The Life of Harishchandra, Raghavanka's thirteenth-century masterpiece, is the first poetic rendering of one of ancient India's most enduring legends. When his commitment to truth is tested by a powerful sage, King Harishchandra suffers utter deprivation--the loss of his wife and son, his citizens and power, and, dearest of all, his caste status--but refuses to yield. The tale has influenced poets and readers through the ages. Mahatma Gandhi traced his own commitment to truth to the impact of a Harishchandra play seen in childhood.
A poet from northern Karnataka trained in the...
The Life of Harishchandra, Raghavanka's thirteenth-century masterpiece, is the first poetic rendering of one of ancient India's most endurin...
Akbarnāma, or The History of Akbar, by Abu'l-Fazl (d. 1602), is one of the most important works of Indo-Persian history and a touchstone of prose artistry. Marking a high point in a long, rich tradition of Persian historical writing, it served as a model for historians across the Persianate world. The work is at once a biography of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) that includes descriptions of his political and martial feats and cultural achievements, and a chronicle of sixteenth-century India. The third volume details the first eight years of Akbar's reign, when he...
Akbarnāma, or The History of Akbar, by Abu'l-Fazl (d. 1602), is one of the most important works of Indo-Persian history and a touch...
Magha's The Killing of Shishupala, written in the seventh century, is a celebrated example of the Sanskrit genre known as mahākāvya, or great poem. This adaptation from the epic Mahābhārata tells the story of Shishupala, who disrupts Yudhishthira's coronation by refusing to honor Krishna, the king's principal ally and a manifestation of divinity. When Shishupala challenges Krishna to combat, he is immediately beheaded.
Magha, who was likely a court poet in western India, draws on the rich stylistic resources of Sanskrit poetry to imbue his...
Magha's The Killing of Shishupala, written in the seventh century, is a celebrated example of the Sanskrit genre known as mahākā...
The Epic of Ram presents a new translation of the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas (1543-1623). Written in Avadhi, a literary dialect of classical Hindi, the poem has become the most beloved retelling of the ancient Ramayana story across northern India. A devotional work revered and recited by millions of Hindus today, it is also a magisterial compendium of philosophy and lore and a literary masterpiece. In the second volume, prompted by the tyranny of the demon king Ravan, Ram decides to be born on earth. Tulsidas lovingly details Ram's infancy, childhood, and youthful...
The Epic of Ram presents a new translation of the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas (1543-1623). Written in Avadhi, a literary dial...
The Epic of Ram presents a new translation of the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas (1543-1623). Written in Avadhi, a literary dialect of classical Hindi, the poem has become the most beloved retelling of the ancient Ramayana story across northern India. A devotional work revered and recited by millions of Hindus today, it is also a magisterial compendium of philosophy and lore and a literary masterpiece. This volume presents Tulsidas's grand introduction to the Ram story, replete with philosophical and theological meditations and tales of gods, sages, and royalty. Here,...
The Epic of Ram presents a new translation of the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas (1543-1623). Written in Avadhi, a literary dial...
Akbarnāma, or The History of Akbar, by Abu'l-Fazl (d. 1602), is one of the most important works of Indo-Persian history and a touchstone of prose artistry. Marking a high point in a long, rich tradition of Persian historical writing, it served as a model for historians across the Persianate world. The work is at once a biography of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) that includes descriptions of his political and martial feats and cultural achievements, and a chronicle of sixteenth-century India. The second volume details the turbulent reign of his father Humayun,...
Akbarnāma, or The History of Akbar, by Abu'l-Fazl (d. 1602), is one of the most important works of Indo-Persian history and a tou...
Kirātārjunīya, or Arjuna and the Hunter, is one of the great court epics of the Sanskrit literary canon. Written by the sixth-century poet Bharavi, it is also the first and most remarkable reinterpretation of a pivotal episode in the Mahābhārata, India's ancient epic. The warrior Arjuna travels to the Himalayas to perform penance and win a boon from the god Shiva that will help his brothers, the Pandavas, overcome their enemies in righteous war. Appearing in the guise of a hunter, Shiva tests Arjuna's courage in combat, ultimately reveals...
Kirātārjunīya, or Arjuna and the Hunter, is one of the great court epics of the Sanskrit literary canon. Written by th...
In 1752, the Bengali poet Bharatchandra Ray completed a long narrative poem dedicated to the glory of Annada, Shiva's consort and the divinity who, as her name proclaims, "bestows the bounty of rice."
A poet well versed in Sanskrit, Persian, and Hindi--all of which enrich his work--Bharatchandra took up the literary performance genre maṅgalkāvya and thoroughly transformed it, addressing the aesthetic tastes of the court rather than of the traditional village audience. He added depth and sensitivity to well-known legends, along with allusions to his own experiences...
In 1752, the Bengali poet Bharatchandra Ray completed a long narrative poem dedicated to the glory of Annada, Shiva's consort and the divinity who,...
A Treatise on Dharma, written in the fourth or fifth century, illuminates major innovations in religious, civil, and criminal law, and informed Indian life for a thousand years. This new critical edition, presented alongside the Sanskrit original in the Devanagari script, opens the classical age of ancient Indian law to modern readers.
A Treatise on Dharma, written in the fourth or fifth century, illuminates major innovations in religious, civil, and criminal law, and informed Indian...
Remembrances, by acclaimed poet Mir Muhammad Taqi Mir, is a remarkable example of Indo-Persian autobiography, offering a vivid picture of political events and intrigues from 1760 to 1789. The Persian text in the Naskh script, including a series of jokes and anecdotes printed here for the first time, accompanies a newly revised English translation.
Remembrances, by acclaimed poet Mir Muhammad Taqi Mir, is a remarkable example of Indo-Persian autobiography, offering a vivid picture of political ev...
