A.N.D. Haksar - Subhashitavali: An Anthology of Comic, Erotic and Other Verse

The Sanskrit word subhshita can be translated literally as well said. It is often used for an epigrammatic stanza, the meaning or mood of which is complete in itself. Such a verse, also known as muktaka, could be an independent composition or part of a larger work. Its themes had a large variety, but its form was a constant two metric lines of equal weight, sometimes presented in four sections because of their length. At its best it combined brevity with a felicitous compression of thought or emotion. Many such verses passed into literature as maxims, proverbs or just memorable, quotable poetry.

Subhshita verses are a characteristic and popular feature of classical Sanskrit literature. A recognized art form, they occur in the great epics, as a part of longer poems, and in plays and prose works. Much esteemed in cultured intercourse, they lent themselves to collection in anthologies. A number of these, compiled in various parts of the country during the last one thousand years, are extant. Prominent among them is Subhshitvali, or a circlet of well-said verses, from which a selection is presented here in translation.

The contents of some subhshita compilations are confined to a single theme or attributed to a single author. Subhshitvali is of the second type. It is a collection of 3527 verse epigrams, grouped under 101 subject headings, and ascribed by name to 362 poets, apart from the many which are anonymous.

Academic opinion dates Subhshitvali to c. fifteenth century CE . a famous ruler of Kashmir who is known to have patronized Sanskrit letters. Thus, apart from the literary wealth of its contents, the compilation is also a pointer to the prevalence and extent of Sanskrit learning in medieval Kashmir.

The Subhshitvali verses span a period of at least 1500 years preceding the time of its compilation. Those extracted from the epicsMahbhrata and Rmyanaare probably much older. The variety is immense. The anthology begins and ends on a devout note of divine invocations. In between, there are reflections on poets and poetry, on virtue and wickedness, nobility and meanness. There are numerous allegorical epigrams and verses on nature. Not unexpected, there is a rich collection of erotic poetry on all aspects of love, symbolic and actual, emotional as well as physical. This is followed by heroic, humorous and satiric verses, panegyrics and pen-pictures, and sage observations on worldly conduct. Finally there are musings on the human condition, on its transience and insignificance, and on moral duty and renunciation.

The tone of these epigrams ranges from the pious to the profane, the lyrical to the sententious, the earnest to the cynical, the elegant to the somewhat coarse. Some are drawn from famous works; others are known only from their presence in this collection. The authors, likewise, include celebrated poets like Vlmiki and Vysa, Klidsa and Ba, as well as many who are no more than names.

In modern times, a manuscript of Subhshitvali was located by the British scholar Peter Peterson with Pandit Durga Prasad of Jaipur, who had studied it in Kashmir. Collating it with other manuscripts from the same land and elsewhere, Peterson edited and published the anthologys Sanskrit text in 1886 at Mumbai. Still the only critical recension in existence, it was reprinted in 1961 by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute of Pune, and forms the basis for the present translation.

Though reputed in academic circles, Subhshitvali is little known to general readership. According to available records, it has never been translated into English, except for a few stanzas from its corpus included in some histories of Sanskrit literature or in some selections of Sanskrit poetry. Thus its treasure of epigrams remains largely inaccessible to modern readers. The present work attempts to ameliorate this situation by providing a representative sampling in contemporary English from the anthologys poetic cornucopia.

The selection presented here consists of 600 verses, or just under a fifth of the original. This size seemed optimal for publication, but some mention of the criteria of selection would still be appropriate. Within the limits of space, choice was based mainly on the consideration that translations of poetry should as far as possible be readable on their own, without requiring supplementary explanations about their intent and context. Thus, verses which rely for their impact on Sanskrit figures of speech and linguistic devices like paranomasia and alliteration, and others of the type