THE STATE OF HINDUISM :- 3.
EPICS AND PURANAS:- The subsequent years saw the growing popularity of the Epics and Puranas. They were the most valuable for the common people and formed the source of half of the vernacular literature. One of the significant developments in the advance of the religious thought in the Puranas was the doctrine of Avataras and the concept of Sakti personified as the Mother Goddess. Saktism gave rise to a mass of religious literature known as Tantras. Unlike the Puranas they contain more of ritualistic matter and less of legend and history. The period up to above 7th century A.D. may be called the period of the puranas and dharshans. This period saw the compilation of eighteen great puranas, the famous dramas of Bhasa and Kalidasa and other commendable masterpieces like the mathematical treatise of Aryabhatta, the astronomical treatise of Varahamitra, etc. The Silpa sastra is also ascribed to this period.