Ancient Indian Literature - An Anthology (Part III)

Ancient Indian Literature- an anthology in three volumes is the outcome of a monumental project taken up by the Sahitya Akademi. It consists of selections in translation of Indian literature from the beginning to AD 1100. The selections of passages included in these volumes focus on the Indian world view, man's life in general and particular, and how these are reflected in literature.

The anthology provides a fairly detailed historical survey which reveals the major trends and changes in the development of literatures during the given period.

Volume Three covers Tamil and Kannada literatures. The selection of passages in translation depicts the entire socio-cultural fabric of the olden days.

The Chief Editor TRS Sharma, educated at the universities of Mysore, Colorado and Alberta, has taught English literature in the universities of Delhi, Alberta, Annaba and Kakatiya.

He has to his credit three published works- Poetic Style in Robert Frost (1981), Yasodhara Carite (Translation in English of medieval Kannada classic by Janna) (1994), and Toward an Alternative Critical Discourse.

TRS Sharma, a polyglot, is currently working as K.K. Birla Foundation fellow on 'Cultural Encounters’.

Is Indian literature one or many, a single whole or a mosaic? This question has been asked again and again. However, there is no denying the fact that there is a deep social, cultural and spiritual unity in the whole of the subcontinent that is amply evident in its literature. The quantum of literature written in various Indian languages is astonishing. Though written in several languages in different ages under diverse social conditions, one can see a unique quality permeating the whole of Indian literature - what we may call the 'soul' of India.

Indian literature today means literature produced in the Indian languages beginning with the Vedic Sanskrit in the ancient past to what is written today even in English, a language we have adopted. The rich tradition of Indian literature spans a period of about 4000 years. The Rig-Veda is the earliest known Indian literary work. The three Vedas, Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads followed. In the later stages, classical Sanskrit evolved from Vedic Sanskrit and thrived for more than fifteen centuries. The popular vernaculars also grew side by side. There was also Pali, the language adopted by the Buddha, in which a vast quantum of literature was produced.

There was Ardhamagadhi, the vehicle of Jain thoughts, and there were too various Prakrits and Apabramsas which also had considerable literature of high quality. Apart from these, there were two languages of South India, viz. Tamil who’s first known works of literature date back to 2nd or 3rd century B.C., and Kannada which has an antiquity of about twelve centuries.

The selections in the three volumes of Ancient Indian Literature focus on the Indian world view, life in general and man's life in particular and its meaning as reflected in literature; enduring human values cherish able in every age and the immense expressive power of the language of the age.

**Contents and Sample Pages**