Author

Somadeva

8 key ideas, each explained in our own words.

Kathasaritsagara

IDEA 1
An ocean of stories
The Kathasaritsagara, meaning ocean of the streams of stories, is a huge collection of tales written in Sanskrit by Somadeva in Kashmir. It contains hundreds of stories of adventure, magic, love and cleverness.
IDEA 2
Written to comfort a queen
Somadeva composed the collection for Queen Suryamati of Kashmir, reportedly to distract her during difficult times. The stories were meant to delight and refresh the mind. Its scale and variety are remarkable.
IDEA 3
Its source was a lost book
Somadeva based his work on the Brihatkatha, a legendary collection by Gunadhya that has been lost. According to tradition, Gunadhya wrote it in an unusual language and much of it was burned.

Go deeper with SomadevaAsk questions, argue with the ideas and practise using them, free.