A History of Indian Literature Vol I. Introduction, Veda, National Epics, Puranas and Tantras

History of Indian Literature is a classic work covering the entire gamut of Indian secular and religious literature including epic, Iyric, dramatic and didactic poetry, as well as narrative and scientific prose. It includes not only the large number of works of religious literature - hymns, sacrificial songs, incantations, myths and legends, sermons, theological treatises, polemical writings, manuals of instruction on ritual and religious discipline but also the Iyrical and dramatic works, including the two great epics, the fairy-tales, fables, prose-narratives, the belles-lettres and works on various sciences.

The inclusion of this vast material, covering almost three thousand years of literary activity, could not be compressed into a single volume. Hence this was divided into two volumes by the author. Volume I includes, besides an introductory chapter, the Vedas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Tantras, while volume II deals with the Buddhist and the Jaina literature with an Index at the end of each volume.

About the Author:

Maurice Winternitz was born in Austria on 23 December 1863. After the completion of his studies at his native town, he entered the University of Vienna in 1880 for higher studies. In 1885, he was awarded doctorate for his theses on 'Ancient Indian marriage ritual according to Apastamba, compared with the marriage customs of the Indo-European peoples.' In 1898 he went over to Oxford as an amanuensis of Prof. Max Muller where he stayed for 16 years during which he worked for the preparation of the second edition of the Rgveda. During this period, he began the task of cataloguing the Vedic manuscripts in the Bodleian Library and the Whish Collection of South Indian manuscripts at the Royal Asiatic Society, London, besides working on a General Index to the 49 Volumes of the Sacred Books of the East series. In 1899, he was appointed Lecturer of Indo-Aryan Philology and Ethnology at the University of Prague and, in 1911, to the chair. In 1904, he established a special library of Indology and Ethnology at the University. He came to India, in 1922 at the invitation of Rabindranath Tagore. During the sojourn in India, he delivered lectures at Universities and learned societies. He also wrote over 450 articles. He died on 9 January 1937.

Preface to the English Translation
Preface to the German edition
List of Abbreviations used in the Notes
Directions for Pronunciation of Indian Names and Words

INTRODUCTION

Extent and Significance of Indian Literature
The Beginnings of the Study of Indian Literature in Europe
The Chronology of Indian Literature
The Art of Writing and the Transmission of Indian Literature
Indian Languages in their Relation to Literature

What is the Veda?
The Rgveda-Samhita
The Atharvaveda-Samhita
The Samaveda-Samhita
The Samhitas of the Yajurveda
The Brahmanas
Aranyakas and Upanisads
The Fundamental Doctrines of the Upanisads
The Vedangas
The Literature of Ritual
The Exegetic Vedangas
The Age of the Veda

The Beginnings of Epic Poetry in India
What is the Mahabharata?
The Principal Narrative of the Mahabharata
Ancient Heroic Poetry in the Mahabharata
Brahmanical Myths and Legends in the Mahabharata
Fables, Parables and Moral Narratives in the Mahabharata
The Didactic Sections of the Mahabharata
The Harivamsa, an Appendix to the Mahabharata
The Age and History of the Mahabharata
The Ramayana, both a Popular Epic and an Ornate Poem
Contents of the Ramayana
The Genuine and the Spurious in the Ramayana
The Age of the Ramayana
The Puranas and their Position in Indian Literature
Survey of the Purana Literature
The Tantra Literature (Samhitas, Agamas, Tantras)

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS

INDEX