Introduction

Sri Aurobindo while speaking about the greatness of Sanskrit literature says: “The ancient and classical creations of the Sanskrit tongue both in quality and in body and abundance of excellence, in their potent originality and force and beauty, in their substance and art and structure, in grandeur and justice and charm of speech and in the height and width of the reach of their spirit stand very evidently in the front rank among the world’s great literatures.” What a splendid observation! Truly, when one views Sanskrit literature from the point of its substance, value of thought, beauty of expression, art of speech, cultural heritage and social settings, one feels obligated to call it the best among all. The whole mass of Sanskrit literature covers the entire field of human experience. It is by no means restricted to grammar or philosophy or religious writings. ‘Every human emotion and aspira¬tion, every beat of the human heart, every flight of the human mind, the joys and sorrows of humanity are to be found in Sanskrit literature, and this makes it continuously meaningful’ even today.

Not only is the classical Sanskrit era oceanic in its productivity but it also reached the zenith of Indian literature. The entire field of literature – prose, poetry, drama and other writings – blossomed forth so as to give a kaleidoscopic panorama rarely found in the history of literature. The vast horizon of this literature is adorned with a galaxy of poets and creative writers like Kalidasa, Kalhana, Bhasa, Bharavi, Bhartrihari, Bhavabhuti, Banabhatta, Jayadeva, Jagannatha, Visnusarma, Visakhadatta, Vilhana, Sriharsa, Somadeva, Magha, Dandi, Asvaghosa, and many others. And the literary products of these great poets “are sufficiently abundant and representative to create a crowded and splendid impression, a many-toned picture of a high culture, a rich intellectuality, a great and ordered society with an opulent religious, aesthetic, ethical, economic, political and vital activity, a many-sided development, a plentiful life movement.”

Sanskrit is “at once majestic and sweet and flexible, strong and clearly-formed and full and vibrant and subtle, and its quality and character would be of itself a sufficient evidence of the character and quality of the race whose mind it expressed and culture of which it was the reflecting medium.” Thus states Sri Aurobindo. One can find in the works of Kalidasa, Bharavi, Magha, Sivasvami, Banabhatta, Bhavabhuti, the majesty of Sanskrit language and in the works of Sriharsa, Dandi and Jayadeva, its sweetness. The flexibility of this language can clearly be observed in the Citrakavya or figurative literature. Strength and structural perfection are seen in almost all the literary works of Sanskrit. One can feel the subtle vibration of the sounds in the the stotras written by the seer poets. The philosophical texts and other Shastras reveal its utmost subtlety.

In next twelve issues we will reflect upon twelve glinting stars of the Galaxy of Sanskrit Literature: Bhasa, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Bharavi, Banabhatta, Magha, Shudraka, Bhartrihari, Vishnusharma, Sriharsha, Dandi and Jayadeva.