Erotic Poems from the Sanskrit
Page 9
1: The woman refers to her husband as “the child’s father,” as it was customary for women to avoid calling their husbands by their names.
5: “Gamboge” is the translation of tamāla (Xanthochymus pictorious Roxb.), a black-barked tree that grows on riverbanks.
THE BED
Vikaṭanitambā (9th cent.) was a woman poet. Short of describing the lovemaking, the poet offers telling details surrounding the event: the knot holding the woman’s skirt gives way, and the skirt itself collapses to the floor. The tactile images are themselves erotic: “bed,” “knot,” “skirt,” “hips,” “cords,” “belt,” and “arms.” Orgasm renders the woman speechless, erasing the memory of their lovemaking.
For a note on the poet’s name, see the introduction, p. xliii.
A WORD OF ADVICE
The exhortation to “Throw caution to the wind:/squeeze her hard when the two of you are alone” must be understood in the context of the prohibition against touching. Notwithstanding the risk of breaking a social taboo, the man is told to establish physical contact with the girl as the first step toward possessing her. Though the comparison of a girl to sugarcane might appear somewhat unflattering today, it is quite suggestive, especially if we keep in mind the belief that the god of love Kāma’s bow is made of sugarcane.
FAR FROM HOME
Yogeśvara (800–900) was a poet from Bengal. For a note on Yogeśvara’s realistic descriptions of country scenes, see the introduction, pp. xli–xlii.
5: The kadamba tree (Anthocephalus cadamba), with yellow ball-shaped fragrant blossoms, flowers in the monsoon (June to September). Kadamba woods are a favorite of the god Kṛṣṇa and the goddess Durgā.
I have chosen the poems translated in this volume from the following works; the editions of the texts are listed in the bibliography.
The Amaruśataka (Amaru’s one hundred poems, 7th cent.) is the foremost anthology of Sanskrit erotic verse. It is said, “Just one verse of Amaru equals one hundred good works.” The words “one hundred” in the title should not be taken literally; they only mean “many.” In fact, the number of poems varies from 90 to 115 in the “450 odd manuscripts.” Traditionally attributed to Amaru, the anthology is the work of several writers. It was first published, with the Kāmadā commentary of Ravicandra, in 1808 in Calcutta.
Bhartṛhari’s Śatakatrayādi-subhāṣitasaṃgraḥ (Three hundred poems: A collection of well-turned verse, ca. 400) comprises epigrams on right conduct, love, and asceticism that are unmatched by any other poet, except Kālidāsa. Edited by William Carey, it was first published in 1803 in Srirampur, Bengal.
Bhāskara II’s Līlāvatī (The beautiful, 12th cent.) is a classic work on arithmetic written in verse. Edited and translated into English by Henry Thomas Colebrooke, it was first published in 1817 in London.
Bhavabhūti’s Mālatīmādhava (Mālatī and Mādhava, 8th cent.) is one of three plays of the poet that have survived. Edited by Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, it was first published in 1876 in Bombay.
Bilhaṇa’s Caurapañcāśikā (Fifty poems of a thief of love, 11th cent.) is a poetic sequence. Edited by Peter von Bohlen, it was first published in 1833 in Berlin.
The Subhāṣitahārāvalī (A garland of well-turned verse, 17th cent., in MS) was compiled by Harikavi (Bhānubhaṭṭa), a poet at the court of the Marāṭhā king Saṃbhājī (r. 1680–1689).
Jagannātha Paṇḍitarāja’s Paṇḍitarājakāvyasaṃgraḥ (The complete poetical works of Paṇḍitarāja, 17th cent.). Edited by Aryendra Sharma, it was first published in1958 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Kṣemendra’s Aucityavicāracarcā (A critical discourse on propriety, 11th cent.) is a landmark text in Sanskrit poetics. Edited by Pandit Durgaprasad and Kasinath Pandurang Parab, it was first published in 1886 in Bombay.
Kālidāsa’s Abhijñānaśākuntala (Śakuntalā and the ring of recollection, 4th–5th cent.) is one of three plays of the poet that have survived. Edited by Antoine-Léonard de Chézy, it was first published in 1820 in Paris.
Kālidāsa’s Mālavikāgnimitra (Mālavikā and Agnimitra, 4th–5th cent.) is one of three plays of the poet that have survived. Edited by Otto Fredrik Tullberg, it was first published in 1840 in Bonn. Tullberg’s edition was unsatisfactory. It was superseded by Shankar P. Pandit’s edition, with the commentary of Kāṭayavema, published in 1869 in Bombay.
The Rig Veda (The knowledge of the praise songs, 1200–900 B.C.E.), comprising 1,028 hymns, is the oldest literature of the Indo-European peoples. Edited by Friedrich Max Müller in six volumes, it was first published in 1849–1874 in London.
The Ṛtusaṃhāra (The cycle of the seasons, 2nd–5th cent.) is incorrectly attributed to Kālidāsa; it is the work of an unknown poet. It comprises 153 poems in praise of the seasons. It is the earliest surviving example of the genre known as poetry describing the seasons (ṛtuvarṇanakāvya). Edited by “some unknown scholar/scholars” under the supervision of Sir William Jones, it was first published in 1792 in Bengali script in Calcutta.
The Śārṅgadharapaddhati (Śārṅgadhara’s guide to poetry, 14th cent.) comprises 4,689 poems. About 271 poets are named; the rest are anonymous. Edited by Peter Peterson, it was first published in 1888 in Bombay.
The Śṛṅgāratilaka (The mark of love) is incorrectly attributed to Kālidāsa; it is the work of an unknown poet. It comprises thirty-one poems on love. Edited by Johann Gildemeister, it was first published in 1841 in Bonn.
The Subhāṣitāvalī (A sequence of well-turned verses, 16th cent.), compiled by Vallabhadeva, comprises 3,527 poems. About 350 poets are named; the rest are anonymous. Edited by Peter Peterson and Pandit Durgaprasad, it was first published in 1886 in Bombay.
The Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa (A treasury of well-turned verse, 11th cent.), compiled by the Buddhist abbot Vidyākara of the Jagaddāla Monastery, founded by the Pāla king Rāmapāla (r. 1077–1120) in Varendra in what is now Bangladesh, comprises 1,738 poems. About 220 poets are named; the rest are anonymous. Edited by D. D. Kosambi and V. V. Gokhale, it was first published in 1957 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
SOURCES OF POEMS
ABBREVIATIONS
For details concerning the following works, see the notes to the poems and the bibliography.
AS
Amaruśataka (Nirnaya Sagara ed.)
ASVR
Amaruśataka (Vemabhūpāla’s recension)
BC
Bilhaṇa, Caurapañcāśikā (northern recension)
BL
Bhāskara, Līlāvatī (Colebrooke’s trans.)
BM
Bhavabhūti, Mālatīmādhava
BS
Bhartṛhari, Śatakatrayādi-subhāṣitasaṃgraḥ
HS
Harikavi, Subhāṣitahārāvalī
JPK
Jagannātha Paṇḍitarāja, Paṇḍitarājakāvyasaṃgraḥ
JS
Bhagadatta Jalhaṇa, Sūktimuktāvalī
KA
Kṣemendra, Aucityavicāracarcā
KM
Kālidāsa, Mālavikāgnimitra
KS
Kālidāsa, Abhijñānaśākuntala
RP
Rājaśekhara Sūri, Prabandhakoṣa
RS
Ṛtusaṃhāra
RV
Rig Veda
SP
Śārṅgadhara, Śārṅgadharapaddhati
ST
Śṛṅgāratilaka
UK
Udbhaṭa, Kāvyālaṃkārasārasaṃgraḥ
VS
Vallabhadeva, Subhāṣitāvalī
VSD
Viśvanātha, Sāhityadarpaṇa
VSR
Vidyākara, Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa
The abbreviations following the titles refer to the Sanskrit texts, and the numbers refer to the poems within each text.
ABHINANDA
That’s How I Saw Her [VSR 589]
AMARU
Who Needs the Gods? [AS 3]
In a Hundred P
laces [AS 11],
A Taste of Ambrosia [AS 36]
Pincers [AS 74]
The Bride [AS 90]
ANON
Lovers’ Quarrel [AS 23]
The Pledge [AS 43]
A Lover’s Welcome [AS 45]
Regret [AS 58]
Stonehearted [AS 59]
Feigning Sleep [AS 82]
Remorse [AS 92]
Walking the Street by Her House [AS 100]
The Sheets [AS 107]
A Woman Wronged [AS 114]
Aubade [RS 5.11]
Like the Wheels of a Chariot [RV 10.10.7]
The Word [RV 10.71.4]
An Invitation [SP 3918]
The Traveler [ST 12]
The Devoted Wife [VS 1049]
The Kingdom’s Happiness [VS 1476]
Hair [VS 1481]
Wild Nights [VS 2151]
Thank Offering [VS 2366]
At the Cremation Ground [VS 3195]
On a Rainy Day [VSR 261]
When Winter Comes [VSR 312]
Jewels [VSR 559]
The Creaking Bed [VSR 573]
She Protests Too Much [VSR 587]
She Doesn’t Let Go of Her Pride [VSR 690]
The Ways of Love [VSR 696]
A Lover’s Word [VSR 830]
The Hawk [VSR 1150]
A Needle [VSR 1307]
Time Wasted [VSR 1469]
The Scholar’s Life [VSR 1478]
Foolish Heart [VSR 1503]
Supreme Bliss [VSR 1624]
BĀṆA
In a Corner of the Village Shrine [VSR 1305]
BHARTṚHARI
Wise Men [BS 88]
Poets’ Excesses [BS 108]
The Love Game [BS 124]
Hips [BS 147]
Fear of Death [BS 153]
Desire Alone [BS 156]
Adoration of Woman [BS 159]
The Poet Speaks to the King [BS 166]
Contentment [BS 190]
Man’s Life [BS 200]
Old Age [BS 242]
White Flag [BS 323]
BHĀSKARA II
Elementary Arithmetic [BL 54]
BHAVABHŪTI
The Critic Scorned [BM 1.6]
BHĀVAKADEVĪ
Bitter Harvest [AS 69]
BHOJA
Scrambling Out of the Water [VSR 1160]
BILHAṆA
Bite Marks [BC 13]
In Life After Life [BC 22]
All for Love [BC 23]
DEVAGUPTA
Drumbeats [AS 31]
DHARMAKĪRTI
The Way [VSR 1729]
JAGANNĀTHA PAṆḌITARĀJA
Indra’s Heaven [JPK 585]
JAGHANACAPALĀ
Wife [VSR 825]
KĀLIDĀSA
Flight of the Deer [KS 1.7]
Such Innocent Moves [KM 4.15]
Blessed Sleep [VSR 806]
KARṆOTPALA
The Lamp [VSR 570]
KEŚAṬA
The Camel [VSR 512]
KṢEMENDRA
All Eyes on the Door [KA 35]
KṢITĪŚA
The Red Seal [VSR 758]
KUMĀRADĀSA
Alba [KA 24]
KUṬALĀ
Furtive Lovemaking [HS 79]
MĀGHA
The Art of Poetry [KA 30]
Scent [VSR 627]
MAHODADHI
Stop Being Willful [VSR 654]
MORIKĀ
Don’t Go [VS 1053]
MURĀRI
Hidden Fingernail Marks [VSR 634]
An Actor in a Farce [VSR 1526]
RĀJAPUTRA PARPAṬI
Blow Out the Lamp [VS 2053]
RĀJAŚEKHARA
Her Face [VSR 797]
RUDRAṬA
What the Young Wife Said to the Traveler [VSR 812]
ŚARAṆA
Girl Drawing Water from a Well [VSR 1152]
SIDDHOKA
The Empty Road [AS 76]
ŚĪLĀBHAṬṬĀRIKĀ
Then and Now [VSR 815]
SONNOKA
Driven by Passion [VSR 581]
ŚRĪHARṢA
The Smart Girl [AS 18]
In Her Direction [AS 99]
VALLAṆA
Sea of Shame [VSR 568]
On the Grass [VSR 822]
The Essence of Poetry [VSR 1705]
VARĀHA
Poring Over a Book [VSR 1179]
VIDYĀ
Hollow Pleasures [VS 1175]
Complaint [VSR 574]
The Riverbank [VSR 807]
VIKAṬANITAMBĀ
The Bed [AS 101]
A Word of Advice [VS 1401]
YOGEŚVARA
Far from Home [VSR 220]
When the Rains Come [VSR 221]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY WORKS
Abhijñānaśākuntala of Kālidāsa, with the commentary of Rāghava Bhaṭṭa. Ed. Narayan Ram Acharya. 12th ed. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1958.
Amaruśataka, with the Sanskrit commentary the Rasikasañjīvinī of Arjunavarmadeva. Ed. Pandit Durgaprasad and Kasinath Pandurang Parab. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1889.
Amaruśataka, with the Sanskrit commentary the Śṛṅgāradīpikā of Vemabhūpāla. Ed. and trans. Chintaman Ramchandra Devadhar. 1959. Reprint, New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984.
Anaṅgaraṅga of Kalyāṇamalla. Edited, with a Hindi translation and commentary, by Ram Sagar Tripathi. Delhi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, 1988.
Aucityavicāracarcā of Kṣemendra. Ed. Pandit Dhundhiraja Sastri. Haridas Sanskrit Series, no. 25. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 1933.
Kāmasūtra of Vātsyāyana, with the Sanskrit commentary Jayamaṅgalā of Śrī Yaśodhara Indrapada. Edited, with the Hindi commentary Jaya, by Devadatta Sastri. Kashi Sanskrit Series, no. 29. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 1964.
Kavikaṇṭābharaṇa of Kṣemendra. Ed. Pandit Dhundhiraja Sastri. Vols. 10 and 11. Banaras: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 1933.
Kāvyālaṃkārasārasaṃgraḥ of Udbhaṭa. Edited, with the commentary the Laghuvṛtti of Indurāja, by Narayana Daso Banhatti. Bombay Sanskrit and Prākrit Series, no. 79. 2nd ed. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1982.
Kāvyamīmāṃsa of Rājaśekhara. Ed. K. S. Ramaswamy Sastri Siromani. Gaekwad’s Oriental Series, no. 1. 3rd ed. 1916. Reprint, Baroda: Oriental Institute, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, 1934.
Līlāvatī of Bhāskara II (Algebra, with Arithmetic and Mensuration, from the Sanskrit of Brahmagupta and Bhāskara). Ed. and trans. Henry Thomas Colebrooke. London: Murray, 1817.
Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva’s “Gītagovinda.” Ed. and trans. Barbara Stoler Miller. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.
Mālatīmādhava of Bhavabhūti. Ed. Michael Coulson. Revised by Roderick Sinclair. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Mālavikāgnimitra of Kālidāsa, with Kāṭayavema’s commentary. Ed. Narayan Ram Acharya. 9th ed. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1950.
Mṛcchakaṭika of Śūdraka. Edited, with the commentary of Pṛthvīdhara, by Kasinath Pandurang Parab. Revised by Vasudev Laksman Sastri Pansikar. 6th ed. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1926.
Paṇḍitarājakāvyasaṃgraḥ. Ed. Aryendra Sharma. Hyderabad: Sanskrit Academy, 1958.
Phantasies of a Love-Thief: The Caurapañcāśikā Attributed to Bilhaṇa. Ed. and trans. Barbara Stoler Miller. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.
Prabandhakoṣa of Rājaśekhara Sūri. Edited, with a Hindi translation, by Jina Vijaya. Singhi Jain Series, no. 6. Santiniketan, West Bengal: Adhisthata-Singhi Jaina Jnanapitha, 1935.
Rig Veda: A Metrically Restored Text with an Introduction and Notes. Ed. Barend A. van Nooten and Gary B. Holland. Harvard Oriental Series 50. Cambridge, Mass.: Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University, 1994.
Ṛtusaṃhāra, including the commentary of Maṇirāma, and Ś�
��ṅgāratilaka. Ed. Vasudev Laksman Sastri Pansikar. 4th ed. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1913.
Sāhityadarpaṇa of Śrī Viśvanātha Kavirāja. Edited, with a commentary, by Pandit Sri Krishna Mohan Thakur. Kashi Sanskrit Series 145. 3rd ed. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 1967.
Śārṅgadharapaddhati, Volume 1: The Text. Ed. Peter Peterson. Bombay Sanskrit Series, no. 37. Bombay: Government Central Book Depot, 1888.
Śatakatrayādi-subhāṣitasaṃgraḥ of Bhartṛhari. Ed. D. D. Kosambi. Singhi Jain Series, no. 23. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1948.
Subhāṣitahārāvalī [MS]. Compiled by Harikavi. Cited in The Contribution of Women to Sanskrit Literature, Volume 2: Sanskrit Poetesses, part A. Ed. Jatindra Bimal Chaudhuri. Calcutta, 1941.
Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa. Compiled by Vidyākara. Ed. D. D. Kosambi and V. V. Gokhale. Harvard Oriental Series 42. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1957.
Subhāṣitāvalī. Compiled by Vallabhadeva. Ed. Peter Peterson and Pandit Durgaprasad. Revised by Raghunath Damodar Karmarkar. Bombay Sanskrit and Prākrit Series, no. 31. 2nd ed. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1961.
Sūktimuktāvalī. Compiled by Bhagadatta Jalhaṇa. Ed. Embar Krishnamacharya. Gaekwad’s Oriental Series, no. 82. Baroda: Oriental Institute, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, 1938.
WORKS IN TRANSLATION
Brough, John, trans. Poems from the Sanskrit. Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1968.
Heifetz, Hank, trans. The Origin of the Young God: Kālidāsa’s “Kumārasaṃbhava.” Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
Ingalls, Daniel H. H., trans. An Anthology of Sanskrit Court Poetry: Vidyākara’s “Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa.” Harvard Oriental Series 44. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1965.
Love Lyrics by Amaru, Bhartṛhari, and Bilhaṇa. Translated by Greg Bailey and Richard Gombrich. Clay Sanskrit Library. New York: New York University Press; John and Jennifer Clay Foundation, 2005.