Bhasa, is the name of an Indian writer whose existence is mainly inferred, and the dates suggested for his life range from the 5th century BC to the 2nd AD. The following lines may or may not be by this writer but his authorship has been proposed. He may, then, have written, regarding the moon:
The cat, thinking its rays are milk,
licks them from the dish;
the elephant, seeing them woven through the lattice of the trees,
takes them for lotus stems;
the damsel after love would draw them from her couch
as if they were her dress:
see how the moon in its pride of light
has cozened all the world.
This fragment was found in an Anthology of Sanskrit Poetry, Vidyākara’s Subhaṣitaratnakoṣa, translated by David H. H. Ingalls. This is certainly a beautiful stanza as a tribute to a nation's history. In this case we use it to celebrate India: October 2 is Gandhi's birthday.
Much ancient poetry exists like this of Bhasa's: the sole evidence for a life is in anthologies compiled perhaps a millenium after their content.
No comments:
Post a Comment