Sanskrit Poetry from Vidyakara's Treasury

Translated by Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Sr.

Paperback

ISBN 9780674788657

Publication date: 05/19/2000

In this rich collection of Sanskrit verse, the late Daniel Ingalls provides English readers with a wide variety of poetry from the vast anthology of an eleventh-century Buddhist scholar.

Although the style of poetry presented here originated in royal courts, Ingalls shows how it was adapted to all aspects of life, and came to address issues as diverse as love, sex, heroes, nature, and peace. More than thirty years after its original publication, Sanskrit Poetry continues to be the main resource for all interested in this multifaceted and elegant tradition.

Praise

Elegant and sophisticated poetry…this is a superb work.

—New York Times Book Review
These flowering—seemingly easy—translations are delightful to read… ‘Blossoming of Love,’ ‘Love in Enjoyment,’ and a few others, celebrate sex play that is sensuous and ecstatic, yet not lacking artistry and taste… ‘Characterizations,’ ‘Old Age,’ ‘the Hero,’ various gods—on and on, there is an inexhaustible variety of subject, style, and tone… One is particularly grateful to Professor Ingalls for proving that it is delightful poetry even in translation… [He] carefully introduces Sanskrit poetry, as to form, metrics, imagery, poetics in general, so that one guesses the power and elegance possible in a tradition so subtly analyzed by its critics.

—Poetry