05-05-2008, 08:48 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->An insight into Kashmiri literature
By Vaidehi Nathan
<b>The Courtesan's Keeper: A Satire From Ancient Kashmir, Translated by A.N.D. Haksar</b>, Rupa & Co., pp 85, Rs 150.00
By Vaidehi Nathan
Sanskrit literature is today associated only with philosophical writings, hardly making allowances for the mundane and worse on life. So it comes as a refreshing insight that a thousand years ago, a poet in Kashmir, by name <b>Kshemendra wrote a treatise on the life of a courtesan. The work Samaya Matrika has been translated into English by A.N.D. Haksar</b>, well-known translator of Sanskrit classics. Being a courtesan was serious matter then. She has such a short span of life in which to earn for herself to last a lifetime. None of the dirt and filth associated with todayâs flesh trade. The translation of the engaging book, spanning 639 verses, gives a good commentary on the society of the time. Kshemendra, estimated to have lived between 990 and 1070 CE, has spun the story around an older woman, a past courtesan, who lives with the young one to initiate her and educate her on the manners and means of life.
Haksar gives a very comprehensive introduction to both Kshemendra and his works which helps in understanding the work. The older women, whose help the young beautiful maiden seeks to improve her life tells her who to choose for a lover, how she must go about with a single minded purpose of eking out the maximum from him and then having accomplished that how to discard him. The instructions are given in clinical precise details.
In the course of the narration one gleans details on the cloth, jewellery, eating and drinking habits of the society. Women move about freely, both within and outside Kashmir and inherit property and wealth. From the details of various Kashmiri works, 18 of Kshemendraâs works have been found. Sixteen more identified as written by him have not yet been located. Among the found work are the abridged versions of the two great Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata and a collection of Jataka stories. His subjects are varied as also his styles of writing, from satire to poetry to devotional works.
This translation no doubt is a valuable addition to the series of work done by Haksar. The notes and the appendix add value to the work, making reading highly pleasurable.
(Rupa & Co., 7/16 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110 002.)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.p...d=236&page=18#1
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
By Vaidehi Nathan
<b>The Courtesan's Keeper: A Satire From Ancient Kashmir, Translated by A.N.D. Haksar</b>, Rupa & Co., pp 85, Rs 150.00
By Vaidehi Nathan
Sanskrit literature is today associated only with philosophical writings, hardly making allowances for the mundane and worse on life. So it comes as a refreshing insight that a thousand years ago, a poet in Kashmir, by name <b>Kshemendra wrote a treatise on the life of a courtesan. The work Samaya Matrika has been translated into English by A.N.D. Haksar</b>, well-known translator of Sanskrit classics. Being a courtesan was serious matter then. She has such a short span of life in which to earn for herself to last a lifetime. None of the dirt and filth associated with todayâs flesh trade. The translation of the engaging book, spanning 639 verses, gives a good commentary on the society of the time. Kshemendra, estimated to have lived between 990 and 1070 CE, has spun the story around an older woman, a past courtesan, who lives with the young one to initiate her and educate her on the manners and means of life.
Haksar gives a very comprehensive introduction to both Kshemendra and his works which helps in understanding the work. The older women, whose help the young beautiful maiden seeks to improve her life tells her who to choose for a lover, how she must go about with a single minded purpose of eking out the maximum from him and then having accomplished that how to discard him. The instructions are given in clinical precise details.
In the course of the narration one gleans details on the cloth, jewellery, eating and drinking habits of the society. Women move about freely, both within and outside Kashmir and inherit property and wealth. From the details of various Kashmiri works, 18 of Kshemendraâs works have been found. Sixteen more identified as written by him have not yet been located. Among the found work are the abridged versions of the two great Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata and a collection of Jataka stories. His subjects are varied as also his styles of writing, from satire to poetry to devotional works.
This translation no doubt is a valuable addition to the series of work done by Haksar. The notes and the appendix add value to the work, making reading highly pleasurable.
(Rupa & Co., 7/16 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110 002.)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.p...d=236&page=18#1
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->