A History of Indian Literature v1.c7.s5.2

v1.c7.s5.2

The whole of this vast literature which has thus been handed down to us, is for the most part composed in Sanskrit. Yet the terms "Indian literature" and "Sanskrit literature" are by no means identical. The history of Indian literature in the most comprehensive sense of the word is the history of a literature which not only stretches across great periods of time and an enormous area, but also one which is composed in many languages. Those languages of India which belong to the Indo-European family of languages, have passed through three great phases of development, partly consecutive in time, but partly also parallel.