Literature of Gupta Period - Epics, Puranas, Famous Authors & Other Types of Literature

The Gupta period was bright in the history of classical literature. The Literature of the Gupta Period developed an adorned style different from Sanskrit. During the Gupta period, more emphasis was placed on verse than prose. Sanskrit was the official language of the Gupta period. Although much Brahmanical religious literature was produced during the period, it is also remarkable for the rise of secular literature consisting of a fair degree of court poetry. The Gupta rule between 300 and 600 CE is termed the Golden Age of India for the development of science and emphasis on Indian art and literature.

Gupta literature covers a significant part of the Ancient history subject in the General Studies Paper-1 Syllabus.

In this article, let us look at the literature of the Gupta period, famous authors of the Gupta period, famous literary works, philosophical texts, Buddhist and Jaina literature of the Gupta period, and inscriptions for the UPSC IAS Exam.

Overview of Literature in Gupta Period

The Gupta period is celebrated as the Golden Age of art and literature. This era witnessed the compilation of an extensive range of both religious and secular texts. Major epics, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, were finalized during the fourth century, embodying good prevailing over evil themes. Rama and Krishna were revered as incarnations of Vishnu.

The Gupta period marked the emergence of Puranas, a genre of literature. These texts narrate stories about Hindu deities and provide guidelines for worship practices like fasting and pilgrimages. Prominent Puranas from this period include the Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana, and Matsya Purana, with Shiva Purana catering to Shiva devotees, and others like Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana, and Narasimha Purana praising Vishnu's avatars for the ordinary people's worship.

Several Smritis (legal texts) were compiled within the Gupta dynasty timeframe. For instance, the Narada Smriti offered insights into that era's social and economic customs and regulations. Sanskrit was the primary language for literary expression during this period. The fifth-century poet Kalidasa, residing in Chandragupta II's court, is renowned as the supreme poet of the time. His works like Meghaduta, Abhijnanashakuntalam, Raghuvamsha, Kumarasambhava, and Ritusamhara have been translated into numerous European languages.

Between 550 and 750, Tamil Bhakti literature flourished in South India. Vaishnava saints (Alvars) and Saiva saints (Nayannaras) composed songs venerating their deities. Among the Alvar saints, Andal, a woman, stood out. The devotional songs of Vaishnavas are found in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, while Saivites' compositions are preserved in the Devarama.

Epics and the Puranas of the Gupta Literature

• The Puranas existed even before the period of the Guptas in bardic literature, and in the Gupta age, they were compiled and given their present-day form.
• A portion of the Vishnudharmottara Purana deals with painting and gives detailed information on preparing surfaces for fresco paintings and using vivid colors.
• The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two prominent epics, were given the final touches and were completed by the 4th century A.D.
• The epics and Puranas represent the Kshatriya tradition, although the brahmanas have compiled them.
  • They are packed with myths, legends and exaggerations.
  • Though they reflect social developments, they could be more dependable for political history.
• Bharavi is popularly known for his epic poem Kiratarjuniya, written around 550 CE. It depicts the Mahabharata story of the war between Arjuna and lord Shiva in the garb of a Kirata.

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Famous Authors of the Gupta Period and Their Works 

Some famous authors of the Gupta period and their works are explained below.

Kalidasa

• Kalidasa, the greatest poet of the Gupta period, lived in the 4th century AD and was a contemporary of Chandragupta II.
• Ritusamhara was his first production, although his earliest drama was Malvikagnimitram.
• Meghaduta is a pioneer of Dutakavya in Sanskrit literature.
• Famous Dramas

Malavikagnimitram

It is a Sanskrit play that depicts the love story of the Sunga king, Agnimitra and Malvika, a maid. This play also accounts for the Rajasuya Yajna performed by Pushyamitra Sunga.

Abhijnanashakuntalam 

This Sanskrit play depicts the story of Dushyanta, the king of Hastinapur and Shakuntala, the daughter of sage Vishwamitra and Apsara Menaka.

Vikramorvasiyam

This Sanskrit drama depicts the love story of Puruvas, a Vedic King and Urvashi. Puruvas is chosen to reflect the qualities of Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Puruvas is a mythological element representing the Sun; Vikramaditya means the “Glory of the Sun.” Famous poems composed by Kalidasa

Raghuvamsha

Raghuvamsha is an epic poem in Sanskrit narrating the ancestry of Lord Rama’s Raghu Vamsa that starts with King Dileep up to Agnivarna.

Kumarasambhava 

Kumarasambhava is an epic poem that depicts the birth of Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and Parvati.

Ritusamhara

Ritusamhara is a mini-epic poem on the six seasons known as Ritu. It describes the feelings, emotions and experiences of lovers in six seasons. Ritusamhara is believed to be the earliest work of Kalidasa.

Meghaduta

Meghaduta refers to a cloud messenger. It is a poem woven around a Yaksha, a subject of Lord Kubera. His wife waits for him at Mount Kalidasa. Kubera exiles the Yaksha at some place in central India. The Yaksha persuades a cloud to convey his message to his wife. The poem narrates the wonderful sights and visual perceptions he would come throughout while going northwards, taking this message to his wife.

Bhasa

• Bhasa was an important playwright who has written thirteen plays in Sanskrit.
• His most renowned plays were Pratigya Yugandhara Yanam (the vow of Yaugandharayana) and Swapnavasavadattam (Vasavadatta in the Dream).
• His drama, Daridra Charudatta, narrates the story of the courtesan Vasantasena and the same story was redeveloped by Shudraka into a more famous play named Mrichakatika.
• Plays are written based on Ramayana.
  • Pratima-nataka: The statues
  • Yagna-Phalam:
  • Abhisheka-nataka: The coronation
• Plays written based on Mahabharata.
  • Panch-ratra: The five-nights
  • Madhyama-vyayoga: The middle one
  • Duta-Ghattotkacha: Ghattotkacha as an envoy
  • Duta-Vakya: The message of the envoy
  • Urubhanga: The broken thigh
  • Karnabharam: Karna’s burden
  • Harivamsa or Bala-charita: The dynasty of Hari or the Childhood tale

Shudraka

• He wrote the drama Mrichcbhakatika which means “little clay cart’.
• It is a Sanskrit play composed in the 2nd century AD.
• Arthur W. Ryder translated it in 1905 as ‘The Little Clay Cart.’
• It portrays the story of a poor man Charudatta with a naga sadhu Vasantsena.
• The play is considered to be a rewritten version of Daridra Charudatta.
• Shudraka is an Abhira King named Indranigupta who used Shudraka as his pen name.
• Mrichhakatika has a description of a civil court with headquarters at Nalanda.

Vishakadatta

• Vishakhadatta has composed two plays named Mudrarakshasa and the Devichandraguptam.
• Vishakhadatta literary work is Mudra Rakshasa.
• Mudrarakshasa is the only play that is available today. The play Devichandraguptam is available in fragments only.
• Mudrarakshasa means “Ring of the Demon,” which describes the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya to the throne.
• Rakshasa is the last minister of Nandas who is deceived in Chandragupta’s side by Chanakya.

Dandin

• Dandin has written Kavyadarsha and Dasakumarcharita.
• He lived in Kanchi and is well-known for Dasakumarcharita “The Tale of the Ten Princes” which illustrates the adventures of ten princes.
• Dasakumarcharita was initially translated 1927 as Hindoo Tales and The Adventures of the Ten Princes.

Bharavi 

• Bharavi is well-known for Kiratarjuniya, composed around 550 CE.
• Kirat is Shiva, who speaks to Arjuna as a mountain dwelling hunter.
• This epic style Kavya is considered one the greatest works in Sanskrit, celebrated for the complexity of the language.

Bhatti

• Bhatti or Batsabhatti is well-known for Bhaṭṭikavya, also known as Ravaṇavadha and was composed in the 7th century CE.

Magha

• Sisupala-vadha was composed by Magha in the 7th century AD and is one of the Mahavakyas of Sanskrit.
• The author says it was inspired by the works of Kalidasa, Bharavi and Dandin, but the work seems to surpass Bharavi’s style and wordplay.

Bhartrhari

• Bhartṛhari was a Sanskrit author of the fifth century who wrote Vakyapadiya, a treatise on Sanskrit Grammar and Nitishatak, which has 100 verses on philosophy.
• Bhartrhari seems to be a king, although many scholars mention that he was not a king but a courtier serving the king.

Vatsyayana

• Vatsyayana was the author of Nyaya Sutra Bhashya, the first commentary work on Gautama’s Nyaya Sutras. Kamasutra is a treatise on human sexual behavior and forms a part of the Kamashashtra.
• The first transmission of the Kama Shastra is owed to Nandi, the bull of Shiva, as per the traditions.
• The bull is Shiva’s doorkeeper, and he overheard the lovemaking of the Gods and registered his utterances for the advantage of humankind.

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Other Types of Literature During the Gupta Period

Some other types of literature during the Gupta period are listed below.

Smritis

The literature of the Gupta period also saw the collection of various Smritis, the law-books written in verse. The following works were composed during this period:

• Yajnavalkya Smriti
• Narada Smriti
• Katyayana Smriti
• Brihaspati Smriti

The practice of writing commentaries on the Smritis began to post the Gupta period.

Secular literature

• The Gupta period is considered to be exceptional in the making of secular literature.
• The first known writer to have used Sanskrit for compositions that fall under the non-religious category was Asvaghosa.
• The prose was increasingly used in the Sanskrit language in the literature of the Gupta period.
• The Allahabad Pillar Inscription or the Prayag Prashasti is a mixture of prose and verse (the style is champu kawa).
• The transition from Prakrit to Sanskrit in royal inscriptions was completed during this time.

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Philosophical Texts 

• Philosophical texts give a narrative of the debates of that time.
• In this period, the new sections added to the Brahma Sutras, Yoga Sutras and Nyaya Sutras contained a refutation of the Buddhist and Jaina schools.
• The philosophical works and scholars of this period include:
  • Samkhya-karika gives an account of Samkhya philosophy written by Ishvarakrishna.
  • Vyasa’s commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra also belongs to this period.
  • Nyaya Sutra Bhashya, is the first commentary on Gautama’s Nyaya Sutras authored by Vatsyayana.
  • Padartha Dharma Sangraha, is a commentary on the Vaisesika Sutra of Kanada written by Prashastapada.

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Stories and Fables of the Gupta Literature

• Panchatantra is a collection of fables of this age, written by Vishnusharma.
• It was originally composed to impart statecraft and practical conduct to princes.
• The Panchatantra, an example of a nidarshana shows what should and should not be done through illustration.
• The text is separated into five portions under the following topics:
• splitting an alliance that is at variance with one’s interestcreating an alliancewaging warachieving the better of a foolResults of action with no reflection
• Most of the stories are entertaining, satirical tales that help teach children ethical values.

Sanskrit grammar in the Gupta Period

• The Gupta period witnessed the growth of Sanskrit grammar under grammarians Panini (Ashtadhyayi) and Patanjali (Mahabhashya).
• Bhartrhari composed the Vakyapadiya, which discusses sentences and words in the Sanskrit language.
• Ravanavadha composed by Bhatti presents the rules of Sanskrit grammar while narrating the story of Rama’s life.
• Amarasimha, a luminary in the court of Chandragupta II composed the Amarakosha.
• Chandragomia, a Buddhist scholar from Bengal composed a book named Chandra Vyakaranam.

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The Buddhist and the Jaina literature of Gupta Period

• Arya Deva, Arya Asanga and Vasubandhu were the most notable Buddhist scholars of the Gupta period.
• Vasubandhu and his disciple wrote the first Buddhist work on logic Dignaga has also authored many works.
• Epics and Puranas were reformulated in the Jaina version to popularize the teachings.
• A Jaina version of Ramayana was composed by Vimala.
• Siddhasena Divakara laid the foundation of logic among the Jainas.

Inscriptions of the Gupta Period

• The Gupta period produced several inscriptions that speak of the literary talent and literary works of the population of that age.
• The Allahabad Pillar inscription composed by Samudragputa’s court poet Harisena and the Mandasor inscription by Vatsabhatti holds some specific features of Sanskrit Kavya.
• The Meharauli iron pillar inscription in the Qutb Minar complex in Delhi belonged to the time of Chandragupta II.
• Bhittari pillar inscription, Junagadh inscription, Udaygiri inscription and many other inscriptions of the period throw light on the glory of the Literature of the Gupta period.

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Poetics and Dramaturgy

• In addition to kavya literature, many works laid down the principles of poetics(kawakriyakalpa) and dramaturgy (natyashastra) subjects that overlap considerably.
• Kavyalankara of Bhamaha and Kavyadarsha of Dandin deal with poetics.
• According to these works, the main function of kavya was to produce joy.
• Apart from performances for kings and wealthy patrons, kavya obtained its largest audience in dramas performed during popular festivals.
• Nagarakas organized and participated in social gatherings and festivals that included dramas.
• During the Gupta period, the plays produced in India had two features in common.
  • The plays were mostly comedies without any tragedies, with sorrow throughout the play and an end with a positive note.
  • In a Sanskrit drama, the characters of higher castes, such as kings, ministers, etc., speak the Sanskrit language. In contrast, the characters of the lower caste, like servants and women (including queens), speak in Prakrit.
• Natyashastra
• One of the oldest known works of drama is the Natyashastra.
• Natyashastra throws light on natya as a plaything created for pleasure and diverting minds from the conflicts and miseries of daily life.
• Natyashastra was passed on by Brahma, to the sage Bharata, as a fifth Veda to save the world from evil. Unlike the Vedas, this was accessible to all people.
• Natyashastra is a compilation of earlier works that may have existed as oral traditions and later as sutras, to which verses were added.

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