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Often people are referred to merely by a universal “she” or (less frequently) “he.” Nevertheless, the context tends to allow us to identify a particular type of individual. But context here means more than the hints contained in a single stanza; in fact, it is the whole of the “Seven Hundred Elegant Verses” from which an interpretative framework has to be extricated. In some verses, Go·vardhana uses markers for particular types of people and specified scenarios. It is with these solid pieces of information in mind that less obvious verses can be approached and imaginatively read in a similar light. For example, once we have read stanzas that specifically refer to a man’s go-between, other verses, in which a man is praised to a girl, can be located in that same context.

We can distinguish a variety of such person markers. The most obvious one is that of profession and social group. But there are dangers lurking here. Albrecht Weber, the first scholar who worked seriously on the Sattasai, mistakenly thought that Hala’s collection represented “peasant poetry” merely because farmers are spoken of in some of the verses. In fact, the opposite is true: in Hala, peasants are specifically marked because they are outside the poets’ own milieu. The same applies to Go·vardhana.

A Note on the Translation

No doubt, the translations offered here will be criticized for their clumsy syntax. I would agree with this criticism. In fact, perversely as it might seem, many of my earlier versions, which aimed at smooth, elegant readability, have been discarded, in favor of the versions printed here. Why ________