On the question of genres in Sanskrit one-stanza poetry

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of a possible genre classification of Sanskrit one-stanza poetry, using Bhartṛhari’s Śatakatrayam (3rd–4th centuries AD) and Vidyākara’s Subhāṣitaratnakośa (11th century AD) as examples. The existing division only by the genres of anthologies (śataka and kośa) seems too general. The article shows that several distinct genres can be identified among the poems ncluded in the anthologies, including blessings (nandī), panegyrics (praśasti), didactic maxims in their various forms (ascetic and urban didactics), compliments to a beauty (cāṭu), poems about canonical love situations, and seasonal landscape lyrics. Thematic and, where possible, structural and stylistic features of these genres are briefly described. A connection is established between the composition of blessing stanzas and the archaic ritual riddle (brahmodya). Features of developed literary panegyric poetry are demonstrated in single-stanza verses praising kings or allegorically censuring them. The question is raised about the connection between panegyric and love poetry of small forms and the court poem mahākāvya due to the commonality of style and imagery. Prospects for comparing minor genres with larger genres of Sanskrit literature are outlined.

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