Indian Literature.

Indian Vedic literature belongs to a period from century 3500 to 600 B.C. As per the ancient literature, there are four Vedas in India ie. Rig-Veda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Athatrvanaveda.Out of the Vedas Rig-Veda is the earliest and contain a description of the life of the people during those days. The fourth Veda contains information of various topics. These are the beginning sources for the history of the early period in India, known as the “Vedic” period.

The vedangas are the complimentary sciences of the Vedas. There are are six in number viz Phonetics, ritual, grammer, etymology, metrics and astronomy. The great Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are a Rich source of valuable material for history. The puranas are stories of ancient dynastic in India. There are eighteen puranas and eighteen upa-puranas. They deal with ancient dynastic of India such as the purus, kurus, Nandas, Mauriyas,shungas,kanvas,Andhras,Guptas. Some puranas deal with social History of India in those days.

The Buddhist sacred literature is known as “Tripitaka”.The teaching of Gautama Buddha is arranged in three groups. He treated the rich and the poor alike. He preached the control of desire can be achieved by the eight fold path-the practice of right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation. The Vedic language is very difficult to read and understand.

The “Arthashastra” of Kautilya { friend of kingChandragupta Maurya and a great scholar } gives an idea of the high standard of political thought and organisation.The teaching of Buddha were spread to foreign lands by the efforts of Indian King Ashoka. The Chinese accepted Buddhism in large numbers and several Chinese devotees visited India on a pilgrimage. Yuan-Chwang{Hiuen-Tsang} came to India and lived here for fifteen years had close relations with King Harshavardhana and Nalanda University and visited many parts of India. In India valuable material concerning prehistoric and historic civilizations has been discovered by excavation.

{Indian Literature will continue}
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