The old Indo-Aryan language , Sanaskrit is the classical literary language of Hinduism. Sanskrit literature traces its roots back to Vedic period. The earliest forms of theatrical arts could have existed in the form of dance dramas evidenced by iconography from Indus Valley Civilization. This form of theatre died a natural death along with the Indus valley Civilization and was later replaced by the dramatic forms of the Vedic Age. Vedic drama like the Greek Drama owed its origin to religion. The Yama Yami episode in Rig Veda for example presents one of the earliest forms of drama in Indo European style of literature. It was probably enacted by the brahmanas as a part of ancient Vedic ritual. Alexander`s conquest of India greatly influenced the Sanskrit drama. Despite the influence, Sanskrit plays maintain their individuality and subjects of the plays ranged from the tragedy to light comedy. Many dramatists based their works around the plot of Ramayan and Mahabharata.

Kalidas is a pioneer of Sanskrit literature - Shakuntala and Meghdutum are his famous plays. Other playwrights like Sudraka wrote Mricchakatika; Bhasa composed Svapna Vasavadattam; Chanakya wrote Arthshastra and Vatsysyana wrote Kamasutra are also the landmarks of Sanskrit. Little is known about the playwrights and whatever is known is because of other writers referring to them in their works. However out of all these, the most well known Sanskrit dramatists are Sudraka, Bhasa, Asvaghosha and Kalidasa.

Sudraka: Sudraka`s Mrichchakatika was written during 2nd B.C and is one of the earliest known Sanskrit plays in the post Vedic era. Rife with romance, sex, royal intrigue and comedy the play won accolades for its plots and the number of twists and turns. It is the story of a young man who falls in love with Vasantsena, a rich courtesan. Their love is given a third angle by a royal courtier who loves Vasantsena too. Thieves, mistakes, and other sub-plots, thus making it entertaining, further complicate the plot.

Bhasa: Bhasa`s Plays are considered to be the best and second only to Kalidasa. His most famous plays are Swapnavasavadatta, Balacharita, Charudutt, Madhyamavyayoga, urubhanga, dutakavya karanbhara, pratimanataka, and Abhishek Antaka. Karanbhara is a critically acclaimed play and is subject of experimentation by modern theatre groups in India. The scholar Ganapati Sastry discovered manuscripts of 13 plays written by Bhasa in an old library. Even a 14th play was discovered, but its authorship is disputed.

Kalidas: He is the greatest poet and playwright in Sanskrit. Kalidas is to Sanskrit, what Shakespeare is to English. He used simple diction and mastered the use of simile earning the saying - Upama Kalidasasya (Kalidas owns simile). He wrote two large epic poems - Raghuvansham (the Genealogy of Raghu) and Kumarsambhavam (the birth of Kumara). He also wrote two smaller epics - Ritusamhaara (Medley of seasons) and Meghdutum (the cloud messenger). In his works, Kalidasa deals with famous Hindu legends and themes; the three plays that have immortalized him are Vikramorvasiya (Vikram and Urvashi), Malavikagnimitra (Malavika and Agnimitra) and Abhigyanshakuntalam (the recognition of Shakuntala).

Malavikagnimitra: It is a work concerned with palace intrigue. It is of special interest because the hero is a historical figure, King Agnimitra, whose father, Pushpamitra, wrested the kingship of northern India from the Mauryan king Brihadratha about 185 B.C. and established the Sunga dynasty, which held power for more than a century. The Vikramorvashiiya (Urvashi won through valor) is based on the old legend of the love of the mortal Pururavaas for the heavenly damsel Urvashi. The legend occurs in embryonic form in a hymn of the Rig Veda and in a much-amplified version in the Shatapathabraahmana.

The Abhigyanshakuntalam was the first work of Kaalidaasa to be translated into English from which was made a German translation in 1791 that evoked the often-quoted admiration by Goethe. The raw material for this play, which usually is called in English simply Shakuntala after the name of the heroine, is contained in the Mahabharata and in similar form also in the Padmapuraana, but these versions seem crude and primitive when compared with Kalidasa`s polished and refined treatment of the story. In bare outline the story of the play is as follows: King Dushyanta, while on a hunting expedition, meets the hermit-girl Shakuntala, whom he marries in the hermitage by a ceremony of mutual consent.

Obliged by affairs of state to return to his palace, he gives Shakuntala his signet ring, promising to send for her later. But when Shakuntala comes to the court for their reunion, pregnant with his child, Dushyanta fails to acknowledge her as his wife because of a curse. The spell is subsequently broken by the discovery of the ring, which Shakuntala had lost on her way to the court. The couple is later reunited, and all ends happily. The influence of the Abhigyanshakuntalam outside India is evident not only in the abundance of translations in many languages, but also in its adaptation to the operatic stage by Paderewski, Weinggartner, and Alfano.

In addition to these three plays Kalidas also wrote two long epic poems, the Kumarasambhava (Birth of Kumaara) and the Raghuvamsha (Dynasty of Raghu). The former is concerned with the events that lead to the marriage of the god Shiva and Parvatii, daughter of the Himalaya. The gods for the production of a son, Kumaara (the god of war), who would help them defeat the demon Taraka, desired this union. The gods induce Kama, god of love, to discharge an amatory arrow at Shiva who is engrossed in meditation. Angered by this interruption of his austerities, he burns Kama to ashes with a glance of his third eye. But love for Parvatii has been aroused, and it culminates in their marriage.

The Raghuvamsha treats of the family to which the great hero Rama belonged, commencing with its earliest antecedents and encapsulating the principal events told in the Ramayana of Valmiki. But like the Kumarasambhava, the last nine cantos of which are clearly the addition of another poet, the Raghuvamsha ends rather abruptly, suggesting either that it was left unfinished by the poet or that its final portion was lost early.

Finally there are two lyric poems, the Meghaduta (Cloud Messenger) and the Ritusamhara (Description of the Seasons). The latter, is distinguished by rather exaggerated and overly exuberant depictions of nature, such as are not elsewhere typical of the poet. It is of tangential interest, however, that the Ritusamhara, published in Bengal in 1792, was the first book to be printed in Sanskrit.

On the other hand, the Meghaduta, until the 1960`s hardly known outside India, is in many ways the finest and most perfect of all Kalidasa`s works and certainly one of the masterpiece of world literature. A short poem of 111 stanzas, it is founded at once upon the barest and yet most original of plots. Throughout the Meghaduta, as perhaps nowhere else so plentifully in Kalidasa`s works, are an unvarying freshness of inspiration and charm, delight imagery and fancy, profound insight into the emotions and a oneness with the phenomenon of nature. Moreover, the fluidity and beauty of the language are probably unmatched in Sanskrit literature, a feature all the more remarkable for its inevitable loss in translation.

Bharat: The Natyasastra (scripture of dance) is a keystone work in Sanskrit literature on the subject of stagecraft. It was written between 500 B.C and 300 B.C .The Natyasastra describes in detail the art of staging a Sanskrit drama. It addresses numerous topics, including the proper occasion for staging a drama, the props to be used, the kind of people qualified to be drama critics and specially instructions for actors and playwrights. Natyasastra deals primarily with stagecraft however its influence is visible even on music, dance, literature as well. It can, thus be called the foundation of fine arts in India. The most important concept in Natyasastra is the experience of Rasa (emotion or sentiment).

Apart from the Sanskrit dramas, we can also find that Panini`s Ashtadhyayi standardized Sanskrit grammar and phonetics. Panini has left an indelible mark on Sanskrit grammar and phonetics. Panini was a grammarian from approximately 5th century B.C. His masterpiece is called Ashtadhyayi and is a study in brevity and completeness. His book completely standardized Sanskrit grammar and phonetics and is accepted till date as an authority. His stroke of brilliance lies in the fact the grammar he wrote in addition to being descriptive is also a generative grammar. He used metarules, transformations, and recursion with such sophistication that his grammar has the computing power equivalent to a turning machine. The Backus - Noun - form grammars used to describe modern programming language have significant similarities with Panini`s grammar rules. In applying his rules to Sanskrit verse he used such texts as Shiva sutras thereby establishing principles of harmony and linguistic wholeness.