Part of a series on Hindu scriptures
Vedas
Rigveda · Yajurveda
Samaveda · Atharvaveda
Vedic divisions
Samhita · Brahmana
Aranyaka  · Upanishad
Upanishads
Aitareya  · Bṛhadāraṇyaka
Īṣa  · Taittirīya · Chāndogya
Kena  · Muṇḍaka
Māṇḍūkya  ·Praśna
Śvetaśvatara
Vedanga
Śikshā · Chandas
Vyakarana · Nirukta
Jyotisha · Kalpa
Itihasa
Mahabharata · Ramayana
Other scriptures
Smriti · Purana
Bhagavad Gita · Sutra
Pancharatra · Tantra
Kumara Vyasa Bharata · Stotra
Hanuman Chalisa · Ramacharitamanas
Shikshapatri · Vachanamrut
See also
Mythology This box: view • talk • edit

Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. Written in Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindi, it includes some of the oldest epic poetry ever created and some works form the basis of Hindu scripture. Hindu scripture is overwhelmingly written in Sanskrit. ... Image File history File links Aum. ... The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेद) are the main scriptural texts of Hinduism, also known as the Sanatana Dharma, and are a large corpus of texts originating in Ancient India. ... The Rigveda (Sanskrit: , a tatpurusha compound of praise, verse and knowledge) is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to the gods. ... The Yajurveda (Sanskrit , a tatpurusha compound of sacrifice + veda knowledge) is one of the four Hindu Vedas. ... The Samaveda (Sanskrit: सामवेद, sāmaveda, a tatpurusha compound of ritual chant + knowledge ), is third in the usual order of enumeration of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. ... The Atharvaveda (Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद, , a tatpurusha compound of , a type of priest, and meaning knowledge) is a sacred text of Hinduism, and one of the four Vedas, often called the fourth Veda. According to tradition, the Atharvaveda was mainly composed by two groups of rishis known as the Bhrigus and the... The Samhita (Sanskrit: joined or collected) is the basic text of each of the Vedas, comprising collections of hymns and ritual texts. ... The Brahmana (Sanskrit ब्राह्मण) are part of the Hindu Shruti; They are composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and the period of their composition is sometimes referred to as the Brahmanic period or age (approximately between 900 BC and 500 BC). ... The Aranyakas (Sanskrit आरण्यक, Forest Books, Forest Treatises) are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures are sometimes argued to be part of either the Brahmanas or Upanishads. ... The Upanishads (Devanagari: उपनिषद्, ; also known as and ) are part of the Vedas and form the Hindu scriptures which primarily discuss philosophy, meditation and nature of God; they form the core spiritual thought of Vedantic Hinduism. ... The Aitareya Upanishad is one of the older, primary Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. ... The Upanishad is one of the older, primary (mukhya) Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. ... The Isha Upanishad () or Ishopanishad (), also known as the Ishavasya Upanishad (), is a Sanskrit poem (or sequence of mantras) from the Upanishads and is considered Åšruti by followers of a number of diverse traditions within Hinduism. ... The Taittiriya Upanishad is one of the Upanishads associated to the taittiriya samhita of the Black Yajurveda. ... The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the main ten Upanishads of Hinduism. ... The Kena Upanishad (), is one of the older, primary Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. ... Mundaka Upanishad is an Upanishad of the Atharva Veda. ... MāndÅ«kya Upanishad is one of the shortest Upanishads, that form the speculative metaphysical parts of the Hindu texts, the Vedas. ... Prashna Upanishad (IAST ) is one of the older, primary Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. ... The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is one of the 33 Upanishads of Krishna Yajurveda or Black Yajurveda . ... The Vedanga (IAST , member of the Veda) are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas. ... Shiksha (IAST ) is one of the six Vedangas, treating the traditional Hindu science of phonetics and phonology of Sanskrit. ... The verses of the Vedas have a variety of different meters. ... The Sanskrit grammatical tradition of , is one of the six Vedanga disciplines. ... Nirukta is Vedic glossary of difficult words. ... Jyotisha (, in Hindi and English usage Jyotish) is the Hindu system of astrology, one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, and regarded as one of the oldest schools of ancient astrology to have had an independent origin, affecting all other schools in and around India. ... Kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, treating ritual. ... Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra The (Devanagari: ), is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . ... For the television series by Ramanand Sagar, see Ramayan (TV series). ... Smriti (Sanskrit स्मॄति, that which is remembered) refers to a specific canon of Hindu religious scripture. ... Purana (Sanskrit: पुराण , meaning ancient or old) is the name of a genre (or a group of related genres) of Hinduism literature (as distinct from oral literature). ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... SÅ«tra (sex) (Sanskrit) or Sutta (Pāli) literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. ... Pañcaratra is an pre-Puranic form of Hinduism, which equated Narayana with Vishnu. ... The Tantra (Looms or Weavings), refer to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. ... Kumara Vyasa is the pen name of Gadhugina Naranappa who is one of the most famous poets in the Kannada language, spoken in the state of Karnataka, India. ... Stotras are Hindu prayers that praise aspects of God, such as Devi, Siva, or Vishnu. ... Hanuman Chalisa (Forty chaupais on Hanuman) is Tulsidas most famous and read piece of literature apart from the Ramacharitamanasa, a poem primarily praising Hanuman. ... ÅšrÄ« Rāmcaritmānas (Hindi: रामचरितमानस) is an epic poem composed by the great 16th-century Indian poet, Goswami Tulsidas (c. ... The Shikshapatri is a text of two hundred and twelve verses, and was written by Shree Swaminarayan, a reforming Hindu from the Vaishnava tradition, who lived in Gujarat from 1781-1830 and who was recognised by his followers as a deity during his lifetime. ... The Vachanamrut The Vachanamrut or the nectarine discourses of Bhagwan Swaminarayan is the most sacred and foundational scripture of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. ... Hindu mythology is a term used by modern scholarship for a large body of Indian literature that details the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ... The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, and one of the major forms of narrative literature. ... Satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... Sanskrit ( , ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... Hindi (Devanagari: हिन्दी or हिंदी; IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union government of India [1][2]. It is part of a dialect continuum of the Indic family, bounded on the northwest and west by Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu, and Gujarati... Hindu scripture is overwhelmingly written in Sanskrit. ...

Sanskrit Epics

The ancient Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, also termed Itihāsa or Mahakavya ("Great Compositions"), refer to epic poems that form a canon of Hindu scripture. Indeed, the epic form prevailed and verse was and remained until very recently the preferred form of Hindu literary works. Hero-worship was and is a central aspect of Indian culture, and thus 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. Sanskrit ( , ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, and one of the major forms of narrative literature. ... For the television series by Ramanand Sagar, see Ramayan (TV series). ... Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra The (Devanagari: ), is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . ... Hindu scripture is overwhelmingly written in Sanskrit. ... Hinduism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... From the Greek , in mythology and folklore, a hero (male) or heroine (female) usually fulfills the definitions of what is considered good and noble in the originating culture. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditio which means to hand down or to hand over. ... Purana (Sanskrit: पुराण , meaning ancient or old) is the name of a genre (or a group of related genres) of Hinduism literature (as distinct from oral literature). ... HIStory: Past, Present and Future – Book I is a two-disc album by Michael Jackson released in 1995 by the Epic Records division of Sony BMG. The first disc (HIStory Begins) is a fifteen-track greatest hits (later released as Greatest Hits - HIStory Volume I), while the second disc (HIStory... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

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. ... Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, which are the earliest sacred texts of India,. The Vedas were first passed down orally and therefore have no known date. ...

The famous poet and playwright Kālidāsa also wrote two epics: Raghuvamsha (Dynasty of Raghu) and Kumarasambhava (Birth of Kumar Kartikeya), though they were written in Classical Sanskrit rather than Epic Sanskrit. Kālidāsa (DevanāgarÄ«: कालिदास) was a Sanskrit poet and dramatist, his title Kavikulaguru (Preceptor of All Poets) bearing testimony to his stature. ... Kalidasas Raghuvamsha tells of the family of Rama and his descendents, including the conqueror Raghu. ... Kumarasambhava means the birth of kartikeya, Shivas first son. ...

Tamil Epics

Main article: The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature

The post-sangam period (2nd century-6th century) saw many great Tamil epics being written, including Cilappatikaram (or Silappadhikaram), Manimegalai, Jeevaga-chintamani, Valayapati and Kundalakesi. 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 Ramayana. Manimegalai, Seevaga Sindhamani, Valayaapathi, Kundalakesi and Silapadhigaaram constitute the Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. ... now. ... The 2nd century is the period from 101 - 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... Cilappatikaram (Tamil: சிலப்பதிகாரம் IPA tʃɪlÊŒppʌθɪkɑːɹʌm),[1] is one of the five great epics of ancient Tamil Literature. ... Cilappatikaram (The Ankle Bracelet - initial c pronounced like the first syllable of chat) also spelled as Cilappadhikaram or Silappadhigaram, is one of the five great epics of ancient Tamil Literature. ... Manimekalai is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature and belongs to The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. ... Jeevaga-chintamani (transliterated with innumerable variations) is a classical Tamil language epic poem. ... The Cholas were the most famous of the three dynasties that ruled ancient Tamil Nadu. ... Kambar is one of the greatest Tamil poets. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... Kamba Ramayanam is a Tamil epic that was written by Kamban during the 9th century. ... Kambar is one of the greatest Tamil poets. ...

Hindi Epics

The first epic to appear in Hindi was Tulsidas' (1543-1623) Ramacharitamanasa, also based on the Ramayana. It is considered a great classic of Hindi epic poetry and literature, and shows the author Tulsidas in complete command over all the important styles of composition — narrative, epic, lyrical and dialectic. He has given a human character to Rama, the Hindu avatar of Vishnu, portraying him as an ideal son, husband, brother and king. GosvāmÄ« TulsÄ«dās (1532-1623; DevanāgarÄ«: तुलसीदास) was an Awadhi poet and philosopher. ... // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sri Ramacharit Manas. ... Lord Sri Rama (center) with wife Sita, brother Lakshmana and devotee Hanuman. ... The ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, copyright BBT In Hindu philosophy, an avatar, avatara or avataram (Sanskrit: , IAST: ), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. ... Vishnu (IAST , Devanagari , with honorific Shri Vishnu; , ), (also frequently referred to as Narayana) is the most popularly worshipped form of God in Hinduism [1]. Within the Vaishnava tradition he is viewed as the Ultimate Reality or Supreme God (similarly to Shiva within Shaivism). ...

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. Kamayani (Hindi:कामायनी) (1936) is a Hindi epic poem(Mahakaavya) by Jaishankar Prasad. ... Jaishankar Prasad (January 30, 1889 - January 14, 1937) (Hindi: जयशंकर प्रसाद) was one of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature. ... Shatapatha Brahmana (Brahmana of one-hundred paths) is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... In Hindu mythology, Manu is a title accorded the progenitor of humankind, first king to rule this earth, the Indian Noah who saves mankind from flood from the universal flood. ... Shraddha are the funeral rites and funeral offerings for the dead among the Hindus. ... Ida was the Hindu goddess of the earth, abundant food, and nourishment. ...

See also

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