The 'Kathasaritsagara' ('Ocean of the Streams of Stories'), a famous collection of stories in Sanskrit, was written by:

The "Kathasaritsagara" ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") was written in Sanskrit by Somadeva, a Kashmiri Brahmana poet, in the 11th century CE.

About the Kathasaritsagara:

• It was composed around 1063-1081 CE.
• Somadeva wrote it for the entertainment of Queen Suryamati, the wife of King Ananta of Kashmir.
• It contains about 22,000 verses, divided into 18 books (lambakas) and 124 chapters (tarangas, or "waves").
• It is one of the largest collections of stories in the world.
• It is based on an earlier, lost collection of stories by an ancient author.

Its contents:

• The main story is about the adventures of Naravahanadatta, the son of King Udayana of Vatsa, and his marriages.
• Within the main story, there are hundreds of other stories, told by different characters, including fairy tales, legends, fables, romances and tales of magic, adventure and humour.

It includes the "Vetala Panchavimshati" ("Twenty-five Tales of the Vetala"), in which King Vikramaditya carries a corpse possessed by a vetala (ghost), who tells him stories and asks him questions; these stories are popular as "Vikram aur Betaal".

It also includes stories from the Panchatantra.

Importance:

• It gives a picture of Indian society, customs and beliefs in ancient and early medieval times.
• It has influenced story collections in many languages.

Other story collections in Sanskrit:

• "Brihatkathamanjari": another version of the same stories, by Kshemendra, also from Kashmir (11th century).
• "Panchatantra": animal fables, attributed to Vishnu Sharma.
• "Hitopadesha": fables, by Narayana Pandita.
• "Vetala Panchavimshati", "Simhasana Dvatrimshika" (Thirty-two Tales of the Throne).
• "Dashakumaracharita" (Tales of Ten Princes): a prose work.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kshemendra wrote the Brihatkathamanjari.
• ✗Vishnu Sharma is the author of the Panchatantra.
• ✗Narayana Pandita wrote the Hitopadesha.