Please excuse some of the words I have used in my translations; I was just trying to be true to the spirit of the original compositions. Presumably, the following stanzas were authored by satirists in order to shame some of their peers for their ravenous libido.
(1) Devanagari text:
(1) Devanagari text:
चेट्यः कदाचन कदाचन पण्यनार्यः कन्याः कदाचन कदाचन चण्डरण्डाः|
इत्थं चिरं विहरतोऽपि सखे परस्त्रीवाञ्छारसे न परितृप्यति चान्तरात्मा||
इत्थं चिरं विहरतोऽपि सखे परस्त्रीवाञ्छारसे न परितृप्यति चान्तरात्मा||
ceTyaH kadAcana kadAcana paNyanAryaH kanyAH kadAcana kadAcana caNDaraNDAH|
itthaM ciraM viharato(a)pi sakhe parastrIvAJchArase na paritRpyati cAntarAtmA||
– Anonymous
Loose translation: For a long time, I have been enjoying maidservants, using harlots, deflowering virgins, and cavorting with aggressive nymphomaniacs. In spite of that, dear friend, my heart cannot stop thirsting for married women.
Source: 13th century Suktimuktaavali Chapter 89 Verse 12.
Notes: In at least one documented variant, paritRpyati (परितृप्यति) has been replaced with the synonymous parituSyati (परितुष्यति), "is satisfied". For my notes on the misogynistic pejorative randA (रण्डा), see this post (footnote 2).
Source: 13th century Suktimuktaavali Chapter 89 Verse 12.
Notes: In at least one documented variant, paritRpyati (परितृप्यति) has been replaced with the synonymous parituSyati (परितुष्यति), "is satisfied". For my notes on the misogynistic pejorative randA (रण्डा), see this post (footnote 2).
क्रयादौषधवत्कामः प्रभुत्वात्केवलश्रमः|
कारुवन्निजदारेषु योऽन्यः कामः स मन्मथः||
कारुवन्निजदारेषु योऽन्यः कामः स मन्मथः||
krayAdauSadhavatkAmaH prabhutvAtkevalazramaH|
kAruvannijadAreSu yo(a)nyaH kAmaH sa manmathaH||
– Anonymous
Loose translation: When purchased, eros is like medication; when obtained by virtue of being a master (i.e. when done with maidservants / slaves), it is just labor; with one's lawfully wedded wives, it is no different from the day job of an artisan; the "other kind" of eros is truly Eros!
Source: 15th century Subhaashitaavaali Verse 2381.
Notes: The poet uses a peculiar (but fairly common) Sanskrit word for "wife" – dAra (दार) – which has the masculine gender (!!!!!) and is always used in the plural number regardless of the actual number of wives being described. Hence, although the word occurs in its plural form in the above verse, we cannot be sure if that is a reference to polygyny.
Another point to be noted is that the "other kind" of eros, almost surely, refers to an affair with a married woman. See this post for a detailed exposition; manmatha (मन्मथ), which can be interpreted as "the agitator (of the mind)", is a fancy synonym of Kama, erotic desire or the deity presiding over it – this word is used to suggest that the first three kinds of eros enumerated above are 'eros' in name only.
A. N. D. Haksar's scholarly translation of the above verse:
Source: 15th century Subhaashitaavaali Verse 2381.
Notes: The poet uses a peculiar (but fairly common) Sanskrit word for "wife" – dAra (दार) – which has the masculine gender (!!!!!) and is always used in the plural number regardless of the actual number of wives being described. Hence, although the word occurs in its plural form in the above verse, we cannot be sure if that is a reference to polygyny.
Another point to be noted is that the "other kind" of eros, almost surely, refers to an affair with a married woman. See this post for a detailed exposition; manmatha (मन्मथ), which can be interpreted as "the agitator (of the mind)", is a fancy synonym of Kama, erotic desire or the deity presiding over it – this word is used to suggest that the first three kinds of eros enumerated above are 'eros' in name only.
A. N. D. Haksar's scholarly translation of the above verse:
Love purchased is like a medicine,
a labour, when to power due,
with one's spouse it's just mechanics:
it's something else which is love true.
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