# Indian classics API

> Aathichoodi, the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and Kabir's couplets, a line or verse at a time, with transliteration.

Public domain classics beside the Thirukkural: Avvaiyar's Aathichoodi (109 Tamil maxims), the Bhagavad Gita (700 Sanskrit verses) and 284 of Kabir's sakhis (Hindi couplets) from the Kabir Granthavali, as transcribed on Wikisource. Each line comes with a Roman transliteration (ISO 15919). No translations: those still under copyright are not used.

Base URL `https://api.dharun.dev`. No API key needed for most endpoints; a free key (https://api.dharun.dev/keys) raises the limits, and the model endpoints marked below will need one. Answers are JSON, `{ "data": ..., "meta": { ... } }`, and errors are `{ "error": { "code", "message" } }` with a matching HTTP status. Rate limit: 600 units a minute per address without a key, 3000 per key; the `RateLimit-*` headers say what is left.

## The texts

`GET /v1/classics`

Example: https://api.dharun.dev/v1/classics?utm_medium=docs-md

Response, with lists and long text shortened:

```json
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "aathichoodi",
      "title": "ஆத்திசூடி",
      "title_en": "Aathichoodi",
      "author": "Avvaiyar",
      "language": "ta",
      "part_name": "section",
      "unit_name": "line",
      "units": 111,
      "note": "109 one-line maxims in the order of the Tamil alphabet, with the two-line invocation as section 0, line 1 and 2.",
      "source": "https://ta.wikisource.org/wiki/ஆத்திசூடி"
    },
    {
      "id": "gita",
      "title": "श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता",
      "title_en": "Bhagavad Gita",
      "author": "Vyasa (attributed)",
      "language": "sa",
      "part_name": "chapter",
      "unit_name": "verse",
      "units": 700,
      "note": "The Sanskrit text, 700 verses in 18 chapters (Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva). Speakers are not marked.",
      "source": "https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/भगवद्गीता"
    },
    {
      "id": "kabir",
      "title": "कबीर साखी",
      "title_en": "Kabir's sakhis (couplets)",
      "author": "Kabir",
      "language": "hi",
      "part_name": "anga",
      "unit_name": "couplet",
      "units": 284,
      "note": "Sakhis (couplets) of Kabir in the 17 angas (themes) of Kabir Granthavali, ed. Shyamsundar Das (Nagari Pracharini Sabha) that Wikisource has transcribed; numbers…",
      "source": "https://hi.wikisource.org/wiki/कबीर_ग्रंथावली"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "total": 3,
    "source": {
      "name": "Aathichoodi, Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit) and Kabir's sakhis, as transcribed on Wikisource",
      "url": "https://wikisource.org/",
      "licence": "Public domain texts (Avvaiyar, the Mahabharata, Kabir); Wikisource credited for the transcription",
      "version": "2026-11-12",
      "retrieved": "2026-11-12T15:40:00Z",
      "attribution": "Texts as transcribed on Tamil, Sanskrit and Hindi Wikisource; Kabir from the Kabir Granthavali edited by Shyamsundar Das."
    },
    "note": "Public domain texts as transcribed on Wikisource; the transliteration (ISO 15919) is made by this API from the script and is a guide to reading, not a scholarly…"
  }
}
```

## A text and its parts

`GET /v1/classics/{text}`

Parameters:

- `text` (path, required): Which text. One of: aathichoodi, gita, kabir.

Example: https://api.dharun.dev/v1/classics/gita?utm_medium=docs-md

Response, with lists and long text shortened:

```json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "gita",
    "title": "श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता",
    "title_en": "Bhagavad Gita",
    "author": "Vyasa (attributed)",
    "language": "sa",
    "part_name": "chapter",
    "unit_name": "verse",
    "units": 700,
    "note": "The Sanskrit text, 700 verses in 18 chapters (Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva). Speakers are not marked.",
    "source": "https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/भगवद्गीता",
    "parts": [
      {
        "number": 1,
        "name": "अर्जुनविषादयोगः",
        "units": 47
      },
      {
        "number": 2,
        "name": "साङ्ख्ययोगः",
        "units": 72
      },
      {
        "number": 3,
        "name": "कर्मयोगः",
        "units": 43
      }
    ]
  },
  "meta": {
    "source": {
      "name": "Aathichoodi, Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit) and Kabir's sakhis, as transcribed on Wikisource",
      "url": "https://wikisource.org/",
      "licence": "Public domain texts (Avvaiyar, the Mahabharata, Kabir); Wikisource credited for the transcription",
      "version": "2026-11-12",
      "retrieved": "2026-11-12T15:40:00Z",
      "attribution": "Texts as transcribed on Tamil, Sanskrit and Hindi Wikisource; Kabir from the Kabir Granthavali edited by Shyamsundar Das."
    },
    "note": "Public domain texts as transcribed on Wikisource; the transliteration (ISO 15919) is made by this API from the script and is a guide to reading, not a scholarly…"
  }
}
```

## A verse, a whole part, or a random one

`GET /v1/classics/{text}/{ref}`

ref is part.number (gita 2.47, kabir 1.3), a part alone for all of it (gita 2), random, or for Aathichoodi a line number (1 to 109).

Parameters:

- `text` (path, required): Which text. One of: aathichoodi, gita, kabir.
- `ref` (path, required): 2.47, 2, random, or 7 for Aathichoodi.

Example: https://api.dharun.dev/v1/classics/gita/2.47?utm_medium=docs-md

Response, with lists and long text shortened:

```json
{
  "data": {
    "text": "gita",
    "ref": "2.47",
    "part": 2,
    "part_name": "साङ्ख्ययोगः",
    "number": 47,
    "lines": [
      "कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन",
      "मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि"
    ],
    "transliteration": [
      "karmaṇyēvādhikārastē mā phalēṣu kadācana",
      "mā karmaphalahēturbhūrmā tē saṅgō’stvakarmaṇi"
    ]
  },
  "meta": {
    "source": {
      "name": "Aathichoodi, Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit) and Kabir's sakhis, as transcribed on Wikisource",
      "url": "https://wikisource.org/",
      "licence": "Public domain texts (Avvaiyar, the Mahabharata, Kabir); Wikisource credited for the transcription",
      "version": "2026-11-12",
      "retrieved": "2026-11-12T15:40:00Z",
      "attribution": "Texts as transcribed on Tamil, Sanskrit and Hindi Wikisource; Kabir from the Kabir Granthavali edited by Shyamsundar Das."
    },
    "note": "Public domain texts as transcribed on Wikisource; the transliteration (ISO 15919) is made by this API from the script and is a guide to reading, not a scholarly…"
  }
}
```

## Data source

- [Aathichoodi, Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit) and Kabir's sakhis, as transcribed on Wikisource](https://wikisource.org/), 2026-11-12, retrieved 2026-11-12T15:40:00Z. Licence: Public domain texts (Avvaiyar, the Mahabharata, Kabir); Wikisource credited for the transcription. Texts as transcribed on Tamil, Sanskrit and Hindi Wikisource; Kabir from the Kabir Granthavali edited by Shyamsundar Das.