It is undoubtedly a surprising fact that down to the publication of this book, the history of Sanskrit literature as a whole has been written in English. For not only does that literature possess much intrinsic merit, but the light it sheds on the life and thought of the population of which were of a peculiar interest for the British nation. Owing chiefly to the lack of an adequate account of the subject, few, even of the young men who left Britain every year to be its future rulers, required connected information about the literature in which the civilisation of Modern India can be traced to its sources, and without which that civilisation cannot be fully understood.
The work presents a complete history of Sanskrit literature in a condensed and succinct form. It embodies a general study of the Vedic, Epic Puranic, Classical and Philosophical Literature. It sheds light on the life and thought of Ancient and Medieval India as reflected in the literary productions of those periods. Through the brief epitome given in the Appendix on Technical Literature including Law, Science and Arts it and instructive. The bibliographical notes and index appended at the end add to the value and render the work most useful to the reader. Even in this even the outstanding researches of eminent antiquarians have become outdated, the utility of this small work has not diminished by the passing away of the three quarters of a century. |
