Mahakavya
is a genre of Indian epic poetry in classical Sanskrit literature
Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as sargabandha, is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of phenomena such as scenery, love, and battles. Typical examples of mahākāvya are the Kumarasambhava and the Kiratarjuniya.
The genre evolved from earlier epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Despite the length of mahākāvyas (15-30 cantos, a total of about 1500-3000 verses), they are still much shorter than the Ramayana (500 cantos, 24000 verses) and the Mahabharata (about 100000 verses).
Classical examples
The Buddhist poet and philosopher Aśvaghoṣa (c. 80 – c. 150 CE) is one of the earliest known classical Sanskrit poets whose works have survived. His Buddhacarita (Acts of the Buddha) is regarded as a mahākāvya and was later translated into both Tibetan and Chinese as part of the transmission of Buddhist texts. Another kāvya by Aśvaghoṣa is the Saundarananda, which focuses on the conversion of Nanda, Buddha's half-brother.
Tradition identifies five works as model mahākāvya:
Kumārasambhava by Kālidāsa in 5th century CE: the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, and the birth of Kumara, in 17 cantos
Raghuvaṃśa by Kālidāsa: the Raghu dynasty, in 19 cantos (about 1564 verses)
Kiratarjuniya by Bharavi in 6th century CE: Arjuna's encounter with a Kirata (Shiva) 18 cantos
Naiśadha-carita by Shriharsha in 1174 AD: on the life of King Nala and Queen Damayanti, 22 cantos
Śiśupāla-vadha by Māgha in 7th century CE: the slaying of Shishupala by Krishna, 22 cantos (about 1800 verses)
To this list, sometimes a sixth one is also added.
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