No More Learning

It
is a late work, though some of its elements – demon-worship, etc. —
are old; and it consists in general of Rig Veda verses interspersed
with new
verses of benedictive or
more generally of maledictive
character, as well as charms, formulæ for relief from illness and
avoidance of expected harm, incantations, and all the hocus-pocus of
a wizard's repertoire. And this in general is its character, though
,
it contains a few hymns of loftier tone and of some philosophical
value: they are hymns which might belong to the end of the Rig-
Veda, but their philosophy and theology show that they were com-
posed even later than the latest hymns of that older Collection.
This Vedic Collection is even now not recognized by some orthodox
priests; and as has been said, it was long in obtaining any formal
recognition from any one. It appears to have been a sort of manual
for sorcerers, into whose collection of balderdash have slipped some
really good hymns composed too late to be included in the Rig Veda
-
Collection. The style of these philosophical hymns is like that of
the latest hymns of the Rig Veda; but that of the sorcerers' incanta-
tions does not rise above the usual doggerel of degraded superstition
as it is exhibited in religious formulæ.
The second sub-period (b) of Vedic literature embraces the eluci-
datory Brāhmanas and the philosophical Upanishads. The latter in
their earliest form are nothing more than appendices, usually inserted
at the end of the Brāhmanas, and are always regarded as subsidiary
to them. The Brāhmanas are the completed form of that kind of
prose literature described above as appearing first in the Yajur Veda;
viz. , they are prose works explanatory of the sacrifice in every detail.
This is the real object for which they were composed; and for this
reason all else, even the philosophy of the Upanishads, is regarded
as of secondary importance, and if admitted into a Brāhmana at all
the Upanishad is relegated to a place at the end of the whole work
(included in the Aranyakas, supplements to the Brāhmanas), so as


## p. 7914 (#106) ###########################################

7914
INDIAN LITERATURE
not to interfere with the explanation of the established rite, which
is followed step by step by the Brāhmana. As in the prose of the
Yajur Veda, so here, the elucidation of the text includes not only
textual commentary but also very valuable illustrative legends, theo-
logical discussions, the refutation of false views in regard to some
detail in the arrangement of the sacrifice or with reference to the
building of the altar, etc. ; and in short, whatever may be useful or
interesting to a priest in the execution of his daily task. The style
here is insufferably bad, the content is puerile, the works are without
any literary value whatever save in the Upanishads. The latter, as
befits their grander theme, are often elevated and are always dig-
nified. They are of prime historical importance, for they preserve
for us the first record of the true philosophizing spirit. Their aim is
always the same, the search for true being and the explanation of
the early problems — what is being, what is death, what is soul, and
what is heaven, or does heaven exist? The answer forms the kernel
of pantheistic philosophy. The very questions raised show how far
apart from each other the Upanishads and the earliest Hymns stand;
but on the other hand, the Upanishads stand very near to those
speculative Hymns which close the various Collections. It is possible
that a few of the oldest extant Upanishads are really older than the
bulk of the Brāhmanas to which they are attached; but as with other
Hindu works of a popular character, the date to which any one Upa-
nishad may be referred is extremely doubtful. The oldest compo-
sition of this sort cannot claim an antiquity much greater than the
sixth century B. C. On the other hand, works bearing the same title,
though only nominally connected, or not connected at all, with any
Brāhmana, were composed at a much later period than this; and
some of them are no better than the Sectarian tracts of the post-
Renaissance period (800-1000 A. D. ). The number of Brāhmanas is
comparatively small. Each Veda has one or more; the two that are
most important belong to the Rig Veda and the White Yajur Veda,
and are called respectively the Aitareya and the Catapatha Brāh-
manas (see below). The Upanishads run up to some two hundred in
number, of which the Aitareya and the Chāndogya are perhaps the
most famous and appear to be among the oldest. Some of the Upa-
nishads are attributed to sages of the past; but like the Brāhmanas,
they are in general the continued product of Vedic schools. They
represent the traditional wisdom that gradually accumulated in the
Carana or group of students, who collected about a teacher and who
themselves in time became teachers of new pupils, each carrying on
and adding to the exegesis of the holy texts.
The Sūtra sub-period (c) offers little of interest from a literary
point of view, save in the spectacle of the gradual growth of this


## p. 7915 (#107) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7915
era.
peculiar phenomenon in letters. The (prose) Sūtras are literally
“threads” to assist the memory; strings of rules, which in compact-
est form inculcate ancient rites and regulations. They usually form
independent works connected with some Vedic school. The ritual
Sūtras devoted to the interpretation of the sacrifice are devoid of
general interest; but those that touch upon domestic rites, practices,
and rules, dharma, are the forerunners of all legal literature in India.
They are composed in prose with occasional verses; and although
their epitomized form excludes them from a history of literature, as
much as a school text-book would be excluded to-day, they neverthe-
less form an interesting historical background to the great law-books,
Dharma-çāstra, of later times, which were developed in metrical form
out of these older prose aphorisms. An instance of such a metrical
Dharma-çāstra is the law code of Manu. The Sūtras are the last
form of Vedic literature, and may be referred to about the sixth cen-
tury B. C. ; though some continued to be composed, notably in the
case of domestic and legal Sūtras, till nearly the time of our
The language is only partly Vedic, and in great measure approaches
the later norm of Sanskrit.
The following list contains the most important Brāhmanas and
Sūtras, according to their place within the various Vedas to which
they respectively belong. Their mass is great, but their literary
value is small:-
1. The Rig Veda: This comprises — (1) The Collection of Hymns;
(2) The Aitareya and Çānkāhyana (also called Kaushitaki) Brāhma-
nas, each of which has a Supplement or Aranyaka of the same name,
together with its Upanishad; (3) The two Sūtras of Āçvalāyana,
ritual and domestic respectively; and also the two similar Sūtras of
Çānkhāyana. These Sūtras belong each to the Brāhmana of the
same name. The Brāhmanas of the Rig-Veda are generally simple in
style, and have the appearance of being among the oldest works of
this sort. The Sūtras are not particularly old, and are as devoid of
literary merit as are other works of this class, but they contain much
interesting historical matter.
II. The Sāma-Veda: This comprises — (1) The Collection repre-
senting the ninth book of the Rig-Veda Collection; (2) The Tāndya
(also called Pancavinça) Brāhmana and the Shadvinça Brāhmana. The
latter, meaning “twenty-sixth book,” is only an appendix to the Pan-
cavinça Brāhmana, "of five-and-twenty books. ” This Brāhmana is
marked by its mystic and inflated style, and is probably much later
than the Brāhmanas of the Rig Veda. The so-called Chāndogya
Brāhmana is really only an Upanishad, perhaps a remnant of a
Brāhmana now lost except for this philosophical supplement. An-
other Upanishad belonging to this Veda is the Kena, not apparently


## p. 7916 (#108) ###########################################

7916
INDIAN LITERATURE
a very old one. The Jaiminiya or Talavakāra Brāhmana, belonging
here, is as yet unpublished; it is one of the least valuable of Brāh-
manas. This Veda comprises also — (3) The ritual Sūtras of Maçaka
and of Lātyāyana, belonging to the Pancavinça Brāhmana, and a
number of domestic Sūtras, the most important being that of Gob-
bhila, also belonging to the Pancavinça Brāhmana. There are others
of less importance attributed to no (extant) Brāhmana, but they all
seem to be of late date.
III. The Yajur Veda: This Veda is handed down in two chief
recensions of Collections and Brāhmanas. The older is the Black
Yajur Veda; and here the prose explanation is intermingled with the
verses to be explained. The later is the White Yajur Veda, Vājasa-
neyi Sanhitā, where verses and explanation stand apart; the first
being in the Sanhitā, or Collection, the second in the Brāhmana, just
as in the case of the Rig Veda and Sama-Veda. Each of these has
come down in several schools or sub-recensions, those of the Black
Yajur being the Maitrāyaniya, the Atreya, the Kathaka, etc. , those
of the White Yajur being the Kānva and Madhyamdina recensions.
As is implied by the name, the Brāhmana called the Taittiriya Brāh-
mana belongs to the Taittiriya or Black Yajur Veda, and is one of
the oldest Brāhmanas, though not especially interesting. On the
other hand, perhaps the most important of all the Brāhmanas is the
Çatapatha Brāhmana of the White Yajur Veda. This great work,
apart from its professed purpose of explaining the verses of the San-
hitā as they are employed in the ritual of sacrifice, abounds in legends
and in historical allusions; while its supplementary portion, Aranyaka,
furnishes one of the most important Upanishads. The different strata
of growth can still be traced in it, some parts being much older than
others. In this regard it gives a good example of the overlapping of
literary periods; since, while the original Brāhmana may be referred
to the seventh or eighth centuries B. C. , the later additions run over
into the Sūtra period and do not appear to antedate the third century.
Ritual Sūtras of this Veda are found in both recensions. Those of
the Black Yajur Veda are the Katha and Mānava Sūtras. The chief
ritual Sūtra of the White Yajur Veda is attributed to Kātyāyana.
The chief domestic Sūtra is that of Pāraskara. These were probably
the original teachers. From the Mānava domestic Sūtra has come
the germ of the Mānava law-book, or Code of Manu,' the principal
metrical law-book of later times (see above). Late but important is
the Sūtra of Baudhāyana, belonging to the Black Yajur Veda (Taitti-
riya) school.
The Atharva-Veda Collection, as already stated, is largely
composed of Rig Veda verses, and in its last (twentieth) book simply
duplicates Rig-Veda verses; but besides its Collection, the Atharva-
IV.


## p. 7917 (#109) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7917
C
»
Veda includes also one Brāhmana, called the Gopatha, a number of
late Upanishads, and the Vaitāna Sūtra.
SECOND PERIOD: Sectarian Literature of Buddhism and other reli-
gious sects.
Buddha lived in the sixth century B. C. , before the rise of Sanskrit
literature in its proper sense, and at a time when Vedic literature
was dragging to a lame conclusion in the weary composition of rit-
uals and manuals. Apart from the poetic-philosophic oasis of the
Upanishads, literature was become a dry desert. Everything refresh-
ing had been brought from a home distant both in time and space.
For with the close of the Brahmanic period, the Aryan tribes are
found to have advanced far beyond the limits of the early Vedic
period. A steady geographical descent accompanies the decline of
Vedic literature, as this decline is shown in lack of vigor and ori-
ginality. To the Aryan of the Rig Veda the country south and east
of the Punjab was scarcely known. The Brahmanic period, on the
other hand, shows that the seat of culture was gradually shifting
down the Ganges; and an interesting legend of the time still reveals
the fact that somewhere between the commencement and end of this
period the district about the present Benares was becoming Brah-
manized. At the end of the period it had indeed become a second
home of culture, and a strong rival of the ancient «Brahman-land »
in the northwest; but with this important difference, — that whereas
the older habitat of Brahmanism retained its reverence for the wis-
dom of antiquity, the eastern district, newly Brahmanized and gov-
erned by kings often inimical to the Brahman priests, showed no
such respect for Vedic learning. The Brahman priests and their
learning were here not of paramount importance; thought was freer,
and tradition was not per se authoritative.
So much is necessary on the one hand to explain the appearance
of Buddhism in the east rather than in the west, and on the other
hand to explain the relative orthodox character of such sectarian
literature as was the result of a partial revolt in the west. In the
east, in an unsympathetic environment, arose the literature of Bud-
dhism, totally opposed in its effect to the teaching of Brahmanism.
In the west however arose Jainism and its literature, which was
sectarian to a certain degree, but was never so antagonistic to Brah-
manism as was by necessity the literature that marks the Buddhistic
revolt. These two sects dominate the literature of the period that
follows the Brāhmanas, but they are contemporary with the devel-
opment of the Sūtras. It is therefore just at the time when the
gross ritualism of the Brahmans reaches its highest development that
the more spiritual literature of the religious sects finds a fit soil;
and it is while the Brahman priests continue to content themselves
a


## p. 7918 (#110) ###########################################

7918
INDIAN LITERATURE
with making aphoristic text-books, and utterly give up all attempt
to add to the wisdom of their fathers, that the sectaries find and
embrace the opportunity to grow.
Of the personal history of Buddha, and of Mahāvira his great Jain
rival, this is not the place to speak in detail. The literature alone
that groups itself about these two men can here be reviewed, and of
the historical questions naturally prominent, only one can here be
answered: viz. , Do the Discourses or Sermons of Buddha really rep-
resent Buddha's own words; in reading them are we reading the
literature of Buddha's time, or of a time much later: in a word, how
much in Buddhistic literature is apocryphal ? Probably a great many
of the Discourses traditionally handed down as Buddha's are merely
late compositions. But on the contrary, many of these works can be
with certainty brought back so near to Buddha's own lifetime that
we must unquestionably consider them as genuine, not only in spirit
but often in expression, though perhaps not often in the very order
of words of a whole Discourse. The works of Buddhism which have
for us the greatest value are these Discourses of Buddha. There
are other works of less interest which are clearly later compositions,
as they describe and prescribe the life of Buddhistic monks in their
great monasteries. Still other works are historical, and relate the
conflicts of opinion between the monks at the different great councils
of the Buddhistic church in the centuries following Buddha's death.
These Sermons, Discourses, Precepts, and Histories are handed
down to us not in Sanskrit but in Pāli, the dialect native to Buddha,
and which is closely related to Sanskrit or the cultivated language
which had developed out of the Vedic. There is however another
and later account of Buddha's life and doctrine, which is found in
Sanskrit; and until recently works of this sort were the only known
authority for the history of Buddhistic literature. Fortunately, the
Pāli texts now publishing give us an earlier and simpler account of
Buddha's life; and with great advantage to his personality, they
reduce him from a superhuman creature to a noble man. These Pāli
books were first found in Ceylon, and they are sometimes called the
southern in distinction from the later (Sanskrit) northern records.
The first of these works to be published was the Great History,'
Mahāvansa, which was completely edited in 1837. These southern
texts are in three Pitakas or Traditional Collections (literally “bas-
kets”), which constitute together the gospel of Buddhism. The first
Pitaka is called the Vinaya or «ruler » (of the Buddhistic Order). It
gives the history of the order and the rules to be observed by monks
and nuns.
The second Pitaka contains the Suttas (Discourses or Ser-
mons), and the elucidation of the philosophy of Buddha. The third
Pitaka, called the Abhidhamma, is supplementary, and discusses more


## p. 7919 (#111) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7919
in detail certain psychological and ethical questions connected with
the philosophical system.
Each of these Pitakas is subdivided: the first, the Vinaya, into
three parts, Suttavibhanga, Khandhakas, and Parivāra. The first of
these divisions gives a sort of catechism (the Pātimaukha); so as to
present a full exposition, vibhanga, of all the 227 rules, suttas, of the
Order. This work probably dates from 400 B. C. The Khandhakas
or Treatises, the second part of the Vinaya, deal with special rules
and ceremonies. There are twenty of these Treatises; but their con-
tent is not particularly interesting, as they contain for the most part
only regulations in regard to fasts, food, clothes, etc. The last book
of the Vinaya, the Parivāra, is, as the name implies, a Supplement, a
mere manual of rules. The second Pitaka (Suttapitaka) contains four
great Nikāyas or Collections of Discourses. The first two of these
four constitute one whole book, containing 183 Discourses of Buddha.
It is curious to notice that these, like the early books of the Rig-Veda,
are arranged mechanically according to length. This is by far the
oldest of the Pitakas, and from a literary point of view it is the most
valuable. Instead of the dry enumeration of rules, such as is found
in the first Pitaka, the language, really Buddha's or imitative of his
artless and forcible words, glows with fervor, but is as lofty in tone
as it is simple in style. The remaining Nikāyas of this Pitaka
attempt to correct the lack of logical clearness resulting from an
arrangement of the Discourses according to length, and to classify
the teaching of Buddha; in so doing they also give the teacher's
philosophical system, as far as it may be said to be systematized.
The last Pitaka, the Abhidhamma, has been published only in part
(as is still the case with several of the Discourses), but enough is
now known to correct the error till lately prevalent, that this Pitaka
was a metaphysical work. On the contrary, it is merely a book
on rules and truths of religion, and treats of ethical problems and
psychological situations rather than of metaphysical subtleties.
These works comprise the whole Buddhistic Canon, with the ex-
ception of a few Collections of poems and aphorisms, which the early
Buddhists themselves regarded as not canonical but as worthy of pres-
ervation; and other Collections ostensibly historical, giving the lives
of good men, the previous births of Buddha himself, etc. The most
fainous of these is the Dhammapada,' 423 aphoristic ethical verses
of great force and beauty. Others are called the Iti Vullakam
(i. e. , literally, the Ipse Dixit), sayings attributed to Buddha; (Udāna,'
or ecstatic exclamations of Buddha; etc. Of these additions to the
Canon, none, from one point of view, is more important than the
(Birth Stories,' Jātakas, which convey a mass of popular folk-lore
under the guise of describing the conditions of Buddha's earlier lives
>


## p. 7920 (#112) ###########################################

7920
INDIAN LITERATURE
on earth, when as a man or a beast he discoursed with other men
and beasts. Undoubtedly the germ of this Collection is very old, and
the work as a whole contains some of the most primitive folk-lore
extant. On the other hand, many of these Jātaka stories are mod-
ern inventions, imitations of the antique. Besides the Canon and its
supplementary works, the Buddhistic commentary of Buddhaghosha,
in the fifth century A. D. , holds the next place in the literature.
The Buddhistic literature of Nepal, China, Japan, etc. , lies outside the
limits of a sketch of Indian literature. Of the late Sanskrit poems
which represent one phase of Buddhism, the chief are the "Lalita
Vistara,' which pretends to give a history of Buddha, and the
(Lotus of the Law. ' These were the first Buddhistic works known
to Western scholars, and early histories depended on them; but
they are poetic fictions of exaggerated style, bearing the impress in
content and diction of their late authorship.
Jain Literature: At the time Buddha lived there were half a dozen
well-known heterodox sects, the leaders of which, like himself,
preached and taught through northern India. But only in the Jain
sect of the teacher Mahāvīra did there result such crystallization of
the Master's words as to produce, or at any rate to leave behind,
works in literary form. Furthermore, even in the case of Mahāvīra's
own sect there is no evidence to show that the literature, though
large, is really very old. As has been said above, Jainism flourished
in the west rather than in the east. Contiguous with the seat of old
Brahmanic culture, it kept a closer correspondence with Brahmanism
in many features than did Buddhism. The sterility of thought insep-
arable from Jain doctrine results in a sterile style. In all this litera-
ture of pseudo-history and canonical rules, Stutis, Stotras, “lauds,”
etc. , there is nothing elevating or inspiring. In fact, the rules of the
order alone and their explanation are the whole literature, except for
some late metaphysical treatises and so-called historical books. The
contrast of this literature with that of Buddhism will be seen in the
typical extracts given below from the literature of both sects. The
later literature of Jainism is to a great extent a copy of Brahmanic
literary works, adapted to the sectarian faith of Mahāvīra. Thus there
is a Jain Epic, and there are Jain stories, partly original but chiefly
imitative of orthodox Sanskrit works. These present a curious amal-
gam, but are void of worth save as historical studies. This literature
is written partly in a Prakrit dialect (patois), and partly in Sanskrit.
Like the Buddhistic works, it is to a certain extent metrical.
THIRD PERIOD: Sanskrit Literature Proper. — The literature which
we have been discussing as the Second Period of Indian literature
was neither Vedic nor Sanskrit in language; nor does it form, strictly
speaking, an epoch in the development of Brahmanic literature. It
1
:
!


## p. 7921 (#113) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7921
is a thing apart from the latter, in that Buddhism and Jainism break
with tradition, and are unorthodox; whereas Brahmanic Sanskrit lit-
erature is the direct offspring of the older Vedic literature, both in
language and in the respect which Sanskrit authors have for Vedic
traditions. But in point of time, Buddhism and Jainism intervene
between the moribund Vedic literature and the first appearance of
Sanskrit literature. From the broader point of view of the whole
Indian literature, they therefore actually form a distinct period by
themselves; although, as has been shown, the last outcome of Vedic
literature in the form of didactic manuals overlaps the period of Bud-
dhism. Yet these manuals are not literature, but are rather the aids
and helps of literature; and by the time that Buddhism reaches its
height, under the patronage of King Açoka in the third century
B. C. , Vedic literature is virtually complete: while it is about this
time that Sanskrit literature, in the form of the Epic (see below),
actually begins.
Before this Sanskrit literature is taken up, however, it is neces-
sary for us to cast a glance at some other didactic works, generally
couched in aphoristic form and utterly devoid of all attempt at style,
which were composed from the end of the Vedic period to the end
of the Sanskrit period. It is not on account of their own literary
value, for they have none, but because of their effect upon litera-
ture, that the nature of these works, also ancillary to literature, must
be examined. Especially is their influence paramount in the develop-
ment of Sanskrit literature; and a rapid review of these educational,
philosophical, and scientific tracts — for they are nothing more -
will do much to help in advance the correct understanding of the
influences which were at work from the beginning upon Sans rit.
To omit any mention of these works would be like giving a his-
tory of late Greek literature without any allusion to the work of the
scholars of Alexandria. Chief in importance are here the grammat-
ical studies and philosophical essays that begin with the decline of
Vedic literature. From the end of the Vedic period there were
composed manuals of phonology, grammar, and etymology, together
with lists of words of archaic form or peculiar meaning. In the
fourth century B. C. the renowned Pānini wrote his exhaustive gram-
mar, wherein Vedic and Sanskrit forms are carefully distinguished,
and rules are given for the making of grammatical tenses and cases.
In the second century B. C. , Kātyāyana in his Vārttikas) and Patan-
jali in his Mahābhāshya' furnished commentaries to this work.
These grammatical and lexicographical works led directly to formal
Rhetoric, the first extant book on this subject being the Nātyaçāstra
of Bharata, who lived (the date is rather uncertain) at some time
between the first and sixth centuries A. D. To the latter century
belongs the poet and grammarian Dandin, whose (Kāvyādarça' or
XIV—496


## p. 7922 (#114) ###########################################

7922
INDIAN LITERATURE
(Rhetoric) is historically as important as is his literary work (see
below). Vāmana's Principles of Poetry' probably belongs to the
eighth century A. D. , just when Sanskrit, as we shall see, becomes
most artificial. Other works of this sort follow in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. From the precision of their formal rules we may
see how it happened that the literary style, influenced by such teach-
ers, gradually changed from simplicity to intricacy.
Of the many works, dating from the close of the Vedic period, on
music, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, mention can here be
made only of the mathematical (Çulva-Sūtras. ' These apparently ante-
date Pythagoras; yet they contain the "Pythagorean” number and
problem, and together with other Hindu works, they are probably
the model of Pythagoras's own numerical system of philosophy.
The legal literature of India is enormous in extent; but its origin
has been explained above, and the many modern codes and digests
cannot be reviewed here. Sufficient to say that legal literature and
Epic didactic (legal) passages present many instances of similarity,
which afford some interesting historical-literary problems not yet
solved.
Most important of all this subsidiary literature are the many works
on philosophy.
They were originally composed in aphorisms; and
the original set of aphorisms with the extensive elucidations of com-
mentators constitute a philosophical system. Of the formal systems
there are six; but the explanation of philosophical questions in the
loose and rambling style of the Vedic Upanishads is the earlier form
of this sort of literature. How the various doctrines based on the
ideas of the Upanishads are developed in Sūtras and expounded in
Commentaries, is matter rather of the history of philosophy than
of a history of literature. There is no Plato in India, no poet of
philosophy, no scientific stylist. The only style aimed at by philo-
sophical writers is one that shall express most in fewest words. In
the ninth century A. D. lived Çankara, and his name deserves to be
mentioned as the greatest of Hindu philosophical writers. But all
that it is here necessary to know of this constant philosophizing -
the philosophical era extends from about 500 B. C. to the end of the
period of Sanskrit literature — is that its effect on literature was very
great; and as all philosophy included a religious system as well, it
may be said to have been doubly influential. Especially is this true
in the case of the influence exerted upon the Epic, the first form
of pure literature in Sanskrit, and upon the Epic's religious continua-
tion in the later Purānas. To these, as the first works of the Third
Period of Indian literature, we may now turn.
Sanskrit Literature: (a) Epics and Purānas. The oldest composi-
tions in Sanskrit are — first, the Epic called the Bhārata,' or grand-
iloquently the Mahābhārata,' that is, the Great (Mahā) Bhārata (War);
1


## p. 7923 (#115) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7923
and second, such of the Vedic Sūtras as are written almost in San-
skrit, though still retaining much of the Vedic style. Epic literature
in its beginnings, however, undoubtedly goes much farther back than
the oldest portion of the extant Epic. Early in the Vedic period
there is mention of Tales of old, and of singers who sang the deeds
of great men. Even in the Rig-Veda Collection a few hymns describ-
ing battles of the Aryans, and one describing a conversation between
the nymph Urvaçi and her lover Purūravas, approach the Epic style.
It is probable that the Bhārata thus reverts in its original shape to
the later Vedic period; but in its present condition it has been so
worked over at the hands of the priests of Vishnu and Çiva that it
is matter of pure conjecture in what shape it was originally planned.
Probably the oldest parts are a few scenes giving stirring events in
the history of its heroes, and some of the episodes. These latter
ancient tales incorporated into the narrative — have often only a
very loose connection with the main story. Further, the Epic, as
it now lies before us, includes whole books of philosophical, moral,
ethical, and didactic discourses, put into the mouths of the sages
who appear in the course of the tale.
A curious theory, founded on this fact, has lately been put forth
to the effect that the Mahābhārata' story is not its own excuse for
being, and that the moral and legal maxims are hung upon the
characters as upon lay figures, merely to make them attractive to
the common people. This theory has for support the important fact
that at the close of the Vedic period the old Vedic language was
become well-nigh unintelligible even to the priests, and that to incul-
cate moral saws it was necessary to speak in a tongue understanded
of the people. And this is true of the Epic. It is written in the
Sanskrit of the time, not in antiquated Vedic; and it is expressly
meant to be repeated at great festivals when the common people
and women » (who were rigorously excluded from hearing even the
unintelligible words of the holy Vedic texts) could hear and were
commanded to hear the recital. At the same time, this theory is
far too one-sided, and takes no account of the Epic character of the
poem in its older portions, or of the patent improbability of the gen-
esis thus imagined in the case of a poem so dramatic in its action.
Still less does this theory agree with historical facts; for we know
that the early Greek adventurers who followed Alexander distinctly
state that the Hindus had poems like Homer's, narrating the great
actions of their national heroes. Had these poems been chiefly moral
discourses, as with regard to its bulk the Bhārata' is to-day, the
observant Greeks would not have failed to notice the fact. On the
contrary, the most probable theory in regard to the origin of the Epic
is that certain national lays and tales of old, gradually collected,


## p. 7924 (#116) ###########################################

7924
INDIAN LITERATURE
formed the basis of the story; and that it was eventually enlarged
and systematized by the priests in the interest of their various sects
and of general morality, until it became what it is to-day, “the fifth
Veda” in importance, a huge storehouse of legend and didactic com-
position, through which, like a scarlet thread, runs the bloody story
of the Conflict between the Clans of Kurus and Pandus, which formed
the original Epic story.
In its present shape the Mahābhārata' is about seven times as
long as the Iliad and Odyssey put together, and contains some two
hundred thousand verses. Apart from what we may safely regard
as late didactic material, the character of this earlier Epic is heroic
in distinction from the Epic next to be considered. The style is
forcible, often terse and nervous, the action is well sustained, and
the whole effect produced is that of a poem written to commemo-
rate an actual conflict between members of rival clans, who lived
somewhat southeast of the Punjâb, but still near the old “Brahman-
land”; for the geographical central point of the events, the Troy
of this Iliad, is the town on the site of which is built the modern
Delhi. In the portrayal of character the Hindu poem has in fact
many analogies with its Grecian
counterpart. The noble devo-
tion and chivalric character of Arjuna, the chief hero, reminds us of
Hector; the wily and sinful Duryodhana is a second Ulysses; the
leader of one of the great hosts marshaled for the eighteen days'
war, Yudhi-sthira (literally “steady in battle”), reminds us again, not
only in name but in moral weakness and in heroic bravery, of the
Withstander, Agamemnon; and Krishnā, the devoted wife of Arjuna,
may be compared with Andromache. But these two Epics in their
events and actions have nothing more in common than all tales of
war; and the old theory that because of the resemblance in charac-
ter, the Hindu Epic may have been borrowed from the Greek, is now
quite given up.
The Bhārata' war is a war between rival cousins, of the house
of Bhārata, a race of heroes mentioned even in the Rig-Veda Collec-
tion. Duryodhana deprives his cousin Yudhisthira of his throne by
inducing him to gamble away his fortune, kingdom, family, and self;
and then banishes Yudhisthira and the latter's four brothers for
twelve years, not daring to kill them because they were “beloved
by the folk. ” The gambling was conducted in an unfair manner, and
the cousins feel that their banishment was really only the result of
unchivalric treachery, although pretended to be mercy in lieu of
death. When the twelve years are over, they collect armies of sym-
pathizers; and on the “Sacred Plain of the Kurus ” (Kurukshetra,
near Delhi, still the Holy Land of India) the great war is fought
out. The good prevails, Duryodhana is slain, Yudhisthira recovers


## p. 7925 (#117) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7925
his kingdom. All this is told so graphically and forcibly that,
although incumbered as it now is with extraneous matter, the Ma-
hābhārata' still has power to charm and enthrall. This Epic was
probably begun in the third or fourth century B. C. , and was com-
pleted with all extraneous additions soon after the Christian era.
The second great Epic of India arose not in the west like the
Mahābhārata,' but in the east, in the neighborhood of the seat of
Buddhism. It describes the Wandering of Rāma, the national hero
of the East, who is ostensibly in the tale the heir-apparent of Oude;
and from Rāma's wanderings (ayana) the poem is called the "Rāmā-
yana. ' In contrast with the heroic character of the Bhārata' tale,
the Rāmāyana' is distinctly romantic in style, and may be compared
with the Odyssey. In this much shorter story Rāma's conflict with
the southern barbarians is depicted; and the chief motif is the recap-
ture of Sītā, Rāma's wife, who during Rāma's unjust banishment by
his father was carried off by the king of the southern demons, and
kept in the latter's castle in Ceylon. Rāma's victorious conflict, and
the bridge which his monkey battalions built for him from the main-
land to the island, are still preserved in local name and legends in
southern India. As the geography of this tale shows, the date to
which it must be referred is much later than that of the Bhārata. '
There are, moreover, two main points of difference between the two
poems: first that of character and style already referred to; and sec-
ond the fact that the “Rāmāyana,' while undoubtedly built around
old legends, is still in its complete form the work of one single man,
the famous poet Vālmīki, who writes what the Hindus themselves
term an “Art-poem,” as distinguished from a Legend-poem, or Epic.
The Mahābhārata,' indeed, like most Hindu works, is also referred
to a sage, who in this instance bears the suspicious name of Vyāsa,
“the narrator”; but the poem itself is its own evidence of the fact
that no one author ever composed it in its entirety. On the other
hand, Vālmīki unquestionably wrote the whole of the Rāmāyana'
himself, and probably wrote it as an allegory; for Sītā, the heroine,
means “furrow,” and Rāma, the hero, stands for “plow. ” The poem
thus depicts the advance of Aryan civilization into the wild regions
of the south. Further, the style, metre, and language are both far
less simple than in the case of the Mahābhārata. ' The poem in its
present shape is probably a few centuries later than the Mahābhā-
rata, but the date cannot be determined with any exactness.
Of theories in regard to the Rāmāyana,' only two of the many
which are current demand attention. Some scholars hold that the
conflict allegorically depicted is one between Buddhists and Brah-
mans, and that the Odyssey is the model of the (late) Rāmāyana. '
Neither of these theories will stand criticism. There are no striking
»
(


## p. 7926 (#118) ###########################################

7926
INDIAN LITERATURE
(
indications of a religious allegory, nor are there any very remarkable
points of similarity between the recovery of Helen and that of Sītā.
On account of its sentimental style, the “Rāmāyana' has always been
a great favorite with the Hindus, especially with those disciples of
Vishnu who believe that Rāma was a human incarnation of their god.
To such believers the Wandering of Rāma) is a veritable Bible.
The Rāmāyana' has been imitated, abridged, copied, and altered, by
other sects as well. To a certain extent this is true also of the
Bhārata' poem, one of the characters here representing in popular
belief Krishna, another incarnation of Vishnu. But the Rāmāyana'
lends itself more easily to religious imitation, especially on the
religious-erotic side, which in India constitutes a large part of mod-
crn religious literature; and for this reason, in its rôle of a biblical as
well as a literary product, it has become even more popular than the
Mahābhārata. ' Its date is quite uncertain, but it may be referred
perhaps to the first century B. C.
The (Purānas': There are eighteen of these works, all ostensibly
religious literature, written in the usual Epic verse (of two octosyl-
labic hemistichs), and modeled on the religious portion of the Mahā-
bhārata. ' The name Purāna means “old” (tales), and the works
handed down under that name recount the deeds of deified heroes,
explain religious and moral doctrine, give an account of the glories
of past cycles and of what will happen in time to come; and besides
narration and speculation, they incidentally inculcate moral and reli-
gious truths. Not a small portion of the “Purānas’ is dedicated, how-
ever, to purely sectarian (half orthodox) teaching; and in the case of
later works of this sort it is evident that they were composed chiefly
as sectarian tracts. The style is loose and rambling, the language of
most of them is a slovenly Sanskrit, and the date of all of them
is doubtful. They probably began in the period of the beginning of
modern sectarian Brahmanism, in the first centuries after our era,
about the time that the last (religious) additions to the Mahābhārata'
were making; but the period of their composition extends up to quite
modern times. The Agni,' Mārkandeya,' and `Vishnu' Purānas seem
to be the oldest works of this class, and are the most important.
Others, like the Linga Purāna,' extol this Çivaite phallic worship:
and many of them are scarcely superior to the so-called Tantras,
tracts on obscure religious rites, which hardly deserve to be classed
as literature. In the oldest use of the word, Purāna connoted cosmo-
gonic speculation rather than tales; but this meaning applies to only
a small part of the modern Purāna.
As the Purāna' may be regarded as a continuation of the religious
side of the Mahābhārata,' so the Rāmāyana' is the model of a num-
ber of later kāvya, -i. e. , "art-poems of religious-erotic character.


## p. 7927 (#119) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7927
The best known and most important of these are attributed to Kāli-
dāsa, India's greatest dramatic author, who probably lived about 600
A. D. These are the “Setubandha,' the 'Raghuvança,' and the Kumā-
rasambhava. ' The first is in patois, and gives the history of Rāma.
The last two are in artificial Sanskrit, the second giving the gene-
alogy of Raghu and the third describing the birth of the love-god.
Besides these must be mentioned four more late “art-poems”: the
Bhatti-kāvya' (describing the race of Rāma), ascribed to the lyric
poet Bhartri-hari, who lived in the seventh century A. D. ; the Kirā-
tārjunīya' of Bhāravi, possibly of the sixth century; Māgha's poem
on Çiçupāla's death (date unknown); and the Naishadhiya,' of the
twelfth century. All of these are bombastic in style and too studied
in language. From the latest period comes further the "Nalodaya. '
The episode of Nala and Damayanti is one of the artless episodes of
the Mahābhārata'; and nothing shows more plainly the later deteri-
oration of taste than this Nalodaya,' the same story told in erotic
style and in language intensely artificial. The titles of these works
do not always reveal their character; for instance, the Bhatti-kāvya'
(above) is really intended to show the grammatical irregular forms
in the form of a poem.
Sanskrit Literature: (6) Fables and Drama. Between Epic and
Drama lies the class of writings represented in Europe by the works
of Æsop and Babrius. In India these Beast-Fables appear very
early in the Buddhist Jātakas (above). They have for us a peculiar
interest, in that many scholars hold these Indian fables to be the
model of the fables of Æsop, while others hold that the Hindu is the
copyist. In India, the fable, though not as an independent literary
product, may be traced back to the oldest Upanishads. The doctrine
of reincarnation (as shown in the Jātakas) lent itself admirably to the
growth of such compositions. But it is not necessary to suppose that
a phenomenon so native to peasant talent should be borrowed from
the Greek, or that the Greek should have borrowed the idea from
the Hindu. Greek fable is at least as old as Archilochus, and Hindu
fable can claim no older date. All that can be said with certainty
is that the great collection of Indian fables in Five Books (whence
the name, Panca-tantra) is one that has been widely read and trans-
lated in the Occident. This collection was made in the first centu-
ries of our era. In the fifth century it was translated into Persian
(Pahlavi), thence into Arabic, and in the eleventh century from Ara-
bic into Greek. From Greek it was translated into Hebrew in the
thirteenth century, thence into Latin, and finally into German in the
fifteenth century, being one of the first works to be printed in Europe.
The Hitopadeça,' or 'Friendly Instruction,' is another such collec-
tion; but it is based for the most part on the Pancatantra. As the


## p. 7928 (#120) ###########################################

7928
INDIAN LITERATURE
names.
name of the later work implies, the sententious side is here more
important: the moral' is put foremost, and a tale is told to illus-
trate it. Verse and prose alternate, as they do in our fairy stories.
Another famous collection is the Vetāla-pancavinçati, or Twenty-
five Tales of a Ghost. Still another quite modern one is called the
"Çuka-saptati, or (Seventy Tales of a Parrot. ' These are rather
inane in content; and tale is often wrapped within tale, like a puz-
zle, the moral being sententiously or aphoristically appended. The
longest collection of this sort is the Kathāsaritsāgara,' or (Ocean of
Tales, composed by Somadeva, a native of Kashmir, in the eleventh
century. The erotic character of many of these fables leads at a
comparatively early date to the development of genuine romances,
three of which, from the sixth and seventh centuries, are still extant:
the (Daçakumāracarita' of Dandin, the “Vāsavadattāl of Subhandhu,
and the Kādambari) of Bāna. The titles merely give the characters'
These romances are rather simple love stories, not too refined
in language. They may be compared with the products of late Greek
literature, which in this regard also anticipates the modern novel.
The romantic development of the fable, which is often in the
form of a love story, leads directly to the na, The extant drama
is no older than the extant lyric, but its origin can be traced fur-
ther back. It appears to have come from a curious mixture of fable
and religious rite. In the second and third centuries before Christ
the common people were entertained with Yātras,-i. e. , a kind of
mystery-play, in which the love affairs of Krishna-Vishnu (the god
Vishnu in anthropomorphic form as Krishna, the Divine hero of the
Mahābhārata) were represented on a stage; the action and dialogue
being naturally accompanied with song and dance, for Krishna is
fabled to have lived for a time as a neatherd on earth, where he
sported with the music-and-dance-loving maidens who also guarded
flocks near by. These idyls were exhibited as a religious perform-
From this union of dance, song, and religious mystery it hap-
pens that the Hindu drama is really melodramatic opera. The piece
must end well, and it is never without song and dance. There is no
real tragedy. Some scholars hold that Greek comedy has influenced
the Hindu stage, or even that the latter is a result of the conquest
of the “barbarians. ” Alexander is indeed said to have brought with
him all the paraphernalia of the drama; and this fact seems to be
reflected in the name of the stage curtain, the technical name of
which in Sanskrit is (Greek(Yavanikā, i. e. , Ionian). But the mys-
tery-plays seem to have had a popular origin, and dance plays and
actors are mentioned in the earliest Buddhist works; so that it seems
more likely that while the Greek invader perhaps taught the Hindu to
better his stage effects, the latter had already developed by hiinself
ance.


## p. 7929 (#121) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7929
the essentials of the drama. An analogy might be sought in the
development of the English drama, the direct course of which was rad-
ically altered and improved by the introduction of classical models
with the Revival of Learning. Possibly the jester, who plays quite
a rôle in the extant Hindu drama, may have been borrowed from the
Middle Comedy of the Greek. The various kinds of dramas are care-
fully distinguished by native rhetoricians; but among them all the
Nātaka' is the only real play in a modern sense. Others are elf and
genie fables, the scene of which is in the air or only half on earth,
etc. The Çakuntalā of Kālidāsa, the greatest Hindu dramatist, is an
instance of a Nātaka; but the same author has left another play the
scene of which (see below) is chiefly in the region of cloud nymphs,
and is quite removed from any appearance of reality. The Hindu
drama may have any number of acts, from one to ten; there is no
limit to the number of actors, and the unities of time and space are
freely violated. The language of the dramas is Sanskrit (which in
the earlier plays is comparatively simple in structure) and Prakrit
patois, which is reserved for woinen and men of low caste. In the
later drama the Sanskrit becomes very artificial, and the long com-
plicated sentences seem to be contrived with special reference to the
delight of sophisticated auditors in unraveling the meaning concealed
in the puzzle of words.
The most renowned of the early dramatists are Kālidāsa, men-
tioned above, Çūdraka (see below), and Bhavabhūti. The first of
these lived at the time when the great emperor Vikramāditya had
succeeded in routing the barbarian hosts that followed in the wake
of Alexander's conquest, and for centuries overwhelmed northern
India with rapine and ruin. It was the time also when Buddhism,
which had done much to retard the genius of Brahmanism, was
slowly fading out. Then, with the revival of Brahmanic faith and
literature, and above all under the patronage of the great emperor
who for the first time gave assured safety and peace to the dis-
tracted land, arose all at once a rejuvenated literature, Brahmanic
but not priestly, rather cosmopolitan, so to speak,-a veritable
Renaissance, as it has aptly been termed by Max Müller. Literature,
which at the hands of priests, its only remaining guardians, had
been content with adding moral and religious chapters to the Epic,
took a new departure. The old style was not imitated by the new
authors, who represent the sacerdotal caste no more. In a word, this
Renaissance betokens the new life which came from literature pass-
ing from priestly hands into the hands of cultivated laymen assured
of protection, patronage, and praise. Hence it happens that not
only drama and lyric, but also philosophy and science, all flourish at
this epoch, and the greatest poets and scientists adorn the court of


## p. 7930 (#122) ###########################################

7930
INDIAN LITERATURE
Vikramāditya, the Hindu Augustus, who in the first half of the sixth
century A. D. created an empire, and “bejeweled his throne ” (as the
Hindus say) with littérateurs. «Vikramāditya's gems” to this day
designates the little group of authors and scientists who lived at that
time, the best period of classical Sanskrit. Most famous among these
was the dramatic and lyric poet Kālidāsa; the astronomer Varāha-
mihira, whose Brihat-samhitā) is still a mine of curious facts and
contains all the astronomical science of the time; the redoubtable
Amarasinha, one of the greatest lexicographers of the world; the
learned Vararuci, the model grammarian; and many others whose
purely learned books must be excluded from best literature, but
whose works, in their variety and comprehensiveness, show how
wonderful a change had come over the literature.
To Kālidāsa three (extant) dramas are attributed; and since his
name stands at the head of this literature, it seems best to analyze
one or two of his plays as examples of Hindu dramatic art. It must
however be observed that Çūdraka, though admitted to be contem-
porary with Kālidāsa, is thought by some to be an older poet be-
cause of his style in the composition of the Mricchakatikā or (Toy
Cart' (literally (Clay Cart'), which seems to be one of the earliest
dramas. In distinction from the delicacy of Kālidāsa, Çūdraka is
especially famous for dramatic force and humor, so that he has
been called the most Shakesperean of Hindu dramatists. The author
is a king, unless, as some scholars opine, King Çūdraka covered
with his own name the authorship of a piece that was really writ-
ten by one of his subjects, — not an uncommon procedure in India.
The poet Dandin (see above) seems most likely to have been the
author of the Toy Cart,' as Çūdraka is otherwise a name unknown
in literature, and Dandin's style closely resembles that of the unknown
(Hindu Shakespeare. ' The chief persons of this play, which has ten
acts, are a poor merchant and a rich woman of the bayadère class;
there are a number of relations of the merchant, a jester, and a mass
of subsidiary characters. The plot is the love of the rich courtesan
for the poor merchant, whose noble character elevates her until she
attains her dearest wishes and is made his wife. The courtesan's
attempts to aid her destitute but worthy lover, her gradual growth
in appreciation of his character, her resolve to become morally
worthy of him, the tricks and misfortunes which thwart her, and
finally the means whereby the knot of difficulty is untied, are all
described with dramatic wit and power. The name of the drama is
taken from a slight incident in it. The merchant's little boy, weep-
ing because his toy cart, owing to his father's poverty, is made only
of clay, is overheard by the bayadère, who fills the cart with jewels
and bids him buy one of gold, like that of his rich neighbor's son.


## p. 7931 (#123) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7931
(
Kālidāsa has less drastic wit than the author of the “Toy Cart,'
but he is a finer poet. His three dramas, Çakuntalā,' Vikramor-
vaçi,' and Mālavikāgnimitra,' show throughout the same beauties
and the same defects: delicacy of imagination, great power of de-
scription, cleverness in character-study, and yet a certain lack of
strength, of the redundant force which with so sure a hand sweeps
the (Toy Cart' to its end through the maze of difficulties invented
to impede it, and at the same time overflows with apparently care-
less jest, with something of the rollicking fun that marks the genius
of Aristophanes.
Of Kālidāsa's three dramas, the first two repre-
sent the fable in dramatic form. Çakuntalā' is the best known in
Europe, as it is the most famous in India, and was fitly one of the
first works to be translated by early European scholars. Goethe has
praised it as the perfection of poetry; and it may be added that
Kālidāsa's genius is somewhat akin to Goethe's own, as has frequently
been observed by German scholars. Both the 'Çakuntalā) and the
Vikramorvaçi,' it is interesting to see, are dramatic developments of
old Vedic and Epic legends. The style, like the language, is simple;
the movement rapid; and the lyric songs, which are an important
factor in the drama, are composed with the sweetness' for which
the author is famous.
In the Cakuntalā' the plot is extremely simple. In the first act
the king secretly falls in love with Çakuntalā, the daughter of a
hermit, and she with him. This sentimental scene is followed by
one of burlesque humor, wherein the king's jester complains of the
passion for hunting which leads the king to frequent places where
there is nothing fit to eat. Çakuntalā's lovesick plaint, overheard by
the king, who thereupon declares himself and becomes her accepted
lover, forms the substance of the next act. The fourth tells that a
priest, whose dignity was offended by Çakuntalā's indifference to him,
curses her so that all lovers shall forget her; a curse subsequently
modified to mean that they shall forget her till they see a ring he
gives to her. The fifth act relates how Çakuntalā travels to court
and appears before the king, who cannot remember their intimate
relation, but is much moved by the sight of her. She seeks for the
ring, but it is lost! Pathos reigns in this scene. The sixth act again
introduces the antithetic element of burlesque to modify the senti-
mental effect produced in the last. Policemen hustle a fisherman
upon the stage, declaring that he has a ring of priceless value, which
he must have stolen. The seventh and eighth acts show how the
fisherman's ring (cut out of a fish which had swallowed it as Çakun-
talā dropped it in the water) gives the king recollection, and how he
finds Çakuntalā, who disappeared before the mystery of the ring was
cleared up and went grieving back to her father's hut. This whole


## p. 7932 (#124) ###########################################

7932
INDIAN LITERATURE
scene.
))
>
story is taken from the Mahābhārata,' embellished with dramatic
incidents.
The tale of the second drama goes even further back, and relates
the loves of Urvaçi and Purūravas, who (see above) are known as
lovers in the Rig Veda collection. Urvaçi is the Psyche and Purū-
ravas is the Eros of India. This drama has only five acts, or rather
scenes, and may be called in part an elf drama. Urvaçi is a cloud
nymph, and she disappears from heaven, having been captured by a
monster. The first scene shows her attendant nymphs bewailing her
loss, and relates how the earthly king Purūravas rescues her and
falls in love with her. The king's jealous queen makes the next
The third scene is very curious. Urvaçī, having been rescued,
and being the fairest of all nymphs, is chosen (in heaven) as the
proper person to represent a goddess in a mystery-play given to
entertain the gods. At a certain point in the play she should say
“I love Purushottama” (the god); but instead of this, owing to the
love which has grown up in her for Purūravas, she makes a mistake
and says “I love Purūravas. ” A Divine seer, who has coached her for
the part, is doubly furious, both because she has made such a mess
of her part, and that a nymph of heaven should love a mortal. He
curses her to lose her place in heaven. God Indra modifies the curse
to be this, – that she shall be with her lover on earth till he sees
her child, when she may (or must) return to heaven. The fourth
act is almost wholly lyric. Urvaçi is on earth with Purūravas, but
she steps into a holy grove into which no woman may enter, and
thereupon is changed into a vine.