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Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some mixed and non-standard forms of Sanskrit.[1][a] Literature in the older language begins during the Vedic period with the composition of the Ṛg·veda between about 1500 and 1000 BCE, followed by other Vedic works right up to the time of the grammarian Pāṇini around 6th or 4th century BCE (after which Classical Sanskrit texts gradually became the norm).[3][b]
Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the extensive liturgical works of the Vedic religion, while Classical Sanskrit is the language of many of the prominent texts associated with the major Indian religions, especially Hinduism and the Hindu texts, but also Buddhism, and Jainism.[c] Some Sanskrit Buddhist texts are also composed in a version of Sanskrit often called Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit or Buddhistic Sanskrit, which contains many Middle Indic (prakritic) elements not found in other forms of Sanskrit.[6]
Early works of Sanskrit literature were transmitted through an oral tradition[d] for centuries before they were written down in manuscript form.[8][9][10]
While most Sanskrit texts were composed in ancient India, others were composed in Central Asia, East Asia or Southeast Asia.
Sanskrit literature is vast and includes Hindu texts, religious scripture, various forms of poetry (such as epic and lyric), drama and narrative prose. It also includes substantial works covering secular and technical sciences and the arts. Some of these subjects include: law and custom, grammar, politics, economics, medicine, astrology-astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, music, dance, dramatics, magic and divination, and sexuality.[11]
- ^ Fortson, §10.23.
- ^ Macdonell, p. 1.
- ^ Burrow, §2.1.
- ^ Jamison & Brereton p. 1.
- ^ Iyengar, p. 2.
- ^ Edgerton, Franklin. The Prakrit Underlying Buddhistic Hybrid Sanskrit. Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol. 8, No. 2/3, page 503.
- ^ Macdonell, p. 3.
- ^ Keith, §1.
- ^ Macdonnell, §1.
- ^ Burrow, §2.9.
- ^ Winternitz (1972) Vol I, pp. 3-4.
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