PingalaAcharya Pingala (; c. 3rd2nd century BCE) was an ancient Indian poet and mathematician, and the author of the (also called the Pingala-sutras), the earliest known treatise on Sanskrit prosody. The is a work of eight chapters in the late Sūtra style, not fully comprehensible without a commentary. It has been dated to the last few centuries BCE. In the 10th century CE, Halayudha wrote a commentary elaborating on the . According to some historians Maharshi Pingala was the brother of Pāṇini, the famous Sanskrit grammarian, considered the first descriptive linguist.
ShikshaShiksha (शिक्षा, IAST and ISO: ) is a Sanskrit word, which means "instruction, lesson, learning, study of skill". It also refers to one of the six Vedangas, or limbs of Vedic studies, on phonetics and phonology in Sanskrit. Shiksha is the field of Vedic study of sound, focussing on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation. Each ancient Vedic school developed this field of Vedanga, and the oldest surviving phonetic textbooks are the Pratishakyas.
RigvedaThe Rigveda or Rig Veda (ऋग्वेद , from "praise" and "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (sūktas). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (śruti) known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum. The Rigveda is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text. Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language.
PratishakhyasPratishakhya (प्रातिशाख्य ), also known as Parsada (), are Vedic-era manuals devoted to the precise and consistent pronunciation of words. These works were critical to the preservation of the Vedic texts, as well as the accurate ritual recitations and analyses of the Vedas, particularly when isolated words interact after they have been joined in sandhi procedures. Each Vedic school (parisad, or parsad) and geographic branch (sakha) developed their own manuals, explaining why they have come to be called parsada or pratisakhya.
Bhagavad GitaThe Bhagavad Gita (ˌbʌɡəvəd_ˈɡiːtɑː; भगवद्गीता), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700-verse Hindu scripture, which is part of the epic Mahabharata. It forms the chapters 23–40 of book 6 of the Mahabharata called the Bhishma Parva. The work is dated to the second half of the first millennium BCE. Typical of the Hindu synthesis, it is considered one of the holy scriptures of Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gita is set in a narrative framework of dialogue between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer guide Krishna, an avatar of lord Vishnu.
Vedic metreVedic metre refers to the poetic metre in the Vedic literature. The study of Vedic metre, along with post-Vedic metre, is part of Chandas, one of the six Vedanga disciplines. In addition to these seven, there are fourteen less frequent syllable-based metres (Varna-vritta or Akshara-chandas): 8. Atijagati (13x4); 9. Śakkarī (14x4); 10. Atiśakarī (15x4); 11. Ashṭi (16x4); 12. Atyashti (17x4); 13. Dhritī (18x4); 14. Atidhritī (19x4); 15. Kṛiti (20x4); 16. Prakṛiti (21x4); 17. Ākṛiti (22x4): 18. Vikṛiti (23x4); 19.
VedangaThe Vedanga (वेदाङ्ग , "limb of the Veda-s"; plural form: वेदाङ्गानि ) are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times and have been connected with the study of the Vedas: Shiksha (Sanskrit: शिक्षा , "instruction, teaching"): phonetics, phonology, pronunciation. This auxiliary discipline has focused on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation. Chandas (Sanskrit: छन्दस् , "metre"): prosody.
Natya ShastraThe Nāṭya Śāstra (नाट्य शास्त्र, Nāṭyaśāstra) (నట్య శాస్త్ర, Nāṭyaśāstra) is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The text consists of 36 chapters with a cumulative total of 6000 poetic verses describing performance arts.
Sanskrit literatureSanskrit literature broadly comprises all literature in the Sanskrit language. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some mixed and non-standard forms of Sanskrit. Literature in the older language begins with the composition of the Ṛg·veda between about 1500 and 1000 BCE, followed by other Vedic works right up to the time of the grammarian Pāṇini around 6th or 4th century BCE (after which Classical Sanskrit texts gradually became the norm).
KalidasaKālidāsa (fl. 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviving works consist of three plays, two epic poems and two shorter poems. Much about his life is unknown except what can be inferred from his poetry and plays. His works cannot be dated with precision, but they were most likely authored before the 5th century CE.
