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Wife awaits her Husband, Verse 76, Amaru Shataka by Amaru, early 17th-century painting.
Contents
[hide]
1Authorship
2English translations
3References
4Sources
5External links
Authorship[edit]
Not much is known about the life of Amaru. Traditional accounts attribute the work to King Amaru
of Kashmir. The collection in its present form may well represent the work of more than one
author—the poems that form part of the collection differ quite significantly across its different
regional recensions.[3]
There are also a number of legends associating the collection with the philosopher Adi Shankara.
One version occurs in his 14th century biography written by a follower, the Shankara-digvijaya.
According to this version, during his debate with Maṇḍana Miśra, he was asked philosophical
questions phrased in metaphors of love by the latter's wife, Ubhaya Bharati. Being celibate and
therefore ignorant of the kama shastras, Shankara requested an adjournment. He then entered
the recently dead body of Amaru and spent a hundred days mastering the art of erotic love,
before returning to defeat his opponent. He wrote the Amarushataka to memorialise his
learning.[2]
Another version, given in Ravichandra's commentary on the Amarushataka, states that Shankara
composed these poems to impart spiritual insight to the epicurean king Amaru, in metaphors he
might understand. When this was misunderstood and mocked by the advisers at the court,
Shankara entered the body of Amaru and provided a spiritual exegesis of the poems.[2]
Accordingly, several manuscripts add colophons naming Shankara as the true author of the
work, and Ravichandra, a mediaeval commentator on the Bengal recension of the Amarusataka,
read metaphysical meanings into the verses.[4] Other legends also state that Amaru was the
101st reincarnation of a soul that had previously occupied 100 women.[citation needed]
Amaru – The Lyric Poet
by Aparna Chatterjee
Compilation
~*~
Her robe clung close to her body,
and the tissue of it became transparent.
I thank you, rain.
You were, Sanabavi,
as if you were naked.
But, when the rainbow broke in flower,
who warmed your little shivering breasts
for you?
~*~
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O night,
you have often come to me
softly
and covered my face
when it was weeping.
A nectar glistens
in my cup this evening,
and my lover lies
upon my breast.
Stay with me
as long as you will tonight,
O night.
~*~
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‘Caress my breasts
with your fingers,
they are small
and you have neglected them.
Enough!
Now set your mouth
just there immediately.
Oh, why have you
delayed so long?’
She was stifling her cries
in her friend’s hair…
~*~
~*~