Literature in Gupta period PDF

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Literature in Gupta period...

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Li t er at ur ei nGupt aper i od

When i tcomes t o ear l y Pur ana composi t i ons ,we hav e pr e vi ousl yt al kedaboutt hem i nt hepar ton r e l i gi on aboutt he composi t i ons ofVi shnuPur ana,t he VayuPur ana,Bhagav at a Pur ana,Br ahmanda Pur ana and Har i v ams haPur ana,whi c h wer eal lc ompose ddur i ngt hi st i meper i od.I naddi t i ont obei ng es sent i almat er i al sf ort he s t udy ofbr ahmani calr e l i gi ons,i t has been hi ghl i ght e d t hat t he Pur anas ar e al so v al uabl e sour ces f or r oyal ge neal ogy and hi s t or i cal t r adi t i ons. The Bhakt i hymns ,aut hor ed by t he Vai s hnav a Al v ar and Shai v a NyamarSai nt s ofSout hI ndi a,hav e al so bee n consi der ed i n t he cont extoft he s t udy ofr e l i gi ous t r ends dur i ng t hi st i me per i od.I ti sal s oc r uci alt onot et hatt heepi c s,Ramayanaand Mahabhar at a,wer et hefir s tepi cst obecodi fied,andt hatt he y ar e i mpor t ant sour ce s f or soci or e l i gi ouspol i t i cal hi s t or y becauseoft hei rr e l i gi ousandpol i t i calt hemes .I nt hi ss ec t i on, we wi l ldi s cuss c r eat i v el i t er at ur e,whi c h has se r v ed as a sour ce ofi ns pi r at i on f orst udi e si n dr amat ur gy ,poe t r y ,and l i t er ar yt heor ydur i ngt hecour seoft het went i e t hcent ur y .I ti s poss i bl e t hat t he f amed Nat yaShas t r a of Bhar at a—a f oundat i onalbook on dance ,dr ama,and poe t r y—waswr i t t en dur i ng t hi s per i od ofant i qui t y .Rasa' sl i t er ar y ,cr i t i c al ,and t heor e t i cal cont r i but i ons hav e dev e l oped as a si gni ficant componentofcont empor ar y cr eat i vefic t i on.Poe t r y and pr ose i n Sanskr i twer epat r oni se d byt her ul i nge l i t e,t hec our tand t he nobi l i t y ,as we l las t he ur ban r i c h.I nt he cour toft he

Gupt aemper or ,Chandr agupt aI I ,l i v edt hepoe tanddr amat i s t Kal i dasa,whowasan ext r aor di nar ypoe tanddr amat i s twhose wor ke l ev at ed t he pr es t i g e oft he l anguageand i ns pi r ed l at er l i t er ar y ge nr es .Hi s pl ay Abhi j nanaShakunt al a and hi sl ong l yr i calpoem Meghadut a( c l oud me ssenger )ar ebot hr e gar ded as cl ass i ce xampl e s ofSans kr i tdr ama and poe t i c s,and ar e bot h avai l abl e onl i ne .As a cont i nuat i on ofKal i dasa' s wor ks , Bhar avi ' sKi r at ar j uni y a,Magha' sShi shupal av adhaandBhat t i Kavya,and al i t t l el at e r ,Bhavabhut i ' sMal at i Madhava,ar eal l not ewor t hyi ns t ance sofc l assi calwor ki n Sanskr i tl i t er at ur e .I t i st hr ough Shudr aka' sMr i c hc hhaKat i ka ( t hesmal ldaycas t ) t hatwecange tagl i mpseofur ban l i f e .Vi shakhadat t aopt edt o r epr es ent

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Mudr ar akshasha,whi c h depi c t ed t heov er t hr ow oft heNanda r ul er , and De vi Chandr aGupt a, whi c h depi c t ed Chandr a Gupt aI I ' sat t emptt ose i z epower . Fort hei rsoci almessageand l i t e r ar ybr i l l i ance ,t het al e s oft he Panchat ant r a and Subandhu' s Vasavadat t a ar et wo of t he mos t we l l known wor ks i n I ndi an l i t e r at ur e. Bana' s bi ogr aphyHar shac har i t a,aswe l lashi st al eKadamabar i ,ar e bot hr emar kabl e exampl e s ofbot h bi ogr aphy and Sans kr i t phr ase . The cour ts poke i nc l as si calSans kr i t ,whi c h was t he offici all anguage .The useofSans kr i tasa pr i mar yl anguage dat esbac kt ot heGupt a per i od and r emai ned unt i lt heear l y se cond mi l l enni um AD,af t er whi c ht he r egi onall anguages becamecommonl yac cept e dasase condl anguage .Per si anwas t he cour tl anguage dur i ng t he r ei gns oft he De l hiSul t anat e

and t he Mughal s .The l ocall anguage and cul t ur e s,on t he ot herhand,wer epr e ser v ed.I nt hee mpl oymentofPr akr i ti na var i e t y of si t uat i ons, suc h as some i nsc r i pt i ons and t he l anguage s ofr e l i gi ous sec t s ,t hey can be see n as a r esul tof t hese i nfluence s.I ti s ment i oned i nt he Nat yashas t r at hat var i ousl anguagesand di al e c t sar es poken,i nc l udi ngt hoseof t he l owe rcast e s and Chandal as .I n addi t i on t ol i t er at ur ei n Sans kr i t ,l i t er at ur ei n Pr akr i twasal so popul aramong Jai na mer c hant s, who v al ued i t as a me ans of communi cat i on. Pr akr i tandpopul arl i t er at ur ecombi nei nt hePaumacar i yam of Vi mal asur i ,aJai nr endi t i on oft heRamanar r at i v e .I ti safine exampl e ofbot h.I ti si mpor t ant t o not et hat i n Sans kr i t dr amas, c har ac t er s wi t h hi gh soci al r ank s poke Sans kr i t , whi l stc har ac t er swi t hl ow soci alposi t i on and al lt hewomen s pokePr akr i t ....