LIBRARY OF BHAKTI POETS: Lives & Poems

LIBRARY OF BHAKTI POETS Lives & Poems Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith Vyasa (approx. 200 B.C.) was the author and a character in the second great poetic epic of India the Mahabharata. He is responsible for classifying the four Vedas, and wrote the eighteen Puranas. The Mahabharata is often called the fifth Veda. The most important section is the Bhagavad Gita, the lesson recited to Arjuna by Krishna on the battlefield that is here fully translated. Jayadeva (circa 12oo AD.) was a Sanskrit poet and most known for his immortal composition, the epic poem/play Gita Govinda (here fully trans.) that depicts the divine love of Avatar Krishna and his consort, Radha. This poem is considered an important text in the Bhakti (Path of Love) movement of Hinduism. Lalla Ded is the famous female poet/saint from Kashmir who lived at exactly the same time as Hafiz of Shiraz (1320-1392). Her vakhs (poems/sayings) are sung even today in Kashmir. She was a bridge between Hindu mysticism and Sufism. Kabir (meaning ‘great’) was born near Varanasi (Banaras), India, in 1398 A.D. and died towards the end of the 15th Century. Kabir’s short teaching poems which are called sakhis (meaning ‘sayings’ or ‘witness’) are like short, hard, sharp punches at the heart. Tulsidas (1532-1623), was a Hindu Bhakti poet-saint, reformer, philosopher renowned for his devotion for the Avatar when He appeared as Rama. A composer of several popular works, he is best known for being the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Ramayana. Dadu (1544-1603) was a Bhakti poet/saint from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. ‘Dadu’ means brother. Here are 85 of his wonderful, powerful bhajans & dohas in the correct rhyming form for the first time. Rahim (1556-1627) was a Bhakti poet and scholar and linguist and great patron of the arts under Emperors Akbar and Jahangir. He composed many dohas in Braj Bahasa… an early form of Urdu). Vrind (1643-1723) was an Indian Bhakti saint and poet in the Hindi language from Marwar in present day Rajasthan. Here is a collection mainly of his Dohas, a rhymed couplet that is a wise, complete thought in itself. 796 pages. Paul Smith (b.1945) is a translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu, Hindi and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, ‘Attar, Sana’i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu’in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Mahsati, Baba Farid and others and his own poetry, fiction, biographies, plays, children’s books, screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa Read more