Great Books of India (South Asian Reading and Composition)
What is Sanskrit literature?
It has something to do with religion—the Vedas and all that, right? And then there is the Ramayan, the Mahabharat and that Kalidasa guy…
Even the 8th century Sanskrit poet, Dharmakīrti, had trouble getting out from under the shadow of the epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata:
Vālmīki dammed the sea with
rocks
put into place by monkeys,
and Vyāsa filled it with the
arrows shot by Pārtha;
yet neither is suspected of
hyperbole.
On the other hand, I weigh
both word and sense
And yet the public sneers and
scorns my work
O Reputation, I salute thee![1]
This course will expose you to a wide range of styles and genres from classical Sanskrit literature at the height of its prominence as a literary medium (1st to 12th century CE). We will read stories of love, works for the stage, political thrillers, historical chronicles, and vulgar satire. You will find some of the works thrilling and others tedious. The primary goals for this course are 1) to move beyond our personal tastes and probe the texts with an open mind 2) To learn how to ground analysis and interpretation in cultural and historical context so that we can start asking questions like: Why does this literature matter? For whom did it matter? Why would someone write this text; where does it fit within the larger tradition of Sanskrit literature?
[1] Ingalls, Sanskrit Poetry, from Vidyākara’s Treasury, 316 vs. 1726. Translated by Daniel Ingalls.
