Amaru Shataka

2019-07-26T15:37:05Z

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[[File:Amaru Shataka by Amaru, early 17th century.jpg|thumb|Wife awaits her Husband, Verse 76, Amaru Shataka by Amaru, early 17th-century painting.]]

The '''''Amaruśataka''''' or '''''Amarukaśataka''''' (अमरुशतक, "the hundred stanzas of Amaru"), authored by '''Amaru''' (also Amaruka), is a collection of poems dated to about the 7th<ref name=bailey>{{Harvnb|Bailey|2005}}, Introduction</ref> or 8th century.<ref name=schelling/>

The ''Amaruśataka'' ranks as one of the finest [[lyrical poetry]] in the annals of [[Sanskrit literature]], ranking with [[Kalidasa]] and {{IAST|[[Bhartṛhari]]}}'s ''{{IAST|Śṛngâraśataka}}''. The ninth-century literary critic [[Anandavardhana]] declared in his ''Dhvanyaloka'' that "a single stanza of the poet Amaru ... may provide the taste of love equal to what's found in whole volumes." Its verses have been used by poets and critics as examples and standards to judge other poems by. [[Andrew Schelling]] describes it as "love poetry original and vivid as that produced anywhere on the planet".<ref name=schelling>{{Harvnb|Schelling|2004}}, Introduction</ref>

Its subject is mostly [[Sringara]] (erotic love, romantic love) including aspects such as love, passion, estrangement, longing, rapprochement, joy and sorrow, etc. Greg Bailey notes that it is "as much about the social aspects of courting, betrayal, feminine indignance and masculine self-pity as it is about sensuality".<ref name=bailey/> Similarly, Schelling notes: "All the flavours or nuances of love are said to lie within the book, though you'll notice that the emphasis falls more on the bitter taste of separation or betrayal than on the sweetness of consummation."<ref name=schelling/>

==Authorship==
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.<ref>According to [[Siegfried Lienhard]], only around half the verses in the Amarusataka are common across its various regional versions. {{Harvnb|Lienhard|1984|pp=92–93}}</ref>

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 [[Adi Shankara#Meeting with Mandana Mishra|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.<ref name=schelling/>

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.<ref name=schelling/>

Accordingly, several manuscripts add [[Colophon (publishing)|colophon]]s 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lienhard|1984|p=93}}</ref> Other legends also state that Amaru was the 101st reincarnation of a soul that had previously occupied 100 women.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

==English translations==
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=jrxd0bVSl4oC ''Erotic Love Poems from India''], A Translation of the ''Amarushataka'' translated by Andrew Schelling, Shambala Library, 2004.
*The ''Amaruśataka'' was also [http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org/volume-v-8.html translated by Greg Bailey] as part of the volume [https://books.google.com/books?id=BvQBbvH5Xy0C ''Love Lyrics''] in the [[Clay Sanskrit Library]].
* ''Amarusatakam (A centum of Ancient Love Lyrics of Amaruka)''; edited by C. R. Devadhar A literal translation of the complete text Motilal Banarsidass: first published Poona, 1959; Reprint: Delhi, 1984
* ''The Norton Anthology of World Literature'' features a translation by Martha Ann Selby.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{Citation | last=Lienhard | first=Siegfried | title=A history of classical poetry: Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit | series=History of Indian literature, v. 3 | year=1984 | publisher=Otto Harrassowitz | place=Wiesbaden | isbn=3-447-02425-9}}
*[[Arthur Anthony Macdonell]] (1900), [[s:A History of Sanskrit Literature/Chapter 12|''A History of Sanskrit Literature'', Chapter 12]]
*{{citation | year=1993 | title = A history of Sanskrit literature | authorlink1=Arthur Berriedale Keith | author1=Arthur Berriedale Keith | edition=reprint | publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] | isbn=978-81-208-1100-3 | pages=183–187 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNALtBMVbd0C&pg=PA183}}

==External links==
* [http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/schelling_devanagari.html Some verses] from Schelling's translation
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101110063002/http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil/1_sanskr/5_poetry/2_kavya/amaru_u.htm The Sanskrit text] at [[GRETIL]]

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[[Category:Medieval literature]]
[[Category:Indian poetry collections]]
[[Category:Sanskrit poetry]]

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Amaru Shataka