CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE OF INDIA

How many living languages in India?

424 living languages

Four Major Language Families Present in India

1) Indo-Aryan Branch of Indo-European

2) Dravidian

3) Austroasiatic (Munda and Khasic)

4) Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman)

It is the world’s largest country in South Asia

India

It is the home of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization

India

What form of government India has?

Federal System with parliamentary form of government

Parliament consist of two houses:

1) Rajya Sabha (Council of States)

2) Look Sabha (House of the People)

Party most identified remained control of the central government

Indian National Congress

Discontent with India’s lead

P.V Narasimha Rao succeeded Ravid Gadhi as party leader became prime minister in June 1991

1991 Election

Four Major Religions in India

1) Hinduism

2) Buddhism

3) Sikhism

4) Jainism

A major social system that groups people according to birth

India Caste System

India Caste System

1) Brahmins

2) Kshatriyas

3) Vaishyas

4) Shudras

They are priests, the highest caste

Brahmins

They are warriors and kings

Kshatriyas

They are merchants

Vaishyas

They are manual laborers

Shudras

Is about the sort of life one should lead in order to be born into a better life next time and ultimately achieve liberation

Hinduism

Hindu Life Goals (4 Legitimate Goals in Life)

1) Dharma

2) Artha

3) Karma

4) Moksha

The duty/the appropriate way to live

Dharma

The pursuit of material gain and wealth

Artha

The pleasure, love, psychological values

Karma

The release from birth

Moksha

Hindu Duties

1) Revere the deities

2) Respect ancestors

3) Respect all beings

He is the father of Modern India

Mahatma Gandhi

Three Faiths of Mahatma Gandhi

1) Hinduism

2) Buddhism

3) Jainism

Adherent to the prescription against violence toward living things can escape from the cycle of rebirth and the doctrine also form a basis for vegetarian

Hinduism

Non violence is manifest in the Buddha’s emphasis on compassion and is also part of the faith’s moral codes

Buddhism

Non violence is a core religious duty and followed strictly that the most Orthodox devotes cover their faces with mask to prevent accidentally harming insect

Jainism

Indian Writings

1) Sanskrit Literature

2) Mahabharata and Ramayana

3) Middle Ages Sanskrit

4) Ghazal

5) Second Century AD

Oral traditions produced the Vedic holy text

Sanskrit Literature

Two great books, sources for countless literary

Mahabharata and Ramayana

Used in religious context by priest

Middle Ages Sanskrit

A form of lyrical folk song and notable exponents of the form

Ghazal

Prakrits (group of vernacular language) is

Second Century AD

Two Period of Indian Literature

1) Vedic Period

2) Sanskrit Period

The earliest period, marked by the composition of the Vedas, a collection of hymns and religious texts dating back to 1500-1200 BCE

Vedic Period

This period saw the flourishing of Sanskrit literature, encompassing epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, philosophical works, and various genres of poetry, reaching its peak between 1st and 7th centuries CE

Sanskrit Period

Indian Notable Individuals

1) Panini

2) Macaulay

3) Michel Madhusudan Dutt and Jayashankar Prasad

4) Arunacala Kavi

5) Madhusudan Dutt

6) Rabindranath Tagore

7) Laksminath Bezbarua and Muhammad Iqbal

Produced Sanskrit grammar in 400 BC

Panini

Established English-language schooling for Indians

Macaulay

Introduced black verse in sonnet into Indian poetry

Michel Madhusudan Dutt and Jayashankar Prasad

Developed a utilitarian prose style

Arunacala Kavi

Wrote the first plays modelled in Western Drama

Madhusudan Dutt

Introduced the short story to vernacular writing in India and he is the first novel laureate

Rabindranath Tagore

Major poets of the period

Laksminath Bezbarua and Muhammad Iqbal

Books of

Indian Religious Works

1) Rig Veda

2) Yajur Veda

3) Sama Veda

4) Artharva Veda

A book of sacred hymns

Rig Veda

A book of knowledge and melodies for the hymns

Yajur Veda

Descriptions of the materials for sacrifice

Sama Veda

Contains magic spells and other folk knowledge

Artharva Veda

Other Folk Knowledge (under Artharva Veda)

1) Brahmanas

2) Maya

3) Sutras

The commentaries on the Vedic Hymns and religious rites

Brahmanas

A concise, often unintelligible treatises concerning rituals

Sutras

The belief that the soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a body, dying, and being reborn again in a new body

Reincarnation

A force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved in a past life

Karma

A state of freedom from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth

Moksha

One of the great Sanskrit epic poems of ancient India

Mahabharata

It was written between 300 BC and 300 AD by the great sage Veda Vyasa, also known as Krishna Dvaipayana

Mahabharata

The story is about the battle of one family over a kingdom in Northern India, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas

Mahabharata

A dialogue between Krishna and the hero Arjuna on the meaning of life

Bhagavad Gita (Song of God)

Is roughly ten times the length of the Illiad and Odyssey combined or about four times the length of the Ramayan

Mahabharata

An ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the poet Valmiki and is an important part of the Hindu canon

Ramayana

One of the most important literary works

Ramayana

Consists of 24,000 verses in seven cantos (karnas) and tells the story of a prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rakshasa), king of Lanka, Ravana

Ramayana

Main Characters of Ramayana

1) Dasaratha

2) Rama

3) Sita

4) Bharata

5) Hanuman

6) Ravana

7) Kaushlaya

8) Lakshman

King of Ayodhya (capital of Kosala), whose eldest son was Rama. He had three wives and four sons

Dasaratha

Dasaratha’s first-born son and the upholder of Dharma

Rama

Along with his wife Sita, he has served as role models for thousands of generations in India and elsewhere. He is regarded by many Hindus as an incarnation of the god Vishnu

Rama

Rama’s wife, the adopted daughter of King Janah

Sita

She was found in the furrows of a sacred field, and was regarded by the people of Janak’s kingdom as a blessed child

Sita

Rama’s brother by Queen Kaikeyi

Bharata

A leader of the monkey tribe allied with Rama against Ravana

Hanuman

The 10-headed king of Lanka who abducted Sita

Ravana

Dasaratha’s first wife, and the mother of Rama

Kaushlaya

Rama’s younger brother by Dasaratha’s third wife, Sumitra

Lakshmana