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Gupta Era
320 ce — 550 ce
Gupta dynasty was founded by
Chandra Gupta I
Development of Mahayana
Buddhism
Classical Age in north India
Cave paintings at Ajanta
Kumardevi and Chandragupta I
Sakuntala, Jataka, (Minted by their son Samudragupta)
Panchatantra and Kamasutra 335-370 ce
Gold Dinar
were written Weight: 7.8 gm
Aryabhatta’s Astronomy. Obverse: King and queen
Mahayana Buddhism
Buddhism split into two sects, Mahayana and
Hinayana (Theravada).
Mahayana laid stress on the concept of the
Bodhisattva or `one destined to be the Buddha' and
also conceived of Eternal Buddhas who resemble
gods or deities.
Hinayana regarded the Buddha as a man and had a
doctrine, Theravada, stressing the salvation of the
individual.
The interaction of Mahayana philosophy and
Hinduism gave rise to Tantric Buddhism or
Vajrayana.
AJANTA
CAVES
. During the 4th century c.e. in a
remote valley, work began on the
Ajanta Caves to create a complex of
Buddhist monasteries and prayer
halls.
As centuries passed, numerous
Buddhist monks and artisans dug
out a set of twenty-nine caves,
converting some to cells, and others
to monasteries and Buddhist
temples.
These caves are adorned with
elaborate sculptures and paintings
which have withstood the ravages
of time
Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta caves depict
the stories of Buddhism
spanning from the period
from 200 bce to 650 ce.
The 29 caves were built
by Buddhist monks using
simple tools like hammer
& chisel.
The elaborate and
exquisite sculptures and
paintings depict stories
from Jataka tales .
The caves also house
images of nymphs and
princesses.
Scene
From
The Jataka
Samskrta
The Language of Classical Literature
Samskrta: Sanskrit
“perfected, classified refined”
“Correct speech”
Codified and frozen in the Astadhyahi : the rules of
grammar
Considered ideal language for classics
Prakrta: Prakrit
“original or natural”
Dialects that changed and developed with spoken
language
Kavya
Kavya – the “poetry” of the
classical canon
Permeated with the culture of the
Gupta courts
Kavi, learned poets, wrote under
the patronage of kings for audiences
of connoisseurs
sahrdaya – “with heart,
responsive”
rasika – “enjoyer of aesthetic
mood”
Highly formulated norms and
conventions
Many works on poetic theory
Kavya Genres
Mahakavya: great poem or court epic – contains lyric stanzas
with elaborate figures of speech and emphasizes description
Natya: drama
employs both prose and verse
includes Sanskrit and Prakrit
wider range of characters
lyrical description more than dramatic action
Muktaka: short lyric poems
Bhartrhari: pointed epigrams
Kalidasa: idyllic verses on nature
Amaru: erotic vignettes
Katha or Akhyika: narrative tales
Pancatantra: collection of animal fables
Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara (Ocean to the Rivers of Story):
picaresque, marvelous tales, romances
Niti
Aims for Human Conduct, Worldly Wisdom
The Nagaraka – gentleman, citizen, courtier –
cultivated life as art with the 4 aims for human conduct:
Dharma: religious duty
Artha: wealth, politics, public life
Kama: erotic pleasure and the emotions
Vitsyayana’s Kamasutra
Moksa: liberation from the chain of birth and death in
which souls are trapped because of Karma
Karma implies fluid relationships between divine, human and
animal worlds
gods become human, humans may achieve bodhisattva status
or may be reincarnated as animals
Women in Classical Literature
Courtly ideal wives like
Sita – chaste, loyal,
submissive, long-suffering
Wives in merchant-class
stories – chaste,
independent, powerful
Courtesans – erotic,
beautiful, intelligent,
ruthless, rapacious,
independent
Religious contemplatives
– figures of authority and
free agents
Visnusarman’s Pancatantra: The Five Strategies
Pancatantra Collection of folk tales and fables
ca. 2nd – 3rd ce within frame tales
Brought by Arabs into Europe –
model and source for 1001 Nights,
Boccaccio’s The Decameron,
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales,
Grimms’ Fairy Tales, La
Fontaine’s Fables, etc.
Central concern is niti – conduct
– political expediency and social
values
Visnusarman allegedly used the
fables to teach 3 dim-witted
princes the science of politics
The Pancatantra’s Book I : “The Loss of
Friends”
5 Strategies “Leap and Creep”
“ The Blue Jackal”
“Forethought, Readywit and
Fatalist”
Book II : “The Winning of
Friends”
Book III: “Crows and Owls”
strategies of alliance and war
“Mouse-Maid Made Mouse”
Book IV: “Loss of Gains”
Book V: “Ill-Considered
Action”
“The Loyal Mungoose”
Drsyakavya: poetry to be seen as
opposed to sravyakavya: poetry to be
heard
Natya:
Bharata’s Natyasastra – authoritative
text on dramatic aesthetics and theory
Drama
Abhinaya: “a symphony of languages”
– verbal text, stylized gesture, facial
expression, eye movement, music, dance
8 fundamental emotions, bhava,
expressed in 8 major rasas, stylized
representations of the emotions –
universal rather than particular
No tragedy in Indian drama –
impossible in the Hindu and Buddhist
conception of the universe of karma
linking humans with nature and the
cosmos through networks of volition, Video on Indian Natya
action and response – open-ended
cycles of time
Dramatic Conventions