Sāhitya - IV

In the Hindu literary tradition, literary compositions inculcate awareness and sensibility of Dharma in the minds of both the commoner and the connoisseur. As with all śāstras in the Indic knowledge traditions, kāvya and kāvya-śāstra, i.e. literary composition and the theory of composition have a well instituted and standardized methodology, structure and system. This is the fourth and final course in a sequence of four courses in Sāhitya – Classical Sanskrit literature. Excellence in prose composition is considered as the gold standard of literary creativity in the Sanskrit literary world. Prose compositions are far less common in comparison to poetry in Sanskrit literature. The mixed medium of campū also has a lesser presence but nevertheless has a distinct identity from the prose and poetry literature, from which it draws its structure, as well as from drama.