Some Unquenchable Desire Sanskrit Poems of the Buddhist Hermit Bhartrihari

An award-winning translator finds surprisingly modern themes in a selection of erotic and religious stanzas from one of classical India's most celebrated poets.

Although few facts are known about his life, the Indian poet Bhartrihari leaps from the page as a remarkably recognizable individual. Amidst a career as a linguist, courtier, and hermit, he used poetry to explore themes of love, desire, impermanence, despair, anger, and fear. “A thousand emotions, ideas, words, and rhythmic syllables stormed through him,” writes translator Andrew Schelling in an evocative introduction. “In particular he shows himself torn between sexual desire and a hunger to be free of failed love affairs and turbulent karma.” Schelling’s translation represents a rare opportunity for English-language readers to become acquainted with this fascinating poet. Attuned to Bhartrihari’s unique poetic sensibility, Schelling has produced a compelling, personally curated set of translations.

Andrew Schelling has published more than twenty titles, including Tracks Along the Left Coast: Jaime de Angulo and Pacific Coast Culture, a folkloric account of linguistics, wilderness encounters, bohemian poets, and traditional lore of the California Indians. His translations from Sanskrit and related poetry of ancient India have been published in North America, with several volumes reissued in India. In 2018, Shambhala Publications brought out Some Unquenchable Desire: Sanskrit Poems of the Buddhist Hermit Bhartrihari. A mountaineer and student of ecology and linguistics, he lives in Colorado, where he teaches at Naropa University. When traveling to India, he guest teaches at Deer Park Institute in the bird-thronged Himalayan Foothills.