Three Satires from Ancient Kashmir

Author:

Kshemendra

Publisher:

Penguin India

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Publisher

Penguin India

Publication Year 2011
ISBN-13

9780143063230

ISBN-10 0143063235
Binding

Paperback

Number of Pages 184 Pages
Language (English)
Dimensions (Cms) 19.7 x 13 x 1.65
Weight (grms) 190
Three Satires From Ancient Kashmir is a compilation of three satires that were written by a Sanskrit scholar in the eleventh century with these tales originating from ancient Kashmir. These satires are aimed at the prevalent moral bankruptcy in ancient Kashmir then and are of relevance even today with the greed for wealth and power that is so common everywhere. The book comprises three satirical bhanas or 'causeries', which are 'Narma Mala' or 'A Garland of Mirth', 'Kala Vilasa' or 'A Dalliance With Deceptions,' and 'Deshopedesha' or 'Advice From the Countryside.' the fables themselves are of little significance, but what is important is the detailing in the work by the author that cuts deeply inside the social structure of that period in time. The translation indeed does justification to the original language in which it was penned. The chapters also contain dry humour like when the author writes about the foreign student, for whom 'even a river is considered insufficient for his purificatory rites.' The work does not spare anyone, neither a buddhist nun nor the poets themselves. The author condemns working wives and women who party as 'demons of a thousand deceptions in the dark night of this degenerate age.' He is especially harsh on cheating officials and traders in the Three Satires From Ancient Kashmir. His work is never far from its inherent wit and cynicism. The book was published by Penguin India in 2011 and is available as a paperback. Key Features: This is a major work in Sanskrit written by a scholar from Kashmir in the eleventh century whose 18 works have been discovered thus far. You can read about characters from ancient Kashmir with their greed for money and sex and about the moral degeneration of ancient people that is relevant even in the modern world.

Kshemendra

Kshemendra was a cosmopolitan scholar from eleventh century India who studied under the famous Abhinavagupta. He has been attributed with having written 34 works, with the first having been discovered as late as 1871. A total of 18 works have been found until now, of which four are satirical and and others devotional or technical. His immense contribution to Sanskrit literature has only recently been appreciated. Three Satires From Ancient Kashmir is a compilation of three of the four satires found so far written by the author and have been ably translated by A N D Haksar in English.
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