The definition of Art and Literature has gone through a sea change. From, primarily being assumed as a source of entertainment or aesthetic appeal, it has become a subtle voice of the ethos and experience of a generation. Interestingly, timeless art has always succeeded in doing that. However, in an increasingly politically-conscious and –correct world functions of literature are falling short of or failing definition.

It is difficult to put a definition to Indian literature because of its sheer vastness. It is difficult to give a certain date as the beginning of Indian literature, as parallel to, or may be even older to the Vedas (the oldest religious-literary manuscript), was the oral tradition. Its longevity and the various influences due to an eventful past have enriched it. In the recent past it has branched out into the other regional languages and English.

Before moving to Indian English literature we will briefly look at the literary heritage we have. Following is the history and the high points of ancient Indian literature.

NOTICE:

All the information given below is just an introductory synopsis. It is a generalised and summarised version of Indian Literature and should not be considered as a guide for research studies. It has no political leanings.

The Vedas, Upanishads and the eighteen Puranas Sanskrit, the Indo-Aryan language, is perhaps the oldest recorded language of the world, Rigveda being the first Sanskrit work. Early/Vedic Sanskrit was prevalent during 500 BC – 1000 AD and later modern Sanskrit. The Vedas are considered the oldest extant literature. The Vedas composed between 1400-1200 BC comprise the Rig, Sama, Yajur and the Atharva Vedas. The Vedic period is pinnacle point of the Sanskrit literature with most of the intellectual and literary writings being written in Sanskrit.

The Vedas, collectively refer to a corpus of ancient Indo-Aryan religious literature that is considered by adherents of Hinduism to be revealed knowledge. The word Veda means Knowledge is cognate with the word "vision" through Latin. Mythically speaking, it is believed the Vedas existed since the beginning of creation.

The newest parts of the Vedas are estimated to date back to around 500 BC. The oldest text (Rigveda) found is now dated to around 1,500 BC. But most Indologists agree that a long oral tradition possibly existed before it was written down. They represent the oldest stratum of Indian Literature and according to modern scholars are written in forms of a language which evolved into Sanskrit.

The Vedas consist of several kinds of texts, all of which date back to early times. The core is formed by the Mantras which represent hymns, prayers, incantations, magic and ritual formulas, charms. The hymns and prayers are addressed to a pantheon of gods (and a few goddesses), important ones being Shiva, Varuna, Indra, Agni. The mantras are supplemented by texts regarding the sacrificial rituals in which these mantras are used as well as texts exploring the philosophical aspects of the ritual tradition, narratives.

Each Veda differs in contents but together they can be considered as the guide to what modern Vedic scholars call as “the way of living.” The Rigveda consists of verses composed in praise of the different forces in nature worshipped as deities. These are poetic compositions where each couplet is called as a ‘Richa’. Yajurveda contains information on the rituals like mantra recitation, sacrifices. Samveda is said to be the guide singing the Rigvedic hymns. It is believed to be the premier work in Indian music. Atharvaveda comprises philosophical discussion, medicine, diet and solutions to domestic problems.

Upanishads and Puranas: The Upanishads were the products of the intellectual discussions from the “Gurukul system”. The discussions were mainly metaphysical and spiritual in nature. This meditation and the knowledge acquired from the guru is included in the Upanishads.

The tradition of writing Puranas began in the Mauryan era till 300 AD – 800 AD. They were composed in Sanskrit. They deal with several subjects such as history, philosophy, religion and art.

During the Mauryan era, Panini’s Ashtadhyayi in Sanskrit composed around 500 BC is considered to be the earliest grammar texts. It contains around 4,000 ‘rules’ of grammar in as many sutras, covering subjects like syntax, root derivatives, moods and so on.

In the Dravidian culture, which can be said to be oldest of the native culture of the subcontinent, Tolkappiyam (old composition) from the Sangam period in Tamil literature (1-4 AD), codifies the literary conventions of the age, dealing with subjects like phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, poetics and prosody.

Natyashastra

Indian theatre had its origin in primitive, religious and social rites, ritualistic dances and festivals. Uparupaka (literally ‘secondary dramas’) and Suktas are found in the Rigveda in the form of dialogue hymns suggesting enactment. They describe the stories of Yam and Yami, Pururava and Urvashi, Indra and Aditi, Agastya and Lopamudra, among others. Eighteen such Upatupakas are mentioned in the Sahitya Darpana, a book on rhetorics and dramaturgy belonging to the 14th century. These pre-date even the Natya Shastra.

Earliest dramatic references
During the epic period, we find references to drama, dancers, musicians and actors (such as Lava-Kush) in both Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Puranas mention them too. In the Buddhist and Jain texts the monks are forbidden to watch dramatic performances. Panini (4th century) mentions dramatic works and performers in his Ashtadayi. Patanjali, belonging to the same period, describes the conditions of the families of dramatic performers. Kautilya also refers to music, dance and drama and people who made a living from dramatic performances in his Arthashastra.

Patanjali mentions some plays in his Mahabhasya – Kamavadha, Balibandhan, and Sariputra Prakarna (3 BC) Bharata mentions Devasura Sangrama, Amrit Manthan and Tripuradaha in his Natya Shastra.

Sage Bharata, Natya Shastra and Indian Aesthetics

The Natyashastra, believed to be the work of Bharata, comprising 37 chapters and 5,569 slokas, is dated between 2-3 BC and 4-5 AD. Known as the fifth Veda, it is the basis of classical dance, music and drama and has extensive study and criticism of drama. Bharat Natyam traces its origin to the Natya Shastra written by the sage Bharata around 4000 BC. It is a highly traditional and stylised form of dance which does not allow innovations and gimmicks. Variously known as Dasi Attam and Sadir, it was widely practised by the devadasis in the temples of Southern India.

Indian aesthetics dates from at least 300BCE. The most famous foundational thinker is Bharata (100BC) who wrote the Natya Sastra. It is the earliest compendium on performing arts. It is the most important source of fundamental principles and ideas about theatre and other performing arts such as music, dance and poetry. Still considered a classic despite being 2,000 years old, it continues to remain relevant.

Indian Aesthetics can be categorised under oldest Indian literary criticism. The word “aesthetics” is coined by Baumgarten in 1735.

When the 18th century German philosopher, A.G. Baumgarten first introduced’ Aesthetics’ or 'Saundarya Shastra' as an academic discipline to deal with the philosophy of beauty, he couldn’t possibly have anticipated the controversies that have lately been raised by logical positivists, analytical schools, and even linguists -controversies questioning the validity, the very legitimacy, of a philosophical inquiry into beauty, art and creative processes. Notwithstanding the relatively more recent usage of the term proper, Aesthetics has a millennia-long history: beginning, in the West, with the old-world Greek philosophers, like Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle; and, in India, with the Vedic writings, more specifically, Bharata.

Bharata distinguishes 8 or 9 rasas discussing the various emotions that a piece of art intends to generate. Love, Humor, Pathos, Anger, Heroism, Terror, Disgust, Wonder, Serenity are moods/modes/sentiments/qualities which a work of art may have. Bharata regards artworks as ‘expressing’ one or more of these rasas. Natyashastra provides Indian Aesthetics with the concept of an artwork 1800 years before the West got a corresponding concept.

Bharata’s 9-fold classification of rasas generates a potentially rich aesthetics Bharata basically presents an expressive theory of Art. The purpose of artworks is to express certain feelings/emotions and not essentially to represent reality. Until 1800 the dominant view in the West was that Art was/should be mimetic. It should represent reality and the better it did this the better art it was. Only with Romanticism did the view in the West changed that art is/should be or could be expressive rather than imitative.

Bharata does not offer a crude-expressivist account of art on which the feelings/moods expressed by an artwork are those we feel when we experience it. He distinguishes between the rasa or an artwork and the emotions we feel upon experiencing it. An artwork might express one emotion but we might feel something completely different when we experience the artwork. It took

The Great Epics

The term "Hindu Epics" is generally understood as not referring to any of the other Hindu texts, such as the Shruti texts, the Smriti, the Agamas, the Tantras or other texts.

The great Indian Epics are also occasionally termed Mahakavyas ("Great Compositions"); the terms refer to a canon of Hindu religious scripture.

The Ramayana (Sanskrit: march or journey (ayana) of Rama) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. This epic of 24,000 verses in seven kandas (chapters or books) tells of a Raghuvamsa prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the rakshasa, or demon, Ravana. The Ramayana had an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry, primarily through its establishment of the Sloka meter. It contains the teachings of the ancient Hindu sages and presents them through allegory in narrative and the interspersion of philosophic and devotional. It has been said that Brahma promised Valmiki, so long as the mountains and seas endure, so long shall the Ramayana be read by men.

Timeline

The Ramayana is set in the Treta Yuga. Many interpret this as 3000 BCE (based on astronomical data in the Ramayana). Its exact date of creation is unknown, and is estimated to lie between the 4th and 2nd century B.C.

Synopsis

According to Hindu tradition, Rama is an avatara, an incarnation of Vishnu or God. The main purpose of his incarnation is to demonstrate the ideal human life on earth. Ultimately, Rama slays the rakshasa king Ravana and re-establishes the rule of religious and moral law on earth known in Hinduism as dharma.

Literary works inspired by the Ramayana

The epic story of Ramayana was adopted by several cultures across Asia. Valmiki's Ramayana inspired the Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulasidas, an epic Hindi version with a slant more grounded in a different realm of Hindu literature, that of bhakti. It is an acknowledged masterpiece of India. A similar work was done by Kamban as Kambaramayanam in Tamil. More modern ones include Geet Ramayana by G D Madgulkar in Marathi, Shri Ramayana Darshanam by Dr K V Puttappa in Kannada and Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu by Viswanatha Satyanarayana in Telugu, both of which have been awarded the Jnanpith Award. The modern Indian author Ashok Banker has so far written a series of six English language novels based on the Ramayana.

Many other Asian cultures have adapted the Ramayana, resulting in other national epics. These include the Kakawin Ramayana of Java, Indonesia, Ramakavaca of Bali, Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia, Maradia Lawana of the Philippines, Ramakien of Thailand, to be witnessed in elaborate illustration at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in Bangkok, the Reamker of Cambodia, the Yama Zatdaw of Myanmar, and the Pra Lak Pra Lam of Laos.