Navarasa: The Nine Flavours of Sanskrit Poetry

by A.N.D. Haksar

In Indian aesthetics, the 'rasa' is the juice or sap that pervades through our art, culture, and guide our primal human emotions. The Navarasas first mentioned in the ancient Hindu text the Natya Shastra, have defined the core of Indian aesthetics; our art, dance, theatre, and literature are based on these nine human emotions.
A first of its kind, this collection of verses from the original Sanskrit, moves away from a mere interpretation of the rasas to an actual translation from ancient texts such as the Subhashitavali by Vallabhadeva (15th century Kashmir), the Sharngdharapaddhati by Sharngadhara (14th century Rajasthan), and the Suktimuktavali by Jalhana (13th century Deccan).
The Nine Flavors of Sanskrit Poetry brings to us for the first time, 99 verse translations on the nine rasas of ancient Hindu history.

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2023

About the author

Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar was born in Gwalior and educated at the Doon School and the universities of Allahabad and Oxford. A well-known translator of Sanskrit classics, he has also had a distinguished career as a diplomat, serving as Indian high commissioner to Kenya and the Seychelles, minister to the United States, and later ambassador to Portugal and Yugoslavia.

His translations from the Sanskrit include Hitopadeśa and Simhāsana Dvātriṃśikā, both published as Penguin Classics, Jatakamala {with a foreword by the Dalai Lama) published by HarperCollins India, and the first-ever rendition of Madhavanala Katha, published by Roli Books as Madhav and Kama. He has also translated from the Sanskrit the stories of the Panchatantram and the Daśa Kumāra Charitam, and some of the plays of Bhasa which were published as The Shattered Thigh & Other Plays by Penguin in 1993. He has also compiled A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry, which was commissioned by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.