Exploring Indian Literature

Welcome to 4 th quarter Exploring Indian literature  s a n s k r i t As early as 300 B.C., INDIA had already produced a considerable body of literature written in several Indian tongues derived from a common ancestral language- s a n s k r i t The literature of India is often called SANSKRIT...

Welcome to 4 th quarter Exploring Indian literature  s a n s k r i t As early as 300 B.C., INDIA had already produced a considerable body of literature written in several Indian tongues derived from a common ancestral language- s a n s k r i t The literature of India is often called SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The word Sanskrit means CULTIVATED OR PERFECTED.  s a n s k r i t The literature of India is often called SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The word Sanskrit means CULTIVATED OR PERFECTED.  ve d a s The earliest known literature of India is a collection of traditions handed down by word of mouth. These traditions are known as the VEDAS. These contain hymns addressed to the INDIAN GODS, who are very numerous. They also contain stories about these gods.  ve d a s The Vedas are a large body of ancient religious texts originating in ancient India, believed to have been composed between 1500 BCE and 500 BCE. They are among the OLDEST SACRED TEXTS OF HINDUISM and are considered the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. The word "Veda"  T h e fo u r ve d a s 1. Rigveda: The Rigveda is the oldest of the Vedas and consists of hymns dedicated to various deities. It is divided into ten books, or Mandalas, and contains a total of 1,028 hymns (suktas) composed in an ancient form of Sanskrit. These hymns are primarily addressed to deities such as Agni (the fire god), Indra (the king of gods),  T h e f o u r ve primarily a d a s 2. Samaveda: The Samaveda is collection of melodies (saman) that were sung during Vedic rituals. It is closely related to the Rigveda and contains many of its verses, but they are arranged in a different manner  T h e f o u r s 3. Yajurveda: The Yajurveda consists v of prose e d mantrasa and verses that are used by priests during rituals (yajnas). It is divided into two main branches: the Shukla (White) Yajurveda and the Krishna (Black) Yajurveda. The former is primarily in verse form, while the latter contains a  T h e fo u r s 4. Atharvaveda: The Atharvaveda is v e a collection d of a hymns, incantations, spells, and charms. It differs from the other three Vedas in that it includes a significant amount of material dealing with magic, healing, and domestic rituals. It is believed to have been composed at a The Indian literature Hindu literature reveals the inner and outer life of a remarkable people, it extends from a remote past to the present. India was the center of an ancient civilization, which spread east and south. This civilization affected the language and culture of many countries in both Europe and Asia. India also founded colonies in ancient Persia, Greece, and Rome as well as in Spain, England, and France. These countries belong to the Indo-European race. They once had their homes in Central Asia and spoke the same language as the natives. Even now, the various languages spoken in these Indo-European countries are only different forms of the original language. This is especially true of words referring to family like father, mother, daughter, duhitr, and sister. The word daughter The Indian literature The Indians have a civilization older than that of the ancient Greeks and Romans. While savages roamed the dense forest of England, France, Italy, and Germany, the Indians already had a highly developed civilization and were producing masterpieces in the arts. Indian philosophy and religion greatly influenced both the East and West. Long before Christ lived, the Indians were already teaching the brotherhood of all peoples and the fatherhood of God. Indian culture has interesting and distinctive qualities. Indian literature, already fully developed over 3,000 years ago, is rich in spiritual and imaginative values. Indian culture also had a scientific bent. India gave the world trigonometry, the first grammar books, the first study of phonetics (the study Characteristics of Indian literature The first characteristic of Indian literature is that it is based on piety, a deeply religious spirit. The Indians believed that a knowledge of God and a strong belief in Hinduism is necessary to save humankind. Their earliest poems, the Vedas, serve as the Characteristics of Indian literature The second characteristic we notice about Indian literature is that the Indian literary masterpieces, written in the form of epics, correspond to great epochs in the history of India. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the most important epics of India, the latter is the longest found in world literature. The Indians believe in reincarnation, meaning that the soul of a person after death returns to the earth in the body of another person, an animal, or even a plant. Consequently, they believe in kindness to other people and to animals. They also abstain from destroying plants because a reincarnated dead Characteristics of Indian literature Their gods are believed to be reincarnated into human beings or even animals. Thus, the Ramayana is about the reincarnation of the creator god, Vishnu, in the person of Rama, who is the hero of the epic. The Mahabharata deals with another reincarnation of Vishnu in the person of Krishna. These reincarnations of Vishnu are called avatars or descending from the god. Vishnu is supposed to have ten avatars. Nine avatars have already taken place, and the tenth is yet to come. When ma h a b h a r a ta The Mahabharata is considered the greatest epic of India. It tells the story of a civil war that might have taken place in the early years of the Aryan occupation of India. Obviously the product of many countries and many hands, it is a long poem, almost as long as all Europe. the ma h a b h a r a ta The Mahabharata tells of two rival bands of brothers, descendants of a common grandfather, King Pandu. When he died, he left his five sons in the care of his brother who was to be regent while his sons were still minors. The regent himself had many sons, and they coveted the kingdom for themselves. The result was a period of ra ma y a n a The Ramayana recounts the adventures of Rama and his wife Sita. Legend has it that Sita was born of a furrow, the child of Mother Earth. Sita is regarded by the women of India as the perfect symbol of wifely devotion and self sacrifice for Indian drama The origin of the theater in India is lost in antiquity. In the second century BC. Indian drama reached a high stage of development. The two great Indian dramatists are Bhasa and Kalidasa, who is called the Indian Shakespeare. Indian drama is characterized by poetry and idyllic beauty. It concentrates on love as the background of the story, it always has a happy ending; and there are no violent emotions. The characters are good men and women, and if any wrong is committed, it is because of the Indian drama The origin of the theater in India is lost in antiquity. In the second century BC. Indian drama reached a high stage of development. The two great Indian dramatists are Bhasa and Kalidasa, who is called the Indian Shakespeare. Indian drama is characterized by poetry and idyllic beauty. It concentrates on love as the background of the story, it always has a happy ending; and there are no violent emotions. The characters are good men and women, and if any wrong is committed, it is because of the  bh a s a Bhāsa (born 3rd century AD, India) the earliest known Sanskrit dramatist, many of whose complete plays have been found. In 1912 an Indian scholar discovered and published the texts of 13 of Bhāsa’s dramas, previously known only by the allusions of ancient Sanskrit dramatists. His best work, Svapnavāsavadattā (“The Dream of Vāsavadattā”), depicts a king losing and then regaining his kingdom from a usurper..  bh a s a The majority of his dramas are ingenious adaptations on themes of heroism and romantic love borrowed from India’s two great epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata. Bhāsa deviated from the accepted dramaturgy of the time by portraying battle scenes and killings on the stage. His influence is seen in the works of the great 5th-century dramatist Kālidāsa, who consciously imitated and improved upon some of Bhāsa’s literary motifs.  ka l i d a s a The greatest writer of plays, however, is Kalidasa, the author of Shakuntala. Kalidasa is called the brightest of the "nine gems of genius." His play Shakuntala is written in long passages of beautiful prose and poetry. sha ku n t a l a It is the story of a king who goes hunting in the woods and meets a beautiful maiden named Shakuntala with whom he falls in love. He marries her but has to leave her soon because of pressing official business. How ever, he leaves a ring with her as sha ku n t a l a Shakuntala has a son; she and her son go to the king's court. The king, however, has lost his memory because of the work of an evil magician. He repudiates his wife and his son because she cannot produce the ring, having lost it in the forest. The gods, taking pity on mother and sha ku n t a l a In the meantime, a fisher has found the ring, which he then takes to the king. The king recovers his memory and repents for what he has done. The gods sympathize with him because of his sufferings and take him to the heavenly regions. The last act shows the king united with his forgiving wife and son, now a manly, little boy. Then it is revealed that the king's loss of memory happened because of a curse laid on him by an evil p a n c h a t a n t ra The Panchatantra (Five headings) is a rich collection of brief stories of ancient times. This book is said to contain the first fables ever written. Fables are stories of animals who behave like human beings. The purpose of fables is to drive home a truth or a lesson. The Panchatantra also contains some of the most important collections of short stories in the world, and these have reached us in translation from language to language down the centuries. The stories from the Panchatantra are arranged in a "frame" as in Rab i n d r a n a t h Rabindranath Tagore was a great Indian Ta g o re poet and dramatist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 and was knighted by the British government in 1915. Born of an Indian noble family, he received his education under private tutors and then went to England to study law. He was a widely traveled man. He visited Europe and Japan and went to the United States, giving lectures and readings of the  b l e i n t eg r a t i o n Bi Colossians 1:16 (NIV): "For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  ac t i v i t y Divide students into small groups and assign each group a different genre of Indian literature (e.g., poetry, short stories, novels, drama). Provide excerpts or complete works for each group to read and analyze. Students will identify themes, cultural elements, and literary techniques within their assigned genre. Facilitate group discussions where students share their findings and insights. Encourage critical thinking by asking questions about the significance of each work within its cultural context.