Hindu Literature
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Questions and Answers

What term did Gandhi use to refer to the lowest classes of society?

  • Untouchables
  • Harijans (correct)
  • Dalits
  • Outcastes

    • Which languages emerged as literary vehicles in the north?

  • Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi
  • Kannada, Malayalam, and Oriya
  • Bengali, Marathi, and old Gujarati (correct)
  • Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu

    • What kind of labor did Gandhi believe in?

  • Industrial labor
  • Manual labor (correct)
  • Agricultural labor
  • Skilled labor

    • Who was a major figure in the literary period mentioned in the text?

    <p>Amir Khusrau</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the name of the anthology of love lyrics mentioned in the text?

    <p>Kuruntokai</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the origin of Sanskrit literature?

    <p>Oral tradition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the name of the holy texts that gave rise to many commentaries?

    <p>Vedas</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the period during which the Chola Empire expanded?

    <p>10th-13th centuries</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who introduced blank verse and the sonnet into Indian poetry?

    <p>MICHAEL MADHUSUDAN DUTT and JAYASHANKAR PRASAD</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who wrote the first plays modeled on Western drama?

    <p>MICHAEL MADHUSUDAN DUTT</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the oldest sacred literature of India?

    <p>The four Vedas</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who pioneered the novel in India?

    <p>BANKIN CHANDRA CHATTERJEE and HARI NARAYAN APTE</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the Rig-Veda primarily an anthology of?

    <p>Hymns to various gods</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the chief object of worship in the Rig-Veda?

    <p>Brahma</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary content of the Sama-Veda?

    <p>Liturgies and repetitions of hymns</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the epic nucleus of the Mahabharata about?

    <p>The battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the central theme of the original story of the two rival bands of brothers?

    <p>The struggle for power and heritage</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the time period associated with the Sutras?

    <p>500-200 B.C.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who was left in charge of the five sons of King Pandu after his death?

    <p>Their uncle, the regent brother</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How many sons did the regent brother have?

    <p>A hundred sons</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the outcome of the rivalry between the two groups of brothers?

    <p>The five brothers were expelled and went into wilderness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the name of the charming heroine won by the five brothers as a wife?

    <p>Draupadi</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the classification of the two epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana?

    <p>Secular works</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the approximate time period associated with the Mahabharata?

    <p>500-200 B.C.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the approximate number of lines in the longest poem in the world?

    <p>200,000 lines</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the period during which the sixty-odd plays were probably written?

    <p>100 B.C. - A.D. 600</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the theme of the story of Savitri?

    <p>Wifely devotion</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the typical structure of an Indian drama?

    <p>A prologue with multiple scenes and acts</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the outcome of the grand attack led by Arjuna?

    <p>They win their kingdom</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the significance of the custom of employing both Sanskrit and Prakrit in the same play?

    <p>It led to the death of the drama</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the comparison made to the story of the poem?

    <p>The Iliad</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the approximate date of the present form of The Toy Clay Cart?

    <p>A.D. 450</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the state of the lamp in the windless spot?

    <p>It does not flicker</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the consequence of not waging a lawful battle?

    <p>You will fail in your own law and get sin</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the source of all potent, prosperous, or forceful things?

    <p>Divine power</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the characteristic of the universe that is described?

    <p>It is of haunting beauty and expresses God's infinite love</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who does the speaker of the text identify with?

    <p>The son of Pritha</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the subject matter of Tagore's novels and short stories?

    <p>Philosophical themes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the condition of those who cast all their works on the speaker?

    <p>They are uplifted</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the speaker's promise to those who worship them?

    <p>They will be lifted up speedily from the ocean of death</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Indian Literature and Epics

    • The longest poem in the world is around 200,000 lines, nearly eight times as long as the Iliad.
    • Indian drama shows a mixture of joy and sorrow, but the ending is always happy.
    • Each drama has a prologue and is divided into scenes and acts (from one to ten).
    • The custom of employing both Sanskrit (for the men of high rank) and Prakrit (for the lower classes) in the same play probably led to the death of the drama.

    The Mahabharata

    • The Mahabharata is an epic poem (about 80,000 lines) that concerns the battle between the Kauravas (Kurus) and the Pandavas.
    • The remainder of the Mahabharata contains glosses, descriptions, legends, and treatises on religion, law, philosophy, and military matters.
    • The original story was fairly simple, telling the story of two rival bands of brothers, both descendants of a common grandfather, who came to war over their heritage.

    Vedic Holy Texts

    • The oldest sacred literature of India is found in the four Vedas ("Books of Knowledge").
    • The Rig-Veda (c. 1400 B.C.) is an anthology of 1028 hymns to various gods, many of them impersonal nature deities.
    • The prevailing religion of the Rig-veda is Hindu pantheism; its chief object of worship is Brahma, the eternal, self-existent god.
    • The Sama-Veda or "Book of Chants" consists principally of liturgies, most of which are repetitions of hymns in the Rig-veda.
    • The YAJUR-Veda or "Prayer Book" contains a great deal of information concerning the conceptions of maya (the illusory world) and nirvana (absorption into the universal soul).

    Upanishads and Sutras

    • The Upanishads were influential on Emerson and Schopenhauer.
    • The Sutras (c. 500-200 B.C) are extremely concise, ritualistic, and often unintelligible treatises concerning ritual.

    Indian Poets and Writers

    • Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873) introduced blank verse and the sonnet into Indian poetry.
    • Sir Rabindranath Tagore introduced the short story to vernacular writing in India.
    • Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Hari Narayan Apte (1864-1919) pioneered the novel in India.
    • Lakshminath Bezbarua and Jayashankar Prasad are notable poets of the period.

    Philosophy and Quotes

    • "Looking likewise on thine own Law, thou shouldst not be dismayed; for to a knight there is nothing more blest than a lawful strife…"
    • "As a lamp in a windless spot flickers not, such is the likeness that is told of the strict-minded Man of the Rule who labors upon the rule of the Self…"
    • "But if thou wilt not wage this lawful battle, then wilt thou fail thine own law and thine honor, and get sin."
    • "There is no bound to My divine powers, O affrighter of the foe; But in part have I declared this fullness of my power."

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