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Notes:

1. During the rule of the Guptas in ancient India, great achievements were made in mathematics, logic, astronomy, literature, and the fine arts.
2. Classical Sanskrit literature deals extensively with courtly culture and life. Aiming to evoke aesthetic responses, many of the works admitted into the literary canon were poetic works written and performed by learned poets (kavi) who were under the patronage of kings. A highly stylized form of poetry, kavya literature consists of four main genres—the court epic, short lyric, narrative, and drama.
3. In contrast to the elegant and formal works of the kavya genre are two important collections of tales that have influenced tales around the world—the Pañcatantra and the Kathasaritsagara.
4. Women in classical literature are rarely portrayed as one-dimensional characters who are victims of circumstance.
5. The kavya tradition is concerned with the universe and ideals. Heroes and heroines are rarely individuals; rather, they represent "universal" types.

Text:
* blue words within the text indicate important notes to remember

1. During the rule of the Guptas in ancient India, great achievements were made in mathematics, logic, astronomy, literature and the fine arts. The development of Sanskrit, a literary language meaning "refined, classified, and perfected," is also closely associated with Gupta classicism. Because Sanskrit was a highly codified language, it was seen to be the ideal language for classical Indian literature. In time, other literatures, including Prakrit literatures (seen to be more like dialects and "natural") that had developed around the second century were incorporated into the Sanskrit literary traditions. As a literary language, Sanskrit exerted considerable influence all over India until the tenth and eleventh centuries, when Tamil began to emerge as a distinct and viable classical literary language in parts of southern India.
2. Classical Sanskrit literature deals extensively with courtly culture and life. Aiming to evoke aesthetic responses, many of the works admitted into the literary canon were poetic works written and performed by learned poets (kavi) who were under the patronage of kings. A highly stylized form of poetry, kavya literature consists of four main genres—the court epic, short lyric, narrative, and drama. Although narrative was important in older epic forms that elegized kings, warriors, and gods, the kavya epics are written in lyric stanzas and are highly stylized and descriptive. Dramatic works are composed in both prose and verse, using a wider range of characters than the court epics. Combining the complexities of the Sanskrit language with rules of kavya poetry, the muktaka is one of the most perfected forms of classical Sanskrit poetry. This poetic style has been used in classical works ranging from Bhartrhari and Kalidasa's meditations on love and nature to Amaru's erotic poetry of the seventh century.
3. In contrast to the elegant and formal works of the kavya genre are two important collections of tales that have influenced tales around the world—the Pañcatantra and the Kathasaritsagara. The Pañcatantra, a collection of animal fables from the Gupta era, and the eleventh-century tale collection the Kathasaritsagara use satire and fable to critique aspects of Indian society. In general, persons of the brahman class—the highest of the four castes in Hindu society and also the class to which most classical poets belonged—were treated with reverence in classical works. But it is not uncommon to find satirical portrayals of brahmans, monks, and religious figures in this branch of Sanskrit literature.
4. Women in classical literature are rarely portrayed as one-dimensional characters who are victims of circumstance. From Kalidasa's portrayal of Sakuntala as the ideal self-abnegating Hindu wife to the sympathetic portrayal of witty, resourceful, and beautiful courtesans in classical Sanskrit and Tamil literature and the erotic poetry of the poet Amaru, women are portrayed as complex human beings; they are not always victims of circumstance, but are able to act decisively and are strong and resilient authority figures who are often as resourceful and witty as their male counterparts.
   
   Because of the close association with court culture, kavya masterpieces often reflected conservative values. But unlike works from the heroic age (including Bhagavad-Gita and Ramayana) that idealized religious duty, or dharma, classical texts offered a more balanced view of life, emphasizing the importance of artha (public life, wealth, and politics) and kama (erotic pleasures and emotions). Like literature of the heroic age, courtly literature also adheres to a belief in moksa, or liberation—the ultimate goal in life that releases souls from the cycle of birth and death resulting from good and bad actions (karma).
5. Ultimately, the kavya tradition is concerned with universal ideals. Heroes and heroines are rarely individuals; rather, they represent "universal" types. Heroes and heroines—be they courtesans, kings, merchants, or brahmans in classical literature— must posses the characteristics of a nagaraka, or a cultivated person, who is deemed beautiful, refined, and cultured.