Seven Hundred Elegant Verses

By Friedhelm Hardy and Go7vardhana

When Go·várdhana composed his "Seven Hundred Elegant Verses" in Sanskrit in the twelfth century CE, the title suggested that this was a response to the 700 verses in the more demotic Prakrit language traditionally attributed to King Hala, composed almost a thousand years earlier. Both sets of poems were composed in the arya metre. Besides being the name of a metre, in Sanskrit arya means a noble or elegant lady, and Go·várdhana wished to reflect and appeal to a sophisticated culture. These poems each consist of a single stanza, almost as condensed and allusive as a Japanese haiku. They cover the gamut of human life and emotion, though the favorite topic is love in all its aspects. Co-published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation For more on this title and other titles in the Clay Sanskrit series, please visit http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814736874
• ISBN13: 9780814736876
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Clay Sanskrit
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.5"