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Kāvya

Sanskrit genre of literary poetry

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This literary style, which includes both poetry and prose, is characterised by abundant usage of figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, and hyperbole to create its characteristic emotional effects. The result is a short lyrical work, court epic, narrative or dramatic work. Kāvya can refer to the style or the completed body of literature. Aśvaghoṣa (c. 80–150 CE), a philosopher and poet considered the father of Sanskrit drama, is attributed with first using the term.

Early kāvya

Although very little literature in the kāvya style written before the time of Kālidāsa (5th century CE) survives, it can be assumed that it dates back to an early time from quotations in Patañjali's grammatical treatise the Mahābhāṣya (2nd century BCE), as well as from poems written on various inscriptions of the 4th to 6th centuries CE.

One early epic work in this style is the Buddhacarita ("A Life of Buddha") by Aśvaghoṣa (2nd century CE). Only the first half of this survives in Sanskrit, and the rest in a Chinese translation made c. 420 CE.

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