Indian Epic Poetry

Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in Sanskrit and later translated into many other Indian languages, and the Five Great Epics of Tamil literature and Sangam literature are some of the oldest surviving epic poems ever written.

Hindi epics

In modern Hindi literature, ''Kamayani'' by Jaishankar Prasad has attained the status of an epic. The narrative of Kamayani is based on a popular mythological story, first mentioned in Satapatha Brahmana. It is a story of the great flood and the central characters of the epic poem are Manu (a male) and Shraddha (a female). Manu is representative of the human psyche and Shradha represents love. Another female character is Ida, who represents rationality. Some critics surmise that the three lead characters of Kamayani symbolize a synthesis of knowledge, action and desires in human life. It inspires humans to live a life based on "karm" and not on fortunes.

Apart from Kamayani, '' Kurukshetra (Epic Poetry)'' (1946), ''Rashmirathi'' (1952) and '' Urvashi'' (1961) by Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' have attained the status of epic poetry.

Likewise ''Lalita Ke Aansoo'' by Krant M. L. Verma (1978) narrates the tragic story about the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri through his wife Lalita Shastri.

Kannada epics

Kannada epic poetry mainly consists of Jain religious literature and Lingayat literature. Asaga wrote ''Vardhaman Charitra'', an epic which runs in 18 cantos, in 853 CE, the first Sanskrit biography of the 24th and last tirthankara of Jainism, Mahavira, though his Kannada-language version of Kalidasa's epic poem, ''Kumārasambhava'', ''Karnataka Kumarasambhava Kavya'' is lost. The most famous poet from this period is Pampa (902-975 CE), one of the most famous writers in the Kannada language. His ''Vikramarjuna Vijaya'' (also called the ''Pampabharatha'') is hailed as a classic even to this day. With this and his other important work Ādi purāṇa he set a trend of poetic excellence for the Kannada poets of the future. The former work is an adaptation of the celebrated Mahabharata, and is the first such adaptation in Kannada. Noted for the strong human bent and the dignified style in his writing, Pampa has been one of the most influential writers in Kannada. He is identified as ''Adikavi'' "first poet". It is only in Kannada that we have a Ramayana and a Mahabharata based on the Jain tradition in addition to those based on Brahmanical tradition.

Shivakotiacharya was the first writer in prose style. His work Vaddaradhane is dated to 900 CE. Sri Ponna (939-966 CE) is also an important writer from the same period, with ''Shanti Purana'' as his magnum opus. Another major writer of the period is ''Ranna'' (949-? CE). His most famous works are the Jain religious work ''Ajita Tirthankara Purana'' and the Gada Yuddha, a birds' eye view of the ''Mahabharata'' set in the last day of the battle of Kurukshetra and relating the story of the Mahabharata through a series of flashbacks. Structurally, the poetry in this period is in the ''Champu'' style, essentially poetry interspersed with lyrical prose.

The ''Siribhoovalaya'' is a unique work of multilingual Kannada literature written by Kumudendu Muni, a Jain monk. The work is unique in that it does not employ letters, but is composed entirely in Kannada numerals. The ''Saangathya'' metre of Kannada poetry is employed in the work. It uses numerals 1 through 64 and employs various patterns or ''bandhas'' in a frame of 729 (27×27) squares to represent letters in nearly 18 scripts and over 700 languages. Some of the patterns used include the ''Chakrabandha'', ''Hamsabandha'', ''Varapadmabandha'', ''Sagarabandha'', ''Sarasabandha'', ''Kruanchabandha'', ''Mayurabandha'', ''Ramapadabandha'', and ''Nakhabandha''. As each of these patterns are identified and decoded, the contents can be read. The work is said to have around 600,000 verses, nearly six times as big as the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata''.

The ''Prabhulingaleele'', '' Basava purana'', ''Channabasavapurana'' and ''Basavarajavijaya'' are a few of the Lingayat epics.

Meitei epics

Meitei language (officially known as Manipuri language), an old Sino-Tibetan language, originated from Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur) in North East India, is a language with a rich granary of epic poetries, mostly written in archaic version of the Meitei script in PuYas, the Meitei texts.

The sagas of the seven epic cycles of incarnations of the two divine lovers were originated from the shoreline Moirang around the Loktak lake in Manipur. Their stories were composed in both prose and poetry, among which the ballad versions were usually sung by the minstrels, playing Pena (musical instrument) since ancient times.

The '' Khamba Thoibi'' is regarded as the greatest of all the Meitei epics. It consists of approximately 34,000 verses, even longer than the Ramayana. The epic poetry has fifteen chapters ( mni, Pandup) and ninety two sections ( mni, Taangkak). It is based on the legendary love story of Khuman Khamba, an orphan man, and Thoibi, the then princess of Moirang. Though the legend existed in the immortal songs of the Meitei balladeers, it was composed in a proper poetic version under the title "Khamba Thoibi Seireng", by Hijam Anganghal in 1940.

The '' Numit Kappa'', literally meaning "Shooting at the Sun" in Meitei, is a 1st century BC Meitei epic, based on the story of a hero named ''Khwai Nungjeng Piba'', who shoots one of the two shining suns in the sky, to create the night.

The ''Ougri'' is the collection of musical epic poetries, associated with religious themes, originated during the reign of King Nongda Lairen Pakhangba in 33 AD. Other epics include ''Shingel Indu'' by Hijam Anganghal, ''Khongjom Tirtha'' by Nilabir Sharma, ''Chingoi Baruni'' by Gokul Shastri, ''Kansa Vadha'' by A. Dorendrajit, and ''Vasudeva Mahakavya'' by Chingangbam Kalachand.
However, the Sanskrit epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana were also translated into Meitei language in the medieval times.
Other translated epic works include the ''Meghnad Badh Kavya'', the '' Bhagavad Gita'', and the ''Ashtakam''.

Assamese epics

In 14th century Madhav Kandali dubbed the epic Ramayana as Saptakanda Ramayana. In chronology, among vernacular translations of the original Sanskrit, Kandali's Ramayana comes after Kamban's ( Tamil, 12th century), and ahead of Kirttivas' ( Bengali, 15th century), Tulsidas' ( Awadhi, 16th century), Balaram Das' (Oriya) etc. Thus it becomes the first rendition of the Ramayana into an Indo-Aryan language in the Indian subcontinent.

Sanskrit epics

The ancient Sanskrit epics the ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'' comprise together the Itihāsa ("Writer has himself witnessed the story") or Mahākāvya ("Great Compositions"), a canon of Hindu scripture. Indeed, the epic form prevailed and verse remained until very recently the preferred form of Hindu literary works. Indian culture readily lent itself to a literary tradition that abounded in epic poetry and literature. The Puranas, a massive collection of verse-form histories of India's many Hindu gods and goddesses, followed in this tradition. Itihāsa and Puranas are mentioned in the Atharva Veda and referred to as the ''fourth Veda''.Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.1.2,4

The language of these texts, termed ''Epic Sanskrit'', constitutes the earliest phase of Classical Sanskrit, following the latest stage of Vedic Sanskrit found in the Shrauta Sutras. The '' Suparṇākhyāna'', a late Vedic poem considered to be among the "earliest traces of epic poetry in India," is an older, shorter precursor to the expanded legend of Garuda that is included within the ''Mahābhārata''.

The Buddhist kavi Aśvaghoṣa wrote two epics and one drama. He lived in the 1st-2nd century. He wrote a biography of the Buddha, titled Buddhacarita. His second epic is called Saundarananda and tells the story of the conversion of Nanda, the younger brother of the Buddha. The play he wrote is called Śariputraprakaraṇa, but of this play only a few fragments remained.

The famous poet and playwright Kālidāsa also wrote two epics: '' Raghuvamsha'' (''The Dynasty of Raghu'') and '' Kumarasambhava'' (''The Birth of Kumar Kartikeya''). Other Classical Sanskrit epics are the ''Slaying of Śiśupāla'' ''Śiśupālavadha'' of Māgha, ''Arjuna and the Mountain Man'' '' Kirātārjunīya'' of Bhāravi, the ''Adventures of the Prince of Nishadha'' '' Naiṣadhacarita'' of Śrīharṣa and ''Bhaṭṭi's Poem'' ''Bhaṭṭikāvya'' of Bhaṭṭi.

Tamil epics

The post- sangam period (2nd century-6th century) saw many great Tamil epics being written, including ''Cilappatikaram'' (or '' Silappadhikaram''), ''Manimegalai'', '' Civaka Cintamani'', '' Valayapathi'' and ''Kundalakesi''. Out of the five, ''Manimegalai'' and ''Kundalakesi'' are Buddhist religious works, ''Civaka Cintamani'' and ''Valayapathi'' are Tamil Jain works and ''Silappatikaram'' has a neutral religious view. They were written over a period of 1st century CE to 10th century CE and act as the historical evidence of social, religious, cultural and academic life of people during the era they were created. ''Civaka Cintamani'' introduced long verses called ''virutha pa'' in Tamil literature,Datta 2004, p. 720 while ''Silappatikaram'' used ''akaval'' meter (monologue), a style adopted from Sangam literature.

Later, during the Chola period, Kamban (12th century) wrote what is considered one of the greatest Tamil epics — the ''Kamba Ramayanam'' of Kamban, based on the Valmiki Ramayana. The Thiruthondat Puranam (or Periya Puranam) of Chekkizhar is the great Tamil epic of the Shaiva Bhakti saints and is part of the religious scripture of Tamil Nadu's majority Shaivites.

Notes

References

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External links

MAHE Mahabharata Digital Concordance
by i Department of Philosophy - Manipal]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Epic Poetry

Classical literature
Indian poetics
History of literature in India
Kannada literature
Meitei literature
Sanskrit literature
Tamil-language literature
Epic poetry
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