Literary and Scientific Progress in Gupta Period

Gupta period is very important from the point of view of literary development because at this time Sanskrit was accepted as the official language and Gupta kings got their inscriptions engraved in Sanskrit. The Gupta period is considered to be the period of the best poets. No work of some poets is found, but information about them comes from the records. Among such poets, Harishena, Virasen Shaiva, Vatsabhti and Vasul etc. are important. Harishena, son of Mahadandanayak Dhruvabhuti, was working as Sandhi-Vigrahik, Kumaramatya and Mahadandanayak during the time of Samudragupta. Prayag-Prashasti is a testament to its simple rhetorical style and poetic skill. His verses are reminiscent of Kalidasa's style. This commendation chumpu style (prose-verse mixed) Ko is a unique example. In the time of Chandragupta Vikramaditya, the inscription on the wall of the Udayagiri cave is an excellent example of the poetic style of Veerasen Shaiva, who was working as Sandhi-Vigrahik and Amatya. It seems from the article that he was a knower of grammar, justice and politics (Shabdarthanya Loka:Kavi:Pataliputrak: , The verses of Mandsaur's pillar-inscription are the best examples of Vatsabhatti's poetic style. The nine verses of the Mandsaur Prashasti composed by Vasul during the period of Yashodharman are in a very interesting, succinct and heart-grabbing style, which is a testament to his poetic talent.

Literary Texts

Kalidas, Bharavi, Bhatti, Matrugupta, Shudraka, Visakhadatta, Bhasa, Bhartrishreshtha and Vishnusharma are notable among the poets about whom information is received from literary texts. There are seven important works of the great poet Kalidasa of Sanskrit literature – Malavikagnimitram, Vikramorvasiyam, Abhigyan Shakuntalam, Ritusanhara, Kumarasambhava, Meghdoot and Raghuvansh. He wrote Malavikagnimitram based on the romance story of Agnimitra and Malavika, Vikramorvasiyam based on the courtship story of Emperor Pururava and Apsara Urvashi, Abhijnanashakuntalam based on the romance story of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. The main feature of Kalidasa's plays is that in his plays the characters of higher varnas speak Sanskrit, while the characters of lower varnas and women of all varnas use Prakrit language. This dialectical form of language is a sign of social inequality prevailing in the society of that time. Kalidas was named 'Shakespeare of India ' is called.

Raghuvansh is an epic of nineteen cantos, describing and praising the ancestors of Rama. There are seventeen cantos in Kumarasambhava, in which the story of nature is depicted and the story of Kartikeya's birth is described. In Ritusanhar, there is a description of Shadrutu and in Meghdoot, there is a description of the separation of a detached Yaksha and his beloved.

Epic composed by Bharavi 'Kiratarjuniyam It is based on the Vanparva of Mahabharata, which has eighteen cantos. He is famous for his Artha-Gaurav (Bharaveertha Gauravam , Shudraka's 'Mrichhakatikam The hero Charudatta, the heroine Vasantasena, the king, the brahmin, the gambler, the merchant, the prostitute, the thief, the sly das are described. The real name of Bhattirchit 'Bhattikavya' is 'Ravanavadha'. This book can be understood only by the knower of grammar and the penetrator of Alankar Shastra. Bhattikavya based on the story of Ramayana is considered as important as the Panchamahakavyas (Kumarasambhava, Raghuvansh, Kiratarjuniya, Shishupalavadha and Naishadcharita). It is known from Kalhana's Rajatarangini that Matrugupta wrote a commentary on the Natya-shastra of Bharata. 'Hastik Bhartrushreshtha, popularly known as 'Hayagrivadh ' Poetry was composed.

Vishakhadatta composed two historical plays- 'Mudrarakshasa ' and 'Devichandraguptam , The Mudrarakshasa describes the story of Chandragupta Maurya sitting on the throne of Magadha. Devichandraguptam is not available in its original form, but some parts of it are written by Ramachandra and Gunachandra 'Natya-Darpan ’ in which Chandragupta II slays Shakraj and describes the story of Ramagupta becoming emperor by marrying Bharya Dhruvaswamini.

Bhas Ke 'Swapnavasavadattam ' The love story of Maharaj Udayan and Vasavadatta is described, while 'Pratigyayogandharayanam There is a story of Vatsaraj Udayan escaping from Ujjayini, the princess of Avanti, Vasavadatta with the help of his minister Yogandharayana. Another play 'Charudattam The protagonist of ' Charudatta is basically the imagination of Bhasa.

Bengali Buddhist monk named Chandragomin wrote 'moon-grammar ', which became very popular and was adopted by Mahayana Buddhists. Amar Singh 'Amarkosh Created a certified corpus of Sanskrit called '. Influenced by Kautilya's Arthashastra Kamandak 'Nitisar on politics Wrote a book called Vatsyayan wrote 'Kamasutra In this, all aspects of work-life have been analyzed in a scientific way. 'Panchatantra composed by Vishnu Sharma ' is counted in the world's most popular collection of stories. It has a collection of popular and fascinating stories. This book is divided into five parts - Mitra-Bheda, Mitra-Labh, Sandhi-Vigraha, Labh-Pranash and Aparikshakaritva , By the end of the sixteenth century this treatise had been translated into Greek, Latin, Spanish, German and English languages, which is a testament to its popularity. Its 250 editions have been published in about 50 languages ​​of the world.

Religious and Philosophical Texts

The Gupta period is virtually a landmark in the composition of religious and philosophical texts. The present form of the Puranas was compiled during this period and they became the authentic religious texts of the Hindus. There is mention of historical traditions in these. In fact, the writings of the Puranas were started by the Charans, but after they came into the hands of the Brahmins, they were written in Sanskrit and after their Brahmanical interpretation, they were rewritten by incorporating the rituals, customs and traditions of Brahmin religion. In order to popularize and innovate the Dharmashastras, the Brahmin scriptures were amended and changed. The memories of Yajnavalkya, Narada, Katyayan, Parashara and Brihaspati were written in the Gupta period itself. Among them Yajnavalkya Smriti is considered the most important. Ethics, behavior, atonement etc. are mentioned in this memory. Commentaries on many smritis and sutras were written during this period. It was at this time that both the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata were finally compiled.

The important works of Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva and Uttar Mimamsa (Vedanta) probably were composed during this time. Texts on Buddhist philosophy were also composed in this era. Buddhist texts were first written in Pali, but at this time the widespread use of Sanskrit began. Asanga, a prolific scholar of Mahayana religion, wrote 'Episode Aryavacha', 'Mahayanasutralankar', 'Vajraghantika Tika', 'Mahayana Samparigraha', 'Saptadasha Bhumishastra' and 'Mahayanabhidharma' , 'Music Shastra' Like writing books. Vasubandhu refuted the philosophical systems like Mimamsa, Sakhya, Yoga, Vaisheshika etc. and developed the philosophy of Buddhism. 'Abhidharma Kosh ’ The fundamental principles of Buddhism have been rendered. Dignaga composed important texts on Buddhist justice and logic. Buddhaghosha of the Hinayana (Buddhism) branch Wrote commentaries on Tripitakas. His famous book 'Visuddhimagga ' Is. Jain Philosopher Acharya Siddhasen Diwakar's 'Nyavatar on Jain Nyaya Philosophy Wrote a logic book called ' At the same time Jain Ramayana by Vimalsuri ' was created.

In addition to Sanskrit language, literature of Prakrit language also got patronage outside the court, due to which many forms of Prakrit - Shoorsaini around Mathura, Awadh and Ardhmagadhi in Bundelkhand, Bihar The development of Maharashtrian language became possible in Magadhi and Berar region.

Scientific and Technological Progress

Many scientific and technical texts were composed during the Gupta period which resulted in the development of various branches of science. The Mehrauli iron-pillar inscription is a proof of the advancement of Gupta metallurgy. The development of astronomy, astrology, mathematics and medicine was at its peak during this period. Famous scholars like Varahamihira, Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Aryabhatta II, Bhaskaracharya, Kamalakar were the proud achievements of the Gupta period. It was during this time that the principle of zero and the decimal system were developed. The exact causes of solar eclipse and lunar eclipse were explained. Probably the most abstract theory in the field of science was the molecular theory given by the scholars of Vaisheshik ideology.

Varahamihira : Varahamihira was a famous astronomer of the Gupta period. His famous texts 'Brihatsamhita', 'Panchsiddhantika', 'Brihajjataka' and 'Laghujatak' ' Huh. Brihatsamhita (400 verses) is the main text of astrology, in which there are descriptions on subjects like astronomy, botany, natural history, physical geography. In the Panchasiddhantika, Varahamihira has described the prevailing five principles - Pulish, Rochha, Vasishta, Saur (Dhusurya) and Pitamah as a cause. In fact, Varahamihira's knowledge was divided into three parts - astronomy, futurology and Vrikshayurveda. In Vrikshayurveda, he has discussed many topics related to trees and agriculture like sowing, methods of making manure, selection of land, seeds, climate, trees, warning of rain from time observation etc. King Vikramaditya II named Varahamihira among the nine gems of his court because of his contribution to astronomy and astronomy.

Aryabhatta : Aryabhata was the greatest mathematician of his time. He attained the age of twenty three in 'Aryabhattiyam ' Wrote the book, influenced by which King Budhgupta made Aryabhatta the head of Nalanda University. Aryabhattiyam is a complete treatise, which includes geometry, square root, cube root as well as the calculations of astronomy and facts related to space. Even today, the help of this book is taken in preparing the Hindu calendar.

Aryabhatta was the first astronomer to show that the Earth revolves around the Sun by rotating on its axis. Long before Nicolaus Copernicus, Aryabhata had discovered that the Earth is round and its circumference is estimated at 24,835 miles Is. He disproved the Hindu belief that Rahu-Ketu swallow the Sun and the Moon, causing solar and lunar eclipses. He told that due to the coming of the Earth between the Moon and the Sun, the shadow of the Earth falls on the Moon, which causes a lunar eclipse. Aryabhatta knew that the Moon and other planets are not themselves luminous, but the rays of the Sun are reflected in them. He also told that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun in a circular manner. The Varshaman determined by Aryabhata is more scientific than that of Ptolemy. Aryabhatta proved that There are not 366 days in a year, but 365.2951 days. Probably he himself decimal system was developed.

Aryabhata's name is also well known in the history of world mathematics. Aryabhatta was the first to 'pie ' and 'sign ' parentheses given. He invented equations to solve complex math problems.

Bhaskara I wrote a commentary on Aryabhatta's theory. There are three important texts of Bhaskar - 'Mahabhaskarya', 'Laghubhaskarya' and 'Bhashya'. Brahmagupta gave 'Brahma-siddhant' (Brahmasphut Siddhanta) ) that 'According to the law of nature, all things fall on the earth, because the earth by its very nature attracts all things towards itself. This is a pre-establishment of Newton's theory. Thus Aryabhatta, Varahamihira and Brahmagupta can be called the world's first astronomers and mathematicians.