Indian Classical Literature

By Prof. Nagendra Kumar | Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Learners enrolled: 288

The course on Indian Classical Literature is designed to introduce students to the rich literary, cultural, and philosophical heritage of ancient India, fostering critical appreciation, interdisciplinary insight, and an understanding of its enduring relevance in contemporary times

Objectives :

To familiarize students with major works and authors of Indian Classical Literature across various languages and periods
To develop an understanding of the historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts that shaped classical Indian texts
To analyze literary themes, genres, and narrative techniques employed in classical literature
To encourage critical reading and interpretation of ancient texts in translation

Unit 1 : Kalidasa Abhijnana Shakuntalam, tr. Chandra Rajan, in Kalidasa: The Loom of Time. (New Delhi: Penguin, 1989).

Unit 2 : Vyasa ‘The Dicing’ and ‘The Sequel to Dicing, ‘The Book of the Assembly Hall’, ‘The Temptation of Karna’, Book V ‘The Book of Effort’, in The Mahabharata: tr. and ed. J.A.B. van Buitenen Chicago: Brill, 1975) pp. 106–69.

Unit 3 : Sudraka Mrcchakatika, tr. M.M. Ramachandra Kale (New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass, 1962).

Unit 4. : Ilango Adigal ‘The Book of Banci’, in Cilappatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet, tr. R. Parthasarathy (Delhi: Penguin, 2004) Book 3

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	16 weeks
Category :	English
Credit Points :	5
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	12 Jan 2026
End Date :	30 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	28 Feb 2026
Exam Date :
Translation Languages :	English
NCrF Level	4.5

Page Visits

Course layout

Week-1	Topic/Title
	Background and Introduction to Indian Classical Literature
L1	Introduction to Indian Classical Literature
L2	Overview of Literary Periods and Genres
L3	Epic and Dramatic Traditions in Ancient India
	Weekly Assignment-1

Week-2	Topic/Title
L4	Oral vs Written Traditions in Indian Texts
L5	Classical Indian Aesthetics – Natyashastra and Dhvanyaloka
	*Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntalam: Love, Memory, and Recognition – Part I*
L6	Kalidasa and the Rise of Classical Sanskrit Drama
	Weekly Assignment-2

Week-3	Topic/Title
L7	Act I of Shakuntalam – Context and Characters
L8	Acts II–Themes of Love and Loss
L9	Acts III–Themes of Love and Loss
L10	Act IV – Nature and Memory in Shakuntalam
L11	Act V: Amnesia and Its Aftermath in Shakuntalam
	Weekly Assignment-3

Week-4	Topic/Title
	*Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntalam: Thematic and Poetic Completion – Part II*
L12	Act VI: Recognition, Longing & Regret in Shakuntalam
L13	Act VII: Reunion and Divine Intervention in Shakuntalam
L14	Theatrical Devices and Imagery in Shakuntalam
L15	Poetic Devices in Shakuntalam and The Legacy of Kalidas
	Weekly Assignment-4

Week-5		Topic/Title
		*Vyasa’s Mahabharata: Dice, Humiliation, and the Assembly Hall–Part I*
L16		Introduction to Vyasa and the Mahabharata
L17		Sabha Parva – The Dicing Game
		Weekly Assignment-5

Week-6	Topic/Title
L18	The Assembly Hall: The humiliation of Draupadi
L19	The Role of Dharma and Royal Ethics
L20	Women and Power in the Epic Landscape
	Weekly Assignment-6

Week-7	Topic/Title
	*Vyasa’s Mahabharata: Karna, Dharma, and Ethical Conflict – Part II*
L21	Karna – Birth, Loyalty, and Dilemmas
L22	Krishna and Karna’s Moral Dialogue
L23	Ethics of War – Dharma, Destiny, and Choice
L24	Draupadi Revisited: A Feminist Lens
L25	Karve’s Interpretation and the Epic’s Ethical Ambiguity
	Weekly Assignment-7

Week-8	Topic/Title
	*Sudraka’s Mrcchakatika: Comic Drama, Urban Ethos, and Class – Part I*
L26	Sudraka and the Tradition of Prakarana
L27	An overview of (Mricchakatika) The Little Clay Cart: ACT-I & ACT-II
L28	The Little Clay Cart (Mrchhkatika): ACT-III & ACT-IV
	Weekly Assignment-8

Week-9	Topic/Title
L29	The Little Clay Cart (Mrcchakatika) –Rising Tensions. ACT-V & ACT-VI
L30	The Little Clay Cart (Mrcchakatika) – The Escape of Aryaka and The Killing of Vasantasena (ACT-VII & ACT-VIII)
	*Sudraka’s Mrcchakatika: Justice, Redemption, and Women’s Agency – Part II*
L31	The Little Clay Cart (Mṛcchakatika) – The Closure ACT-IX & ACT-X
	Weekly Assignment-9

Week-10	Topic/Title
L32	Comic Devices and Realism in Sanskrit Drama The Little Clay Cart (Mrcchakatika)
L33	The World of Ujjayini-Law Morality, Satire and Social Commentary
L34	Vasantasena: Character, Voice and Agency
L35	Sudraka’s Humanism and Narrative Style
	Weekly Assignment-10

Week-11	Topic/Title
	*Ilango Adigal’s Cilappatikaram: Epic Justice, Rage, and Tamil Poetics*
L36	Tamil Poetics and Epic Tradition – Tolkappiyam
L37	Overview of Cilappatikaram and Its Structure
L38	Book of Vanci – Trial, Justice, and Rage
	Weekly Assignment-11

Week-12	Topic/Title
L39	Kannagi – Myth, Power, and Apotheosis
L40	Women’s Virtue, Anger, and Epic Memory
	*Classical Theory and Modern Interpretation: Rasa, Dharma, and the Postcolonial Lens*
L41	Rasa Theory in Bharata’s Natyashastra
L42	Types of Alankara – Illustrative Passages
	Weekly Assignment-12

Week-13	Topic/Title
L43	Colonial Representations – Dharwadkar
L44	Dharma and Moksha – Van Buitenen’s Perspective
L45	Relevance of Classical Theory in Contemporary Readings
	Weekly Assignment-13

Week-14	Topic/Title
	Thematic Integration, Comparative Readings, and Student Presentations
L46	Integrating Epic and Dramatic Themes
L47	Style and Technique across Classical Texts
L48	Thematic Reading and Narrative Techniques, Themes and Characters
	Weekly Assignment-14

Week-15	Topic/Title
L49	Comparative Readings – Memory, Ethics, Justice
L50	Recap and Synthesis
	Weekly Assignment-15

Books and references

Bharata, Natyashastra, tr. Manomohan Ghosh, vol. I, 2nd edn (Calcutta: Granthalaya, 1967) chap. 6: ‘Sentiments’, pp. 100–18.

Iravati Karve, ‘Draupadi’, in Yuganta: The End of an Epoch (Hyderabad: Disha, 1991) pp. 79–105.

J.A.B. Van Buitenen, ‘Dharma and Moksa’, in Roy W. Perrett, ed., Indian Philosophy, vol. V, Theory of Value: A Collection of Readings (New York: Garland, 2000) pp. 33–40.

Vinay Dharwadkar, ‘Orientalism and the Study of Indian Literature’, in Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament: Perspectives on South Asia, ed. Carol A. Breckenridge and Peter van der Veer (New Delhi: OUP, 1994) pp. 158–95.

Instructor bio

Prof. Nagendra Kumar

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Dr Nagendra Kumar obtained his Ph.D degree in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi. Prof. Kumar specialises in Language, Literature, Communication and Soft Skills with a keen interest in Indian Classical Literature. Besides publishing two books and a volume of translation of Coffee Table Book of IIT Roorkee, he has published over 150 research papers in conference proceedings, edited anthologies and reputed national and international journals, such as Critique, Scrutiny 2, ANQ, Journal of Graphic Novel and Comics, The Explicator, South Asian Review, South Asian Popular Culture, Media Watch, South East Asia Research, Journal of International Women’s Studies, Univ. of Bucharest Review, Neohelicon, Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Asiatic, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Partial Answers amongst others.

He has successfully supervised 26 Ph.D. scholars while 15 others are currently pursuing their research under his supervision. He has delivered invited talks in over 50 institutions across the country and abroad including Austria, Oman, Singapore, Canada, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Egypt, and United Kingdom. He has been an International Reviewer for many reputed journals and is part of editorial and advisory boards of national and international journals. He has also successfully organised about a dozen AICTE, Industry and MSME sponsored short term courses and workshops on Soft Skills, Communication, Culture, and Digital Pedagogy. He has developed a MOOC (NPTEL) course on “The Fiction of Indian Diaspora”. He has served as Head, and Chairperson, Department Research Committee, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Roorkee and has been a Fellow of Salzburg Seminar, Austria. He has also been a recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award of IIT Roorkee for the year 2015. His administrative responsibilities include, Chairperson Institute Sports Council, President Temple Management Committee, and Chairperson Institute Medical Emergency Fund. Currently he is a Professor (HAG Scale) in the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, INDIA

Dr. Anurag

Dr. Anurag Kumar
(Co-Instructor)
Associate Professor
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University

Dr. Anurag Kumar is an Associate Professor and Head of the School of Languages and Literature at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University. He earned his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in 2012, with a specialization in African American Literature, particularly focusing on Gloria Naylor’s fiction. His academic interests span postcolonial studies, feminist theory, Dalit and Black feminist standpoints, cultural studies, and literary theory.

Dr. Kumar has authored the book African American Literature: Politics of Marginal Space in the Fiction of Gloria Naylor (Atlantic, 2017) and published numerous research papers in reputed journals indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and SSCI. He has successfully guided several Ph.D. and postgraduate research scholars, contributing significantly to feminist and cultural discourse in Indian academia.

He has held multiple administrative roles including Head of School, Nodal Officer (Hindi Cell), and In-Charge of the Publication and Media Cell. His ICSSR-sponsored research project titled Reviving Memories through Cuisine: Tracing Cultural Consciousness and Social Identity of Kashmiri Pandits reflects his engagement with memory, identity, and cultural studies.

Dr. Kumar is a regular keynote speaker and invited expert at national and international conferences, workshops, and faculty development programmes, and has organized several academic events on literature, culture, and interdisciplinary humanities.

Course certificate

Internal Assessment

Weekly assessments released in the course shall be considered for Internal Marks and will carry 30 percent for the Overall Result. Out of all weekly assignments, the top 50% of assignments will be considered for the calculation of final Internal Assessment marks.

End-term Assessment

The final exam shall be conducted by NTA, and will carry 70 percent for the overall Result.

All students who obtain 40% marks in the internal assessment and 40% marks in the end-term proctored exam separately will be eligible for the SWAYAM Credit Certificate.

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