After extended hiatus, ICP returns with another article on a prominent Buddhist. However, this particular Bauddha is known more for his acerbic wit and satirical literature than his contributions to the 8 Fold Path.
Our Next Article in our Continuing Series on Indic Personalities is on the author Kshemendra.
Background
“Kshemendra is a major figure in Sanskrit satire. He lived in Kashmir in the eleventh century CE and, unlike many authors from ancient India, has left some personal details in his various works—a few of which are also dated. Collated and cross-checked with other sources, such as Kalhana’s history of Kashmir, the Raajataranginee, written a century later, they provide an outline of his life and work.” [1, xvi]
This medieval figure featured at an important inflection point in the history of the Subcontinent, not only politically but philosophically. Kashmir Shaivism itself (trika) was reaching its apogee. Numerous authors living in or hailing from Kashyapa-mira would make their impact.
“The earliest date in Kshemendra’s works corresponds to 1037 CE, and the last to 1066 CE, indicating virtually three decades of literary activity. Most of it took place during the reign of King Ananta (1028-63 CE) in Kashmir. Kshemendra names him as the ruler of the time in five of his works. A sixth names his son and successor Kalasha (1063-87 CE). It is surmised that the writer’s birth and education took place before and during the time of Ananta’s grandfather and predecessor King Sangramaraja. His own dates are estimated as roughly between 990 and 1070 CE.” [1, xvi]
Incidentally, King Ananta’s reign featured yet another literary gem in the form of Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara. It is both delightful coincidence and also historical curiosity that a ruler who was marginalised in his own time would be able to boast of indirect patronage for two icons of Sanskrit literature. Incidentally, Kshemendra wrote the Brhath-katha-manjari, which like the aforementioned contemporaneous work, was based on the same source material: Brhat Katha by Gunadya.
Biography
“Kshemendra was born into an old, cultured and affluent family supposedly descended from Narendra, a minister of the ninth-century king Jayapida. His grandfather was Sindhu, perhaps a high official of this name that Kalhana mentions. His father, Prakashendra, was a wealthy and pious man who devoted himself to religious rites and philanthropy. In describing these, Kshemendra gives a tender account of his death in ecstasy while at prayer. His own son, Somendra, continued the family’s scholarly tradition by adding material to one of his father’s works.” [1, xvi]
“Ksemendra surnamed Vyaasadaasa, was the son of Prakaasen-dra and grandson of Sindhu. His father was a great patron of Brahmins and expended three crores in various benefactions. He was himself a devotee of Siva but latterly, under the teachings of Somachaarya, it is said he became a Vaisnava Bhaagavata. He studied under Abhinavagupta and was in the court of King Ananta of Kashmir (1029-1064 A.D. [3, 172]
As one can see here, for all the talk of merit being only a matter of individual hard work, the literateur Kshemendra came with tremendous cultural capital that only family inheritance and upbringing can bestow. The author certainly made the most of it, which shows that being an achiever is only 1 part hard work and many parts fortuitous circumstances. In the case of literary doyens, it is also prathibha (divine inspiration). The present personage certainly had the latter in spades as well.
“Kshemendra’s education was in keeping with this background. He mentions studying literature with the foremost teacher of his time, the celebrated Shaiva philosopher and literary exponent Abhinavagupta, who was active in Kashmir till about 1015. Two other teachers he names are the poet Gangaka and the preceptor Soma. The second appears to have initiated him into Vaishnava studies.” [1, xvi]
“A third was Manjubhadra or Viryabhadra, a distinguished scholar from Nepal, with whom he studied Buddhism. His erudition was thus both varied and vast. He eulogizes two ancient poets: the sages Valmiki and Vyasa, the traditional composers of the Raamaayana and the Mahaabhaarata. His early work includes verse abridgements of both epics. Devoted in particular to the author of the second, he often uses the epithet Vyasadasa, the servant of Vyasa, for himself.” [1, xvi]
Though not often discussed, or perhaps purposefully minimised, is the fact that Kshemendra leaned to buddhism in his own time. Born into a Shaiva parampara he was also associated with the Vaishnava sampradaya before ultimately penning a work on Buddhism.
“Apart from the rulers of the time, Kshemendra names some contemporaries associated with his writing. The two abstracts of the epics were prepared at the insistence of his friend, the Brahmin Ramayasha, and his first dated work, an abridgement of Gunadhya’s now lost Brihatkathaa, at that of the scholar Devadhara. The Buddhist monk Nakka encouraged his later retelling of the Jaataka tales. A well-known work on poetics was composed for Udayasimha, the son of his friend Ratnasimha, the ruler of Vijayapura. This prince, himself a poet, is mentioned by Kshemendra as his student and quoted in another of his works. A second student he quotes there is the prince Lakshmanaditya.” [1, xvi]
“Despite his princely friends and students, Kshemendra does not seem to have sought or received royal patronage as was the case with many men of letters in that age. While he refers, with due courtesies, to reigning monarchs in some of his works, in others there are neither such references, nor any eulogies indicative of patronage. The overall impression the works convey is that of an erudite and observant person of independent opinions and means, who engaged in literary and intellectual pursuits for their own sake.” [1, xvi]
Satire
“Satire is seldom associated with Sanskrit in the current popular perception of the ancient language as one mainly of religion and philosophy. Prominent among its satirists is Kshemendra, the celebrated writer from Kashmir. Little translated, his work is virtually unknown today outside the world of specialists. “[1, xiii]
The rapier-wit of Kshemendra is known to those well-acquainted with sanskrit literature. Indeed, he has in many ways become the embodiment of sanskritic satire.
“the tradition of satire in classical Sanskrit is old and distinct. The earliest known of such works date to around the first century CE. Ubhayaabhisaarikaa by Vararuchi and Dhoortavitasamvaada by Ishvaradatta, a loose rendition of whose respective titles would be Both Girls Stepping Out and The Dialogue of a Conman and a Libertine. A third is Padmapraabhritaka or The Lotus Gift, attributed to Shudraka, author of the celebrated third-century play Mricchakatika or the Toy Car.”[1, xii] “All three are of the type bhaana or causerie. The setting of the first two is Pataliputra, then the royal capital near modern Patna. The third is set in Ujjayini, another important city. All satirize the urban lifestyle….The descriptions spell out the foibles and the follies of metropolitan life as well as the social skills needed to deal with them.[ The tradition continues with Shyamilaka’s Paadataaditaka or the Kick, of about the fifth century CE. The work covers a cross-section of people in another imperial city”[1, xiv]
However, Kshemendra was not the only skilled wielder of the prahaasa.
“This form of writing remained popular in later centuries, according to present academic opinion, and there are many examples of it, such as the twelth-century Karpooracharita by Vatsaraja and the anonymous Vitanidraa or the Parasite’s Sleep, of about the fourteenth century, from Mahodaya in Kerala.”[1, xiv]
“Kashmir was far from being a cultural backwater then—as it would be in later times—but was rather ‘in the vanguard of Indian culture with notable contributions to every aspect of its life.’” [1, xxiii]
Achievements
- 18 works of Kshemendra have been found, edited, and printed. Another 16 are known by title via quotation of references in other text. 3 are abstracts of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Brihatkatha. 4 satires are on contemporary life. 3 works deal with poetics and prosody.
- There are 2 devotional works: one on the former lives of the Buddha, another on the Dasavatara of Vishnu. [1, xvi-xvii]
“The sixteen works known only through reference and quotation include some plays and long poems, a satirical novel, a possible retelling in verse of Bana’s Kadambari, and, what seems from the title, a commentary on the Kaama Sootra of Vatsyayana. Also in this list is Kshemendra’s history of Kashmir, the Nripaavali, which Kalhana described as the composition of a poet, but decried as full of errors.”[1. xviii]
There is a literary spectrum that runs from the Panchatantra and Jatakas to Bana and Kshemendra. Despite contributions from the disparate regions/provinces of Indic civilization, mutual reference to each other and common literary heritage is frequent. Indeed, all draw from the inherited Classical Indic canon and tradition of poesy. Multiple styles also existed, such as the verbose and over-complicated Gaudi as well as the more simple and supple Vaidarbhi. The present author’s style leans to the latter.
He wrote many works, and among them are some independent didactic poems and narrative abstracts of older poems. His Raajaavali is a history of Kashmir like Kalhana’s Raajatarangini. Brhatkathamanjari, Raamaayanamanjari and Bhaaratamanjari are epi-tomes of Brhatkatha, Raamaayana and Mahabhaarata. Among his works known only by name are Sasivamsa-mahakaavya, Amrtarangakaavya, Avasarasaara, Muktaavali, Laavanyavati, Desopadesa, Pavanapacasikaa, and Padyakaadambaree; and among his known and printed works are, Avadaana-Kalpalataa, Neetikalpataru, Lokaprakaasakosa, Sevyasevakopadesa, Neetilataa, Vinayavalli, Darpadalana, Munimatameemaamsaa and Kavikanthaabharana. Dasaavataaracarita gives the story of the incarnations and the story of Buddha is related according to the Buddhist works. Kalaavilaasa in 10 parts describes several arts with illustrations from traditional tales.” [3, 172]
“The style in all these works is marked by directness and economy. The narrative is terse, and the imagery brief and pointed, sometimes brutally so. The action is generally fast paced, except in passages of didactic elaboration.” [1, xix]
Slesha, also known as paronomasia, is a standard literary device in Sanskrit pose and poetry. The mechanics of rhetoric allows for both structure as well as creativity.
“Kshemendra’s propensity for using puns to give double and satirically contrasting meaning to his words and even verses. A suitable translation of such slesha into another language is always difficult.”[1, xx]
A sign of master of wordsmithy is not mere imitation. It is the ability to adapt to one’s own locale or a particular situation. “Another stylistic feature is Kshemendra’s usage of unusual words and compounds, some untraceable in standard dictionaries, and others whose meaning occasionally needs inference. According to a recent study he ‘does not refrain from words or idioms of his Kashmiri homeland, nor does he shrink from spicing his language with vulgar expressions’. “[1, xx]
Despite this, Kshemendra is often seen as an upholder of auchithya (propriety).
“Ksemendra’s Aucityaviraaracarcaa has been noticed. It propounds the theory that aucitya is the mark of poetry. In his Kavikanthaabharana (p.126) Ksemendra quotes a verse of Baana, from a source unknown…an from Lalitamahakaavya of his pupil Udayasimha.” [3, 752]
Regardless, the genre of literature that has best come to define Kshemendra is satire (prahaasana). Though most people are conversant in sanskrit epics poetry, romantic poetry, and prose (gadhya), satire also had its place, and our personality today certainly made his mark.
“These satires are set in the contemporary society of Kashmir. Some character recur: the hypocritical priestly guru, the corrupt government official, the miserly and greedy merchant or banker”[1, xx]
Satirical Works
- Narma Maalaa—A Garland of Mirth 406 stanzas
- Kalaavilaasa—A Dalliance with Deceptions 551 stanzas
- Desopadesa—Advice from the Countryside 304 stanzas
Sanskrit Satire is a frequent literary form in the Classical Indic Tradition. It redounds in farcical situations, humour & wit. It ultimately seeks to illustrate the hypocrisy of the high and mighty as well as the futility of the mundane ambitions of society-at-large. Unlike today’s thin-skinned and thick-skulled elite-in-waiting, the upper classes of yore were to be held accountable, especially by their own. In a time of futility, the acerbic wit of the bauddha brahmin’s pen put-paid the conceits of his own class. He did so best in 3 satires that are often connected together.
“The three satires have stylistics similarities but differ in form and content. Narma Maalaa could be a modern novella: it has a well-developed storyline that progresses smoothly from a beginning to a middle and an end in its three chapters. Kalaavilaasa has the traditional structure of stories flowing from a base story, generally two in the longer and one in the shorter of its nine illustrative chapters, with the tenth devoted to a didactic survey. Desopadesa has no overt narrative but consists mainly of aphoristic pen pictures in which, to quote a contemporary scholar, ‘the characters and scenes presented are so vivid that they tend to turn into stories.”[1, xix]
Narma Maala
The “Narma Maala” refers to the Garland of Mirth. It is a panoramic view of the corruption and immorality that had spread in society. The Kali Yuga had become deep, and the Vale was no exception to its unvirtuous ills. It reads like Chaucer, replacing Canterbury with Kashmir.
“This is a satire on the bureaucracy of the time. It introduces the class with a wicked legend about its origin, and then narrows the focus to an existing hierarchy of its members and their activities. Finally, it narrates the rise and fall of a village officer in a setting enlivened by pungent portrayals of his superiors and subordinates, his wife, sister and children’s tutor, and a religious rite conducted at his home by a guru and a motley retinues.”[1, xxiii]
“The author uses the word kaayastha to denote bureaucrats in general. According to academic opinion, the term in ancient Kashmir did not signify any particular caste, but was applied generally to officials in the king’s service. Kshemendra’s caustic comments about their greed for money, inhuman extractive measures and dishonest habits are echoed in Kalhana’s later history too. According to one study. Such behaviour is also reflected in works of Sanskrit literature from other regions. It is not very difficult for present-day readers to judge its resonance in our times.”[1, , xxiv]
Narma-maala is a pithy jeremaid of the peccadiloes of priests and peasants alike. None are spared, and their misbehaviour and hypocrisy are laid bare for a reader to fathom threadbare. In wondering why Bhaarathavarsha had a “millennium horriblis”, this work is edifying. Often times, the suffering of the people is laid on outsiders, invaders, or negligent kings, but the ultimate author of suffering is the individual himself. He suffers his own sins in the form of karma. His ultimate punishment, as he would find out in the colonial era, was the company bureaucrat.
“Victory to that lord supreme, the illustrious bureaucrat, infallible, who can at will, delude the whole world with deceptions. (1).
Kashmir is in the forefront of prosperous lands. Adorned by savants and sages, it even humbles the pride of paradise. Its king is the glorious Ananta, whose mighty arms suppressed the machinations of ill-wishers, just as the god Trivikrama did with the demon Bali. This discerning ruler also relieved the distress of his subjects by removing all wicked officials.” [1, 3]
Straight-from-the-gate, Kshemendra cuts down the kayastha (bureaucrat—not always kaayastha caste) as the epitome of evil in the Kali Age. He sees the bureaucrat as thorn to king and citizen alike.
“When the all-powerful god Vishnu annihilated the demons in ancient times, the chief accountant [karanam] of their households was so distressed that he renounced the world and took to asceticism. Ever hostile to the gods, he went to the banks of the Vaitarini, the river of hell in the nether world, and did penance their for a thousand years, subsisting all the while on mouthfuls of his own urine. Eventually he was able to propitiate Kali [the demon not Kaali, the goddess], the manifestation of the present Iron Age, which was then yet to dawn. (9-11).
Kali appeared before him, ready to bestow a boon. ‘My child,’ he told him, ‘go to the earth and destroy all the gods. I give you this great weapon, the pen. With its strokes you will be able to deprive the celestial deities of the lamps and the incense, the floral offerings and the garments they are habituated to receive, and also ruin their temples.” [1, 4]
“These were the bureaucrats. Soft when down and stern the moment they had the upper hand, they were many voiced while rendering service and many armed while hunting prey. Demonic, double faced and fault finding, they had a host of tricks for cheating others. The word for them, kaayastha,means literally ‘in the body’, but they are more like ordure inside it. (22-23). They soon infested the earth: cities and towns, villages, and marketplaces.” [1, 5]
However, Kshemendra does not leave his own community either. He skewers a Kaula guru as the epitome of hypocrisy. “The guru arrived. Though his lack of learning was profound, and his mind clouded by the fumes of alcohol, he was egoism personified. His appearance was weighty, as was his speech. So were his belly and private parts, his jaws, beard and buttocks. Heave too in his sloth and ignorance, he was devoid of good qualities, but an expert in cheating whores, lechers and officials. Of much weight in everything, he was strangely always meager in the great teachings propounded by the god Shiva. (111-112)” [1, 27]
Kalaavilaasa
‘The Dalliance with Deceptions’ is the english name for Kalaa-vilaasa. It is a deeper satirical take on society. It takes place in the city of Vishaala. It is a singularly exquisite work, that provides many a cautionary tale. Indeed, it is proof-positive that those who would wield power for the benefit of Light would do well to study the Dark (which has taken hold of the world).
“Kalavilaasa ‘is perhaps one of Kshemendra’s earliest works, ‘ though’ on vague stylistic grounds it is usually supposed that Desopadesa is earlier’. Any chronological judgment would, of course, be speculative in the absence of data.”[1, xxi]
“The opening tale of this work has a rich merchant requesting an expert to instruct his son so that the young man does not fall prey to deception. The tales that follow elaborate on this theme, with accounts of hypocrisy and greed, lust and intoxication, and of the deeds of courtesans and bureaucrats, singers, goldsmiths and other swindlers. Most of the tales are further embellished with one or two sarcastic stories. The final chapter is a didactic survey of all the arts, good and bad.”[1, xxiv]
Muladeva is mentioned here as the king of thieves, and author on a supposed lost treatise of burglary (chora-vidhya). He is the protagonist of the story, and the catalyst to its events.
“The demon of acquisition and accumulation is the basic cause of greed. All-consuming, it works through deception, exchange, confusion, new distractions and fraud. Defeated by the virtuous, who observe the laws and are tranquil by disposition, greed burrowed into the pit that is a crooked tradesman’s heart. (1-3)”. [and, 54]
As he demonstrates elsewhere in his critique of courtesans, Kshemendra neither spares high nor low, man nor woman. The fairer sex is often seen as the fount of the foul, and yet, Kshemendra is clear, he refers to women of bad character.
“Even the man who has conquered himself, who understands various worldly, divine and emotional illusions, cannot comprehend the deceptions of women. Their ways are extraordinary. With elegant behaviour and forms as delicate as flowers, whom can they not infatuate. But their hearts are as hard as a rock of adamant. They are indifferent to those who love them, and long for those who keep away. They are haughty with the meek, suspicious of good feelings and attracted to cheats. (7-9).” [1, 63-64]
…”Such are the women of bad character. They are like witches: mercurial, always criticizing those who love them, deluding and ensnaring people at night, plundering them of all they have. Foolish minds engrossed in trivial matters are easily brushed aside. It is only reckless and devious men who can attract such flighty women with love. Talk of luxury and bravery, of various extraordinary gifts, is the best way of winning these women over without any magical devices. For who will not tremble at their wickedness? They are demons of a thousand deceptions in the dark night of this degenerate age. {28-32).” [and, 65-66]
He completes his work with an epilogue that is caveat:
“May this book, Kalaavilaasa, playful, charming, full of smiles, illuminating all tricks and arts with wondrous tales and worldly counsel, be by all good people loved. This work has risen from the sea of Kshemendra’s fantasy like the moon, and may it always delight good people’s minds.” (42-43)” [ and, 103]
Desopadesa
“With a villain, influential, mad for money, base and cruel, holding high office, O people, alas, where will you go? Desopadesa 1.17”
Last but not least is a work on the country people (Desopadesa, or Desa Upadesa). Literally meaning advice for the country-side, it is a discourse on the desiyas among us (known as dehatis today). Not all people are refined sophisticates and city-folk of high-cultivation. Most are rude, crude, and seeking to eek out survival in a pitiless world. Their lumpen ways may be jarring for those with good breeding, but a true elite seeks to uplift those given less than, rather than see them as less than.
“There are 8 chapters, each focused on a portrayal of a different character. The tone of this satire is markedly bitter”[1, xxv] “This is on account of an apparent allusion to the tragic abdication and suicide of King Anantadeva in the wake of his arrogant son Kalasha. The stories seem etched form real life.”
“This work has been described as ‘the broadest in scope of these satires [which] provides an introduction to the others.”[1, xxv]
Perhaps the vignette on the scholar best signifies its value:
“He is a scholar among fools: to impress them is the reason he goes to the guru. His long and slow words, spoken through the nose, produce only headaches. From a bag loaded with pens, ink and dirty papers, he reads lines lacking sentence and context with a gloss half-deleted and contrary. A scholar in only vulgar words, he is unacquainted with compounds, forgets gender and is, by nature, neuter.” [1, 141]
However, there is yet another Satirical work that that stands out on its own. That is the story of Samaya-maathrka.
Samaya-maathrka
Kshemendra himself asserts that he composed this work as a caveat to society. He wishes to warn women but especially men of the futility of their unchecked desires. One seeks to use and discard men for money, and the other sees women as objects, expecting no consequence. Ultimately, it is humanity itself that is skewered for its immaturity and irresponsibility, no doubt motivating Kshemendra to focus on more philosophical matters, as he often did with other compositions.
The Kalaa-vilaasa best sums his views on courtesans:
“Then there are women who are courtesans. Extremely cunning, they swindle people by pretending to be in love. Their deceptions can reduce even the god of wealth to beggary. They are like fast-flowing rivers full of waves that sweep everything away in their wake. And, like rivers reposing in the sea, in the hearts of courtesans repose the sixty-four arts of deception” [1, 71]
However, the Samaya-maathrkaa is the embodiment of the Courtesan’s myriad ways. Its literal translation is ‘Little mother by compact’, it is the exposition of brothel-madam to a young student. Fittingly referred to as kuttani by Kshemendra, this woman is a madam, bawd, or procuress. The story takes place is Pravarapura, which was the principal city of Kashmir in those days. Some assert it was Srinagar itself. As for the protagonist Kankani, “Eventually, she left Kashmir to wander in the plains, passing herself as a person of great age and esoteric wisdom.” [7, 14-15]
Considered one of Kshemendra’s finest satires, on of the chapters verily sums up the slogan of the courtesan:
“You are my all, my heart, my very life.’ And, when his wealth too is gone, she should discard him like a she-serpent discards her skin, and go to another man of means. This is the sum and substance of harlotry.” [7, 118]
Kaavya
“Kshemendra himself appears to have been a devotee of both Vishnu and Buddha” [ 2, 21]
Kshemendra was a writer and poet extraordinaire. Less-known is that he was also an historian. He wrote the Nrpavali, as a history of Kings in the tradition of Kalhana’s Rajatarangini. In fact, Kalhana himself makes mention of him.
Maadhyamika denies the atman in the individualist form, but there is no fundamental denial of the hereafter or of deities or a Supreme Deity. The Buddha, and his many iterations as per the Jatakas, merely becomes the center and the embodiment of Perfected Beings, who reincarnate out of compassion for a fallible mankind. The devas are subordinate to Perfected one, Buddha himself, who is now above the Creator Brahma, and thus, could only be Mahavishnu himself in incarnated form.
Make no mistake, Buddhism came later and is certainly a different stream and different dharma, but one that uses its individuation and agency to preserve dharma and educate the laiety on attaining Nirvaana/Moksha.
However, his contribution to poetics proper is also notable. He produced 2 works here: Auchithya-alamkara and Kavikanttha-bhaarana.
Legacy
The Impact of Kshemendra is difficult to gainsay. From novels to philosophy onward, he was copious in his literary output.
“The existing corpus reflects a prolific an multifaceted writer. In the tradition of earlier Kashmiri savants like Anandavardhana and Abhinavagupta, he was both a notable poet and a seminal theorist of poetry. Though modern scholarship has generally lauded his contributions as manifold and important, it has tended to stress the historical and literary significance of his works on poetics. A wider view has often been expressed. For K.M.Panikkar, ‘Kshemendra was perhaps the most comprehensive mind of his time, who wandered in every field, including satire, with distinction.’
For A.K.Warder, he ‘stands in the first rank of satirists’ and ‘invites us to enjoy the multiple contrasts between the idealized or rather morally balanced world of legends and the bitter reality of contemporary society…for these we must recognize him among the greatest kavis.’[1, xviii]
At a time when caste-pride has hit its peak, the Kashmiri Pandit Kshemendra was the ultimate auteur-chastiser. He dismantled the conceited of his class and how large sections of them misused age-old cultural capital as kaapaalikas. He took both men and women to task. No one is spared. The true lesson that is shown rather is that lower classes are nor worse or better than us—they are simply one of us but bereft of the cultural capital and responsibility that it brings. And that is where the Hindu elite—or rather, the Dharmic elite—has failed.
If there is a lesson that Kshemedra provides, it is verily this: To whom much is given, much is expected. The qualities of Sattva, Raajas, and Tamas are shown not in mere vamsa vrkshas, but through character and conduct is guna revealed. As the inimitable pandit wrote:
“The dangerous intoxication of learning personifies the agitation of men’s minds. It makes one talk on and on, and, red-eyed with anger, unable to tolerate the least criticism others. The intoxication of power is wicked and demonic. It is manifested in obstinacy, harsh censuring and the readiness to hurt others. Always menacing, it is also ready to confront everyone. (10-11) Then there is the intoxication of lineage. It is like wisdom that only sees things far away. In relating stories of the prowess of ancestors, one loses sight of one’s own failings. As for the obsession with purity, it is always restrictive, forbids all contact and baselessly considers everything to be a pollutant, even the sky. (12-13). However, all intoxications have their limits. They disappear when their roots are destroyed.” [1, 82]
If the above sums up the various clerical, martial, aristocratic, and spiritual elites of modern India, the following sums up the average Internet Hindu today:
“The most cunning are the thieves of merit. Praising their own, they make every effort to influence foolish people by concealing from them the merits of others. Another rascal is the robber of feeling. He may get himself to be liked, but will destroy love for others with all kinds of tale-telling, just out of jealousy. Others steal reputations. Given to severe austerities and fasts, they run down virtuous people, though themselves devoid of self-control, devotion and tranquility. Yet others are robbers of the homeland. With beautiful descriptions of the pleasures available in foreign countries, they lead people abroad like cattle.” [1, 94]
References:
- Kshemendra & Ed. A.N.D. Haksar. Three Satires from Ancient Kashmir. London : Penguin Classics. 2011
- “11th century Kashmiri poets Sanskrit Works”. Mid-day. http://www.mid-day.com/articles/11th-century-kashmiri-poets-sanskrit-work-now-in-english/17680177
- Krishnamachariar, M. History of Classical Sanskrit Literature. Delhi: MLBD. 2016
- Shastri, Pandit Jaggaddhar Zadoo. Lokaprasha of Kshemendra.Srinagar: Pioneer Press. 1947
- Peterson, Peter. The Auchityalamkara of Kshemendra. Bombay: Education Society’s Press. 1885
- Bhandare, M.S. The Bharata-Manjari of Kshemendra. Bombay: Standard Publ.1918
- Kshemendra & Ed. A.N.D Haksar. The Courtesan’s Keeper: Samaya Matrika.Gurugram: Penguin. 2014
