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Some Sanskrit stanzas

My work as a Sanskrit scholar consists mainly of reading, editing, translating and explaining texts written by others over the past 2500 years or so, and of teaching students to do the same. From time to time, however, I have occasion to write a little Sanskrit myself, typically in verse form. As they often contain allusions or puns that would be lost in translation, the samples below are given in the original only, for the possible enjoyment of fellow Sanskritists.

In loving memory (vasantatilakā metre)

लीलासु कौतुकहसादिषु बालिकेव मातेव धैर्यपरपोषणमार्दवादौ ।
अन्ना रतौ च तरुणीव कलत्ररत्नमित्थंगुणाढ्यमतुलं हृदि संस्मरामि ॥

līlāsu kautukahasādiṣu bālikeva
māteva dhairyaparapoṣaṇamārdavādau |
annā ratau ca taruṇīva kalatraratnam
itthaṃguṇāḍhyam atulaṃ hṛdi saṃsmarāmi ||

In praise of my teacher (mālinī metre)

शमदममुखभूषः श्रोत्रियो ब्रह्मनिष्ठो निजपरसमदृष्टिः सान्द्रकारुण्यमूर्तिः।
परमपुरुषभक्त्या नित्यमारूढयोगः स भवतु शरणं मे श्रीलरङ्गप्रियार्यः॥

śamadamamukhabhūṣaḥ śrotriyo brahmaniṣṭho
nijaparasamadṛṣṭiḥ sāndrakāruṇyamūrtiḥ |
paramapuruṣabhaktyā nityam ārūḍhayogaḥ
sa bhavatu śaraṇaṃ me śrīlaraṅgapriyāryaḥ ||

Invocatory stanza for my Swedish translation of the Bhagavadgītā (upajāti metre)

श्वेताश्वयोगे रणभूमिमध्ये गीतात्मयोगः कृतमर्त्यमूर्तिः।
अवाङ्मनोगोचरबोधरूपः श्वेताश्ववक्त्रो हृदये चकास्तु॥

śvetāśvayoge raṇabhūmimadhye
gītātmayogaḥ kṛtamartyamūrtiḥ |
avāṅmanogocarabodharūpaḥ
śvetāśvavaktro hṛdaye cakāstu ||

Invocatory stanza for my Swedish translation of the early Upaniṣads (mālinī metre)

उपनिषदुपदिष्टो ज्योतिषां ज्योतिरात्मा श्रवणमननपूर्वं यो निदिध्यासितव्यः।
करकुवपरिरब्धब्रह्मविद्याख्यलक्ष्मीः स्फुरतु स हृदि नित्यं श्रीहयग्रीवदेवः॥

upaniṣadupadiṣṭo jyotiṣāṃ jyotir ātmā
śravaṇamananapūrvaṃ yo nididhyāsitavyaḥ |
karakuvaparirabdhabrahmavidyākhyalakṣmīḥ
sphuratu sa hṛdi nityaṃ śrīhayagrīvadevaḥ ||

Invocatory stanzas for my doctoral thesis Patterns of Destiny: Hindu Nāḍī Astrology (mandākrāntā and śloka metres)

नाडिग्रन्थानृषिविरचितान् केचिदाहुः सुसिद्धान् मूढग्राहं ग्रहफलपरं नाडिशास्त्रं तथान्ये।
सूक्ष्मार्थानां सततमननाद्वाक्यसंशोधनेन पूर्वाचार्यानहमपि पुनः पूजयाम्यग्र्यबुद्ध्या॥

nāḍigranthān ṛṣiviracitān kecid āhuḥ susiddhān
mūḍhagrāhaṃ grahaphalaparaṃ nāḍiśāstraṃ tathānye |
sūkṣmārthānāṃ satatamananād vākyasaṃśodhanena
pūrvācāryān aham api punaḥ pūjayāmy agryabuddhyā ||

नाडीग्रन्थेषु भिन्नेषु योगशक्त्या चिदंबरे ।
विद्युतं विद्यया सार्धं हयग्रीवमुपास्महे॥

nāḍīgrantheṣu bhinneṣu yogaśaktyā cidambare |
vidyutaṃ vidyayā sārdhaṃ hayagrīvam upāsmahe ||

Invocatory stanza for my translation of The Jewel of Annual Astrology (mandākrāntā metre)

पद्माकान्तो विमलकिरणो मङ्गलः सौम्यमूर्तिर्वागीशो यः कविगतिरहिच्छत्त्रको मन्दहासः।
स प्रत्यब्दं परमकरुणादृष्टिभिर्ज्ञानराशिर्भूयो भूयात्तुरगवदनः कोऽपि सानुग्रहो नः॥

padmākānto vimalakiraṇo maṅgalaḥ saumyamūrtir
vāgīśo yaḥ kavigatir ahicchattrako mandahāsaḥ |
sa pratyabdaṃ paramakaruṇādṛṣṭibhir jñānarāśir
bhūyo bhūyāt turagavadanaḥ ko ’pi sānugraho naḥ ||

Celebratory stanza (śārdūlavikrīḍita metre)
On the occasion of my friend Ola – a man of many languages, including Sanskrit – publicly defending his doctoral thesis Drought, Death, and the Sun in Ugarit and Ancient Israel:

पश्यैषोऽद्भुतभास्करो दश दिशोऽप्युद्दीपयन् स्वांशुभिर्वाग्विद्यामृतवृष्टिभिश्च जडताशोषापहर्ता स्वयम्।
याम्यामेव गतः समुच्छ्रितपदः संजीवयन्नः पुनः श्रीमानूलविकन्दरो विजयते वीरो विदां संसदि॥

paśyaiṣo ’dbhutabhāskaro daśa diśo ’py uddīpayan svāṃśubhir
vāgvidyāmṛtavṛṣṭibhiś ca jaḍatāśoṣāpahartā svayam |
yāmyām eva gataḥ samucchritapadaḥ saṃjīvayan naḥ punaḥ
śrīmān ūlavikandaro vijayate vīro vidāṃ saṃsadi ||

In praise of Oxford (śārdūlavikrīḍita metre)
After spending a couple of weeks there, examining astrological manuscripts in the Bodleian:

तत्तद्वाञ्छितसिद्धयेऽभ्युपगतं तत्तद्धि तीर्थं जनैस्तीर्थातीर्थविवेचने च विदुषां सर्वत्र भिन्ना मतिः।
विद्याब्धिं तु तितीर्षतां विमृशतां लोके प्रसिद्धां गतिं विद्यातीर्थमलौकिकं जिगमिषे गोतीर्थमट्टोज्ज्वलम्॥

tattadvāñchitasiddhaye ’bhyupagataṃ tat tad dhi tīrthaṃ janais
tīrthātīrthavivecane ca viduṣāṃ sarvatra bhinnā matiḥ |
vidyābdhiṃ tu titīrṣatāṃ vimṛśatāṃ loke prasiddhāṃ gatiṃ
vidyātīrtham alaukikaṃ jigamiṣe gotīrtham aṭṭojjvalam ||

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