Rajarshi Bhartruhari is the author of “ Subhashita” a collection of three ‘satakas’ an anthology of one hundred slokas each in Sanskrit. First he emphasizes ethics and morality and later describes 'sringara’ the conjugal bliss of man. Any activity of man should be based on morality and righteousness including the intimacy between man and woman. Detachment cannot arise all of a sudden. It is only after experiencing the ins and outs of family pleasures and conjugal bliss that man becomes wise and thinks of detachment or Vairagya. The vicissitudes of the cycle of samsara and its trials and tribulations invariably drive man to Vairagya and he realizes the futility of material existence! He then understands perfectly that after all, this experience is transitory and an illusion! But before he arrives at this conclusion he has to experience everything in life--’ drink life to the lees’! The chief deity in charge of Sringara Rasa is Manmatha! He is both a God and villain and nothing will succeed if he is not propitiated! The poet invokes Manmatha the God of Love in Hindu mythology to make his attempt in describing sringara rasa successful! He offers his obeisance to him for he has made the creator Brahma, the protector Vishnu and the destroyer Siva totally obedient to their wives!
The Central point of sringara rasa is the woman! How does the lady bring down the greatest of men? The poet describes the personality of beautiful women who by their looks and behavior conquer the the most unconquerable of men. Her face is round like the full moon; her eyes neat and broad like the lotus leaf; her golden gleaming body; beautiful dense black long locks of hair reminding the color of the bees; Her ideal cleavage, strong back and her soft and gentle words-- are adornments that nature has given her! ‘Sringara nayikas’ --lady loves are of three kinds according to sastras. They are 1 mugdha 2 madhya and 3 prouda. The one just reaching her youth and controlling her love through modesty is mugdha. The girl in her youth and having equal proportion of modesty and love is madhya. The damsel in her full bloom of youth and has subordinated her modesty to love is called prouda. Bhartruhari in describing sringara rasa dwells on the ways and means of women who win over men by their bewitching beauty. For the rasikas there is nothing greater and sweeter than viewing the lovely lady’s face! Nothing is so mellifluous as the honey like words of the paramour! There is nothing more mesmerizing than the touch of her delicate skin! For the lover there is nothing greater than her tender age and her mischievous signals and pranks.
Praising the woman for her exceptional quality of attracting men, Bhartruhari compliments her. The soft jingling music of her bangles steal the hearts of men. The sound of the small bells adorning her silver chains on the feet and the seemingly frightened looks like that of the deer are powerful enough to defeat any courageous man! Bhartruhari does not agree with other poets who classify women as “abala”--without strength,weak. How can she be called weak when by her amorous deceptive looks she is able to infatuate even Gods like Indra and others? It is as if the God of Love Manmatha is the obedient servant of women with beautiful eye brows and looks! Her face is similar to the full moon stealing the hearts of many! Her attractive locks of hair are thick black in color! Her soft and gentle hands are of rosy hue! In short, she is a combination of the famous precious stones--’Chandrakanta, Neela and Padmaraga!
The poet describes the stages of chain reaction that explodes in the heart of man who is in love! Until he does not see her he feels like seeing her once at least! If by chance he happens to see her, he wants to hug her closely! If that happens he is afraid whether this supreme bliss will remain for ever! He does not wish separation from his lady and desires that their bodies should remain together for ever! The root cause of love and suffering in man is his youth says Bhartruhari. Love sprouts in one’s youth. Expectation pleases him and disappointment depresses him, leads him astray and drives him to other women! It clouds his intellect and leads to lust and satisfaction of the senses, eggs him on to perpetrate various kinds of sin! There cannot be any other stage in life as youth in committing sins!!
Samsara or family life is described as a shoreless sea! It is humanly impossible to cross it! The object of everyone is to cross it. What is it that prevents man to cross this shoreless sea? Bhartruhari says that he desires to cross over to other shore. But in between are the bewitching beauties who do not allow him to cross over smoothly! It is because of them that the other shore is faraway! Otherwise that shore would have been very close to him! There are only two options for men in the world says Bhartruhari! one is to enjoy the company beautiful young women or retire far from the madding crowd and perform tapas for salvation!! Before describing how women contribute to the downfall of man, Bhartruhari points out how she takes control of man by her personal looks, beauty and other attributes!
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