ABOUT THE BOOK Bhartṛhari was a great grammarian, philosopher and poet in one. The book deals with the works of Bhartṛhari i.e., satkas. The Nitiśataka is an endeavor to show the difficulty of the task of bringing book to their serise, various methods to require wealth, the value of learning. The Vairagyaśataka mentions about the sentiments in old age. The Śṛngaraśataka deals with erotic sentiment by way of describing the beauty of women, their nature, deportment and their effect on the mind of man. The propositions and general principles have been so lucidly put forwad and so well substantiated in the book that they readily catch the eye the reader.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. R. K. Panda, the compiler and Editor of this book is a well-known scholar of Sanskrit. He is working as Reader in the Department of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit, M.S. University of Baroda. He has published 15 Books, 40 Research papers, 10 poem-collections, 2 story collections, 2 Novels and 2 play collections in Sanskrit.
PREFACE It gives me great pleasure to write few lines at the end of by successful undertaking. I had felt the need of preparing a suitable edition of the Satakas of Bhartrhari with easy and lucid English translation. No doubt, there are many books on this subject but most of them are long out of print and they have their limitations. The present book has been prepared keeping in view the needs of the students for whom it is prescribed as a text-book by some of the universities, as well as the general lovers of Bharthari's poetry. I have provided a comprehensive introduction which will help the students in understanding and appreciating the merits of Bharthari. I have also supplied the other pertinent lists like the Alphabetical Index of the verses, proverbial expressions, and the list of the metres used by the poet.
Some of the scholars think that the Vijñānasataka is also composed by Bharthari. I do not accept this. The obvious reason is that it is a substandard production. However, the Vijñānatataka is included in this book as an appendix for ready reference and persual of the critical lovers of poetry.
I have tried my best to make the work as authentic as possible. Proper care has been taken in editing the verses, especially accepting the authentic readings after a serious and careful study of the books of the previous writers. A special mention must be made of B.D. Kosambi whose pioneering critical edition has been very much useful to me. I am, therefore, very much grateful to this eminent scholars who has spent precious portion of life after a critical study. of the Satakas of Bharthari.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
