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on the significance of the individual stanza. At the begin- ning, I was tempted to break up the whole work into such groups (which often allow for a “narrative” presentation). But for two reasons I abandoned the idea. First, a large number of shared themes cut across each other, overlap, or use logically different criteria, resulting in repetition. Sec- ondly, Go·vardhana intended the arrangement to be ran- dom.

An exception to this randomness is the Prelude. The first half or so consists of poems in praise of the gods; Go·vardhana then moves on to praising his predecessors, poetry in general, and finally himself. At the same time, the majority of these stanzas (as in the rest of the collection) have erotic themes; and the close affinity between literature and love is a major topic.

People in Go·vardhana

Go·vardhana is fundamentally a poet exploring people. Even when he is talking about gods and epic heroes, it is primarily their human characteristics, particularly their involvement in sex and love, that provide the focus. When he refers to nature, it is almost always for some metaphorical feature relating to human behavior. On the other hand, we witness a total absence of proper names; only gods and epic heroes have names. But this does not mean that his people are merely types or ciphers. For example, when the wife undresses in front of her husband and neighbor and points at the bruises the former has inflicted by beating her (v. 73), we are dealing with a totally unique episode.