Kathasaritsagara

The ''Kathāsaritsāgara'' ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") (Devanagari: कथासरित्सागर) is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva from Kashmir.

''Kathāsaritsāgara'' contains multiple layers of story within a story and is said to have been adopted from Guṇāḍhya's ''Bṛhatkathā'' ("the Great Narrative"), which was written in a poorly-understood language known as Paiśāchī. The ''Bṛhatkathā'' is no longer extant but several later adaptations still exist — the ''Kathāsaritsāgara'', ''Bṛhatkathamanjari'' and ''Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha''. However, none of these recensions necessarily derives directly from Gunadhya, and each may have intermediate versions. Scholars compare Guṇāḍhya with Vyasa and Valmiki even though he did not write the now long-lost ''Bṛhatkathā'' in Sanskrit. Presently available are its two Sanskrit recensions, the ''Bṛhatkathamanjari'' by Kṣemendra and the ''Kathāsaritsāgara'' by Somadeva. Provided by Wikipedia