topics: |  poetry | india | ancient | sanskrit | anthology

These poems, adopt a loose rhyme form, somewhere in between Brough's
Poems from the Sanskrit complete rhyming structure
and Daniel Ingall's free translations (gbook)

Introduction

subhAShitAvali, ed. Vallabhadeva (c. 15th c. Kashmir) is a part of the
subhAShita [lit. "well said"] collections of Sanskrit verse.  Others
include
 - vidyAkara's subhAshitaratnakoSha (Bengal, c. 11th c., 1738 verses, tr. Ingalls)
 - srIdharadAsa's saduktikarNAmrita (Bengal, 2377 verses, 1205) [no transln]
 - sArngadhara's paddhati (Rajasthan, 1363)
This is besides the shatakas of Bhartrihari and Amaruka, both c. 7th c..

R. Malaviya, in his edition based on Peterson, with Hindi translations and
notes, argues for a 10th c. date for Vallabhadeva.  p.xv

There are 3527 poems by 352 poets, while many poems remain anonymous.
Some of these authors are known only from this work.

I am somewhat struck by this sentence:
	A manuscript of subhAshitAvalI was located by the British scholar
	Peter Peterson with Pt Durga Prasad of Jaipur, who had studied it in
	Kashmir. p.x
Is this "located" then a "discovery" as in Columbus?  What merit does it
have when it was already known to a traditional Sanskrit scholar?
Peterson's critical recension, 1886, repr. Bhandarkar Inst. 1961, is the
basis for this work.

This translation has 600 poems out of the original 3527.  It maintains
thematic groupings as in the original, except that the 101 themes have been
reduced to 37.  20 headings under anyApadesha (allegories that suggest
some human situation) merged into three (8-10); e.g. the 52 themes under
shringAra are merged into 9 categories (11-19), sectionwise:
      11: four categories on separation (viraha)
      12: six categories on trials faced by separated lovers, advice of
	      friends, the role of messengers, etc.
      13: 18 categories, incl 16 on minute details of feminine beauty,
	      body parts from forehead to feet.
      14: three categories of woman feeling offended, and placating her
      15: 6 categories on seasons
      16: 3 categs on trysts at night
      18: 7 categories: endearments and love-making: commencement, climax
      19: miscellany
humour or hAsya (section 21) - tries to do more of these since these are
under-represented in translation.

20:When Hari held up

When Hari held up
the hill Govardhana,
all the cowherds
were overjoyed.
Listening to their songs of praise,
he remembered
his form as a boar,
with the earth uplifted
on the crescent of his tusk,
and smiled, embarrassed.
May that shy smile
guard you all  [34]
	- vibhUtibala

22:May Krishna's smile protect you

May Krishna's smile protect you all
as, eyes half shut, he drinks his fill
from one breast, then grasps the other
on which a drop has just appeared;
he beams as his chin is tickled,
his little teeth gleaming
like tiny drops of milk. [37]

23:While your brother's gone to play

"While your brother's gone to play
on the Yamuna's sandy banks,
Hari quickly drink your milk --
it is from the brindled cow
and will make your hair grow long."
The child thus cozened by Yashoda,
drinks half the milk, then stops to feel
the hair upon his head, and beams.
May that Hari guard us all. [38]
		- jIvaka

31:What is the worth

What is the worth
of the poet's verse
or the archer's dart
which cannot set
the mind awhirl
as it strikes the heart?  [134]

34: What fault can I find?

	"What fault can I find?"
 	With this thought in mind
 	does a villain always start
	to scrutinize the poet's art. [141]
		- bhaTTa nArAyana
	[author-critic relations have not changed much]

41: The language of great poets

The language of great poets has
yet another, inner sense,
like a woman's grace, which is
from her limbs a thing apart.  [157]
		- Anandavardhana

47: For even those devoid of merit

	For even those devoid of merit
	the good always compassion bear;
	the moon does not its lustre limit
	in lighting up the outcaste's lair. 	[225]

307: After love, he made pretence

After love, he made pretence
of sleeping, when she kissed him
but realized he was awake
as all his body bristled.
"You must be punished for this deceit!"
Saying this, she bit his lip
and got what she was after.   [2102]

	 (numbers in [ ] from the original Subhasitabali)

---bio

Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar was born in Gwalior and educated at the
Doon School and the universities of Allahabad and Oxford. A well-known
translator of Sanskrit classics, he has also had a distinguished career as a
diplomat, serving as Indian high commissioner to Kenya and the Seychelles,
minister to the United States, and ambassador to Portugal and
Yugoslavia. Haksar’s translations from the Sanskrit include Hitopadesa,
Simhasana Dvatrimsik, Tales of the Ten Princes and Subhashitavali, all
published as Penguin Classics. He has also compiled A Treasury of Sanskrit
Poetry.   from Penguin