|
Ancient Indian Writers
The following is a list of ancient Indian writers, originating from the Indian subcontinent. Many writers contributed to the large body of early Indian literature (here roughly taken to predate the 13th century Delhi Sultanate), consisting of poetry, drama, and writings on religion, philosophy, linguistics, mathematics and many other topics. Literature Grammar Astrology Medicine Mathematics See also * List of historic Indian texts * Indian literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akadem ... References {{Reflist External links Sanskrit Works and Authors* Mukherjee, Sujit (1999). A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850' Orient Blackswan. *List Ancient Indian writers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. (subscription required) Although the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are often also used interchangeably to denote a wider region which includes, in addition, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the "Indian subcontinent" is more of a geophysical term, whereas "South Asia" is more geopolitical. "South Asia" frequently also includes Afghanistan, which is not considered part of the subcontinent even in extended usage.Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, ''The Third World: states of mind and being'', pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, Quote: ""The term "South Asia" also signifies the Indian Subcontinent""Raj S. Bhopal, ''Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies'', pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ; Q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nachir Tirumozhi
''Nachiyar Tirumoli'' () is a set of 140 verses composed by Andal, one of the twelve Alvars in Sri Vaishnava tradition in Hinduism. In her restlessness and eagerness to attain Vishnu, Andal attempts various methods by which she can attain union with him, which forms the major part of work. Among the ''tirumolis'', ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' is very well-known and has a special significance. It details Andal's narration of her dream of her experiences with her friends on her way to achieve her purpose of birth, which is to marry Vishnu. These 140 verses are a part of the 4,000 divine hymns of ''Naalayira Divya Prabandham''. The verses are classified into fourteen decads, namely, a prayer to Kamadeva for marrying Vishnu, a prayer to Vishnu to not to destroy a sand castle built by Andal, The stealing and returning the clothes of the Gopis done by Vishnu in his Krishna avatara, Andal securing union with Vishnu, Andal requesting a cuckoo to call Vishnu, Andal's wedding and reunion with Vish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harshacharita
The ''Harshacharita'' (, ; English: ''The deeds of Harsha'') is the biography of Indian emperor Harsha by Banabhatta, also known as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of seventh-century CE India. He was the ''Asthana Kavi'', meaning ''Court Poet'', of Harsha. The ''Harshacharita'' was the first composition of Bana and is considered to be the beginning of writing of historical poetic works in the Sanskrit language. Historical Biography The ''Harshacharita'' ranks as the first historical biography in Sanskrit although it is written in a florid and fanciful style. Bana's detailed and vivid descriptions of rural India's natural environment as well as the extraordinary industry of the Indian people exudes the vitality of life at that time. Since he received the patronage of the emperor Harsha, his descriptions of his patron are not an unbiased appraisal and presents the emperor's actions in an overly favourable light. Contents The ''Harṣacharita'', written in ornate poetic pros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bāṇabhaṭṭa
Bāṇabhaṭṭa () was a 7th-century Sanskrit prose writer and poet from India. He was the ''Asthana Kavi'' in the court of the Emperor Harsha, during his reign at Kanyakubja. Bāna's principal works include a biography of Harsha, the ''Harshacharita The ''Harshacharita'' (, ; English: ''The deeds of Harsha'') is the biography of Indian emperor Harsha by Banabhatta, also known as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of seventh-century CE India. He was the ''Asthana Kavi'', meaning ''Court Poet ...'' (The Life of Harsha), and one of the world's earliest novels, '' Kadambari''. Bāṇa died before finishing the novel and it was completed by his son Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa. Both these works are noted texts of Sanskrit literature. The other works attributed to him are the ''Caṇḍikāśataka'' and a drama, the ''Pārvatīpariṇaya''. Banabhatta gets an applause as "''Banochhistam Jagatsarvam''" meaning Bana has described everything in this world and nothing is left. Biograp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahma Sutras
The ''Brahma Sūtras'' (), also known as the Vedanta Sūtra (Sanskrit: वेदान्त सूत्र), Shariraka Sūtra, and Bhikshu-sūtra, are a Sanskrit text which criticizes the metaphysical dualism of the influential Samkhya philosophy, and instead synthesizes and harmonizes divergent Upanishadic ideas and practices about the essence of existence, postulating Brahman as the only origin and essence of everything. It is attributed to the sages Bādarāyaṇa, who is also called Vyāsa (arranger), but probably an accumulation of incremental additions and changes by various authors to an earlier work, completed in its surviving form in approx. 400–450 CE. The oldest version may be composed between 500 BCE and 200 BCE, with 200 BCE being the most likely date. The ''Brahma Sūtras'' consist of 555 aphoristic verses (sutras) in four chapters, dealing with attaining knowledge of Brahman. Rejecting the ''smriti'' as a base of knowledge, it declares that the Vedic Upanishad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purananuru
The ''Purananuru'' (, literally "four hundred [poems] in the genre puram"), sometimes called ''Puram'' or ''Purappattu'', is a classical Tamil literature, Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in the Sangam literature. It is a collection of 400 heroic poems about kings, wars and public life, of which two are lost and a few have survived into the modern age in fragments. The collected poems were composed by 157 poets, of which 14 were anonymous and at least 10 were women. This anthology has been variously dated between 1st century BCE and 5th century CE, with Kamil Zvelebil, a Tamil literature scholar, dating predominantly all of the poems of ''Purananuru'' sometime between 2nd and 5th century CE. Nevertheless, few poems are dated to the period of 1st century BCE. The ''Purananuru'' anthology is diverse. Of its 400 poems, 138 praise 43 kings – 18 from the Chera dynasty, 13 Chola dynasty kings, and 12 Early Pandya dynasty kings. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avvaiyar (Sangam Poet)
Avvaiyar (Tamil: ஔவையார்) was a Tamil poet who lived during the Sangam period and is said to have had cordial relations with the Tamil chieftains Vēl Pāri and Athiyamān. She wrote 59 poems in the Puṟanāṉūṟu. A plaque on a statue of the poet in Chennai suggests the first century BCE for her birthdate. The name Avvaiyar means a 'respectable good woman', hence a generic title; her personal name is not known. Biography Avvaiyar is considered to be contemporary to poets Paranar, Kabilar and Thiruvalluvar. She is attributed as the author of 7 verses in Naṟṟiṇai, 15 in Kuṟuntokai, 4 in Akanaṉūṟu and 33 in Puṟanāṉūṟu. Legend states that she was a court poet of the rulers of the Tamil country. She travelled from one part of the country to another and from one village to another, sharing the gruel of the poor farmers and composing songs for their enjoyment. Most of her songs were about a small-time chieftain Vallal Athiyamaan Nedumaa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhacarita
''Buddhacharita'' (; ) is an epic poem in the Sanskrit '' mahakavya'' style on the life of Gautama Buddha by Aśvaghoṣa of Sāketa (modern Ayodhya), composed in the early second century CE. The author has prepared an account of the Buddha's life and teachings which, unlike other treatments such as ''Mahavastu'' (“Great Story”) and ''Lalitavistara'' (“Full Description of the Play f the Buddha), is not only artistically arranged but also restrained in the description of the miracles of Gautam Buddha. His work also reflects a vast knowledge of Indian mythology and pre-Buddhist philosophy, as well as a court poet's interest in love, war, and statecraft. Of the poem's 28 cantos, only the first 14 are extant in Sanskrit (cantos 15 to 28 are in incomplete form). But in Chinese (5th century) and Tibetan translations, all 28 chapters are preserved. In 420 AD, Dharmakṣema made a Chinese translation, and in the 7th or 8th century, a Tibetan version was composed by an unknow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aśvaghoṣa
, also Devanagari transliteration, transliterated Ashvaghosha (, ; lit. "Having a Horse-Voice"; ; ) ( Common Era, CE), was a Buddhist philosopher, dramatist, poet, musician, and orator from India. He was born in Saketa, today known as Ayodhya. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to Kālidāsa. It seems probable that he was the contemporary and spiritual adviser of Kanishka in the first century of our era. He was the most famous in a group of Buddhist court writers, whose epics rivaled the contemporary ''Ramayana.'' Whereas much of Buddhist literature prior to the time of Aśvaghoṣa had been composed in Pāli and Prakrit, Aśvaghoṣa wrote in Classical Sanskrit. He may have been associated with the Sarvāstivāda or the Mahasanghika schools. Life He is said to have been born in Ayodhya. His original (lay) name is unknown, Aśvaghosa being a later nickname only. According to the traditional biography of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashtavakra Gita
The Ashtavakra Gita (Sanskrit: अष्टावक्रगीता; IAST: aṣṭāvakragītā) or Song of Ashtavakra is a classical Advaita text in the form of a dialogue between the sage Ashtavakra and Janaka, king of Mithila. Dating Radhakamal Mukerjee, an Indian social scientist, dated the book to the period immediately after the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita (600 BCE according to Mukerjee; commonly dated to ca. 2nd century BCE), at c. 500–400 BCE. J. L. Brockington, emeritus professor of Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh, places the Ashtavakra Gita much later, supposing it to have been written either in the eighth century CE by a follower of Adi Shankara, or in the fourteenth century during a resurgence of Shankara's teaching. Sri Swami Shantananda Puri suggests that since the book contains the seed of the theory of non-creation Ajata Vada developed later by Gaudapada in Mandookya Karika, this book comes from a period prior to that of Gaudapada (6th century CE ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
