Author: Bhartrihari
Translator(s): Rajendra Tandon
Publisher: Rupa
Year: 2005
Language: multilingual
Pages: 126
ISBN/UPC (if available): 81-291-0813-5
Description
Bhartrihari occupies a prominent place among the ancient poets of Sanskrit literature. He belonged to the eminent tradition of Valmiki, Vyasa, and Kalidasa, the greatest poet and dramatist of Sanskrit literature.
Bhartrihari's output was not very large, but it had a brilliant quality of thought and imagination. He wrote prose as well as verse as it pleased him. But all his writing is pithy, compact and original in imagery. There is a remarkable depth in his thinking on subjects as diverse as polity in a civilized society, erotica and total renunciation. He has an admirably sharp and penetrating wit.
The King turned hermit and a great poet, Bhartrihri, in Vairagyashatakam, leads us onto the path of inner peace and equilibrium. His advice is practical, easy to follow and result oriented. Long before the modern man discovered a health spa in Rishikesh or on the banks of the Ganges or in God's own country, Kerala, Bhartrihari laid down in Vairagyashatakam, the same approach to health and happiness.
" Back to Nature," wrote Bhartrihari centuries before William Wordsworth echoed the same thoughts in a far away land. In this book he establishes a relationship with Mother Nature as one had done ever before. The Kingdom of Happiness lies within. Each sloka of Vairagyashatakam is a potent daily dose of joy, of happiness, of peace of mind. This is a book for men and women of all ages who want to establish a link with their source, the Paramatmam.
COMMENT:
On account of the perfect art with which they are composed, these short poems are worthy of being ranked among the masterpieces of Indian genius. Some may most fitly be compared to miniature paintings as presenting to us a complete picture in the narrow frame of one strophe.
- Professor Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde