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Women's eyes: being verses translated from the Sanskrit

Arthur William Ryder and Bhartrihari

Ryder, Arthur William; Bhartrihari [Bhartr.hari];

Women's eyes: being verses translated from the Sanskrit

A. M. Robertson, 1910, 100 pages

topics: |  poetry | sanskrit

Excerpts


Introduction


In short verses the Hindus excel. Their mastery of form, their play of fancy,
their depth and tenderness of feeling, are all exquisite.

Of the many who wrote such verses, the greatest is Bhartrihari. He lived some
fifteen hundred years ago as king of Ujjain, and lived most royally, tasting
the sweets of life without thought of the morrow.

At last he was roused from his carefree existence by an event which surprised
and shocked him. He gave a magic fruit to a girl whom he loved. She loved
another, and passed the gift on to him. He presented it to his lady-love, who
in her turn loved the king. When Bhartrihari received the magic fruit from her
and learned of its travels, he was disgusted with the fleeting joys of the
world, gave up his kingdom, and spent the rest of his life in a cave, writing
poetry. The circumstance which led to his retirement is commemorated in the
following verse:

	The maid my true heart loves would not my true love be;
	She seeks another man; another maid loves he;
	And me another maid her own true love would see:
	Oh, fie on her and him and Love and HER and me!

[...]

I have striven faithfully for a literal rendering.  Though a rendering into
verse cannot be quite as close as a prose version, nothing has been wilfully
added or subtracted. One matter deserves notice here; I have occasionally
translated Indian godnames, Shiva or Brahma, by the word God. ...

The present volume does not encroach unduly upon the excellent work of
P. B. More: A Century /of Indian Epigrams. Only a few of the verses chosen by
him are translated here, and even these in a manner quite different.

Women's Eyes 1

The world is full of women's eyes,
Defiant, filled with shy surprise,
Demure, a little overfree,
Or simply sparkling roguishly;
It seems a gorgeous lily-bed,
Whichever way I turn my head.

Love Is Young 3


The wrinkles on my face are all untold;
My hair is gray and thin;
My limbs are sadly feeble grown, and old:
Bat love is young, and sin.

Love Grows by What It Feeds on 4


"When she is far, I only want to see her
When she is seen, I only want to kiss her;
When she is kissed, I never want to flee her;
I know that I could never bear to miss her.

The stubborn fool 6

	A diamond you may draw
	From an alligator's jaw;
	You may cross the raging ocean like a pool;
	A cobra you may wear
	Like a blossom in your hair;
	But you never can convince a stubborn fool.

appears as verse 9 in Barbara Stoler Miller's Bhartrihari: poems:

A man may tear a jewel
From a sea monster's jaws,
Cross a tumultuous sea
Of raging tides,
Or twine garlandwise
A wrathful serpent on his head.
But no man can alter
The thoughts of an obstinate fool.

Seven Arrows 8

Seven arrows pierce my heart:
The moonbeams that by day depart;
The maid whose youthful beauty flies;
The pool wherein the lotus dies;
The handsome man whose lips are dumb;
The rich man, miserly and glum;
The good man sunk in suffering;
The rogue in favor with the king.
		[kosambi verse 10]

The Rains 33

And when the rainy days are come,
Your lady-love must stay at home;
She clings to you, a little bold
Because she shivers with the cold;
The breeze is fresh with heaven's spray
And drives her lassitude away:
When happy lovers are together,
The rainy time is fairest weather.

Why?

The deer, the fish, the good man hunger
For grass, for water, for content;
Yet hunter, fisher, scandalmonger
Pursue each harmless innocent.

appears as verse 32 in Barbara Stoler Miller's Bhartrihari: poems:

	The deer, the fish, and the man of virtue
	Only care for grass or sea or peace.
	The hunter, the fisherman, and the cynic
	Are wanton enemies on earth.


In the days op thy youth 82


While life is vigorous and bright,
While sickness comes not, nor decay,
While all your powers are at their height,
While yet old age is far away,
Then, wise man, let your thoughts be turning
To heaven's hopes and fears of hell;
For when the house is fired and burning,
It is too late to dig a well.
		(kosambi 194 )

Contents

	Women's Eyes                            1
	If Only We Might Dress in Air           2
	Love Is Young                           3
	Love Grows by What It Feeds on          4
	Gentle Eyes                             5
	The Stubborn Fool—I                     6
	The Stubborn Fool—II                    7
	Seven Arrows                            8
	Substitutes                             9
	Sweet and Bitter                       10
	When I Knew a Little Bit               11
	Whom Does She Lovef                    12
	Arrows of Love                         13
	The Danger of Delay                    14
	Better to Dwell in Mountains Wild      15
	The April Wind                         16
	My Folly's Done                        17
	Does She Love Me?                      18
	Remedies                               19
	The Beautiful and the Good             20
	The Power of Money                     21
	Desire Is Young                        22
	Thou Art a Flower                      23
	The Divine Decree                      24
	Two Kings                              25
	Absence and Union                      26
	The Serpent-Woman                      27
	Can She Be Dear                        28
	The Decline of True Learning           29
	The Last Day                           30
	Logic                                  31
	The Anger of the King                  32
	The Rains                              33
	The Lovers' Ally                       34
	Why!                                   35
	All the World 's a Stage               36
	The Way of the World                   37
	She Only Looked                        38
	Who Understands a Man!                 39
	Untrustworthy Things                   40
	Two Views of Life                      41
	Procrastination                        42
	Should Fancy Cease                     43
	What Thenf—I                           44
	What Then!—II                          45
	The Queen of Love                      46
	Joyous Treasures                       47
	Vexations—I                            48
	Vexations—II                           49
	Love, the Fisher                       50
	Ephemeral Potions                      51
	All These Things Shall Be Added        52
	The Blind Forest                       53
	The Littleness of the World            54
	Friendship's End                       55
	A Wasted Life—I                        56
	A Wasted Life—II                       57
	A Wasted Life—IH                       58
	Flaming Banners                        59
	The Thief of Hearts                    60
	Two Bands of Friendship                61
	Choosing a Vocation                    62
	The Good Are Bare                      63
	There Was a Noble City                 64
	Where Education Fails                  65
	On Giving a Daughter in Marriage       66
	Struggling Fancies                     67
	Oh, Might I End the Quest!             68
	What Delights and Hurts                69
	The Sweetest Things                    70
	The Unlucky Man                        71
	A Reason for Renunciation              72
	Renunciation                           73
	The Better Part                        74
	The Five Bobbers                       75
	When Woman Wills                       76
	A Little Knowledge                     77
	The Weaker Sex                         78
	Young Womanhood                        79
	v-The Bravest of the Brave             80
	Dignity                                81
	In the Days of Thy Youth               82
	They Want the Earth                    83
	The Beasts That Don't Eat Grass        84
	Why Men Beg                            85
	The Wise Misogynist                    86
	Nectar and Poison                      87
	The Two Things That Matter             88
	The One Thing Needful                  89
	Unintelligible Virtue                  90
	The Lines of Pate                      91
	Poverty                                92
	How Hard Fate Grips!                   93
	When My Love Draws Nigh                94
	The Hermit                             95
	Why Go to Court!                       96
	Impossible!                            97
	Hindrances                             98
	Divine Vision                          99
	Why My Poems Died                     100


amitabha mukerjee (mukerjee [at-symbol] gmail) 2012 Apr 20