Indian literature is intimately bound up with the Indian religious system. The earliest sacred writings are the Vedas. In addition to being poetry on nature, and later on, ritual formulae for controlling the universe, the Vedas have philosophical speculation. A large part of classical Indian literature consists of writing commentaries on commentaries. Basically, all thought and all literature can only be a commentary on the four Vedas, said to exist from the beginning of creation. Indian literature is so rooted in religion that if some Indian literature does not start out being religious, it often ends up being so. The whole course of Indian literature and of Indian civilization was transformed by the bhakti movement; devotional worship of a personal deity. Also influencing Indian literature were the Islamic tradition, and the Dravidian culture. The French, British, Dutch, Portuguese, and English also influenced the dominant Sanskrit tradition. Not all modern Indian writers write in English nor is the West discernible in every work of literature produced today. The current situation is one where exciting creative literature is being written both in English and in the regional languages. (Author/AM)