Satasai
Encyclopedia
The Satasai or Bihari Satsai (Seven Hundred Verses of Bihari) is a famous work of the early 17th century by the Hindi
poet Bihārī, in the Braj Bhasha dialect of Hindi spoken in the Braj
region of northern India
. It contains Dohas
,or couplets, on Bhakti
(devotion), Neeti (Moral policies) and Shringara (love).
An important work in the Ritikavya Kaal or Ritikaal of Hindi literature
, the Satsai is today celebrated in paintings in various Indian miniature styles, particularly in the Kangra
style, as is the case with Jayadeva
's Gita Govinda
.
The story of the origin of the 'Bihari Satsai' is rather intriguing. When Raja Jai Singh I
(ruled. 1611-1667), of Amber, near Jaipur, heard Bihari at the court of the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, he invited Bihari to Amber.
Later Raja Jai Singh married a young wife and, lost in her love, didn't step out his harem for over a year, also neglecting his state duties and his other wives. That was when his ministers and his senior wife coaxed Bihari to send the following couplet to him hidden amidst the flower petals meant for the Maharaja's bed:
"Nahin paraga nahin madhur madhu
nahin vikasa yahi kal
ali kali hi saun bandhyau
again kaun haval."
"There is no pollen; there is no sweet honey;
nor yet has the blossom opened.
If the bee is enamoured of the bud,
who can tell what will happen
when she is a full-blown flower."
Reading these lines in the morning, the Raja was immediately brought back to his senses. Later he asked Bihari to write a couplet for him every day, and in turn he would reward the poet with a gold coin each time. Seven hundred verses later, the Raja asked that his verses be complied in book form; hence the collection of the 'Bihari Satsai' was born out of a poet's need to impress his patron and a state's need to have its king back from the quagmire of sensual pleasure.
The literary background of the Satsai contains many Indian literary and poetic traditions, including a tradition of self-contained single-verse poems, a tradition of rhythmic stanzas originally inserted into larger works and later collected in anthologies, and a tradition of poetics borrowed from Sanskrit Literature
. The latter tradition is most important, for, as India's "poet's poet" and foremost representative of the Riti Period of Hindi Literature
, Bihari made extensive use of the traditional rhetorical figures of sense and sound called Alamkaras to embellish his couplets and provide them with much hidden meaning.
As for subject matter and imagery, the Satsai borrows from the Sanskrit Kavya
tradition, the Prakrit
anthologies and other sources, but in its emphasis on the love of Radha
and Krishna
, it has affinities with Bengali Vaishnava poetry.
The majority of the couplets deal with love, presenting a visual portrayal of a heroine or hero (nayika or nayak) in separation from or in union with a lover. Of 713 couplets, 315 include at least one word and often several words related to the visual sense, such as "eyes," "glances," "saw," or "looking". In the rare descriptions of physical love or encounter, an overall viausl image of the eyes themselves dominates:
320. As if drawing me with her glance, she looked, lazily went inside, /
And the deer-eyed one's eyes made a desire to peer again arise.
464. Seeing the husband's hand-army rush to raze the cover, /
Shyness stayed hidden in the fortress of eyes within the forest of lashes.
Related to the visual theme is an imagery of light and fire, particularly of the "fires
of separation":
553. Flaming from parting's fire, flowing with the fluid of the eyes, /
On a sigh's wind, twenty-four hours a day, her heart flies.
Thus, although in one sense a devotional work, the couplets are meant to be judged mainly as
expressions of poetic virtuosity and secondarily as expressions of devotion and love. Many
of the couplets exhibit an aggressive tone different from the reverential attitude of the earlier Bhakti
or devotional works:
71. How long I've humbly called you, Syam, but you give no relief; /
The world-wind has caught you, too, O world-guru, world-chief!
The didactic couplets express values one might expect of an poet in an era of patronage.
In the following couplet, Bihari is concerned that each person should seek his own proper environment:
276. The very name urbane is scorned and mocked by all; /
Gone to the vulgar village, all pride and merit fall.
The historical period of Bihari (1595–1664) was a time of increased contact between the Hindu
and Muslim
, or the Rajput
and Turko-Persian, traditions, and Bihari was supported by one of the foremost Hindu nobles of the Mughal court. As a result, the prestige of Persian Literature
influenced the Hindu poet in his selection of non-Persian literary traditions, and there was a simultaneous interest of both Hindi
and Urdu
poets in similar aspects of their respective traditions—particular themes and imagery, the couplet form, poetic figures and alliteration. Although outwardly a Hindu work, the Satsai embodies much that is Mughal in spirit.
.
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
poet Bihārī, in the Braj Bhasha dialect of Hindi spoken in the Braj
Braj
Braj is a region mainly in Uttar Pradesh of India, around Mathura-Vrindavan. Braj, though never a clearly defined political region in India but is very well demarcated culturally, is considered to be the land of Krishna and is derived from the Sanskrit word vraja...
region of northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It contains Dohas
Doha (poetry)
namshka:For the town in Kuwait, see Doha and For the city in Qatar, see DohaDoha is a form of self-contained rhyming couplet in poetry...
,or couplets, on Bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
(devotion), Neeti (Moral policies) and Shringara (love).
An important work in the Ritikavya Kaal or Ritikaal of Hindi literature
Hindi literature
Hindi literature , is broadly divided into four prominent forms or styles, being Bhakti ; Shringar ; Veer-Gatha ; and Adhunik...
, the Satsai is today celebrated in paintings in various Indian miniature styles, particularly in the Kangra
Kangra painting
Kangra painting is the pictorial art of Kangra, named after Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, a former princely state, which patronized the art. It became prevalent with the fading of Basohli school of painting in mid-18th century , and soon produced such a magnitude in paintings both in content as well as...
style, as is the case with Jayadeva
Jayadeva
Jayadeva was a Sanskrit poet circa 1200 AD. He is most known for his composition, the epic poem Gita Govinda, which depicts the divine love of Krishna-an avatar of Vishnu and his consort, Radha, and it is mentioned that Radha is greater than Hari, and is considered an important text in the...
's Gita Govinda
Gita Govinda
The Gita Govinda is a work composed by the 12th-century poet, Jayadeva, who was born in Kenduli Sasan near Puri in Orissa. It describes the relationship between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana, and in particular one gopi named Radha...
.
Origin
Jai Singh I
Mirza Raja Jai Singh was a senior general of the Mughal Empire and a ruler of the kingdom of Amber . His father was Maha Singh the Raja of Garha, and his mother was Damayanti, a princess of Mewar.The great Raja Man Singh of Amber had several sons, the most capable of whom were the eldest Jagat...
(ruled. 1611-1667), of Amber, near Jaipur, heard Bihari at the court of the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, he invited Bihari to Amber.
Later Raja Jai Singh married a young wife and, lost in her love, didn't step out his harem for over a year, also neglecting his state duties and his other wives. That was when his ministers and his senior wife coaxed Bihari to send the following couplet to him hidden amidst the flower petals meant for the Maharaja's bed:
"Nahin paraga nahin madhur madhu
nahin vikasa yahi kal
ali kali hi saun bandhyau
again kaun haval."
"There is no pollen; there is no sweet honey;
nor yet has the blossom opened.
If the bee is enamoured of the bud,
who can tell what will happen
when she is a full-blown flower."
Reading these lines in the morning, the Raja was immediately brought back to his senses. Later he asked Bihari to write a couplet for him every day, and in turn he would reward the poet with a gold coin each time. Seven hundred verses later, the Raja asked that his verses be complied in book form; hence the collection of the 'Bihari Satsai' was born out of a poet's need to impress his patron and a state's need to have its king back from the quagmire of sensual pleasure.
The Text
Although the Satsai is available in many recensions, the Ratnakara edition of 1924, containing 713 couplets, is most widely acceptedThe literary background of the Satsai contains many Indian literary and poetic traditions, including a tradition of self-contained single-verse poems, a tradition of rhythmic stanzas originally inserted into larger works and later collected in anthologies, and a tradition of poetics borrowed from Sanskrit Literature
Sanskrit literature
Literature in Sanskrit begins with the Vedas, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to late Antiquity . Literary production saw a late bloom in the 11th century before declining after 1100 AD...
. The latter tradition is most important, for, as India's "poet's poet" and foremost representative of the Riti Period of Hindi Literature
Hindi literature
Hindi literature , is broadly divided into four prominent forms or styles, being Bhakti ; Shringar ; Veer-Gatha ; and Adhunik...
, Bihari made extensive use of the traditional rhetorical figures of sense and sound called Alamkaras to embellish his couplets and provide them with much hidden meaning.
As for subject matter and imagery, the Satsai borrows from the Sanskrit Kavya
Kavya
Kavya refers to the Sanskrit literary style used by Indian court poets flourishing from the first half of the seventh century AD. This literary style is characterised by abundant usage of figures of speech, metaphors, similes, and hyperbole to create its emotional effects...
tradition, the Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
anthologies and other sources, but in its emphasis on the love of Radha
Radha
Radha , also called Radhika, Radharani and Radhikarani, is the childhood friend and lover of Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gita Govinda of the Vaisnava traditions of Hinduism...
and Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, it has affinities with Bengali Vaishnava poetry.
The majority of the couplets deal with love, presenting a visual portrayal of a heroine or hero (nayika or nayak) in separation from or in union with a lover. Of 713 couplets, 315 include at least one word and often several words related to the visual sense, such as "eyes," "glances," "saw," or "looking". In the rare descriptions of physical love or encounter, an overall viausl image of the eyes themselves dominates:
320. As if drawing me with her glance, she looked, lazily went inside, /
And the deer-eyed one's eyes made a desire to peer again arise.
464. Seeing the husband's hand-army rush to raze the cover, /
Shyness stayed hidden in the fortress of eyes within the forest of lashes.
Related to the visual theme is an imagery of light and fire, particularly of the "fires
of separation":
553. Flaming from parting's fire, flowing with the fluid of the eyes, /
On a sigh's wind, twenty-four hours a day, her heart flies.
Thus, although in one sense a devotional work, the couplets are meant to be judged mainly as
expressions of poetic virtuosity and secondarily as expressions of devotion and love. Many
of the couplets exhibit an aggressive tone different from the reverential attitude of the earlier Bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
or devotional works:
71. How long I've humbly called you, Syam, but you give no relief; /
The world-wind has caught you, too, O world-guru, world-chief!
The didactic couplets express values one might expect of an poet in an era of patronage.
In the following couplet, Bihari is concerned that each person should seek his own proper environment:
276. The very name urbane is scorned and mocked by all; /
Gone to the vulgar village, all pride and merit fall.
The historical period of Bihari (1595–1664) was a time of increased contact between the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, or the Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
and Turko-Persian, traditions, and Bihari was supported by one of the foremost Hindu nobles of the Mughal court. As a result, the prestige of Persian Literature
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
influenced the Hindu poet in his selection of non-Persian literary traditions, and there was a simultaneous interest of both Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
poets in similar aspects of their respective traditions—particular themes and imagery, the couplet form, poetic figures and alliteration. Although outwardly a Hindu work, the Satsai embodies much that is Mughal in spirit.
.