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Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as ''sargabandha'', is a genre of Indian epic poetry in classical Sanskrit literature. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of scenery, love, battles and so on — in short, everything that tests a poet's skill at description. Typical examples of ''mahākāvya'' are the ''Kiratarjuniya'' and the ''Shishupala Vadha''. It is considered the most prestigious form in Sanskrit literature. The genre evolved from the earlier epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Despite the length of ''mahākāvya''s (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). ==The classical examples== Tradition identifies five works as model ''mahākāvya'': * ''Raghuvaṃśa'' by Kālidāsa: the Raghu dynasty, in 19 cantos (about 1564 verses) * ''Kumārasambhava'' by Kālidāsa: the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, and the birth of Kumara, in 17 cantos * ''Kirātārjunīya'' by Bharavi: a battle between Arjuna and Shiva from the Mahabharata, 18 cantos * ''Śiśupāla-vadha'' by Māgha: the slaying of Shishupala by Krishna, 22 cantos (about 1800 verses) * ''Naiśadha-carita'' by Sri-Harṣa: on the life of King Nala and Queen Damayanti, 22 cantos To this list, sometimes a sixth one is also added. * ''Bhaṭṭikāvya'', by Bhaṭṭi: describes the events of the Ramayana and simultaneously illustrates the principles of Sanskrit grammar, 22 cantos 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mahakavya」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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