Sanskrit texts

The Mahābhārata ( ; , , ) is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the Itihasas, the other being the Ramayana. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas. It contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the Mahābhārata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, Shakuntala, Pururava and

primary holy scripture for Hinduism

thumb|upright=1.2|The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the Atharvaveda.

The Upanishads (; , , ) are Sanskrit texts of the late Vedic and post-Vedic periods that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hinduism. They are the most recent addition to the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal with meditation, philosophy, consciousness, and ontological knowledge. Earlier parts of the Vedas dealt with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices.

Puranas () are a vast genre of Hindu literature that include a wide range of topics, especially legends and other traditional lore. The Puranas are known for the intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed originally in Sanskrit and in other South Asian languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Devi, Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. The Puranic genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism.

thumb|The first page of oldest surviving Panchatantra text in Sanskrit thumb|An 18th-century Pancatantra manuscript page in Braj ("The Talkative Turtle")

'''''Kautilya's Arthashastra''' (, ; ) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, politics, economic policy and military strategy. The text is likely the work of several authors over centuries, starting as a compilation of Arthashastras, texts which according to Olivelle date from the 2nd c. BCE to the 1st c. CE. These earlier treatises were compiled and amended in a new treatise, according to McClish and Olivelle in the 1st century CE by either an anonymous author or Kautilya, though earlier and later dates have also been proposed. While often regarded as created by a single author

Sanskrit text on the performing arts

15th-century Sanskrit manual on haṭha yoga

document written on pieces of the inner layer of birch bark

thumb|upright=0.85|Nepalese manuscript of the Hitopadesha, c.1800

Ancient Sanskrit text on medicine

Hindu text

Hindu religious text (c. 550 CE)

Medieval era encyclopedia

one of the foundational texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy

The '''''' (; ) is a grammar text that describes a form of the Sanskrit language.

thumb|320px|18th century Harivaṁśa manuscript in Devanāgari script

text with a philosophical foundation similar to Advaita Vedanta

hymn

thumb|upright=1.25|11th-century Buddhist Pancaraksa manuscript in Pāla script. It is a dharani genre text on spells, benefits and goddess rituals.

Mahabhashya (, IAST: , , "Great Commentary"), attributed to Patañjali, is a commentary on selected rules of Sanskrit grammar from Pāṇini's treatise, the Aṣṭādhyāyī, as well as Kātyāyana's Vārttika-sūtra, an elaboration of Pāṇini's grammar. It is dated to the 2nd century BCE.

work

14 verses organizing the phonemes of Sanskrit by Pāṇini: a i u ṇ / ṛ ḷ k / e o ṅ / ai au c / ha ya va ra ṭ / la ṇ / ña ma ṅa ṇa na m / jha bha ñ / gha ḍha dha ṣ / ja ba ga ḍa da ś / kha pha cha ṭha tha ca ṭa ta v / ka pa y / śa ṣa sa r / ha l

The Divyāvadāna or Divine narratives is a Sanskrit anthology of Buddhist avadana tales, many originating in Mūlasarvāstivādin vinaya texts. It may be dated to 2nd century CE. The stories themselves are therefore quite ancient and may be among the first Buddhist texts ever committed to writing, but this particular collection of them is not attested prior to the seventeenth century. Typically, the stories involve the Buddha explaining to a group of disciples how a particular individual, through actions in a previous life, came to have a particular karmic result in the present. A predominant them

Nagananda (Devanagari: नागानन्द) () is a Sanskrit play attributed to emperor Harsha (ruled 606 C.E. - 648 C.E.).

Buddhist mantra

The Vivekachudamani () is a philosophical treatise within the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism, traditionally attributed to the Vedāntic philosopher Adi Shankara, though this attribution has been questioned and mostly rejected by modern scholarship. It is in the form of a poem in the Shardula Vikridita metre.

Chanakyaniti is a collection of Sanskrit-language aphorisms traditionally ascribed to Chanakya. Its first European translation was in Greek in the 19th century.

vedic chanting of lord Shiva from yajurveda

Hindu text of the Dharmaśāstra tradition

sutra in Hinduism

Subset of Bhagavata Purana

Nitisara () or the Nitisara of Kamandaki, is an ancient Indian treatise on politics and statecraft. It was authored by Kamandaka, also known as Kamandaki or Kamandakiya, traditionally identified as a disciple of Vishnugupta (Kautilya). It is traditionally dated to the 4th-3rd century BCE, though modern scholarship variously dates it to between the 3rd and 7th centuries CE between Gupta and Harsha period and its in fact a recension based on Sukra Nitisara of 4th century BCE. It contains 19 sections. The work has been dedicated to Chandragupta of Pataliputra.

Indian folktale

thumb|Surya, Sun God to whom the hymn is dedicated Ādityahṛdayam (, ) is a Hindu devotional hymn, dedicated to Āditya or Sūrya (the Sun God), found in the Yuddha Kānda (6.105) of Vālmīki's Rāmāyana. It was recited by the sage Agastya to Rāma in the battlefield before fighting with the Rakshasa king Rāvaṇa. In it, Agastya teaches Rāma the procedure of worshiping Āditya for strength to defeat the enemy.

versions of the Indian epic poem

ancient text from Kashmir

rigvedic hymns dedicated to Lakshmi

hindu hymn

ancient Sanskrit literary work

Hindu sutra

The Yavanajātaka (Sanskrit: yavana 'Greek' + jātaka 'nativity' = 'nativity according to the Greeks'), written by Sphujidhvaja, is an ancient text in Indian astrology.

Hindu scripture

Pancharātra is a Sanskrit drama written by Bhasa. The plot is based on the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

A '''''''''' (treatise on Jyotisha) is a text from a classical body of literature on the topic of Hindu astrology, known as , dating to the medieval period of Classical Sanskrit literature (roughly the 3rd to 9th centuries CE). Only the most important ones exist in scholarly editions or translations, while many remain unedited in Sanskrit or vernacular manuscripts.

text of the Cārvāka school of Nastika philosophy, dating to the Mauryan period; lost and known only from fragmentary quotations

According to Indian tradition, the mantra to be recited before eating

story of a riddle contest in the Hindu epic Mahabharata

śāktaḥ Sanskrit work

indic philosophy of aesthetics

The ''''', also called the '', is the 125th ' (hymn) occurring in the 10th mandala of the Rigveda|. It was composed by the female seer Vāc Āmbhṛṇī, daughter of the sage Ambhṛṇa. In the present day, the ' is popularly chanted during the worship of the ' (Universal Goddess in any form), in the daily rituals of temples, and also in various Vedic sacrificial ceremonies like ', etc. It is also chanted at the end of '. The hymn portrays the Feminine Divine as the supreme origin, creative energy, and ultimate deity. It conveys a profound, all-encompassing experience of the Self and highlights the anc

Rudrashtakam (, ) is a Sanskrit meditation stotra invoking Rudra, an epithet of Shiva. It was composed by the Hindu Bhakti poet Tulsidas (). Tulsidas composed this stotra in the late fifteenth century in what is now Uttar Pradesh and created many other literary pieces including the magnum opus Ramcharitmanas.

A lecture given by a butcher to a Brahmin, which is found in Vana Parva of Mahabharata

Hindu astroloogical text

The Bṛhaddevatā (), is a metrical Sanskrit work, traditionally ascribed to Shaunaka. It is an enlarged catalogue of the Rigvedic deities worshipped in the individual suktas (hymns) of the Rigveda. It also contains the myths and legends related to the composition of these suktas.

Hindu hymn and prayer to Rama

Sanskrit hymn & philosophical text

The Aṣṭāṅgasaṅgraha is a Sanskrit text thought to be authored by the ancient Indian scholar Vagbhata. As a part of the Brhat Trayi, it is one of the principal texts of Ayurveda, which is an indigenous medicine system of India.