Free Essay

Indian Literature

In:

Submitted By patrick143
Words 949
Pages 4
Indian Literature

I. Geographical & Historical Background
India - situated North of the equator - covers on area of 3.28 million square kilometers. - population is 970 million. - 7th largest country in the world in land area.
4 Main Regions 1. Himalayan Mountain Wall 2. Near-level Indo-Gangetic Plain 3. Dessert Region 4. Southern Peninsula
Large Plateaus & Valleys 1. Kashmir 2. Kulu
Himalayas - comprises three almost parallel ranges interspersed with large plateaus & valleys.
Aryan Race - fair-skinned, Sanskrit-speaking, warlike & nomadic.
Dravidians - aborigines of India. - dark-skinned, peaceful& gentle.
Aryans gave: 1. Vedic literature 2. Sanskrit epics 3. Hindu religion 4. Caste system
18th Century - The Modern Period of Indian literature began with the colonization of India by British.

Great Period of Indian Literature (Dynasties) 1. Maurya 2. Gutpa 3. Mughal

II. Religious Works

A. Poetry - the oldest sacred literature of India is found in their four vedas.

Veda - means knowledge, par excellence. - sacred spiritual knowledge. - mass literature w/c grew up in the course of many centuries & was orally handed down from generation to generation.

The Four Vedas
1. Rig-Veda - (c. 1400 B.C.) - known as the Veda of stanzas. - an anthropolgy of 1028 hyms in praise of various gods. - prevailing religion is Hindu Pantheism. - chief object of the worship is Brahma, the ethernal self-existant god. - most notable single poem in this collection is the Creation Hymn.

2. Sama-Veda - Book of Chants(1100 B.C.) - consist principally of liturgies, of which most are repetitious of hymns in the Rig-Veda. - an anthology of the Rig-Veda literature.
3. Yajur-Veda - Prayer Book (1200 B.C.) - liturgical & repetitious of the Rig-Veda but contains many original prose formulas. - contains sacred formulas recited by priests during sacrifices.
4. Atharva-Veda - Book of Spells(1200 B.C.) - containing some hymns, consists chiefly of spells, incantations, & notions about demonology, witchcraft and magic & charms. B. Prose
1. The Brahmanas - Disquisitions about the ritual (110 B.C. to 700 B.C.) - commentaries on the Vedic hymns & religious rites. - earliest extant pieces of Indo-European prose. - written in dry expository works.
2. The Upanishads - Collections of Esoteric Equations (100 - 500 B.C.) - collection of 108 discourse on the Brahman religion. * Maya - the illusory word. * Nirvana - absorption into the universal soul. - consist of a group of sketches, illustrations, explanation & critical comments on the religions thought suggested by the poetic hymns of Rig-Veda. - most important philosophical doctrine is the recognition of the existence of Brahma, the Oversoul & the identity w/ the human soul, the Atman or self.

3. The Sutras - (500-200 B.C.) - Extremely concise, often unintelligible treatises concerning ritual.
4. The Aranyakas - Book studied in the Forest. - Written from 800 to 600 B.C.

III. Secular Works A. Epics

1. The Mahabharata - (Great epic of the Bharata Dynasty) 400 B.C. to A.D. 200. - contains about 100,000 couplets - the longest poem ever written. - worked around a central heroic narrative concerning the struggle for power between two related families. * Bhagavadgita (The Lord's Song) - the single most religious text of Hinduism. - written in the 1st & 2nd century A.D. consist of 700 hundred verses divided into 18 chapters. - composed as a dialogue between the warrior Prince Arjuna & his friends Krishna, an incarnation of the black god Vishnu. 2. The Ramayana - less an epic than romance, recounting the history of Prince Rama & his wife Sita. - consist of a 24,000 couplets divided into seven parts. - presents Rama as the ideal king & Sita as the ideal wife.

3. The Harivamsa - supplement of Mahabharata. - deals with the ancestry & the exploits of the God Krishna together w/ other Hindu lore. 4. The Puranas - 18 principal ones survive are encyclopedic works often of considerable length. - deals w/ the mythology of Hinduism, the sagas of heroes & the legends of Saints. * Bhagavata-Purana - is the most significant & celebrates the God Vishnu in his many manifestations, particularly his incarnation as Krishna. - had enormous impact on Indian Religion, art & literature. - 18 Upapuranas (lesser Puranas) that treat much the same material used in the major ones.

5. The Kavyas - Sanskrit court epics. - verse of a highly artificial style characterized by elaborate meter & figures of speech. - earliest surviving Kavya literature was written in the 1st century by Buddhist, Asvaghosa. - greatest of the Kavya poets was Kalidasa.

B. Drama - presented in the banquet hall or ballroom of the rulers' palaces. * Sanskrit - for the men of high rank. * Prakrit - for the lower classes. 1. The Toy Clay Cart - (c 100 B.C.; present from,c.A.D. 450) - attributed to King Sudraka 2. Shakuntala or the The Fatal Ring - attributed to Kalidasa. - Kalidasa the Hindu Shakespeare. - has superior plot construction & excellent characterization. C. Tales 1. The Jatakas - (c. 300 B.C.) - imaginative legends concerning the 550 births of Buddha. 2. The Panchatantra or Five Books - (c. A.D. 300-500) - a series of tales. Five Books 1. Separation of Friends 2. Acquisition of Friends 3. War of the Crows and the Owls 4. Loss of What has been Acquired 5. Inconsiderable Action 3. The Hitopadesa of Books of Counsels - a series of 43 tales of w/c 25 are from the Panchatantra in four books. 4. The Sukasaptati or Seventy Stories of a Parrot - a framework series of fairy tales.

IV. Prominent Indian Authors & their Selected Works Rabindranath Tagore - born on May 7, 1861. - greatest modern poet. - creative genius of the Indian Renaissance. - wrote songs, short stories, novels, plays(in both prose & verse), essays etc. - Bengali Gitanjali (1912) a song offerings. - won him the Novel Prize in 1913. - died in 1941.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Indian Literature

...Objectives: Objectives: At the end of the Discussion, the students will be able to: 1. Understand the Story of Krishna’s birth 2. Identify the Literary Elements of the Story. 3. Discover Indian Culture through their Literature. Read and Learn! Read and Learn! The Birth of Shri Krishna The birth of Krishna is in itself a transcendental phenomenon that generates awe among the Hindus and overwhelms one and all with its supra mundane happenings. Mother Earth, unable to bear the burden of sins committed b y evil kings and rulers, appealed to Brahma, the Creator for help. Brahma prayed to the Supreme Lord Vishnu, who assured him that he would soon be born on earth to annihilate tyrannical forces. One such evil force was Kamsa, the ruler of Mathura (in northern India) and his people were utterly terrified of him. On the day Kamsa's sister Devaki was married off to Vasudeva, an akashvani or voice from the sky was heard prophesying that Devaki's 8th son would be the destroyer of Kamsa. The frightened Kamsa immediately unsheathed his sword to kill his sister but Vasudeva intervened and implored Kamsa to spare his bride, and promised to hand over every new born child to him. Kamsa relented but imprisoned both Devaki and her husband Vasudeva. When Devaki gave birth to her first child, Kamsa came to the prison cell and slaughtered the newborn. In this way, he killed the first six sons of Devaki. Even before her 8th child was born, Devaki and Vasudeva...

Words: 978 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

European Classical Literature

...from the Academic Year 2011-2012 onwards) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF DELHI DELHI - 110007 0 Course: B.A. (Hons.) English Semester I Paper 1: English Literature 4(i) Paper 2: Twentieth Century Indian Writing(i) Paper 3: Concurrent – Qualifying Language Paper 4: English Literature 4(ii) Semester II Paper 5: Twentieth Century Indian Writing(ii) Paper 6: English Literature 1(i) Paper 7: Concurrent – Credit Language Paper 8: English Literature 1(ii) Semester III Paper 9: English Literature 2(i) Paper 10: Option A: Nineteenth Century European Realism(i) Option B: Classical Literature (i) Option C: Forms of Popular Fiction (i) Paper 11: Concurrent – Interdisciplinary Semester IV Semester V Paper 12: English Literature 2(ii) Paper 13: English Literature 3(i) Paper 14: Option A: Nineteenth Century European Realism(ii) Option B: Classical Literature (ii) Option C: Forms of Popular Fiction (ii) Paper 15: Concurrent – Discipline Centered I Paper 16: English Literature 3(ii) Paper 17: English Literature 5(i) Paper 18: Contemporary Literature(i) Paper 19: Option A: Anglo-American Writing from 1930(i) Option B: Literary Theory (i) Option C: Women’s Writing of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (i) Option D: Modern European Drama (i) Paper 20: English Literature 5(ii) Semester VI Paper 21: Contemporary Literature(ii) Paper 22: Option A: Anglo-American Writing from 1930(ii) Option B: Literary Theory (ii) Option C: Women’s Writing of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries...

Words: 4049 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Literature From A Salo Indian Culture Summary

...One's identity is the makeup of their culture, by transforming them into the person that he or she will be. Culture goes far back in time, since the beginning of mankind. Which is what separates us from animals. Since culture is the shared beliefs that a community has. The customs, values and morals that are implemented through generations. Without even thinking it, one tends to place their culture on their offspring or whoever will listen. In Leslie Silko's article Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective, she starts off by saying that a story is never ending. Every word within the story has its own story, as to why it came to have that connotation. Then there is Sandra Ciseneros's article Only Daughter, about a woman raised in a house with six of her brothers. Whom her father saw her as just a daughter and not someone that would achieve greatness. Lastly Mark Behrs article Boy discusses the generalization of being a man in a mans' world. The culture in Silko's, Cisneros's and Behr's article is unraveled through the setting, plot, and theme....

Words: 783 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Dutch Flower Cluster

...1) Online auctions: We believe it’s high time that we embrace the technology and make a transition to internet auctions. Develop an online platform through which growers can sell their products and buyers can purchase them. Both of them will be charged a 0.1 % of transaction amount. This will not only bring in additional revenue but also make the whole process of buying and selling a lot easier. These are the financials involved. We estimate that online portal will cost us around $3 million. With the revenue that we will generate from it, cost of portal will be covered in 341 days. 2) Service Customization As per the recent trend, many clients don’t want full range of auction services. Hence sometimes they bypass auctions and directly contact growers. Taking this into account, we have decided to offer clients what they want. Auctioneers will offer services in the form of bundles. Clients can customize their bundles as per their needs. 3. Situational Analysis 3.1. SWOT Analysis Strengths: * Rich heritage ( Considered America’s original motorcycle company) * Strong brand equity because of snowmobiles and off-road vehicles * Strong supply chain and distribution channel of parent company (Polaris): Polaris' marketing activities are designed to promote and communicate directly with consumers as well as to assist the selling and marketing efforts of its dealers and distributors. The company provides and advertises discount or rebate programs...

Words: 2164 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

A Brief History of the Indian Motorcycle

...A Brief History of Indian Motorcycle America's love for the motorcycle began in 1900 with bicycle racer George M. Hendee and engineering wizard Carl Oscar Hedstrom. In 1901, the partners unveiled their first creation, the 1901 Single. The trade name chosen for their innovative machine would signify "a wholly American product in pioneering tradition". The name was Indian. 1910-1919 By 1911, Indian riders hold every American speed and distance record. In 1914, over 3,000 employees work on a 7-mile long assembly line in Indian's 1-million square foot Springfield, Massachusetts plant. Racing activities are suspended in 1916 as the company supplies the war effort with 41,000 machines. 1920-1929 In 1923 the company is renamed Indian Motocycle Company, dropping the "r" in "motorcycle". It's a decade of growth for the Indian model line, starting with the revolutionary 1920 Scout and followed by the 95-mph Chief, the even more powerful Big Chief, the lightweight Prince, the awesome 4-cylinder Four. The 1928 101 Scout becomes the machine of choice for "wall of death" stunt riders. 1930-1939 The Art Deco era hits the Indians adorned in a full range of Duco colors, two-tone designs, pinstriping, and decals. Two new lightweight models debut in 1932, the Motoplane and the Pony Scout. "Iron Man" Ed Kretz, aboard a Sport Scout, laps the entire field in his win at the 1937 inaugural Daytona 200. With the onset of World War II in 1939, the focus again shifts to providing the...

Words: 478 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Nora Ephron's Essay 'You Ve Got Rapture'

...He describes his childhood home on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where he was introduced to literature by his father, an avid book collector, and a Superman comic book, both of which played important parts in the development of Alexie’s obsession with reading and knowledge. Alexie explains that in his mixed-heritage school, Indian children were expected to be quiet and simple, and give no indication of their intelligence and skills in non-academic ventures; however, Alexie defied these expectations by quickly becoming a rebel among his community, known for his refusal to be a quietly mediocre student. He believes that his love of books empowered him to lead a fulfilling life as an author of poetry, short stories, and novels, and enables him to fiercely advocate for the fair education of Indian youth and encouragement of their suppressed...

Words: 630 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Sherman Alexie's Manic Depression

...back to the world is beginning a new cultural movement for all Native Americans, which resembles his true identity. His work, The Business of Fancydancing and First Indian on the Moon, employ the use of irony and sardonic techniques to show how alcoholism and poverty is simply a fact of all Native American livelihoods. Readers experience sadness of alcoholism and despair of poverty in the Native American protagonist, yet the author also employs the sense of respect and compassion for those characters in a helpless situation. The readers are then left with a mix of emotions from the piece, and begin to review their own societal ideology. It can be said that, “fiction, if it’s any good, should persuade you of individual and inner lives” (Poetry Foundation, 1), because Alexie takes Native American men and women and unmask their complexities, making them as complex as everyone else in literature. His poetry may seem small in comparison to other poets, but through the use of timed ironic humor and sardonic voice, readers are grasped into the poem and feel as if they live in the abyss of alcoholism and poverty with the individuals described. Nevertheless, Alexie implicitly conjures his work to answer three questions about native American livelihood, and this ultimately creates the coherent message in each piece of literature, and from there exposes social injustices...

Words: 840 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

1. What Does Bradstreet's Poetry Reveal About Puritan Ideas

...there between the captivity narratives and the novels, soap operas, and movies that have supplanted them in the popular culture of contemporary America? A lot of captivity novels, soap operas, and movies all have the general idea that involves a woman being kidnapped and held captive. The women feel as if their only way to survive is being rescued by someone. I feel like a lot of TV shows and movies follow this same storyline 6. Discuss Rowlandson’s frequent interpretation of her fate as symbolic of the experience of the Christian who is a captive of the devil and his demons but is chosen to survive (through religion) in order to understand fate and to record life’s adventures for the comfort and edification of others. While amongst the Indians, Rowlandson was treated as a slave. She was constantly reading her bible and praying to help her get through each day of being held captive. She thought multiple times that she would let herself die of starvation or let them kill her, but Mary just kept reminding herself of bible verses in the back of her head. This gave her comfort and reminded her that the Lord was with...

Words: 1493 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Mayflower Book Report

...English professor and earning his bachelor's degree in English at Brown University, and his master's degree in American literature at Duke University, he had the perfect training and preparation for becoming a writer. While Philbrick worked for four years at the Sailing World magazine, he wrote several sailing books and was offered the opportunity to start the Egan Maritime Institute in 1995.He has won multiple awards for his books and his book the Mayflower was a finalist for both the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for History and the Los Angeles Times Book Award and it won the Massachusetts Book...

Words: 1338 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Pestel Analysis Royal Enfield

...mangers and policy makers of motorbike industry,helping them to analyzing the factors which are affecting while driving their industry to different countries of the world. Throughout the last few year,the acronym PESTLE has been suffering a numbers of changes,but it seem to be the most important factor which is helpful for decision-makers of royal-Enfield to analysis the current situation of the that country where industry expands.There are six factors which are influencing PESTLE analysis. Political factors include areas such as taxation policy, law labor of law,transportation problems and stable political environment. Furthermore, governments have great influence proposal that limit number of motorcycles being sold in the country because Indian currency changes everyday with the comparison of UK pounds.The changes of currency means the changes of price of products and demand of product like royal Enfield are also changes which means recession are enter into the market so UK government take some steps to solved the this problem.Royal Enfield sales would affect by this issue.Furthermore UK consumers pay higher pre-tax prices for Motorbikes than anyone else in the Europe.Government is keen to attract foreign firms to invest in UK. Economical factors include economical stability,rate of interest,currency rate[market Recerch report{2013}] . These are factors which puts impacts on the operation of business and accrucul decisions. This is because the rate of interest and the currency...

Words: 619 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Indian Tradition Analysis

...In the early Indian tradition, as the author suggests, there is a lack of the sense of history or at least the act of recordkeeping is missing during this period. However, the author points out several forms of representation of the past in the early Indian texts; for example, in Vedic forms, we see several a which denote the celebration of heroic acts or the akhyana or narasamsi which narrates the life of the hero, etc. “These texts”, as the author points out, “concerned with the past asserted differential truth claims ranging from what really happened to what was imagined” (p71). In the itihasa-purana tradition, we encounter these two words— itihasa and purana, while the former meant 'thus indeed it was', the latter means 'ancient folklore'....

Words: 1469 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Highs and Lows

...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory JoinSearchBrowseSaved Papers Home Page » English and Literature O’brien’s Writing Style In: English and Literature O’brien’s Writing Style My Thought on O’Brien’s Writing Style Authors always have specific writing styles to attract and influence their readers. In the novel, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses selected diverse writing techniques to support what he intently wrote. In my opinion, these techniques are very immediate and compelling for his readers as well as are essential to support non-fiction writers’ styles. Tim O’Brien uses symbolism, common language, and fiction writing in his novel for the purpose of showing his readers the big picture of US soldiers in the Vietnam War. For one thing, symbolism is a technique that uses a word, a phrase, or a description in order to represent a deeper meaning than the words themselves. In the first chapter of The Things They Carried, the author states, “Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha,” ‘Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers, 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope” “Norman Bowker carried a diary. Rat Kiley carried comic books. Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament.” By listing the daily-using things the soldiers carried, the author not only indicates the soldiers’ characteristics but also implies unseen things as the love of Jimmy Cross for Martha, the fears...

Words: 368 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Refugee Law

...❑ To develop the skills of students in the use of idiomatic English and the capability of expressing ideas and thoughts in English; ❑ To develop and reinforce communicative interaction; ❑ To introduce the understanding of western philosophy and ideas and their influence on literature; ❑ To introduce classical literature, the Greek myths, the Bible and other writings which have influenced English literary works; ❑ To introduce and refine the understanding of American literature with emphasis on some selected literary works; ❑ To increase the appreciation of Bangla literature and culture among students and to develop their ability to relate experiences from English and American literature to Bangla literary works; ❑ To deepen students’ awareness of the universal concerns that are the basis of literary works; ❑ To stimulate a greater appreciation of language as an aesthetic medium and of the artistic principles that shape literary works; ❑ To appreciate literature as an expression of human values within an historical and social context. ❑ To understand the fundamentals of information communication technology and be able to use it for greater understanding of English language and literature. CURRICULUM STRUCTURE: Total requirements of credits...

Words: 952 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Corruption and Polotics

...Rethinking the Regional Novel In the previous chapters, I have discussed the polemics of the regional novel during the course of its evolution as a special category. An attempt was made there to trace their development in the British, Indian, and Telugu literary traditions. The British regional novel is a different phenomenon from that of the regional novel in India. Yet, there have been some important continuities in the genre. Preoccupations with landscape as also with identity conflicts have continued as distinctive components of the regional novel. As the introduction discusses, such developments are partly products of the socioeconomic milieu of the writers. In this concluding section, I return to that assertion and draw together some observations, discussions and arguments to offer my views on what might actually have gone into the making of the regional novel. Firstly, I review the major queries regarding the nature of the "region" and the "regional novel" that have cropped up during the course of the thesis and consider how they might be explained. "There is no universally accepted definition of the region," observes Norton Ginsberg, (qtd. in Cohn 101) The study comes out with the hypothesis that the "region" cannot be given one particular identity and definition. When we come across labels like Regional College of Education, Regional Engineering College, etc, we are bound to associate the region with something local and inferior as opposed to the National and the...

Words: 4398 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Feminism Criticism

...be applied to novels, poetry, essays, and various other forms of literature. There are numerous types of literary criticism including archetypal, Marxist, and readers-response. The theory of feminism criticism, another type of literary criticism, originated in France and the Netherlands and emphasizes on gender inequality and female's social roles. Feminism criticism can be seen as many forms of literary expressions such as poetry, essays, short stories, and novels. Feminism can also be examined through current events, fictional, and how those two are correlated. W.E.B. DuBois was an author who wrote the essay, "Double Consciousness." One can interpret feminism criticism from his text. "After the Egyptian an Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh-son..." This can be interpreted as females come after everybody else. In other words, society puts all others -- Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians -- ahead of females. For example, as terrible as they were treated, African-Americans received the privilege to vote in 1868, fifty years previous to the women receiving similar rights. As seen above, feminism is not always directly displayed so one must interpret it from the text. "Karintha," written by Jean Toomer, is a fictional story about a young lady who was the object of desire to many of the gentlemen in the town. Fiction is another form of literature that one can interpret feminism criticism from. In the story, Karintha...

Words: 354 - Pages: 2