Essay name: Glimpses of History of Sanskrit Literature
Author: Satya Vrat Shastri
This books, called “Glimpses of History of Sanskrit Literature” explores the intricate history of Sanskrit literature, covering ancient, medieval, and modern periods. This book also delves into the scholarly aspects of classic epics, the synthesis of Sanskrit with contemporary cultures, and the propagation methods for Sanskrit education.
Page 277 of: Glimpses of History of Sanskrit Literature
277 (of 636)
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Glimpses of History of Sanskrit Literature / 271
may convey just a wise saying, good advice. Sanskrit literature
from the
earliest to the modern period is
full of such sayings.
The Brāhmaṇa
and the Sūtra
texts,
the
Upanisads, the Rāmāyaṇa,
the Mahabharata,
the Purāṇas and
the classical literature-all
are full of such sayings. An overwhelming number of them is in
verse and are
couched in
highly ornate and elegant style. Over
a period of time these sayings were collected from different
texts and their compilations prepared. A good number of them
were ascribed to Caṇakya, the preceptor and minister of Mauryan
Emperor Candragupta, the works like the Cāṇakyanīti, the
Canakyaśataka, the Caṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa, the Cāṇakya-rājanīti,
the Vṛddhacāṇakya, the Laghucāṇakya and so on. Scholars have
no unanimity about the authorship of these works. However,
what they convey has universal application and appeal. They
incorporate in them highly pragmatic wisdom just a sample of
which can be had from the following verse:
nātyantasaralair bhāvyaṃ gatvā pasya vanasthalim/
dola a chidyante saralās tatra kubjās tiṣṭhanti pādapāḥ//
bonis "(People) should not be too simple-minded. Go. Look at
the forest-ground. It is the Sarala variety of pine trees (that are
straight and tall) that are cut while the pigmy/crooked ones that
continue in situ."
Of the other Nīti texts mention may be made of Vararuci's
Nitiratna, Ghaṭakarpara's Nītisāra, Vetālabhaṭṭa's Nītipradīpa,
Bhartṛhari's Nītiśataka (noticed earlier), the Bhallataśataka of
Bhallata, the protégé of King Sankaradeva of Kashmir (883-
902 A.D. The last one may not claim originality for itself in its
entirety, two of its verses having been ascribed to two different
authors in anthologies and one of Anandavardhana figuring in it.
Bilhaṇa, the author of the well-known historical Mahākāvya
the Vikramānkadevacarita, had also composed a Nitikavya under
the title Säntiśataka. Among the other Kashmirian writers one
Sambhu, the protégé of King Harṣa (1089-1101 A.D.) had
CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S3 Foundation USA
