Folklore occupies a significant place in Sanskrit literature, although it is often embedded within larger religious, philosophical, epic, and literary structures rather than presented as an independent genre. Sanskrit texts preserve a vast body of traditional beliefs, customs, legends, myths, proverbs, riddles, tales, ritual practices, magical ideas, popular ethics, and narratives associated with everyday life. The study of folklore in Sanskrit texts is therefore important for understanding not only classical Sanskrit literature but also the cultural history, social institutions, religious imagination, and popular consciousness of ancient and medieval India. The term folklore generally refers to the traditional knowledge and expressive culture transmitted within communities through oral and customary practices. It includes folktales, myths, legends, songs, riddles, proverbs, beliefs, rituals, festivals, customs, charms, and forms of popular entertainment. Sanskrit literature, though traditionally associated with learned and elite culture, contains numerous elements that originated in or interacted with popular traditions. The relationship between Sanskrit textual traditions and folklore was not one-directional. Sanskrit writers incorporated popular narratives into literary works, while Sanskrit texts themselves contributed stories, motifs, religious ideas, and characters to regional oral traditions. The Vedic literature provides some of the earliest evidence of traditional beliefs and practices that can be approached through folklore. The Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda contain hymns, myths, magical formulas, ritual practices, cosmological ideas, charms, and beliefs concerning supernatural forces. The Atharvaveda is particularly valuable for the study of popular beliefs because it contains charms against disease, spells for protection, fertility practices, household concerns, and ideas concerning supernatural dangers. These materials reveal aspects of everyday religious consciousness that differ from purely philosophical speculation. Concepts relating to spirits, omens, dreams, magical practices, healing, prosperity, and protection demonstrate the interaction between formal ritual culture and popular belief. The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads further preserve numerous narratives and traditional explanations. The Brahmana literature frequently explains rituals through myths and stories. These narratives show how traditional stories were employed to explain the origin and meaning of religious practices. Although these texts are primarily ritualistic and theological, their stories contain motifs that are also found in folklore, including contests between supernatural beings, divine transformations, miraculous events, and explanations of natural phenomena. The two great Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, are among the most important sources for studying the relationship between Sanskrit literature and folklore. Both epics contain layers of traditional material accumulated over long periods. Their narratives include myths, legends, heroic tales, genealogies, local traditions, supernatural episodes, popular beliefs, and moral stories. The Mahabharata, in particular, is a vast repository of narrative traditions. Stories such as those of Savitri and Satyavan, Nala and Damayanti, Shakuntala, Harishchandra, and many others circulated widely and later became part of regional folklore. The Ramayana also demonstrates the interaction between literary and oral traditions. Its central narrative has been adapted into numerous regional languages and oral traditions. Characters such as Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman, and Ravana have acquired different interpretations in different communities. Folk versions sometimes emphasize elements that are less prominent in classical Sanskrit versions. Thus, Sanskrit epic literature has served both as a recorder of traditional narratives and as a source from which numerous folk traditions developed. The Puranas constitute another major field for the study of folklore. Puranic literature contains myths concerning gods and goddesses, sacred places, rivers, mountains, pilgrimage centres, festivals, creation, destruction, dynasties, heroes, demons, saints, and miraculous events. The Puranas often incorporate local traditions into wider Hindu religious frameworks. A local deity or sacred place could be connected with a pan-Indian deity through a mythological narrative. In this manner, Sanskrit texts helped