Introduction to Classical Indian Literature

The great classical Indian literature was the result of the experts who were masters of the learning of their day, long trained in the use of language, with the aim to please the learned audience and readership by subtlety, not simplicity of effect. They had at their disposal a singularly beautiful speech, and they commanded elaborate and most effective metres. This literary heritage is clearly the epitome of feeling for life and nature matched with perfection of expression and rhythm.
The credit of translating and presenting this heritage in the English language must be shared by great scholars, such as Sir Williams Jones, H. T. Colebrooke, A. Berriedale Keith, Maurice Winternitz, M. Krishnamachari, A. A. Macdonell, J. Muir etc. the collective outpouring of whom was responsible for the literary and cultural renaissance India witnessed starting from the early 19th century.
This work brings togather some of the best writings of these stalwarts. The contents include: The Sanskrit Poetry, Anthologies, Ornate Poetry, Campu, Scientific Literature, Drama, Fairy Tales and Fables, Gadkavya, Great Romances, Historical Kavya, Poetics, Dramaturgy, and Prosody, Lyrical Poetry, Fiction, etc.; including also the important writers of that time – Kalidasa, Harsadeva, Bhartrhari, Bharavi, Bhatti, Amaru, Bilhana, Jayadeva etc.