Poets on Poetics: Literature as Sanskrit Poets See It

Literature Mar 21, 2022

Kālidāsa - 4

Kauśikī’s words of praise upon seeing Mālavikā perform are noteworthy. Her response is in the form of a verse, whose second half provides incredible insights in...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Apr 11, 2022

Kālidāsa - 5

Abhijñānaśākuntala is one of the ripest fruits of Kālidāsa’s mature genius. The poet makes a candid confession in the prologue of this play: आ परितोषाद्...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Apr 18, 2022

Kālidāsa - 6

Let us proceed to the sixth act of Abhijñānaśākuntala. Duṣyanta has made a painting of Śakuntalā. The vidūṣaka takes one look at it and exclaims: “Madhurāvasthā...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Apr 25, 2022

Kālidāsa - 7

Über-human and sub-human characters do not produce rasa unless they are ‘humanized’ – this is a fundamental tenet of aesthetics. A great poet knows from experie...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Jun 06, 2022

Kālidāsa - 8

The first relates to the word sampṛktau. The poet has preferred the rather rare word sampṛkti to the more common saṃyukti. Let us understand the nuances of thes...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Jun 13, 2022

Kālidāsa - 9

Mallinātha has made some insightful observations in commenting on this verse. According to him, there were pictures in the mansion of various episodes from the...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature May 07, 2023

Bhāravi - 1

After Kālidāsa, Bhāravi is perhaps the only poet who steered the ship of Sanskrit narrative poetry along a new route. Successive poets merely followed his lead....

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature May 22, 2023

Bhāravi - 2

Bhāravi further refers to speech in the conversation between Indra and Arjuna: प्रसादरम्यमोजस्वि गरीयो लाघवान्वितम्।       &...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Aug 21, 2023

Śīlāditya Harṣavardhana

Harṣavardhana has made a mark in the annals of Sanskrit literature with his three plays: Priyadarśikā, Ratnāvalī and Nāgānanda. Interestingly, the prologues of...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Aug 28, 2023

Bāṇabhaṭṭa

Bāṇabhaṭṭa Among the works written by the great poet Bāṇabhaṭṭa, it is only in Harṣacarita that we come across thoughts on literary aesthetics. Although the in...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Sep 11, 2023

Māgha

Māgha In the second canto of Śiśupālavadha, the poet Māgha uses ideas from various sciences to support his arguments on polity. It is appropriate that he has i...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N

Literature Sep 25, 2023

Bhavabhūti

In the plays written by the great poet Bhavabhūti we find passages that not only reveal his personality and learning, but also his insights into literary aesthe...

Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh | Trans: Shashi Kiran B N