A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s3.36

v3.c35.s3.36

To the 3rd or 4th century A.D. probably belongs T a n-t r ā k h y ā y i k ā, the oldest form of the P a ñ c a t a n t r a. The dramas of B h ā s a too must have originated in the 4th century A.D. With some compromise we can characterise the poems of Aśvaghoṣa and those of his contemporaries, Hāla's Sattasaī (in its oldest constituent), Guṇāḍhya's Bṛhatkathā, Tantrākhyāyikā and the dramas of Bhāsa (in the form they are) as belonging to the classical or early classical period of Indian ornate poetry.