Indian Kavya Literature (Vol. 2)

It is multi-volume series work. The main pupose of this work is literary criticism, evaluating a great tradition of literature and to present comprehensive study of sanskrit literature. So far 6 volumes have been published. Each volume presents literature itself in successive periods of its development. This second volume in the series on Kavya Literature begins the description of the literature itself. The most original feature of the present study, as compared with other books in English on Indian literature, is that the literature is presented and discussed from the point of view of the Indian tradition itself. The author has first presented the literature from within the Indian tradition, then he has given discussions on the kavyas presented, from the old Indian critics, finally crooss-references are inserted in square brackets to the relevant paragraphs of Volume I. The discussions of the old critics become more frequent and intensive in the later chapters of this volume (especially Chapter XVI), reflecting their tastes and the gradual establishment of classical standards. Among the classics discussed in this volume are the Ramayana, the great novel Brhatkatha of Gunadhya, the epics of Asvaghosa, the lyric anthology of Satavahana and the plays of Bhasa.