PENSIONERS' VOICE & SOUND TRACK Editor: R K Sahni
A FORUM FOR LIC PENSIONERS
PENSIONERS' VOICE AND SOUND TRACK APPEALS YOU "USE MASK""KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCE" "GHAR BATHO ZINDA RAHO" "STAY HOME SAVE LIVES"
DEAR FRIENDS, CONGRATS, YOUR BLOG CROSSED 3268000 HITS ON 01.02.2023
THE BLOG WAS LAUNCHED ON 23.11.2014,HAVE A GREAT DAY
VISIT 'PENSIONERS VOICE & SOUND TRACK' WAY TO CATCH UP ON PENSIONER RELATED NEWS!
Monday 19 June 2017
A MUST READ Ten Sanskrit texts everyone must read!
A MUST READ Ten Sanskrit texts everyone must read!
Ten Sanskrit texts everyone must read
Here's a list that will give help you get a flavour of what Sanskrit is about.
With a corpus that stretches over thousands of years and covers so many different domains, all lists are subjective and arbitrary and leave out so many others, all equally deserving of mention. But to get a flavour of what Sanskrit is about, this is my top-10 reading list. Its numbering doesn't reflect any prioritisation. Obviously, it also reflects my biases.
Valmiki
Ramayana
-
Valimiki was the first Sanskrit poet. He invented the shloka. In roughly 25,000 shlokas, this is the first work of Sanskrit literature, though other Sanskrit texts pre-date Valmiki. This is beautiful poetry, especially in the first 6 kandas, and unlike classical Sanskrit literature, it is simple in structure, easily understood. Yes, the
Ramayana
is about Rama's journey and it has religious significance. But it is much more.
Mahabharata
- As poetry, most of the
Mahabharata
is not as good as the
Ramayana
, since there have probably been multiple composers, not just Vedavyasa. Depending on the version, 85,000 to 100,000 shlokas is huge. It resonates because human sentiments and dilemmas are eternal, though the context changes. The
Mahabharata
isn't just about the core Kuru-Pandava story. It has geography, governance, dharma, royal policy. It has multiple Gitas, of which, the
Bhagavad
Gita
is one.
The
Puranas
- Vedavyasa didn't end with the
Mahabharata
. He composed the
Puranas
. The 18 major
Puranas
amount to 400,000 shlokas. (It is a different matter that Vedavyasa probably composed only one original
Purana
text.) Many of the stories and popular practices we are familiar with don't come from Veda, Vedanta and Vedanga, or even the 2 itihasa-es of
Ramayana
and
Mahabharata
, but the
Puranas
, particularly the 18 major
Puranas
. The list of 18 varies. So when I say
Purana
, I mean both the Vayu and the Shiva. Though not quite a Purana, I would include Hari Vamsha too.
Arthashastra
- Kautilya/Chanakya's
Arthashast ra
is a remarkable text on statecraft and governance and covers international relations, strategy, taxation and jurisprudence. There are similar sections in Shanti and Anushasana Parvas of
Mahabharata
too. Though the antecedents are a little bit more uncertain, I would include the aphorisms known as Chanakya's Niti too.
Panchatantra
- Artha Shastra is about teaching kings, after a fashion. This naturally takes us to Vishnu Sharma's
Panchatantra
, and even the allied text of Hitopadesha. These are allegories, a bit like
Aesop's Fables
. The Sanskrit is simple and through these allegories, one learns about human behaviour and policy, not only for princes. Many of these stories are familiar, through popular renderings. Why not read them in the Sanskrit and get the context of Sanskrit phrases and shlokas that are often cited?
Kalidasa
- The beauty of classical Sanskrit literature is represented by Kalidasa. The Sanskrit becomes more complicated and one needs a commentary. Each person has a favourite. I would pick
Meghadutam
,
Raghuvamsham
and
Kumarasambhavam
. But for the record, let me mention
Abhijnanashakuntalam
an d
Vikramorvashiyam
. The beauty of similes/metaphors and geographical descriptions leaves you spellbound. I challenge anyone to find a poet where a toadstool has figured in his/her poetry. (Meghadutam).
Mahakavyas
- This is cheating, because I am throwing in multiple authors in this category. There is a specific definition of a Mahakavya
(
great poetic work). Other than Kalidasa, we then have Bharavi's
Kiratarjuniya
, Magha's
Shishupala-Vadha
, Shriharsha's
Naishada Charitra
and perhaps Bhatti's
Bhattikavya
. With a little bit more of cheating, if one throws in Dandin's
Dashakumaracharita
, we have covered all of classical Sanskrit literature.
The literature story can't be complete without Jayadeva and
Gitagovindam
, which brought a completely different character to Sanskrit poetry, such as rhyming, in addition to the tradition of metres (chhanda). Just so that we don't think there is no tradition of satire in Sanskrit, how about adding Kshemendra? Although not quite satire, this is the right place to mention Bhartihari, especially the Shatakatraya. Since I have brought in Kshemendra (and Kashmir), how can one not mention Kalhana's
Rajatarangini
, the only proper "history".
Vedanta/Vedanga
- This is a bit of cheating again, since too many texts are being clubbed under the same heading. By Vedanta, I primarily mean the 11 major
Upanishads
. It is important to read them in Sanskrit, with commentaries. Translations, however good, don't suffice. Though not quite "Vedanta", one can conveniently slip in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Under the guise of Vedanga, I am slipping in several major texts on phonetics, grammar, etymology, metres, rituals and astronomy. Though outside Vedanga proper, Ayurveda texts like Charaka and Sushruta.
Dharmasutras
and
Dharmashastra s
- Since they form the basis of jurisprudence, personal law and practices and since they are often maligned by people who haven't read them, how can one ignore these? I am ducking the distinction between
Dharmasutras
and
Dharma shastras
. I would include Apasthambha, Gautama, Vasishtha, Manu, Yajnavalkya, Narada, Vishnu and Brihasapati in the essential list.
RB Kishore
VP,AIRIEF,
ED(Retd),LIC
Life Member,Probus Club
044-2815 5810 & 098 4034 0591
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Newer Post
Older Post
Home
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment