Ancient Indian Literature

Ancient Indian Literature - An Overview

Indian literature is considered one of the oldest in the world. The Ancient Indian Literature dates back to the Vedic Age. The oldest literary work of India is the Rig Veda. It also happens to be the worlds oldest literary work. The scriptures of ancient Indian literature are classified into two categories - The Shruti literature and The Smriti literature. Shruti literature concerns the revealed or the heard� or 'the revealed' whereas the Smriti literature concerns 'the remembered.'

Shruti literature

• The word shruti has been derived from a Sanskrit word shrut which means to hear.


• In the ancient times, the great sages used to do tapasya and sadhana and could hear the divine truths. These divine truths were presented in the Vedas and Upanishads.


• The Vedas and Upanishads are a part of the Shruti literature.


• Shruti literature is inviolable and veritable.
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Smriti literature

• Based on Shruti literature, the Smriti literature incorporated in its texts the knowledge which was acquired through tradition or experience.


• The Manu-Smriti, shastras and several other smritis are a part of the Smriti literature.


• The Smriti literature mainly contains guidelines for moral obligations, ethics, customs and social codes.


• Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata are a part of the Smriti literature.


• Time and place can influence modifications in the Smriti literature.

History of Indian Literature

• The number of officially recognized languages in India is 22 in number. This huge variety of languages has made a significant contribution in the ancient Indian literature.


• India was one of the first places in the world to start the writing system and this began in around the 2500 BC. This was the Harappan writing. After the invasion of the Aryans around 1500 BC, the system of writing by the Harappans was forgotten and for the next 1000 years no one in India had the knowledge of writing.


• It was only around the 500 BC when people in India took to writing again and this marked one of the important episodes in the history of ancient Indian literature. It is believed that the Persians writing could have had some influence in the Indian writing at that time. However, the Persian script was not used and alphabetic writing was used. This writing was what we know as Sanskrit.


• Around 300 BC Ramayana was composed followed by Mahabharata. A portion of the Mahabharata is Bhagavad Gita.


• It was about the same time traditional stories were collected and written down by people. This collection of stories came to known as Jataka tales which were moral based.

Works on Ancient Indian Literature:-

Some of the notable ancient Indian literary works are:

• Vedas
• Ramayana and Mahabharata
• Vaastu Shastra
• Arthashastra
• Recognition of Shakuntala
• Raamcharitmaanas
• Sangam poetry
• Prabhrita and Chudaman