The Literature Book

22

WHAT IS THIS

CRIME I AM

PLANNING

O KRISHNA?

MAHABHARATA (9TH–4TH CENTURIES bce),

ATTRIBUTED TO VYASA

T

he epic poetry of the Indian

subcontinent is among the

oldest known literature,

and it emerged from a long oral

tradition of storytelling and reciting.

As with other ancient literature, the

tales are a mixture of mythology,

legends, and historical events,

which developed over centuries

and were eventually written down.

In addition to this epic poetry,

ancient Indian writing includes the

Vedas, which are the central sacred

texts of Brahminical Hinduism,

recorded from around the middle

of the 2nd millennium bce. The

Vedas and the poetry were written

in Sanskrit, which was regarded as

the common literary language of

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The great Sanskrit epics

BEFORE

3rd millennium bce Vyasa

writes the original version of

the Mahabharata, in which

he appears as a character.

c.1700–500 bce The Vedas

(the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda,

Sama Veda and Atharva Veda)

are composed in Sanskrit, and

together constitute the first of

the Hindu scriptures.

AFTER

c.5th–4th century bce

According to tradition, Valmiki

writes the Ramayana, using

the sloka (meaning “song”)

which becomes the standard

Sanskrit verse form.

c.250 bce–1000 ce A canon

of Hindu texts known as the

Puranas develops. It includes

the genealogy of the deities

and narratives of cosmology.

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