Great Epics and Puranas in Sanskrit Literature

Contents: 1. Study of epics and puranas. 2. Great epic literature. 3. Interrelation of the epic literature. 4. Epics and puranic literature.

The Sanskrit Epics fall into two main classes, the one comprising old stories and legends known as Itihasa and Purana and the other comprising poems known as Kavyam or ‘ornate epics’. The Mahabharata has exercised a great influence on the later Puranas and the Ramayana has served as a model for later court epics of the post-Puranic age.

Dr Narasingha Charan Panda (N.C. Panda), Associate Professor in Sanskrit, Vishveshvaranand Vishvabandhu Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies Panjab University, Sadhu Ashram, Hoshiarpur, is well-known in the field of Indological Research.