Three Hundred Verses: Musings on Life, Love and Renunciation

Young doe-eyed maidens cast bewitching glances in the moonlight. Birds frolic, flowers bloom in a riotous kaleidoscope and the shifting seasons bear witness to the amorous games of lovers. And through this boisterous celebration of beauty and bounty, timeless wisdom is dispensed through brief, colourful vignettes. In Three Hundred Verses, Bhartrihari, one of the greatest Sanskrit poets of all time, brilliantly expounds on our most enduring concerns and dilemmas: living, loving and leaving. Although composed centuries ago, these poems amply display the full force of his genius. Bursting with lush imagery and brimming with deep philosophical musings, these verses covering a wide range of themes that resonate even today—from the sensuous stirrings of passionate love to poignant reflections on life's inherent transience; from notions of wealth and wickedness to the nature of fate and fortitude. By turns playful and wise, A.N.D. Haksar's gorgeous and accessible translation captures the verve, acuity and erotic charge of Bhartrihari's most significant work.