AN INTRODUCTION TO

INDIAN LITERATURE

Indian Overview

POPULATION:
Has an estimated population of 1.13 billion. It is the seventh largest country by geographical area and the second most populous country in the world.

GEOGRAPHY:
It is located in South Asia. The Indian subcontinent is a huge, terrestrial break between Africa and Indonesia.

RELIGION:

The major religions:

Hinduism Buddhism Jainism Islam Hinduism is the dominant faith in India comprising 80% of the population. Ten percent worship Islam, five percent are Sikhs and Christians; and others are Buddhists, Jains and Bahais.

GOING DOWN THE LINE

HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE

INDIAN LITERATURE
One of the worlds oldest and richest Oral traditions storytellers present traditional Indian text Literature is influenced by: A religious doctrine karma the chain of good and bad action and their inevitable consequences, which result to the repeated birth and death of the soul. Mythology of the dominant Hindu deities

Sanskrit Literature Classical Literature Medieval Literature:

The Rise Of The Regional Languages

Colonial Period To Independence Independence Onwards

SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Literature is written in Sanskrit language Text were produced about 16th century BC by people known as Aryans (were cattle herders who were originally nomadic) who established kingdoms in north India

I. Religious Text

 Composed in Old Sanskrit by Aryan poets Constitute the fundamental scripture of the Hindu religion and used as sacramental rites of Hinduism Compilation of two major literary forms: Hymns of praise to nature deities Ritual chants to accompany Aryan religious rituals

VEDAS
Book of Knowledge

 Karma - the chain of good and bad action Jnana - knowledge Bhakti reviving ones eternal relationship

The Four VEDAS

Rig-Veda anthology of 1080 hymns to various gods ex. Creation Hymn * Sama-Veda Book of Chants consists of liturgies. * Yajur-Veda Prayer Book which consists of liturgies and repetition of Rig-Veda but contains many original prose formulas *Atharva-Veda Book of Spells which contains some hymns, spells, incantations, and notions about demonology and witchcraft.

BRAHMANAS
prose text that discuss the solemn sacrificial rituals as well as the commitment on their meaning, composed by Hindu priest

ARANYAKAS
wilderness texts or forest treaties, composed by people who meditated in the woods Discussion and interpretation of the dangerous rituals

UPANISHADS
Composed by a group of sages who questioned the usefulness of ritual religion Consists of 108 dialogues between teachers and their students about the individual souls unity Indias oldest philosophical treaties and form the foundation of major schools of Hindu philosophy

TIPITAKA
The Three Baskets

Major religious text of Buddhism Written in the Pali language Includes the teachings of Buddha

JATAKAS
Stories of the Births of the Buddha

Tells 547 stories of Buddhas former births

2. Heroic Text

Mahabharata
The Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty) Composed by the poet Vyasal A tale of dispute between two branches of the Bharata clans over the right to rule the kingdom.

 Dhritarashtra and pandu(brothers) Kauravas and Pandavas(families)

Vyasa - He is the author as well as a character in

the mahabarahta and considered to be the scribe of both the Vedas, and the supplementary texts such as the puranas. A number of Vaishnava traditions regard him as an avatar of vishnu.

Mahabharata
Vyasa [Vee-YA-sha]: narrator of the story and father of Pandu and Dhritarashtra BHISH-ma: half-uncle by marriage of Pandu and Dhritarashtra Dhri-ta-RASH-tra: blind king, father of Duryodhana and the Kauravas GAN-dhari: wife of Dhritarashtra KUN-ti: wife of Pandu and mother to the five Pandavas and Karna

Mahabharata
Yu-DHISH-thira: leader of the Pandavas, rightful heir to the throne BHI-ma: strongest of the Pandava brothers AR-juna: mightiest of warriors NA-kula and Saha-DE-va: Pandava twins DRAU-pa-di: wife to the five Pandavas Du-ry-ODH-ana: leader of the Kauravas Duh-SA-sa-na: brother to Duryodhana

Mahabharata
KRISH-na: supporter of the Pandavas and avatar of Vishnu DRO-na: teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas KAR-na: warrior, secret son of Kunti, ally of the Kauravas

Bhagavad-gita
Bhagavad gita is part of the epic 'Mahabharta'. It is revelation to Arjuna by Krishna, about life,universe,the soul , karma , re incarnation and and how to get ultimate salvation from the life cycle of birth and death In the war of Mahabharata, when Arjuna became emotional and put down his weapons, Lord Krishna enlightened him with the knowledge of the "True Self " (i.e. self realization).

Ramayana
(The Way of Rama) Written by the poet Valkimi Tells the story of the hero Rama, prince of Ayodhya and incarnation of the god Vishu.

Valmiki is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE
Started with the flowering of the Gupta dynasty Great achievements in philosophy, sciences and arts Reflected values of Hinduism

Literature was nurtured by the caste system: Brahman scholars and priest Kshatriya the warriors Vaisya merchants Sudra laborers Kavya was the major form of classical literature in Sanskrit.

Kalidasa
Indias preeminent classical poet the greatest poet and playwright in Sanskrit, and occupies the same position in Sanskrit literature that Shakespeare occupies in English literature. He also wrote poems and long and short epics

Three famous plays:

1. Vikramorvashiyam (Vakrama and Urvashi) 2. Malakavikagnimitram (Malavika and Agnimitra) 3. SHAKUNTALA (Shakuntala and the Ring of Recollection) - poetic drama, tells the story of a love affair between a king and a woodland maiden Shakuntala - a universal drama of the passion, separation, suffering and reunion of lovers.

Sanskrit Drama
A rich pageant of mime, dance, music, and lyrical texts set in the court of kings and aristocrats Mrichchhakatika (The Little Clay Cart) by Shudraka

Malati-Madhava (Malati and Madhava) a romance by Bhavabhuti

Panchatantra
(The Five Strategies) b y Vishnusharman

A collection of stories in prose and verse, which feature animals as the characters, teach lessons about human conduct
Use the technique of telling stories within the framework of the main story

Puranas
A genre of mythological narratives Five topics of Puranas:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The creation of the universe The destruction and re-creation of the universe The genealogy of the gods and holy sages The reign of the Manus )legendary Hindu figures) The histories of the kings who trace their ancestry the sun and the moon

MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
Different regions began to develop its own distinctive culture Islamic dynasties conquered many territories Indian languages were influenced by Islamic religion, Persian and Arabic languages Unique version of local myths, legends, romances and epics emerged

Bhakti: Devotional Literature

Authors who belong to Hindu movement, who wrote lyric poetry Bhakti: was an aspect of religion that involved passionate, emotional devotion to a particular god. They addressed devotional poems to the major Hindu gods and goddesses; Shiva, Vishnu, Bhrama, Krishna, Rama, Lakhsmi, Ganesha, Some major Bhatik poets were women and men of the lower caste

COLONIAL PERIOD TO INDEPENDENCE

British became a colonial power The colonial government introduced English education for upper-class Indians so that they can serve the colony Introduction of the printing press, which made possible the establishment of newspapers and journals Bengal Renaissance

Rabindranath Tagore
A Bengali poet, philosopher, artist, playwright, composer and novelist. Drew on traditional forms of poetry and performance The first non-European winner of the Nobel Prize award for literature in 1913

Gitanjali
(Song Offerings, 1910) His best known work, which is a collection of poems

INDEPENDENCE ONWARDS
Indian independence from Britain in 1947 marked the start of modern Indian literature Characterized by the increase in globalization and migration of Indians to other parts of the world. Rise of female writers and feminist writings Indian writers have written novels in English Experimental and avant-garde trends in poetry and drama

Khushwant Singh
Train To Pakistan one of the earliest novels to evoke the horrors of the violence that accompanied partition

Hasan Manto
Toba Tek Singh wrote Urdu short stories witness the personal trauma as well as the societal and national tragedies

Dalit (Opressed) Writing

a literary movement where men and women of marginalized and low-caste communities write poetry and fiction about their own lives and communities.

Poisoned Bread
Edited by Arjun Dangle An important anthology of Dalit writing

The God of Small Things

written by Arundhati Roy a literary figure in the late 1990s She won the Booker Prize, Britains highest literary award for this novel Master in the original use of language, metaphor and narrative evoke the experience of childhood

History and culture is the heart of literature.