Poetry carved in stone

Pdf Handout “Poetry carved in stone”

“The finest effects of suggestion are possible only when applied to types, not to individuals. By a long process of typifying, each variety of love, each scene of nature, each function of the gods received a conventional manner of presentation. By a single brushstroke, a single word taken from one of these conventional portrayals or descriptions, the whole scene is evoked. It thus becomes far easier than it is under the modern Western ideal of individualism to move back and forth among the fields of nature, humanity, and the gods, and by suggestion to reveal a given mood as embracing the universe.” Vidyākara, Sanskrit Poetry, from Vidyākara’s Treasury, trans. Daniel H. H. Ingalls, 27-28.

Pictures: South Asia collection of the Art Institute, Chicago.

Texts:

Sanskrit: Vidyākara. The Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa. Edited by D. D. Kosambi and Vasudeo Vishwanath Gokhale. Harvard Oriental series 42. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1957. [Retrieved from: GRETIL] NB: I have adopted the readings corresponding to Ingalls’ translation.

English translation and notes: Vidyākara. An Anthology of Sanskrit Court Poetry: Vidyākara’s Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa. Translated by Daniel H. H. Ingalls. Harvard Oriental Series 44. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1965.

 

Ut pictura poesis “as is painting so is poetry” (Horace, Ars Poetica)

Pakistan, ancient Gandhara A Yakshi Grasping a Tree, Kushan period, 2nd/3rd century Gray schist96.5 x 24.5 x 10.8 cm (38 x 9 5/8 x 4 1/4 in.) Samuel M. Nickerson Fund, 1923.316

The Blossoming of Love (anurāga-vrajyā)

465

dattvā vāma-karaṃ nitamba-phalake līlā-valan-madhyayā
vyāvṛtta-stanam aṅga-cumbi-cibukaṃ sthitvā tayā māṃ prati |
antar-visphurad-indranīlamaṇiman-muktāvalī-māṃsalāḥ
saprema prahitāḥ smara-jvara-muco dvitrāḥ kaṭākṣa-cchaṭāḥ ||

Placing a hand behind her
hip and turning gracefully her waist,
her breast drawn back and chin held close against her shoulder,
she cast at me lovingly two or three sidelong glances
to quench my fever: heavy chains of pearls
in which a central sapphire shone.

Note: “The sapphire stands metaphor for the pupil, the pearls for the white of her eyes; cf. 324a, 468c, 506c, 517c, and especially 521a.

Thematic patterns

India WB Chandraketugarh Amorous Couple (Mithuna) with Parrot, 1st century B.C. Molded terracotta with red slip8.4 x 5.4 x 1.4 cm (3 5/16 x 2 1/8 x 9/16 in.) Gift of Marilyn Walter-Grounds, 1995.475

The evidence of Consummation (samāpta-nidhuvana-vrajyā)

621

dampatyor niśi jalpitaṃ gṛha-śukenâkarṇitaṃ yad vacaḥ
prātas tad guru-sannidhau nigadatas tasyaiva tāraṃ vadhūḥ |
hārâkarṣita-padmarāga-śakalaṃ vinyasya cañcoḥ puro
vrīḍārtā prakaroti dāḍima-phala-vyājena vāg-bandhanam || [Amaroḥ]

The pet parrot, having heard the words
of last night’s love between the bride and the groom,
begins to tell them shrilly on the morrow
before their elders.
The bride, quite overcome with shame,
offers before his beak a ruby,
like a pomegranate seed, drawn from her necklace,
to stop his chatter. [Amaru collection]

Note: “[…] (d) Parrots are notedly fond of pomegranates. Phalam must here refer to the seed, not the whole fruit. Arjunavarmadeva, commenting on Am[aru collection] 16, suggests emending to dāḍimamr̥ṣābījena [lit. “with a fake pomegranate seed” ThdH], which while logically preferable has no ms. authority.”

De-hieratization of the god’s representation

Bangladesh God Vishnu with His Consorts Lakshmi and Sarasvati, Pala period, 10th/12th century Black schist109.0 x 50.8 x 19.8 cm (42 7/8 x 20 x 7 3/4 in.) Restricted gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrew Brown, 1962.639

Viṣṇu (hari-vrajyā)

138

yuktaṃ mānada mām ananya-manasaṃ vakṣaḥ-sthala-sthāyinīṃ
bhaktām apy avadhūya kartum adhunā kāntā-sahasraṃ tava |
ity uktvā phaṇabhṛt-phaṇāmaṇi-gatāṃ svām eva mantvā tanuṃ
nidrā-cchedakaraṃ harer avatu vo lakṣmyā vilakṣa-smitam || Bhāsasya

“That’s good, I must say, husband,
when I think of only you and cling to you and love you,
to cast me off and take a thousand other loves!”
Thus Lakṣmī cried, seeing her body multiplied
in the serpent’s jeweled hood.
May her ensuing laugh, embarrassed at her error
and breaking her husband’s sleep, so prove your aid. Bhāsa

India, Tamil Nadu. Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), Chola period, c. 10th/11th century. Bronze69.3 x 61.8 x 24.1 cm (27 1/4 x 24 1/4 x 9 1/2 in.) Kate S. Buckingham Fund, 1965.1130

Śiva (maheśvra-vrajyā)

44

cūḍā-pīḍa-kapāla-saṃkula-patan-mandākinī-vārayo
vidyut-prāya-lalāṭa-locana-puṭa-jyotir-vimiśra-tviṣaḥ |
pāntu tvām akaṭhora-ketaka-śikhā-saṃdigdha-mugdhendavo
bhūteśasya bhujaṅga-valli-valaya-sraṅ-naddha-jūṭā jaṭāḥ || Bhavabhūteḥ

May Śiva’s matted hair protect you:
its color blending with the lightning flame
that flashes from the hollow of his forehead-eye;
its heavy locks encircled
by the winding tendrils of his snakes;
within, the fair young moon or
could it be the tender stamen of a ketaka within
too, Ganges’ stream full falling
and pouring through the skulls that deck his crown. Bhavabhūti

Note: “The opening verse of the Mālatimādhava, an eight-word nāndī; see Intr. 4, par. 21. (c) ketaka: Pandanus odoratissimus. For the shape of the flower see 247 (likened to an elephant’s tusk), Āryā[saptaśatī] 4 (to an arrow of Kāma); cf. Megh[adūta] 23 and R̥tu[saṃhāra] 2.23.”

Bangladesh. Sun God Surya Standing on his Chariot, Pala period, 10th/11th century. Chlorite72.3 x 41.3 x 11.4 cm (28 1/2 x 16 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse, 1965.383

The Sun (sūrya-vrajyā)

148

yasyâdho ‘dhas tathôpary upari niravadhi bhrāmyato viśvam aśvair
āvṛttâlāta-līlāṃ racayati rayato maṇḍalaṃ tigma-dhāmnaḥ |
so ‘vyād uttapta-kārtasvara-sarala-śara-spardhibhir dhāma-daṇḍair
uddaṇḍaiḥ prāpayan vaḥ pracuratama-tamaḥ-stomam astaṃ samastam || Rājaśekharasya

The sharp-rayed sun, driving with his horses
over and below the endless world,
whose disc thereby moves swiftly as a whirling brand,
I pray may aid you by his casting out all darkness
with his shafts of light as warlike
as burning spears of gold. Rājaśekhara

Note: “[…] The verse is used by Rājaśekhara in his Kāvyamīmāṃsā as an example; it need not actually be his own. […]”

See also “Surya or Savitar” in Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend.

Orissa. God Vishnu Measures the Universe in Three Strides (Trivikrama), c. 12th century. Gneissic rock93.9 x 49.8 x 30.5 cm (37 x 19 5/8 x 12 in.). Gift of Nathan Rubin and the Ida Ladd Family Foundation, 2001.428

Viṣṇu (hari-vrajyā)

114

kutas tvam aṇukaḥ svataḥ svam iti kiṃ na yat kasyacit
kim icchasi pada-trayaṃ nanu bhuvā kim atyalpayā |
dvijasya śamino mama tribhuvanaṃ tad ity āśayo
harer jayati nihnutaḥ prakaṭitaś ca vakroktibhiḥ || [Vākpateḥ]

“How have you grown so small?” “On my own.”
“And what is then your own?” “What isn’t any other’s.”
“What do you want?” “Three steps.” “And why so little
land as that? “
“Because to me, a brahmin living in content,
that seems as much as the three worlds.”
Victory to Hari’s true intent
half hidden thus and half expressed in crooked words. [Vākpatirāja]

Note: “Dialogue between Viṣṇu in the form of a dwarf and the demon Bali. Viṣṇu’s answers, superficially innocuous, hint at his true nature and purpose. (a) One may interpret in several ways: From what?—from myself. For what reason?—for wealth. From what power?—from my own.”

Everyday life and realism

Madhya or Uttar Pradesh. Cow Suckling a Calf, c. 9th century.Buff sandstone55.3 x 73.7 x 9.6 cm (22 3/4 x 29 x 3 3/4 in.) Gift of Marilynn B. Alsdorf, 2006.180

Characterization (jāti-vrajyā)

1168

ādau vitatya caraṇau vinamayya kaṇṭham
utthāpya vaktram abhihatya muhuś ca vatsāḥ |
mātrā vivartita-mukhaṃ mukha-lihyamāna-
paścârdha-sustha-manasaḥ stanam utpibanti ||

The calves first spread their legs
and, lowering their necks with faces raised,
nuzzle the cows;
then, as with heads turned back
their mothers lick their hindquarters,
happily they take the teat and drink. [Cakrapāṇi]