[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Literature, language and dating](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature) › [A History of Sanskrit Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.macdonell-1900) › c5.2 # A History of Sanskrit Literature c5.2 A History of Sanskrit Literature c5.2 - **Language:** English ### [c5.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.macdonell-1900.c5.2) On the very threshold of Indian literature more than three thousand years ago, we are confronted with a body of lyrical poetry which, although far older than the literary monuments of any other branch of the Indo-European family, is already distinguished by refinement and beauty of thought, as well as by skill in the handling of language and metre. From this point, for a period of more than a thousand years, Indian literature bears an exclusively religious stamp; even those latest productions of the Vedic age which cannot be called directly religious are yet meant to further religious ends. This is, indeed, implied by the term "Vedic." For \*veda\*, primarily signifying "knowledge" (from \*vid\*, "to know"), designates "sacred lore," as a branch of literature. Besides this general sense, the word has also the restricted meaning of "sacred book." - [Previous: c4.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.macdonell-1900.c4.41) - [Next: c5.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.macdonell-1900.c5.3) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.macdonell-1900.c5) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.macdonell-1900.c5.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.macdonell-1900.c5.2) · Pramāṇa