Sanskrit language
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| :''[[Sanskrit literature]]'' | :''[[Sanskrit literature]]'' | ||
| - | A [[classical]] [[language]] of India ("Indian Latin"), a [[liturgical]] language of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Sikhism]], [[Jainism]], and one of the 23 official languages of [[India]]. Member of [[Indo-Iranian]] and thus [[Indo-European]] language family. | + | A [[classical language]] of India ("Indian Latin"), a [[liturgical]] language of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Sikhism]], [[Jainism]], and one of the 23 official languages of [[India]]. Member of [[Indo-Iranian]] and thus [[Indo-European]] language family. |
| - | ===Fairy tales and fables=== | + | ==See also== |
| - | Sanskrit fairy tales and fables are chiefly characterised by ethical reflections and proverbial philosophy. A peculiar style, marked by the insertion of a number of different stories within the framework of a single narrative, made its way to Persian and Arabic literatures, exerting a major influence on works such as ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]''. | + | *[[Panchatantra]] |
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| - | The two most important collections are [[Panchatantra]] and [[Hitopadesha]]; originally intended as manuals for the instruction of kings in domestic and foreign policy, they belong to the class of literature which the Hindus call ''nīti-śāstra'', or "Science of Political Ethics". | + | |
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| - | Other notable prose works include a collection of pretty and ingenious fairy tales, with a highly Oriental colouring, the ''Vetāla-panchaviṃśati'' or "Twenty-five Tales of the Vetāla" (a demon supposed to occupy corpses), the ''Siṃhāsana-dvātriṃçikā'' or "Thirty-two Stories of the Lion-seat" (i.e. throne), which also goes by the name of ''Vikrama-charita'', or "Adventures of Vikrama" and the ''[[Śuka-saptati]]'', or "[[Seventy Stories of a Parrot]]". These three collections of fairy tales are all written in prose and are comparatively short. | + | |
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| - | [[Somadeva]]'s [[Kathāsaritsāgara|Kathā-sarit-sāgara]] or "Ocean of Rivers of Stories" is a work of special importance: composed in verse and is of very considerable length. It contains more than 22,000 [[shlokas]], equal to nearly one-fourth of the [[Mahābhārata]]. | + | |
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| - | Fable collections, originally serving as the handbooks of practical moral philosophy, provided an abundant reservoir of ethical maxims that become so popular that works consisting exclusively of poetical aphorisms started to appear. The most important are the two collections by the highly-gifted [[Bhartṛhari]], entitled respectively ''Nīti-śataka'', or "Century of Conduct," and ''Vairāgya-śataka'', or "Century of Renunciation." The keynote prevailing in this new ethical poetry style is the doctrine of the vanity of human life, which was developed before the rise of Buddhism in the sixth century B.C., and has dominated Indian thought ever since. | + | |
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A classical language of India ("Indian Latin"), a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. Member of Indo-Iranian and thus Indo-European language family.
See also
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