reference to
political events in the age of the Buddha.

Sanskrit Buddhist literature

It refers to Buddhist texts composed either in classical Sanskrit, in a register that has been called "Buddhist
Hybrid Sanskrit" (BHS), or a mixture of the two. Several non-Mahayana Nikayas appear to have kept their
canons in Sanskrit, most prominent among which was the Sarvastivada. The Mahayana Sutras are also in
Sanskrit, with less classical registers prevalent in the gatha portions. Buddhist Tantras too are written in
Sanskrit, sometimes interspersed with Apabhramsa, and often containing notable irregularities in grammar
and meter (traditionally ascribed to the esoteric nature of the texts)
Before the modern derivatives of Sanskrit existed, a group of languages known as the Prakrits or Middle
Indo Aryan languages evolved from India‘s classical language. These were the vernacular dialects of ancient
times, and several of them became important literary vehicles in their own right. The best known of this
group is Pali, which still serves as the canonical language of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
Other Prakrit languages such as Sauraseni, Maharastri, Magadhi and Gandhari embody various facets of the
literatures of both the Brahmanical/Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

Besides texts considered "Word of the Buddha" (Buddhavacana) by the traditions that transmitted them,
Buddhist authors have composed treatises and literary works in Sanskrit dealing with Buddhist philosophy,
logic, etc., but also with more worldly topics such as gemology, erotics, literary aesthetics, etc
Sanskrit Buddhist literature is therefore vast and varied, despite the loss of a significant amount of texts. A
large number of works survive only in Tibetan and Chinese translations

Hypotheses for original language of Buddha

Traditional accounts vary vastly in identifying the language in which the Buddha taught, as well as in
respect to the history of the non-Mahayana Nikayas. While the Theravada tradition usually upholds that the
Buddha taught exclusively in the language of Magadha, other accounts offer a very different perspective on
the languages of the early non-Mahayana schools, and in these accounts Sanskrit plays a central role.
According to some contemporary hypotheses, the earliest Buddhist texts were orally composed and
transmitted in Middle Indo-Aryan languages called Prakrits.
The term Pali, used today in both Buddhist and Western cultures as a designation of a language, is a
relatively modern coinage, not traceable before the seventeenth century. An earlier name given to this
language in Buddhist literature is Magadhi, the language of the province Magadha in Eastern India that
roughly corresponds to the modern Indian state Bihar. The only Buddhist school using this language is the
TheravAda in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Theravadins erroneously consider Pali to be the language
spoken by the Buddha himself.
During the nineteenth century, Western scholarship discovered that Pali is not an eastern Middle Indic
language and has little relationship to Magadhi, which is known from other sources.
Even though Pali, as an artificial language, was never actually a vernacular of any part of India, it was by no
means a "dead" language. Changes in the phonetic shape of Pali, most likely introduced by Buddhist
grammarians at various times, can be observed, although dating them is problematic. None of these changes
were far-reaching, although they seem to have continued well into the sixteenth century, if not later.
The oldest literature preserved in Pali is the canon of the Theravada Buddhists, the only Buddhist canon
extant in its entirety in an Indian language. Consequently, it is linguistically the oldest form of Buddhist
scriptures known.
25
Rise of Sanskrit in Buddhism
While some hypotheses say that Buddhism was originally written in Prakrits, Sanskrit gradually became the
main language of Buddhist scriptures and scholasticism in India mirroring its rise as political and
literary lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent, perhaps reflecting an increased need for elite patronage.
This process, it is proposed, began with the north-western Indian Buddhists of the Kushan empire (CE 30-
375). The Sarvastivadin Piṭakas were mostly transmitted in Sanskrit and many Mahayana sutras such as
the Prajnaparamita sutra were composed in different registers of Sanskrit. The Buddhist use of classical
Sanskrit for literary purposes possibly began with Asvaghoṣa (c. 100 CE), author of the Buddhacarita and
one of the earliest Sanskrit dramatists. Buddhist thinkers like Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Asanga, Vasubanhhu
Dignaga, Sthiramati, Dharmakīrti, Bhaviveka, Candrakīrti, etc., also wrote in Sanskrit

Jainism Literature
The Jain texts were written in Prakrit and were finally compiled in the sixth century AD in Valabhi in
Gujarat. The important works are known as Angas, Upangas, Prakirnas, Chhedab Sutras and Malasutras.
Among the important Jain scholars, reference may be made to Haribhadra Suri, (eighth century AD) and
Hemchandra Suri, (twelfth century AD). Jainism helped in the growth of a rich literature comprising poetry,
philosophy and grammar. These works contain many passages which help us to reconstruct the political
history of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Jain texts refer repeatedly to trade and traders.

Jain literature begins with the last of the Tirthankarasi, Mahavir, who reorganized the old Nirgrantha sect
and revitalized its moral and religious zeal and activities. He preached his faith of ahimsa (non-violence or
harmlessness) and self-purification to the people in their own language which was not Sanskrit, but Prakrit.
The form of Prakrit which he is said to have used was Ardha-Magadhi, by which was meant a language that
was not pure Magadhi but partook of its nature.

Twelve Angas
Mahavira‗s teachings were arranged in twelve Angas (parts) by his disciples. These Angas formed the
earliest literature on Jainism
1) Acaranga laid down rules of discipline for the monks
2) Sutrakrtanga contained further injunctions for the monks regarding what was suitable or unsuitable
for them and how they should safeguard their vows. It also gave an exposition of the tenets and
dogmas of other faiths
3) Sthananga listed in numerical order, categories of knowledge pertaining to the realities of nature
4) Samavayanga classified objects in accordance with similarities of time, place, number, and so on
5) Vyakhya-prajnapti or Bkagavat explained the realities of life and nature in the form of a catechism
6) Jnatrdhamakatha contained hints regarding religious preaching as well as stories and anecdotes
calculated to carry moral conviction
7) Upasakadhyayana or Upasaka-dasaka was meant to serve as a religious code for householders
8) Antakrddasaka gave accounts of ten saints who attained salvation after immense suffering
9) Anuttaraupapatika contained accounts of ten saints who had gone to the highest heaven after
enduring intense persecution
10) Prsnna-vyakarana contained accounts and episodes for the refutation of opposite views,
establishment of one‗s own faith, promotion of holy deeds, and prevention of evil
11) Vipaka-Sutra explained how virtue was rewarded and evil punished

26
 12) Drstivada included the five sections namely Parikarmani contained tracts describing the moon, the
sun, Jambudvipa, other islands and seas, as well as living beings and nonliving matter, Sutra gave an
account of various tenets and philosophies numbering no less than 363, Prathamanuyoga recounted
ancient history and narratedthe lives of great kings and saints. Purvagata dealt with the problems of
birth, death, and continuity.

Jain literature in Sanskrit

The language of Jain literature was primarily the Prakrits which were prevalent amongst the people at one
time or the other in different parts of the country. But Sanskrit was not altogether shunned. Amongst the
Jains, the earliest work in Sanskrit devoted to religious writing is the Tattvarthadhigama- Sutra of
Umasvamin which epitomizes the whole Jaina creed in about 375 sutras arranged in ten chapters. The work
occupies a unique position in Jaina literature as it is recognized as authoritative equally by the Digambaras
and the Svetambaras with a few variations in the readings, and is very widely studied by both. It has been
commented upon by the most eminent authors of both the sects.

Prakrit language and literature

Broadly speaking, Indo-Aryan speech has flowed in two streams: Samskrta and Prakrta (which will be spelt
hereafter as Sanskrit and Prakrit) and, at various stages, these two streams have constantly influenced each
other. Prakrit, which means ―natural‖ or ―common‖ primarily indicates the uncultivated popular dialects
which existed side by side with Sanskrit, the ―accurately made‖, ―polished‖ and ―refined‖ speech.
The Prakrits, then, are the dialects of the unlettered masses, which they used for secular communication in
their day-to-day life, while Sanskrit is the language of the intellectual aristocrat, the priest, pundit, or prince,
who used it for religious and learned purposes. Yet the language of every-day conversation even of these
people must have been nearer to the popular Prakrits than to literary Sanskrit. The former was a natural
acquisition; while the latter, the principal literary form of speech, required training in grammatical and
phonetic niceties.

KAUTILYA‟S ARTHASHASHTRA
The Arthashastra is an Indian treatise on politics, economics, military strategy, the function of the state,
and social organization attributed to the philosopher and Prime Minister Kautilya (also known as Chanakya,
Vishnugupta) who was instrumental in establishing the reign of the great king
Much of our knowledge about state policy under the Mauryas comes from the Arthashastra written by
Kautilya (more popularly known as Chanakya), who was a Brahmin minister under Chandragupta Maurya.
The book, written in Sanskrit, discusses theories and principles of governing a state. The title, Arthashastra,
which means ―the Science of Material Gain‖ or ―Science of Polity‖, does not leave any doubts about its
ends. Kautilya's philosophy is based on the principles of "sam, dam, dand, bhed" (persuasion, temptation,
punishment, and division) as various, different, and sequential means to achieve an end.
According to Kautilya, the ruler should use any means to attain his goal and his actions required no moral
sanction. Though the kings were allowed a free rein, the citizens were subject to a rigid set of rules.

Arthashastra remains unique in all of Indian literature because of its total absence of specious reasoning, or
its unabashed advocacy of real politic, and scholars continued to study it for its clear cut arguments and
formal prose till the twelfth century.
Kautilya‘s Arthashashtra is an important treatise of the Mauryan times. Kautilya helped the young
Chandragupta Maurya, who was a Vaishya, to ascend to the Nanda throne in 321 BC. Kautilya‘s counsel is
particularly remarkable because the young Maurya‘s supporters were not as well armed as the Nandas.
27
Kautilya continued to help Chandragupta Maurya in his campaigns and his influence was crucial in
consolidating the great Mauryan empire.
It reflects the state of society and economy at that time and provides rich material for the study of ancient
Indian polity and economy.

Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam Literature

There are four languages Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam developed their own literature. Tamil being the
oldest of these languages began writing earlier and produced the Sangam literature the oldest literature in
Tamil.

Telugu Literature
The Vijayanagara period was the golden age of Telugu literature. Nachana Somnatha, a court poet of Bukka
I, produced a poetical work titled Uttaraharivamsam. Krishnadevaraya, the greatest of the Vijayanagara, was
a poet of great merit. His work Amukta Malyada is regarded as an excellent prabandhan in Telegu literature.
Eight Telugu literary luminaries, popularly known as ashtadiggajas adorned his court. Among them,
Allasani Peddana, the author of Manucharitram, was the greatest. He was known as Andhra kavitapitamaha.
The other seven poets of the group were Nandi Timmana, the author of Parijathapaharanam, Madayagari
Mallana, Dhurjati, Ayyalaraju Ramabhadra Kavi, Pingali Surana, Ramaraja Bhushana and Tenali
Ramakrishna.

Kannada Literature
Apart from Telugu, Vijayanagara rulers extended their patronage to Kannada literature. Kannada language
developed fully after the tenth century AD. The earliest known literary work in Kannada is kaviraj among
written by the Rashtrakuta king, Nripatunga Amoghavarsha. Pampa, known as the father of Kannada, wrote
his great poetic works Adi Purana and Vikramarijiva.

28
In the thirteenth century new feats were achieved in Kannada literature. Harishvara wrote Harishchandra
kavya and Somanatha charita whereas Bandhuvarma wrote Harivanshabhyudaya and Jiva Sambodhana.
Kannada literature flourished considerably between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries under the
patronage of the Vijayanagara kings. Poets of all religious groups made important contribution to it. Kunura
Vyasa wrote Bharata and Narahari wrote Tarave Ramayana.
This is the first Rama Katha in Kannada composed on the basis of Valmikis Ramayana. Lakshamisha who
lived in the seventeenth century wrote Jaimini Bharata and earned the titled of Kamata-Karicutavana-
Chaitra (the spring of the Karnataka mango grove).

Malayalam Literature
Malayalam is spoken in Kerala and the adjoining areas. The language of Malayalam emerged around the
eleventh century AD. By fifteenth century Malayalam was recognised as an independent language. Bhasa
Kautilya, a commentary on Arthashashtra and kokasandisan are two great works. Rama Panikkar and
Ramanuja an Ezhuthachan are well known authors of Malayalam literature.
Though it developed much later compared to other South Indian languages, Malayalam has made a mark as
a powerful medium of expression. Now a large number of journals, newspapers and magazines are
published in Malayalam. When people read and write in their own language, they enjoy it more. This is
because language is a part of their culture. It is so well inter woven in their social life that they can express
and feel their emotions as well in their own language. This must also be the case with you and your language
also.

Tamil or Sangama Literature

Tamil as a written language was language was known since the beginning of the Christian era.
Poets who in these assemblies were patronised by kings and chieftains produced the Sangama literature over
a period of three to four centuries.
Such assemblies were called ―Sangamas‖, and the literature produced in the se assemblies was called
―Sangama literature‖.

In ancient times the association or academy of the most learned men of the Tamil land was called Sangam
(or ‗Cankam‘), whose chief function was promotion of literature. Later Tamil writers mention the existence
of three literary academies (Sangams) at different periods. The last academy is credited with the corpus of
literature now known as ‗Sangam Works‘. It is, however, almost certain that some noteworthy literature
existed even before the Sangam era. Dr K. K. Pillai, a renowned Tamil historian, is of the view that
academies of the type of the Sangam must have flowered under an earlier designation like Avai or Kudal.
Naturalism and romanticism were the salient features of the poems of the Sangam bards. Excepting
Tolkappiyam, the earliest work on Tamil grammar and poetic techniques, no other works attributed to the
first two Sangams have come down to us in their entirety. However, from the titles of writings traditionally
traced to these Sangams, it is evident that they dealt with music and the art of dancing.
Tolkappiyam, the name signifying the ancient book or ‗the preserver of ancient institutions‘, was written by
Tolkappiyanar and is the oldest extant Tamil grammar dating back to 500 B.C. It lays down rules for
different kinds of poetical compositions drawn from the examples furnished by the best works then extant.
Iyal is elucidated clearly and systematically in Tolkappiyam. Containing about 1,610 suttirams (aphorisms),
it is in three parts-ezhuttu (orthography), Sol (etymology), and porul (literary conventions and usages)-each
with nine sections. While the first two parts are interesting from both linguistic and philological points of
view, the third, poruladhikdram, is most valuable as it gives a glimpse of the political, social, and religious
life of the people during the period when the author of this treatise lived.
29
Other Sanskrit Literature and Famous Authors
There large body of books dealing with various sciences, law, medicine and grammar. To this class belong
the law books called the Dharmasutras and smritis, together known as Dharmashastras. The Dharmasutras
were compiled between 500 and 200 BC. These lay down duties for different varnas as well as for the kings
and their officials. They prescribed the rules according to which property had to be held, sold and inherited.
They also prescribe punishments for persons guilty of assault, murder and adultery. The Manusmriti tells us
about the role of man and woman in society, their code of conduct and relationship with each other.
The works of Bhasa, Shudraka, Kalidasa and Banabhatta provided us with glimpses of the social and
cultural life of northern and central India in times of the Guptas and Harsha. The Gupta period also saw the
development of Sanskrit grammar based on the works of Panini and Patanjali.

The Kushana kings patronised Sanskrit scholars. Ashvaghosha wrote the Buddhacharitra which is the
biography of the Buddha. He also wrote Saundarananda, which is a fine example of Sanskrit poetry. India
produced great literary works on subjects like Maths, Astronomy, Astrology, Agriculture and Geography
etc.
Books on medicine were written by Charak and on surgery by Sushruta. Madhava wrote a book on
pathology. Books written on astronomy by Varahamihira and Aryabhatta and on astrology by Lagdhacharya
had all achieved prominence. There is none that can compete with Varahamihiras Bhrihatsamhita,
Aryabhatia and Vedanga Jyotisha.
The post-medieval period in northern India saw the rise of Sanskrit literature in Kashmir. Somadeva‘s
Katha-sarit-sagar and Kalhan‘s Rajatarangini are of historical importance. It gives a vivid account of the
Kings of Kashmir. The Geet Govinda of Jaidev is the finest poem of Sanskrit literature of this period,
besides numerous works on different aspects of art and architecture, sculpture, iconography and related
fields.

NORTHERN INDIAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE

We have already seen how languages evolved in India right up to the early medieval period.
The old apabhramsha had taken new forms in some areas or was in the process of evolving into other forms.
Languages were evolving at two levels:
1) The spoken language
2) The written language
The old Brahmi script of the Ashoka days had undergone a great change. The alphabets during Ashoka‘s
period were uneven in size but by the time of Harsha, the letters had become of the same size and were
regular, presenting the picture of a cultivated hand. The studies have indicated that all the scripts of present
northern Indian languages, except that of Urdu, have had their origin in old Brahmi.
If we compare the scripts of Gujarati, Hindi and Punjabi, we can easily understand this change. As for the
spoken word, there are over 200 languages or dialects spoken in India at present. Some are widely used
while others are limited to a particular area. Out of all these, only twenty-two have found their way into our
Constitution.
A large number of people speak Hindi in its different forms that include Braj Bhasha, and Avadhi (spoken
in Oudh region), Bhojpuri, Magadhi, and Maithili (spoken around Mithila), and Rajasthani and Khadi
Boli (spoken around Delhi). Rajasthani is another variant or dialect of Hindi. This classification has been
made on the basis of literature produced by great poets over a length of time. Thus, the language used by
Surdas and Bihari has been given the name of Braj Bhasha; that used by Tulsidas in the
Ramacharitamanasa is called Avadhi and the one used by Vidyapati has been termed as Maithili. But
Hindi, as we know it today is the one called Khadi Boli. Though Khusrau has used Khadi Boli in his
compositions in the thirteenth century its extensive use in literature began only in the nineteenth century. It
even shows some influence of Urdu.
30
Persian and Urdu
• Urdu emerged as an independent language towards the end of the 4th century AD.
• Arabic and Persian were introduced in India with the coming of the Turks and the Mongols.
• Persian remained the court language for many centuries. Urdu as a language was born out of the
interaction between Hindi and Persian.
• Originally it was a dialect but slowly it acquired all the features of a formal language when the
authors started using Persian script.
• Urdu became more popular in the early eighteenth century. People even wrote accounts of later
Mughals in Urdu.
Urdu was patronised by the Nawabs of Lucknow, who held symposiums in this language. Slowly it became
quite popular as Persian was the language of the court, much of the literature produced in this period was
written in Persian.
Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan Dehelvi wrote superb poetry in Persian. Historians like Minhas-us-Siraj,
Zia Barani and Ibn Batuta who came to India during those days wrote accounts of rulers, important
political events and incidents in this language. In the medieval period, Persian was adopted as the court
language. Several historical accounts, administrative manuals and allied literature in this language have
come down to us. The mughal rulers were great patrons of leaning and literature. Babar wrote his Tuzuk
(autobiography) in Turkish language, but his grandson Akbar got it translated into Persian. Akbar patronized
many scholars. He got Mahabharata translated into Persian.
Jahangir‘s autobiography (Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri) is in Persian and is a unique piece of literature. It is said that
Noorjahan was an accomplished Persian poetess. Quite a fair amount of Persian literature has been produced
by the courtiers of the Mughals. Abul Fazl‟s Akbarnamah and Ain-e-Akbari is a fine piece of literature.
From there we get a good deal of information about Akbar and his times. Faizi wrote beautiful Persian
poetry. Several collections of letters of the Mughal period (insha) have come down to us. Besides shedding
light on Mughal history, they indicate different styles of letter writing. Another name in prose and history
writing is that of Chandra Bhan, a writer of Shahjahan‟s days. Similarly, we have a work named Tabqat-
i-Alamgiri, shedding light on Aurangzeb. Badauni was another writer who belonged during Akbar‘s time.
In the twentieth century, Iqbal wrote good Persian poetry. All this has now become a part of Indian heritage
and culture quite popular. Pakistan has adopted Urdu as the state language.

Hindi Literature
The emergence of all these languages resulted in the decline of Sanskrit as they came to be used as the
medium through which the administrative machinery functioned.
Prithviraj Raso is supposed to be the first book in Hindi language. It is an account of exploits of Prithvi Raj
Chauhan. Hindi literature looked to Sanskrit classics for guidance and Bharata‘s Natyashastra was kept in
mind by Hindi writers.
As its influence reached the north, it started affecting the prose and poetry that were being composed in
Hindi.
Hindi evolved during the Apabhramsha stage between the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. and the 14th C. There
was a tremendous growth of regional languages like Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Marathi and Gujarati.
It was patronised by the Rajput rulers as it glorified chivalry and poetry. The most famous figures from this
period were Kabir and Tulsidas. All the above mentioned Hindi poets, except Kabir, expressed their
sentiments essentially to satisfy their own devotional instincts.

During the last 150 years, many writers have contributed to the development of modern India literature,
written in a number of regional languages as well as in English. One of the greatest Bengali writers,
Rabindranath Tagore became the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize for literature (Geetanjali) in 1913.
However, it is only with the beginning of nineteenth century that-Hindi prose came into its own.
Bharatendu Harishchandra was one of the earliest to produce dramas in Hindi which were basically
translations of texts written in Sanskrit and other languages. But he set the trend. Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi
was another author who wrote translations or made adaptations from Sanskrit. Bankim Chandra Chatterji

31
(l838-94) wrote novels originally in Bangla. They came to be translated into Hindi and became very popular.
Vande Mataram, our national song, is an excerpt from his novel, Anand Math. Swami Dayanand‟s
contribution to Hindi cannot be ignored. Originally a Gujarati and a scholar of Sanskrit, he advocated Hindi
as a common language for the whole of India. He started writing in Hindi and contributed articles to journals
essentially engaged in religious and social reforms. Satyartha Prakash was his most important work in
Hindi. Among other names that have enriched Hindi literature, is that of Munshi Prem Chand, who
switched over from Urdu to Hindi. Surya Kant Tripathi, „Nirala‟, achieves recognition because he
questioned the orthodoxies in society. Mahadevi Verma is the first woman writer in Hindi to highlight
issues related to women. Maithili Sharan Gupt is another important name. Jaishankar Prasad wrote
beautiful dramas.

Hindi Language Makes Progress in Modern Period

Hindi Language
The development of modern language started at the end of the 18th century. The main writers of this period
were Sadasukh Lal and Enshallah Khan. Bhartendu Harishchandra also strengthened Hindi language.
Similarly, Raja Lakshman Singh translated Shakuntala into Hindi. Hindi continued to develop in adverse
circumstances as the office work was done in Urdu.
Hindi Literature
Bhartendu Harish Chandra, Mahavira Prasad Dwivedi, Ramchandra Shukla and Shyam Sunder Das were the
main among the prose writers of Hindi literature.
Jai Shanker Prasad, Maithalisharan Gupta, Sumitranandan Pant, SuryakantTripathi ‗Nirala‘, Mahadevi
Verma, Ramdhari Singh ‗Dinkar‘ and Haribans Rai ‗Bacchan‘ made great contribution to the development
of Hindi poetry.

If we look at the above writers, we find that they all wrote with a purpose. Swami Dayanand wrote in order
to reform the Hindu society and rid it of false beliefs and social evils. Munshi Prem Chand tried to draw the
attention of the society to the miserable existence of the poor and Mahadevi Verma recipient of Padma
Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award highlighted the conditions of women in the society. ‗Nirala‘
became the pioneer of awakening of Modern India.

32