A History of Sanskrit Literature

Before we turn to describe the world of thought revealed in the hymns of the Rigveda, the question may naturally be asked, to what extent is it possible to understand the true m...

As the Upanishads were a development of the speculative side of the Brahmanas and constituted the textbooks of Vedic dogma, so the Çrauta Sutras form the continuation of their r...

The survey of the poetry of the Rigveda presented in the foregoing pages will perhaps suffice to show that this unique monument of a long-vanished age contains, apart from its h...

Of the three later Vedas, the Samaveda is much the most closely connected with the Rigveda. Historically it is of little importance, for it contains hardly any independent matte...

Want of space makes it impossible for me to give even the briefest account of the numerous and, in many cases, important legal and scientific works written in Sanskrit. But I ca...

Since the Renaissance there has been no event of such world-wide significance in the history of culture as the discovery of Sanskrit literature in the latter part of the eightee...

The period in which the poetry of the Vedic Samhitas arose was followed by one which produced a totally different literary type--the theological treatises called Brahmanas. It i...

The story of the abduction of Draupadi forms an episode of her life while she dwelt with the Pandus in the Kamyaka forest. Accidentally seen when alone by King Jayadratha of Sin...

The beginnings of Indian philosophy, which are to be found in the latest hymns of the Rigveda and in the Atharvaveda, are concerned with speculations on the origin of the world...

To the European mind the history of the Indian drama cannot but be a source of abundant interest; for here we have an important branch of literature which has had a full and var...

According to the Vedic view, the spirit of the deceased proceeded to the realm of eternal light on the path trodden by the fathers, whom he finds in the highest heaven revelling...

In turning from the Vedic to the Sanskrit period, we are confronted with a literature which is essentially different from that of the earlier age in matter, spirit, and form. Ve...

In the dim twilight preceding the dawn of Indian literature the historical imagination can perceive the forms of Aryan warriors, the first Western conquerors of Hindustan, issui...

The real history of the Kavya, or artificial epic poetry of India, does not begin till the first half of the seventh century A.D., with the reign of King Harsha-vardhana of Than...

The didactic and sententious note which prevails in classical Sanskrit literature cannot fail to strike the student. It is, however, specially pronounced in the fairy tales and...

theory of transmigration which it contains. The second half of the chapter is important as the earliest statement of the doctrine that the manifold world is unreal. The sat by d...

Sanskrit lyrical poetry has not produced many works of any considerable length. But among these are included two of the most perfect creations of Kalidasa, a writer distinguishe...

On the very threshold of Indian literature more than three thousand years ago, we are confronted with a body of lyrical poetry which, although far older than the literary monume...

M'Crindle, Ancient India as Described by Classical Authors, 5 vols., especially vol. v., Invasion of India by Alexander, London, 1896. Weber, Die Griechen in Indien, in Transact...

On the history of Sanskrit studies see especially Benfey, Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, Munich, 1869. A very valuable work for Sanskrit Bibliography is the annual Orientali...

On the age of Kavya poetry consult especially Bühler, Die indischen Inschriften und das Alter der indischen Kunstpoesie, in Trans. of the Imp. Vienna Academy, Vienna, 1890; Flee...

On the sutras in general consult Hillebrandt, Ritual-Litteratur, in Bühler's Encyclopædia, 1897; Açvalayana Çrauta Sutra, ed. R. Vidyaaratna, Calc., 1864-74 (Bibl. Ind.); Çankha...

Aitareya Brahmana, ed. Aufrecht, Bonn, 1879 (best edition); ed. and trans. by Haug, 2 vols., Bombay, 1863; Kaushitaki or Çankhayana Brahmana, ed. Lindner, Jena, 1887; Aitareya A...

On the Sanskrit drama in general, consult especially H. H. Wilson, Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus, 2 vols., 3rd ed., London, 1871; Sylvain Lévi, Le Théâtre Indien...

On the text and metres of the Rigveda see especially Oldenberg, Die Hymnen des Rigveda, vol. i., Prolegomena, Berlin, 1888; on the accent, Wackernagel, Altindische Grammatik, vo...

On Indian philosophy in general see Garbe's useful little book, Philosophy of Ancient India, Chicago, 1897; F. Max Müller, Six Systems of Indian Philosophy, London, 1899. Garbe,...

Panchatantra, ed. Kosegarten, Bonn, 1848; by Kielhorn and Bühler in Bomb. Sansk. Ser.; these two editions represent two considerably divergent recensions; trans. with very valua...

On the Mahabharata in general, consult especially Holtzmann, Das Mahabharata, 4 vols., Kiel, 1892-95; Bühler, Indian Studies, No. II., Trans. of Imp. Vienna Academy, 1892; cf. a...

Meghaduta, ed. with vocab. by Stenzler, Breslau, 1874; with comm. of Mallinatha, Nirnaya Sagara Press, Bombay, 1894; ed. by K. B. Pathak, Poona, 1894. Eng. verse trans, by Wilso...

Samaveda: text with German trans. and glossary, ed. by Benfey, Leipsic, 1848; by Satyavrata Samaçrami, Calcutta, 1873 (Bibl. Ind.), trans. by Griffith, Benares, 1893. Yajurveda:...

Consult especially Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, Berlin, 1879. On the home of the Rigvedic Aryans (p. 145) cf. Hopkins, The Panjab and the Rig-Veda, Journal of the Am. Or. Soc., 1...