Indian Literature: Vedic Period and the Vedas

Indian Literature

• Features one of the world's oldest and most diverse literary traditions.
• Encompasses many languages (Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, English), cultures, and styles.
• Includes oral traditions, epic poems, philosophical texts, religious scriptures and poetry.
• Reflects the history, culture and beliefs found on the Indian subcontinent.

Literary Periods

• Indus civilization flourished in northern India between 2500 and 1500 B.C.
• The Aryans, a group of nomadic warriors and herders, were the earliest known migrants into India.
• The Aryans introduced a well-developed language, literature and religious beliefs.

Vedic Period (1500 B.C. - 500 B.C.)

• Named for the Vedas, a set of hymns that formed the cornerstone of Aryan culture.
• Hindus consider the Vedas the most sacred of all literature believing they were revealed to humans directly by the gods and transmitted orally by priests.

The Vedas

• Represents the oldest and most authoritative scriptures of Hinduism, consisting of hymns, prayers, rituals and philosophical discussions.
• The four main Vedas:
  • Rigveda: Collection of hymns to gods and praises for natural forces, representative of the Aryan religious spirit and comparable to David's Psalm.
  • Samaveda: Contains hymns set to melodies, primarily for liturgical purposes.
  • Yajurveda: Focuses on the rituals and sacrificial practices.
  • Atharvaveda: Contains hymns related to healing, magic, and philosophy.
  • Importance: Foundations of Hindu religion, philosophy, and culture covering cosmology, theology, ethics, and metaphysics.

Puranas

• Large collection of Hindu texts telling stories of gods, goddesses and legendary heroes, including cosmological narratives.
• Puranas serve as a key source for Hindu mythology, history, and theology.

Epic and Buddhist Age (500 B.C. - A.D.)

• Period of composition of two great epics: Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
• The period also marks the growth of later Vedic literature, new Sanskrit literature, and Buddhist literature in Pali.

Religions

• Religion is evident in Indian creativity, reflected in the country being the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism.
• Hinduism is the dominant religion.
• Buddhism which ironically became extinct in India, spread throughout Asia.

Hinduism

• Literally meaning 'the belief of the people of India'
• The predominant faith of India and of no other nation.
• Hindus are deeply absorbed with God and the creation of the universe.

Concept of Purushartha

• Ancient wisdom in Indian texts stating a human born on Earth must pursue 'Purushartha' to seek truth and attain salvation.
• Puruşārtha literally means an “object of human pursuit”.
• A key concept in Hinduism referring to the four end goals of a human life.

Dharma

• Signifies behaviors that align with the order that makes life/universe possible, encompassing duties, rights, laws, conduct and virtues.
• Enlists behaviors that enable social order and virtuous conduct, requiring humans to accept/respect to sustain harmony create world worth dwelling in.

Artha

• Signifies "means of life", incorporating wealth, career, and activities for financial and economic prosperity.

Kama

• Encompasses desires, wishes, passions, emotions, pleasure and the aesthetic enjoyment of life and love, with or without sexual connotations.

Moksha

• Emancipation from cycle of mortality through virtuous values via meditation.
• Some schools connote freedom, self-knowledge, self-realization, and liberation in life.

Hindu Beliefs

• All reality is one and spiritual, individual soul is identical with this reality, sharing pure being, intelligence, and bliss.
• Everything dividing the soul from reality is maya or illusion.

Caste System

• Brahmins (priests, teachers): Purusha's mouth, perform sacrifices, teach Vedas, guard Dharma rules.
• Ksatriyas (rulers, warriors): Arms, protect society as kings.
• Vaishyas (landowners, merchants): Thighs, live by trading, herding, and farming.
• Surdas (peasants): Feet, engage in handicrafts, manual occupations, serve meekly, forbidden to mate with higher varna.

Buddhism

• Originated in India in the 6th century B.C, is based on Siddharta Gautama's teachings called Buddha, or the 'Enlightened One'.
• Focuses on self-awareness, development to attain nirvana/enlightenment.

Buddhist Beliefs

• Human beings are bound to the wheel of life, a cycle of birth, death, and suffering.
• Cycle is an effect of karma where present life results from past thoughts/actions, shaping future ones.

Buddhist Scriptures

• Uphold the Four Noble Truths:
  • Life is suffering.
  • Suffering is caused by desire.
  • Suffering's removal comes from desire removal.
  • The Noble Eightfold Paths leads to the end of suffering.

Noble Eightfold Paths

• Consist of:
  • Right understanding.
  • Right thought.
  • Right speech.
  • Right action.
  • Right means of livelihood.
  • Right effort.
  • Right consideration.
  • Right meditation.

Religious and Philosophical Works

• Rig Veda (Vedas): A collection of sacred amongst hymns/verses, composed in archaic Sanskrit by Indo-Europeans entering India from Iranian regions (circa 1500-1200 BC).

Dhammapada

• 'The Way of Truth', an anthology of basic Buddhist teachings in simple aphoristic style.
• Contains 423 stanzas in 26 chapters within the Pali Buddhist canon, holding Buddhist scripture from Siddhartha Gautama.

Upanishads

• Sophisticated commentary on religious thought from Rigveda hymns, implying 'sitting at the feet of the teacher'.
• Ancient Indian philosophical texts concluding the Vedas, exploring spiritual knowledge, metaphysics, and reality's nature, focusing on the self (Atman), ultimate reality (Brahman), their relationship, and liberation (Moksha).
• Shift from ritualistic Vedic texts to introspective approach yielding deep insights into existence, consciousness.

Epics

• Mahabharata: Legendary, didactic material sharing supremacy struggles between Kauravas and Pandavas, traditional date is 3102 BC.
• Compiled by sage Vsaya, an exposition on dharma (conduct codes) for kings, warriors, people in calamity/seeking rebirth emancipation.

Mahabharata Story

• King Shantanu of Hastinapur married River Goddess Ganga, their son Bhishma became prominent and Ganga abandoned.
• Satyavati's son Vichitravirya became king, fathering three sons: Dhritarashtra, Pandu, Vidur.
• Blind Dhritarashtra married Gandhari (Kauravas) while Pandu married Kunti/Madri (Pandavas), conceived via different gods.
• Kunti birthed Karna originally unwed.
• Pandu retired to forest, entrusting kingdom to Dhritarashtra.
• Pandu/Madri died, Kunti/Pandavas returned, feuding with Kauravas and were exiled for 13 years after Yudhishthir lost.
• Duryodhana declined kingdom return leading to largest battle.
• Lord Krishna attempted peace.
• Kauravas lost.
• Yudhishthir became crowned King.

Bhagavad Gita

• 'The Lord's Song', a beautiful Hindu scripture and part of the Mahabharata, with a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and God Krishna (charioteer).
• Addresses the moral and spiritual dilemmas faced by Arjuna on battlefield using concepts like duty (dharma), devotion (bhakti), knowledge (jnana) action (karma).
• Teaches escaping worldly life is by remaining amidst life, facing it fearlessly and accepting God through performing actions devoted to sacrifice.

Ramayana

• Composed in Sanskrit by Valmiki before 300 BC with 24,000 couplets divided into seven books.
• Reflects Hindu values/caste, honor, promises and social organization/theory of karma.

The Ramayana Story

• King Dasharatha of Ayodhya had three wives and four sons, Rama being the eldest and Kaushalya was his mother.
• Kaikeyi wanted her son to take the throne, and got the king to agree to banish Rama for 14 years.
• Rama, Sita and Lakshmana went on exile.
• Rama and Lakshmana wounded a demon princess who tried to seduce Rama, and she got her brother Ravana to abduct Sita when hearing about her beauty.
• Rama sought help from a monkey band.
• Hanuman, flew to Lanka and comforted Sita, and told her that Rama would save her.
• Ravana's men captured Hanuman, and Ravana ordered them to wrap Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire.
• He set Lanka on fire.
• Rama, Lakshmana and the monkey army built a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka and crossed over, and Rama killed Ravana, and freed Sita.
• Bharata returned the crown to him in Ayodhya.

Literary Selections

• Panchatantra: Collection of Indian beast fables from prose/poetry tales, featuring five books in Europe known as Bidpai Fables.
• Intended textbook in Artha (worldly wisdom) but aphorisms glorify cleverness over helping.

Shakuntala

• Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa where characters Shakuntala/King Dushyanta end physically attracting by end as spiritual.
• King Dushyanta is noble, pious upholding duties over desire; Sakuntala grows through kindness/willpower, reuniting after suffering.
• Tells tale of loss, love, divine intervention and eventual reunion.

Summary of Shakuntala

• Begins in hermitage raising Shakuntala whose father was Menaka and where one day Dushyanta while hunting meets/loves her purely.
• Dushyanta departs promising return, grants ring but Durvasa's curse causes Dushyanta to forget, denying her upon return, leaving Shakuntala disturbed.
• Finds ring by way of fisherman leading to memory retrieval.
• He searches long reunited.

Gitanjali

• (Song Offerings), is collection of poems by poet Rabindranath Tagore.
• First published in Bengali (1910), translated into English (1912), awarding Tagore 1913 Nobel Prize.

Summary of Gitanjali

• Philosophical poems reflecting devotion/love for the divine.
• Explores spirituality/God relationships yearning.
• Yearns for union lyrically.

Notable Poems in "Gitanjali"

• Poem 1: Expresses poet's surrender to God for embrace in life.
• Poem 35: Requests divine union allowed amidst God presence in life.
• Poem 18: Hopes soul's journey brings merge from devotion divinely.
• Poem 40: Death/inevitability to continue led through life cycles divinely.

"The Taj Mahal"

• Famous poem by Sahir Ludhianvi.
• Most renowned poets/lyricist on love/emotion explores with different earthly emotional contrast, offering monuments to perspectives/symbolize eternal love in monument.

Summary of "The Taj Mahal"

• Ludhianvi portrays "Taj" exploitation of human relationship's symbolism contrasting Jahan/common-people (laborers).
• Love requires suffering questioning creation costs.
• Readers think implications sacrificed when love lossed.

Major Writer Kalidasa

• Sanskirt poet and dramatics of most Classical Indian authors.
• Suggested works are Brahman (priest) during Kalidasan relationship poem.

Rabindranath Tagore

• The son of great sage who won nobel prize for Literature.
• Death of wife and children who brought upon years to sadness. But inspired best poetry also.
• He was also a gifted composer and a painter.

Kamala Markandaya

• She studied Madras and then settled in England and western values are modern, but Indian values are spiritual and traditional.
• Her works concern the struggles of contemporary Indians.
• Nectar in a Sieve was Markandaya's first Novel novel and was about an Indian peasant's life.

R.K. Narayan

• One of the finest Indian of his generation writing in English.
• All of Naraynan's works are in an Indian town setting in an Ironical and daily life.

Anita Desai

• English-language, Indian novelist and her works reflect Desai's tragic life
• novel addressing the theme of the suppression

China

• Possesses world most literature traditions.
• The literary language became imitation and becomes more elitist.

Evolution of Chinese Literature

• In prehsitoric, literature existed as oral traditions.
• Early records were inscriptions on the oracle bodes.
• Shijing reflects customes and politics of its.
• I Ching became influence.

The Qin Dynasty

• It brought about the unification of China.
• Emperor Qin Shin Huang standardized written characters and promote.
• The Legalist philosophy emphasized strong entalized control.

The Han Dynasty

• Historical writings.
• A time of immense cultural expansion/Fu.

The Golden Age of Poetry

• During the Tang Dynasty.
• The were abundant.
• Li Bai worked were filled.
• The regulated verse.

The Song Dynasty

• Rise of prose into form of literature.
• Su Shi significant contibutor of prose and poetry.

Ming and Qing

• Classical novels: Ming Dynasty prodcued Wu and Shi.
• Dream o fthe Red Chamber was Chinese society, family and the rise/fall of wealth.
• The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was the struggles of power during three.
• Journey to the west fullfilled adveture and lessons.
• Water warign=n a tale of the over the outlaws

Modern and Contemporary Literature

• Coincided with the end of revolutions.
• Lu Xun, influenctial writer and figure in the New Culture .
• Mao Zedong power suppression to the writers.

Philosophy and Religion

• Confucianism provides moral orders.
• Confican ethics, human heartness (to rise or to live), manner of person.
• Taoism illustrated a natural course to world after "tao" means, follow, go, live.
• Buddihism important right no matter what.

Works (The Philosophical)

• The Analects: more ended dialogues.
• Tao Te Ching: Harmony
• Chuang Tzu: Witty/imaginative work

Genres and Notable Writer (Chinese)

• Confucius: Analects (Lunyu) or influence
• Bai Li: Work was drinkning moon
• Du Fu: Works were chariot
• Luequin Cao: Rom of red. Man
• Xu Lun: Work was diary
• Hua Yu: Works often on turm.

Notable Literary Genres

• Poetry: Dominant for centuries.

Other Types of Poetry

• Shi and Ci
• Ru express ideas of philosophical.

The Romance of Three Kingdoms

• Written for one.
• Novel spans a 100 years with a thousand character on it.

Setting on Bakckground (The Novel)

• The novel was by the East.
• Dynasty marks corrupted.

Three Kingdoms

• wei led by Cao cao.
• Shu led by liu bei.
• Wu: led by sun quan.

Dream of Red Mansion (The Novel)

• Story of great chines, offers elite, in it.
• Setting of Context which is decline of familty.

Journey to the West.

• One of the journey which was created.
• The journey with journey.

The Water Margin

• The margin of outlas that was greated.
• Setting and Premise is story takes placed corrupted dynasty in it.

Drama

• Zayu a form, that yuan dynasty.

Japan

• The Literature by haikui or early tradition.
• Manushy was a poet.

Classic of Jaapnese.

• Shape the imperal court.

The tale of Geinji

• it follows love

Madieval

The madieval were new for literature such shrinwers.

Earler of madievals

• INflueced Chnese cultures, clothing or language.

Early Modern Japanese

• Afetr 150 years for the maintaineity, they are the social and economic.

The noble

• A class system by samuari for outcats, priest, noble and mongers.
• This haikui is poetry.
• Cabikui it was theather.

The Tale

• This had narrative to the samurai for revenge and justice.

The life of Woman Amoroius

• Written by Itara for enjoy of this.

Meiji Period. New Japanese life

• Meiji it western and western influence japanese authorss.

Early Meiji

• Writters like tsubouchi.
• Realism introducted by the tsboouchi.
• Histurchi focused by the story of womens.
• Zaimi it was of key style.
• Naturalism for like Katari.

1920s and early 1930s

• The laboroion which was the proletian.

Key work

• by Ryunosuke: a short story.
• Kawabota Yasunari for in Liturature.
• Kaeza bubro : The Nobel Prize.

2 Religions

• The traditions and the shapting.

Shintoism

• the ways of god are the reverences of the various of god animals rivers trees.

Sen Burddihms

• That was a forms for enlgithment the mind.

Poet Japanese culture.

• was powerful experinces
• It helmed conveys thoughts in public as well in privtae to.

Manyoshu

• from nara period back
• They all considred foundation

The poet

• Gatherings, parties made a sign of the sophistication.

Haiku the world wide

• That syllaves.
• Had for more expressived

Forms (The Poetric)

• Each one to capture
• The choka a type poem, its types alternated lines.
• Poem would a concnise thereafirm topic.
• Example choka by poet of scences.

A Tanka also known as short ones of the list.

• To reflec a point emotiona and what to at look time. the theams.
• Exampble to read to the moon. to see the breeze are their light.

Renga (The Linked)

• Which in multiple or multple of tanks.
• Composes is a of group
• Tanka for to form themes.
• Each types was refelts and of different

A Renga to Beguin

• Each known for tones.
• Set for is of a stanza

Example to begin

• The in is the for in sky. A to and the
• to

The next poet, to reflect

• Is of air, cool, and and in

These efforts of

• To from forms is with are interwoven

That offering thoughts

• Feelings, observastions, offers a with which has impacted.

Prose and BEYond

• From the to focus to
• The and by century focus culture.