History of Sanskrit literature I: veda and vedANga

• UH101
• This is the first of four courses in The Sanskrit Library’s digital humanities programs that provide students with an historical overview and sampling of Sanskrit literature. The courses survey the history of the literature; introduce students to surveys, editions, translations, and studies on it; and read selected passages of the original texts. This course begins with the Vedic saMhitAs, brAhmaRas, and upanizads, and introduces students to the six vedANgas and their interrelation.
• Instructor: Tanuja P. Ajotikar and Peter M. Scharf
• Schedule: Sundays, 14 January – 28 April 2024.
• Course meeting times: 9:00–11:00am U.S. Central Time; 8:30–10:30pm IST.
• Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of Sanskrit: US101 with concurrent enrollment in US102 or equivalent.
• Course fee: $1,500.
• Course fee for Indian residents: ₹15,000.
• Register
• Register (residents of India)
• Course materials: a bibliography will be distributed to registered students.

Lecture	Topic
1	What is Veda? Various meanings of the word veda. The extent of the Vedic literature. The four {s}aMhitAs, {b}rAhmaRas, {A}raRyakas, {u}panizads, sUtra literature, etc.
2	{s}Uktas in the {f}gveda to {a}gni, {i}ndra, and {v}aruRa.
3	Interrelation among saMhitAs, brAhmaRas, and upanizads: {B}fgu’s sUkta.
4	Vedic ancillary literature: the anukramaRIs.
5	The dialogue between {y}AjYavalkya and {m}EtreyI in the {b}fhadAraRyakopanizad.
6	The vedANgas.
7	Vedic accent.
8	The meaningfulness of Vedic mantras.
9	The continuation of the linguistic traditions: {v}yAkaraRa.
10	The continuation of the linguistic traditions: lexicography.
11	The Vedic hymns’ inspiration of subsequent Sanskrit literature.
12	Vedic commentary.