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The Satasaī
Bihārī is the foremost poet of seventeenth-century Hindi literature.
Bihārī was court poet to Jayasingha, ruler of Amber (near Jaipur) in Rajasthan. He wrote in the Braj dialect of Hindi, though he had knowledge of Persian, the language of the Mughal rulers of the time.
His best-known work, the Satasaī (meaning seven hundred), consists of around seven hundred couplets written in the Rītikāla tradition. The main theme running through the poems is that of love in all its various aspects - ranging from the carnal to the sublime.
Often compared with the Kamasutra, Bihārī's poems detail the courtship rituals, sexual mores, and the exquisite beauty of the women of the times. This superb translation is an excellent introduction to one of the great stylists of classical Indian poetry.
Bihārī was court poet to Jayasingha, ruler of Amber (near Jaipur) in Rajasthan. He wrote in the Braj dialect of Hindi, though he had knowledge of Persian, the language of the Mughal rulers of the time.
His best-known work, the Satasaī (meaning seven hundred), consists of around seven hundred couplets written in the Rītikāla tradition. The main theme running through the poems is that of love in all its various aspects - ranging from the carnal to the sublime.
Often compared with the Kamasutra, Bihārī's poems detail the courtship rituals, sexual mores, and the exquisite beauty of the women of the times. This superb translation is an excellent introduction to one of the great stylists of classical Indian poetry.
- GenresPoetry
404 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1992
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About the author
Bihari Lal
13 books3 followersBihari Lal Chaube or Bihārī (1595–1663) was a Hindi poet, who is famous for writing the Satasaī (Seven Hundred Verses) in Brajbhasha, a collection of approximately seven hundred distichs, which is perhaps the most celebrated Hindi work of poetic art, as distinguished from narrative and simpler styles. Today it is considered the most well known book of the Ritikavya Kaal or 'Riti Kaal'(an era in which poets wrote poems for kings) of Hindi literature.
The language is the form of Hindi called Brajbhasha, spoken in the country about Mathura, where the poet lived. The couplets are inspired by the Krishna side of Vishnu-worship, and the majority of them take the shape of amorous utterances of Radha, the chief of the Gopis or cowherd maidens of Braj, and her divine lover, the son of Vasudeva. Each couplet is independent and complete in itself. The distichs, in their collected form, are arranged, not in any sequence of narrative or dialogue, but according to the technical classification of the sentiments which they convey as set forth in the treatises on Indian rhetoric.
The language is the form of Hindi called Brajbhasha, spoken in the country about Mathura, where the poet lived. The couplets are inspired by the Krishna side of Vishnu-worship, and the majority of them take the shape of amorous utterances of Radha, the chief of the Gopis or cowherd maidens of Braj, and her divine lover, the son of Vasudeva. Each couplet is independent and complete in itself. The distichs, in their collected form, are arranged, not in any sequence of narrative or dialogue, but according to the technical classification of the sentiments which they convey as set forth in the treatises on Indian rhetoric.
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April 11, 2019
Probably s true scholar of eastern history and mythology would enjoy it more than myself and give it more stars.
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