Erotic Passion from
Bhartrihari (translated by Barbara S. Miller)

Other Classic (Non-Erotic) Indian Stories and Poems

I do indeed speak without bias;
this is acknowledged as truth among men.
nothing enthralls us like an ample-hipped woman;
nothing else cause such pain.



O wordly existence, the path
that leads beyond your bounds
would be less treacherous
were it not for intoxicating glances
waylaying us at every turn



Surely the moon does not rise in he face,
or a pair of lotuses rest in her eyes,
or gold compose her body's flesh.
Yet, duped by poets' hyperbole, even a sage,
a pondering man worships the body of woman --
a mere concoction of skin and flesh and bones.



In this vapid, mundane world,
wise men take two courses:
they spend some time with minds
submerged in the fluid elixir of wisdom,
the rest with tender woman
whose breasts and hips enjoy the pleasure
of hiding men's eager hands
in their laps of ample flesh.



Spells cannot cure it, nor drugs confound it,
nor ritual magic deal it destruction --
passion, like an epileptic fit, attacks man's limbs
to inflict the torment of frenzied derangement.



Heavy rains keep lovers
trapped in their mansions --
in the shivering cold a lord
is embraced by his long-eyed mistress
and winds bearing cool mists
sooth their fatigue after loveplay
Even a dreary day is fair
for men who lie in love's arms.



Cut off all envy, examine the matter,
tell us decisively, you noble men,
which we ought to attend upon:
the sloping sides of wilderness mountains
or the buttocks of women abounding in passion?



At first she rebuffs me.
then in a mood born of dalliance, passion is roused;
slowly her body falls languid, and composure is shed,
leaving her bold enough to indulge in games of love
played by her limb's abandoned gesture --
a gentlewoman's pleasure is my delight.


 

ABOUT THE POET

Bhartrihari was a philosopher of the fifth century A.D.. The poems mentioned here is originally from Satakatraya, a three part collection of Sanskrit poems about political wisdom ( Nitisataka ), erotic passion ( Srngarasataka,from which above poems are selected), and renunciation ( Vairagyasataka ). Chinese pilgrim I-ching, who visited India in the seventh century, recorded him as a Buddhist grammarian renowned for his continuing vacillation between the secluded life of a monk and the world of pleasure.

Further Reading: The Hermit & the Love-thief, Sanskrit poems of Bhartrihari and Bilana, translated by Barbara Stoler Miller. Columbia University Press (1978). ISBN 0-231-04644-8; 0-231-04645-6(pbk)