Sanskrit Literature

Several passages in our inscriptions indicate that the Kamarupa kings took a personal interest in Sanskrit literature. In the Gauhati Grant of Indrapala, his father, Purandarpala, is described as su-kavi. King Dharmapala was also poet of considerable merit. It is said in the epigraph that in his speech resided Bhagavati and Sarasvati, and he was regarded as Kavi cakrawala cudamani, chief of the circle of poets. He is said to have composed the first eight verses of his Puspa Bhadra Granth.

The literary activity of Assam during the period further becomes clear from the highly ornate and poetic prasastis of the epigraphs. Many of these prasastis may be classed among the best specimens of the literature of the period. The Stately diction, the easy flow of the verse, and the animated narration of historical incidents put them into a class of secular literature by themselves. The various meters used in them are handled with very great skill. From a study of these prasastis, it appears that their composers were not only well acquainted with the classical authors but also greatly influenced by the classical kavya style. This is evinced by their adoption of many possesses from the works of Kalidasa, Banabhatta and others. As an instance, passages from the Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa are found in the Nowgong Grant of Balavarman.

The author of the Bargaon Grant seems to imitate the ornate prose style of Bana. The fact that about one half of the royal genealogy in the Bargaon Grant is in prose led Hoernle to remark that “the writer’s literary powers were not equal to the task of versifying the whole.” Hoernle however, seems to forget the fact that the composer here is only reasoning to a well-known Sanskrit literary form known as `campu’ a from where verse is combined with rhetorical prose.

The Kalika Purana is a notable literary work of Assam. In the main though the Kalika Purana is of the nature of a ritualistic manual prescribing various rites and procedures of worship, it also gives valuable information regarding the religious condition prevailing in mediaeval Assam. The Yogini Tantra and Haragauri-samvada are no doubt later compilations; but they preserve many earlier traditions and as such they are worthy of mention as important semi-historical texts.