As promised, I present the first few verses drawn from Bhartruhari’s Neeti Shataka. A brief introduction to Neeti Shataka is in order.
Neeti can generally be understood as a teaching/exposition of morality, conduct, wisdom, behaviour, prudence, and all of these. The Neeti Shataka does exactly this: at one level, it is a treatise on a range of subjects like conduct, character, kinds of people, learning, the arts, while at another, it is sheer poetry in the sense you can choose to remain deaf to the poet’s message but experience the sonorous joy his poetry evokes within you.
Verse after verse touches almost every facet known to human experience. What is especially noteworthy is the non-existent pontificatory style of imparting the message. Bhartruhari elevates, pokes fun, derides and conveys ecstasy in ways that I feel are beyond the reach of normal human creativity. If that sounds like exaggeration, it isn’t.
Because, and unfortunately, an English translation can only take one so far: it is best read in the original for delight is not just in the poetry or instruction; those who are well-versed in Sanskrit poetics have delighted in its technical finery of rhythm, metre, and sound pattern.
Nothing is taboo or unwanted to Bhartruhari: he draws generously from the universe–from an elephant’s rut to oil to waves to lions to donkeys, the poet turns to gold everything he touches.
I’ve said enough.
Here’s the first, his invocatory verse to the Supreme that resides in all of us.
Dikkaalaadyanavacchinnaanantachinmaatramoortaye|
Swaanubhootyekanaamaaya namah shaantaaya tejase||
That which is present in all directions for all Time
Indescribable, Invincible, Unfathomable, Eternal,
The manifestation of that Supreme Knowledge
Whose calm locution one can but only experience
To that Divine Energy I bow.
And the momentous incident which led to Bhartruhari’s transformation as a sage: (I’d blogged this earlier)
Yaam chintayaami satatam mayi saa viraktaa|
Saapyanyamicchati janam sa janonyasaktah||
Asmatkrute ca parishushyati kaachidanyaa|
Dhik taam ca tam ca madanam ca imaam ca maam ca||
The One upon whom I meditate perpetually is detached from me but
(She) desires another and the Other (desires) yet another
Thus it goes always, this desire to always desire another
Fie on her, on him, on Madana (God of Love), on all this and fie on me too!
On 04.07.06 froginthewell says:
Sandeep,
Could you clarify a few doubts regarding the translation : I suppose ( courtsey the online sanskrit lexicon ) “dik-kAla-Adi-anavacchinna” means “that which cannot be separated by directions , time etc.”, ananta means “eternal” , cinmAtramUrti means “personification of pure consciousness”, “svAnubhUtyEkanAmAya” means “whose name is (realised by)self-experience” and “namaH shAntAya tEjasE” as “I prostrate for that tranquil splendour”? So are the other words as invincible, unfathomable etc. used intended to highlight aspects of the meanings of the sanskrit words the above meanings could not cover? Thanks a lot ( P. S. : It would be nice if you could delete the extra comments I had made in the previous bhartRhari post ).
On 04.07.06 Sandeep says:
Hey frog!
You’re indeed right on the translation. The point is I didn’t attempt a word-by-word/literal translation but generally wanted to convey the essence. And I believe I’ve done justice there. Correct me if I’m wrong!
On 04.07.06 Jaffna says:
Sandeep,
Bravo. Superb. Terrific.
As I mentioned, please consider the possibility of eventual publication.
Best regards
On 04.07.06 froginthewell says:
That is true. In fact literal translation might have far lesser power than the kind of thing you are doing. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
On 04.07.06 Sandeep says:
Frog,
>>I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
That’s the sad part of the entire translation thing more so in the context of Sanskrit. You don’t know what to retain and what to chuck out: taking the literal meaning sometimes obfuscates/confuses and using a substitute means one has to discard the original word which makes such a powerful impact.
Sadly, one can’t have everything
On 04.07.06 Sandeep says:
Jaffna,
>>Bravo. Superb. Terrific.
Truly, you exaggerate in your praise
On 04.08.06 Pratap says:
can you also put the original shlokas in Sanskrit/Kannada ? Its much easier to read….
On 04.08.06 Jaffna says:
Sandeep
And we await today’s verses. Can’t do without them!
One option would be to have a box with the verses each day added accumulatively (with copy right ofcourse). Think of it.
Best
On 07.10.07 Sabarish Sasidharan says:
Thats almost like Thirukkural (Neeti Shataka i mean). And Thirukkural similarly employs kurals, ie 2 line verses to convey the poet’s thoughts. A famous poetess is said to have remarked “Take a mustard seed, fill it with seven seas and stitch it. Thats Kural for you’.
The range of topics is quite wide too, politics, learning, knowledge, behaviour, hearing, speech, family life, sex etc.
And the first kural is in praise of God almighty as well (without referring to any specific God-form).
On 07.16.07 CYBERHINWA says:
IF ANYONE HAS SHIR BRAHATRUHARI’S NEETI SHAHTRA IN FORM OF PDF FILE OR WORD FILE EMAIL ME AT CYBERHINWA@GMAIL.COM
READ CHANAKYA NEETIHAHTRA , VIDURA NEETIHAHTRA AND NEETISHAHTRA OF SAGE SANAT SUJATA AT MY WEBSITE : http://www.esnips.com/web/PUBLIC-DOMAIN
regards
CYBERHINWA
The Cyber Hindu Warrior
On 04.15.08 Kittu Mama Solraan says:
Take a look at all the modern kurals in my blog
You can get to see all kurals by clicking குறள் link at the top.
http://kittu-mama-solraan.blogspot.com/