Dandin
Topic: Gupta Empire and the Classical Age · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Dandin was a Sanskrit writer of about the 7th century CE. He is usually linked with the Pallava court at Kanchipuram in the south. He is known for two works. The Dashakumaracharita is a lively story in prose, which means it is written in ordinary sentences and not in verse. The Kavyadarsha ("Mirror of Poetry") is a guidebook on how to write good poetry. It explains style and figures of speech, such as comparisons. His work shows that Sanskrit literature kept growing after the Gupta age, in courts outside the north.
Example
The Dashakumaracharita ("Adventures of the Ten Princes") follows ten young men on their adventures. On the way it shows clever thieves, merchants, gamblers and kings, which gives a colourful picture of society.
Related concepts
- Aryabhata
- Aryabhatiya
- Hindu-Arabic numerals
- Bakhshali manuscript
- Surya Siddhanta
- Varahamihira
- Bhaskara I
- Virahanka
- Kalidasa
- Abhijnanashakuntalam