The Treasury of a Well-Turned Verse

The Treasury of a Well-Turned Verse, also known as “Subhasitaratnakosa,” is one of the many collected pieces of poetry that consisted of 1739 verses from a Buddhist monk by the name of Vidyakara. During the eleventh century, the anthologies of Sanskrit poetry started to rise. This anthology consisted more on the erotic love rather than the emotional love. The details that are described in this poem are based on physical passion and the female beauty. During the life and time of India in the fourth through eleventh centuries, many accomplishments had come about. There were “ruling hereditary chiefs or “rajputs” (sons of kings) followed a code of chivalry that set them apart from the lower classes” (Fiero). The caste system, which was a system to keep higher and lower social classes divided up properly.

                This anthology was typical of its era due to the alliteration, assonance, and lack of rhyme. The alliteration portrayed in the poems had the same consonant sound. For example, the words “scent of the sweat” would be the alliteration used in the poem, Treasury of a Well-Turned Verse. The assonance in the poems would have the same vowel sound. For example, the words “wished to kiss” would be the assonance that is portrayed in the poem.  This type of work was unusual for its time because Indian poetry has more of a sexual and erotic perspective rather than a romantic perspective. Since this work was unusual for its time, this type of poetry was not really seen until the mid 600<sup>th</sup> century. People saw it as a new perspective on love and not the romantic aspect of it. People today find this work very important. It shows that Indian anthologies in the earlier times have demonstrated amazing progress and have influenced many poets and authors to create such successful work.

                My personal reaction to the work is that I find it very distinctive and diverse. The anthologies that Vidyakara had collected revealed different perspectives of love. It showed that there could be poems written either about the romantic aspects or the erotic and sexual aspects. I find this type of work meaningful due to it being different and unusual. It focuses more on the romantic and physical aspects rather than on most Islamic verses. The Treasury of a Well-Turned Verse specifically compares to any collected poem of Vidyakara. This poem can compare to another poem, Song of Muhamudra, written by Tilopa during the eleventh century. The poems consist of two literary devices; alliteration and assonance. The differences between them is that The Treasury of a Well-Turned Verse has passionate and erotic love, whereas, Song of Muhamudra depicts more of the love of friendship. This work is most significant to future generations because it shows that there are different views on love. Vidyakara’s anthologies portray beauty, passion, and erotic romance. It shows that there are different emotions that can be displayed in poems, which could then lead to future collections such as Vidyakara’s anthologies.