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{{use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2016}}
'''Kshemendra''' ({{IAST3|Kṣemendra}}; {{circa|990|1070 CE}}) was an 11th-century [[Sanskrit]] poet from [[Kashmir]] in India.

==Biography==
Kshemendra was born into an old, cultured, and affluent family.{{sfn|Haksar|2011|p=xv}} His father was Prakashendra, a descendant of Narendra who was the minister to Jayapida.{{sfn|Warder|1992|p=365}} Both his education and literary output were broad and varied. He studied literature under "the foremost teacher of his time, the celebrated [[Shaiva]] philosopher and literary exponent [[Abhinavagupta]]".{{sfn|Haksar|2011|p=xv}} Kshemendra was born a Shaiva, but later became a Vaishnava.{{sfn|Warder|1992|p=365}} He studied and wrote about both [[Vaishnavism]] and [[Buddhism]].{{sfn|Haksar|2011|pp=xv–xvi}} His son, Somendra, provides details about his father in his introduction to the ''Avadana Kalpalata'' and other works. Kshemendra refers to himself in his works as Vyasadasa ({{IAST3|Vyāsadāsa}}; ''Slave of [[Vyasa]]''), a title which was perhaps won or adopted after the completion of his {{IAST|Bhāratamañjari}}.{{sfn|Warder|1992|p=365}}

Kshemendra was in great demand as a skilled abridger of long texts.{{sfn|Warder|1992|p=365}} His literary career extended from at least 1037 (his earliest dated work, ''Brihatkathāmanjari'', a verse summary of the lost ''"Northwestern" Bṛhatkathā''; itself a recension of [[Gunadhya]]'s lost ''[[Bṛhatkathā]]'' — "Great Story") to 1066 (his latest dated work, ''Daśavataracharita'', "an account of the ten incarnations of the god {{IAST|Viṣnu}}").{{sfn|Haksar|2011|pp=xvii–xviii}}

==Extant works==
Around eighteen of Kshemendra's works are still extant while fourteen more are known only through references in other literature.{{sfn|Warder|1992|p=365}} In addition to the genres listed below, he also composed plays, descriptive poems, a satirical novel, a history, and possibly a commentary on the [[Kama Sutra|Kāma Sūtra]].{{sfn|Haksar|2011|pp=xvii, 153-154}}

===Abridgements===
*''Ramāyaṇamanjari'' — Verse abridgement of the [[Ramayana]] ([https://archive.org/stream/ramayanamamjari00ksemuoft#page/n5/mode/2up Sanskrit])
*''Bhāratamanjari'' — Verse abridgement of the [[Mahabharata]] ([https://archive.org/stream/bharatamanjari00ksemuoft#page/n3/mode/2up Sanskrit])
*''Brihatkathāmanjari'' — Verse abridgement of the [[Brihatkatha]] ([https://archive.org/details/Kavya_Mala_Series_Of_Nirnaya_Sagar_Press Sanskrit])

===Poetics===
*''Auchitya Vichāra Charchā''
*''Kavikanthābharaṇa''
*''Suvrittatilaka''

===Satires===
*''Kalāvilasā'' — "A Dalliance with Deceptions"
*''[[Samaya Mātrikā]]''  — "The Courtesan's Keeper" ([https://archive.org/details/Kavya_Mala_Series_Of_Nirnaya_Sagar_Press Sanskrit])
*''Narmamālā'' — "A Garland of Mirth"
*''Deśopadeśa'' — "Advice from the Countryside"

===Didactic works===
*''Nitikalpataru''
*''Darpadalana''
*''Chaturvargasaṃgraha''
*''[[Cārucaryā|Chārucharya]]''
*''Sevyasevakopadeśa''
*''Lokaprakāśa''
*''Stūpavādana'' — See Saratchandra Das (ed.), 'Stupavadana', Journal and Text of the Buddhist Society of India, vol.11, pt.1, p.&nbsp;15.

===Devotional works===
*''Avadānakalpalatā'' — Former lives and good deeds of Buddha ([https://archive.org/stream/legendsmiracleso01ksem#page/n3/mode/2up English])
*''Daśavataracharita'' — Ten incarnations of Vishnu ([https://archive.org/details/Kavya_Mala_Series_Of_Nirnaya_Sagar_Press Sanskrit])

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last1=Kshemendra|translator1-last=Haksar|translator1-first=A. N. D.|title=Three Satires: From Ancient Kashmir|date=2011|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9780143063230| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BudSLwEACAAJ|ref={{harvid|Haksar|2011}}|language=en}}
* {{cite book|last1=Warder|first1=Anthony Kennedy|author-link=A. K. Warder|title=Indian Kāvya Literature: The art of storytelling|date=1992|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| location=Delhi | isbn=9788120806153| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl0l5ZTkNxIC|language=en}}

{{Panchatantra}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kashmiri people]]
[[Category:Kashmiri writers]]
[[Category:Sanskrit poets]]
[[Category:Kashmiri poets]]
[[Category:11th-century writers]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]


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