In this second volume of the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives,” Arya·shura applies his elegant literary skill toward composing fourteen further stories that depict the Buddha’s quest fo…
“The Quartet of Causeries” date to the Gupta era, the time of Kali·dasa, but nothing certain is known about their four authors. Though stylistically divergent, they share a common plot: the he…
How Úrvashi was Won (Vikramorvaśīya) is one of the three surviving plays by Kali·dasa (fifth century CE), universally acknowledged as the supreme poet in classical Sanskrit; like the other two …
This second half of ‘Bhishma’ describes the events from the beginning of the fifth day till the end of the tenth of the great battle between the Káuravas and the Pándavas. Despite grandfat…
This volume offers a selection from the vast literature of prayers, devotional lyrics, and introspective meditations composed in Sanskrit in South India over the last thousand years. Three poets of…
To the dry bones of grammar Bhatti gave juicy flesh in his poem, telling the greatest Indian story in clear elegant Sanskrit. Composed in the seventh century CE, in South India, “Bhatti’s Poem:…
The “Little Clay Cart” is, for Sanskrit drama, atypically romantic, funny, and thrilling, replete with love, humor, courage, and intrigues. As Wilson put it, the ten-act play is “in many resp…
“The Book of Liberation” is perhaps the most enigmatic philosophical text from ancient India. Although presented as the teachings of Bhishma as he lays dying on the battlefield, after the epic …
By Bhānudatta Translated by Sheldon I. Pollock Purchase Download Excerpts View Rasikaranjani Manuscript View Udaipur Miniatures Bhanu is probably the most famous Sanskrit poet that no…
The “Gita·govínda” of Jaya·deva is a lyrical account of the illicit springtime love affair of Krishna and Radha, a god and goddess manifesting on earth as a cowherd and milkmaid for the sake…
Two plays that break the rules: both show the hero dying on stage, a scenario forbidden in Sanskrit dramaturgy. From widely different ideological and social backgrounds, each evokes intense emotion…
‘Bhishma,’ the sixth book of the eighteen-book epic “Maha·bhárata,” narrates the first ten days of the great war between the Káuravas and the Pándavas. This first volume covers four …
The fame of this story will exist eternally, for as long as the mountains stand and the rivers flow, Janárdana. When brahmins are gathered together, they will tell the tale of the great war of the…
The Book of “Karna” of India’s great epic the Maha·bhárata tells the events that occurred during the mighty hero Karna’s two days as general of the Káurava army. The second volume of the…
At the beginning of “Preparations For War,” the Pándavas have just completed their thirteen year exile, most recently having lived in disguise and in humiliating service in Viráta’s city. T…
The best-selling Hitopadeśa gives its reader much more than “Friendly Advice.” In one handy collection—closely related to the world-famous Pañcatantra or “Five Discourse on Worldly Wisdom…
“Rama’s Last Act” by Bhava·bhuti is counted among the greatest Sanskrit dramas. The work at once dramatizes the “Ramáyana”—it is one of the earliest theatrical adaptations of Valmíki…
In one of the most famous passages in the “Maha·bhárata,” Dur·yódhana, the heroic but flawed king of the Káuravas, meets his end when he is dishonorably defeated in battle by his arch enem…
King Harsha, who reigned over the kingdom of Kanauj from 606 to 647 CE, composed two Sanskrit plays about the mythical figures of King Údayana, his queen, Vásava·datta, and two of his co-wives. …
The Maha·bhárata’s ‘Book of Karna’ relates the events of the two dramatic days after the defeat of the great warriors and generals Bhishma and Drona, in which Karna — great hero and the e…