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Home > Reference > Indian Literature > History of Indian Literature > Literature During Gupta
Age

Literature During Gupta Age

It is during the Gupta Age literature in the form of poetry, epos and drama
gained a colossal importance.

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The Gupta kings encouraged literature. Not only
in the arena of tradi몭onal Sanskrit literature but
colossal development in other worldly literature
in the form of poetry, drama and plays also made
the Gupta empire to stand out in pride.

The Kavyas: Kalidasa was the greatest poet of the

Gupta age. Generally majority of scholars have
accepted the fact that Kalidasa was the
contemporary of Chandragupta II, Vikramaditya.
Among Kalidasa's poems the Ritusamhara is
regarded as his earliest produc몭on. In this poem
he has beau몭fully described the beau몭es of six
seasons and their reac몭on on the human mind.
The delicate observa몭on of living sympathy with nature that are
described here are truly Kalidasian in character. His Meghaduta
is a pioneer duta kavya in Sanskrit literature. The stanzas in which Kalidasa describes the pining
human heart of the youthful husband separated from his spouse are unrivalled for lo몭y imagery,
unique metaphors and heroic hyperboles in Sanskrit literature. In the Kumarasarhbhava, which
describes the union of Siva and Parva몭 in marriage and the birth of their son Kumara i.e. Kar몭keya,
Kalidasa exhibits richer variety and greater brilliance of fancy. The poet's power of descrip몭on makes
every scene appear to move before the reader's eyes. The Raghvarhsa is universally regarded as the
finest specimen of Sanskrit mahakavyas as well.

The poetry of Kalidasa is characterized by grace, simplicity and also sen몭ment. They are always
decorated by striking figures of speech. He is famous for his similes. In characteriza몭on he has few
equals. He is superb in describing the emo몭ons of love and pathos. His love of nature is as unique as
his power of describing it. The works of Kalidasa are also valuable for the ideals, which they place
before the society. By studying them the reader knows the Hindu ideals and also about the du몭es
and responsibili몭es of persons in different classes of society and in various stages of life. His wri몭ngs
abound with pithy sayings containing salutary or good advice couched in beau몭ful language. From
these wri몭ngs persons in all walks of life can derive immense benefit.

Two other mahakavyas may be men몭oned which are remarkable in that era. One is the Janakiharana
wri몭en in the 몭meframe 517‐526 A.D. by Kumaradasa and the other is the Kiratarjuniya by Bharavi
wri몭en in c. 550 A.D. Both in manner and also in general treatment Kumaradasa imitates Kalidasa
but is not able to reach the la몭er's height and grandeur. Bharavi's power of descrip몭on and dignity
of style impresses the reader but his literary gymnas몭cs lessen the effect instead of enhancing the
poe몭c impression.

Inscrip몭ons: The Allahabad Pillar inscrip몭on of Samudragputa by his court poet Harisena and the
Mandasor inscrip몭on by Vatsabha몭 possess some characteris몭cs features of Sanskrit Kavya.. Three
other inscrip몭ons may be men몭oned in this connec몭on and these can be named as the Junagadh
inscrip몭on, the Mehrauli iron pillars inscrip몭on and the Mandasor inscrip몭on of Yasovarman by
Vasula. All the three inscrip몭ons show considerable literary merit.

Dramas: Most probably bhasa flourished in the second or third

century A.D. Thirteen plays are a몭ributed to him. The plots of two
of these have been derived from the Ramayana. They show li몭le
ingenuity on the part of the author. Six plays are based on the
Mahabharata. They show the author in be몭er relief. Four plays are
based on current story literature. Of all the thirteen plays of
Bhasa, the Svapnavasavada몭a is the best. The plot construc몭on of
Bhasa is quite crude and certain incidents are repeated also. But
Bhasa's style is simple and direct. It does not involve long
compounds and too frequent embellishments. He some몭me
violates the rules of the Natyasastra.

Another predecessor of Kalidasa was Sudraka. He is the author of

the famous drama, the Mrcchaka몭ka. It is a unique work in
Sanskrit drama몭c literature. Sudraka most probably flourished in
the earlier part of the fourth century A.D. Thus he may be
considered the first Sanskrit drama몭st of the Gupta period. Unlike
the majority of Sanskrit drama몭sts the author has exhibited a
surprising sense of fact, which completely dominates reason or imagina몭on in this play. Ac몭on and
characters in this play are portrayed directly from life. For variety of incidents and characters taken
from different strata of society and the genuine humor, there is hardly anything in Sanskrit drama몭c
literature to compare with the Mrchchhaka몭ka. The Mudraraksasa by Visakhada몭a presents a true
and surprisingly living picture of an ancient Indian court with all its poli몭cal suspicions and intrigues.
It is a great play in its own way. Kalidasa represents the high watermark of India's crea몭ve genius as
in epic, lyrical poetry and also in drama. Of the three plays of Kalidasa the Malavikagnimitra is clearly
an immature produc몭on. The Vikramorvasiya shows a great advance in Kalidasa's poe몭c and
drama몭c art.

In the portrayal of Pururavas, the poet has reached a lyrical height unknown to the conven몭onal
ero몭c plays in Sanskrit. In that poem ardent but hopeless distrac몭on caused by Urvasi's
disappearance and his mad search for this beloved has depicted in a unique manner. The theme of
love reaches its highest consumma몭on in Kalidasa's third play, the Abhijnanasakuntalam. In this play
Kalidasa treats love as a factor in the scheme of larger life and not merely as an isolated individual
passion. In this play Kalidasa also shows his great drama몭c genius in the regular development of the
plot. He has worked a lot in the propor몭ons of the cast, the happy choice of incidents, the majesty
and charm of the stage effects, etc. His rich imagery and fine apprecia몭on of nature, his grace and
above all, his noble rhythm has taken the poem in its height.

In Kalidasa's dramas, imagina몭on dominates over sense of fact and reason, while in the
Mrchchaka몭ka sense of fact dominates over reason and imagina몭on. With the solitary excep몭on of
the Mrchchhaka몭ka, the dramas of the Gupta period are actually the dramas of kings and court life.

The peculiar condi몭ons and environments of the Gupta age had some effect on the literature
produced during the period. Under the influence of the royal courts, Sanskrit poetry tended to
become more and more aristocra몭c in character. It a몭empted to cater to the tastes of the higher and
refined classes of the society and thus remained to the extent isolated from the life of the common
people as well.

Also the ethical and didac몭c literature made its presence felt during this Gupta period.

The Panchatantra is a storybook of that era. It seems to have been originally composed with a view
to impar몭ng to young princes instruc몭on in poli몭cal science and prac몭cal conduct. Visnu Sarma is
the author of this book. The earlier version of the Panchatantra was known as the Tantrakhyayika,
which was most probably, composed in the 몭meframe of C. 250 A.D. The Panchatantra version was
wri몭en some 몭me during the Gupta period. The book was so popular that about 200 versions of the
book exist in more than 50 languages of the world. It was translated into Pahalavi before 570 A.D.
and soon a몭er it was translated into the Syrian and the Arabic languages. It reached Europe before
the 11th century A.D. Its versions into Greek, La몭n, Spanish, Italian, German, English and old Slavonic
languages had come into existence before the close of the 16th century A.D.

Bhartrhari in the era of C. 600‐650 A.D. composed the Srngarasataka. The first sataka contains
general observa몭ons on love and women, the second sataka deals with life of virtue and wisdom and
the third sataka deals with life of renuncia몭on. Probably these three satakas were composed
towards the end of the Gupta period.
Grammar: On account of the works of Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali on Sanskrit grammar there
was hardly any scope for composing a book on Sanskrit grammar. The earliest work of the Gupta
period on this Sanskrit grammar is most probably the Katantra of Sarvavarman. It is simple Sanskrit
grammar. Buddhist scholar of Bengal, Chandragomin composed the Chandravyakarana, which was
very popular in Kashmir, Nepal and Tibet and later reached Sri Lanka. Probably he lived in the last
decades of the sixth century A.D. He has made some original contribu몭on to Sariskrit grammar as
well.

Bhartrhari composed the Vakyapadiya, which deals with philosophy of language in general, and
discusses sentence and word in Sanskrit language.

Lexicography: The most famous lexicographical work in Sanskrit is the Namalinganusasana of

Amarasirhha, be몭er known as Amara‐kosa. It is the oldest work on lexicography. Amarasirhha was a
Buddhist, yet his book has become most popular even among the Hindus.

Prosody: The Srutabodha is a handbook on metres. Varahamihira also deals with metres in the
Brhatsamhita. There is also a sec몭on in the Agni Purana, which deals with the same.

Pain몭ng: A sec몭on of the Visnudharmo몭ara Purana deals with pain몭ng and gives detailed
instruc몭ons about surface prepara몭on in fresco pain몭ngs and the use of different colors in them.

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