Two Poems from the Shatakatraya
 
What haven’t we done for the sake of this life
as light as water on a lotus leaf?
All discrimination lost –
we shamelessly parade the fault
of praising our virtues before the rich,
their senseless minds maddened by wealth.
 
 
 
Happy are those who live in mountain caves
and contemplate the light of heaven. Birds
perch lightly on their lap and do not fear
to drink their blissful tears.
 
But we who while away our time in play
and sex, furnishing our pleasure gardens with
fantastic palaces and pools, put out
the light which lives within us.

Bhartrihari
 
Translated by Louis Hunt

Bhartrihari was a Sanskrit writer who is thought to have lived in the 5th century CE. His poetry is aphoristic, and comments on the social mores of the time. His collected work is known as Shatakatraya "the three shatakas or 'hundreds' ('centuries')", consisting of three thematic compilations on niti, shringara and vairagya (practical wisdom, erotic love and detachment ) of a hundred verses each. Source: Wikipedia

If you have any thoughts on these translations, Louis Hunt would be pleased to hear them.