Sanskrit Literature - Modern Sanskrit Literature

Modern Sanskrit Literature

See also: Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit

Literature in Sanskrit continues to be produced, despite its relative neglect by both Sanskritists and non-Sanskritists. Since 1967, the Sahitya Akademi, India's national academy of letters, has had an award for the best creative work written that year in Sanskrit. In 2009, Satyavrat Shastri became the first Sanskrit author to win the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award. Some other modern Sanskrit composers include Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra (known as Triveṇī Kavi, composer of short stories and several other genres of Sanskrit literature), Jagadguru Rambhadracharya (known as Kavikularatna, composer of two epics, several minor works and commentaries on Prasthānatrayī).

These works, however, have a very small readership. In the introduction to Ṣoḍaśī: An Anthology of Contemporary Sanskrit Poets (1992), Radhavallabh Tripathi writes:

Sanskrit is known for its classical literature, even though the creative activity in this language has continued without pause from the medieval age till today. Consequently, contemporary Sanskrit writing suffers from a prevailing negligence.

However, Tripathi also points out the abundance of contemporary Sanskrit literature:

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