KṢHEMENDRA – THE PEOPLE’S POET AND HIS WORK CHARUCHARYA

 

Sanskrit poets have often been criticised for excessive exaggeration, known as oriental hyperbole, especially while praising kings, patrons, and heroes. In such poetry, rulers were frequently equated with gods like Indra, while the lives and sufferings of common people were almost entirely ignored. Even Kalidāsa, the greatest of Sanskrit poets, glorified kings such as Raghu and Dilīpa but paid little attention to the masses who sustained the kingdom.

Against this background, the Kashmiri Brahmin poet Kṣemendra stands out as a remarkable exception. He consciously broke away from rigid literary conventions that required heroes of mahākāvyas to be gods or extraordinary men. Displaying rare courage and independence, Kṣemendra focused his literary attention on ordinary human beings. Courtesans, clerks, misers, and other figures drawn from everyday life became the heroes and heroines of his works.

Kṣemendra firmly believed in realism. Without rejecting ideals altogether, he portrayed life as it truly was, capturing the joys, sorrows, struggles, and aspirations of the common man. Through his sincere and skillful verses, he emphasized that while perfection may be unattainable, sincere effort toward the ideal gives human life its true worth.

Kalhaṇa, in his Rājataraṅgiṇī, praises Kṣemendra’s poetic genius, though he questions his historical accuracy. Kṣemendra’s own works reveal important biographical details. He lived during the reigns of Kings Ananta and Kalasha and was a pupil of the great philosopher Abhinavagupta, placing his life between the late 10th and mid-11th centuries.

A versatile writer and literary polymath, Kṣemendra humbly called himself Vyāsadāsa, the servant of Vyāsa. Though influenced by Śaivism, Vaiṣṇavism, and Buddhism, he ultimately upheld the authority of the Vedas and Smṛtis. By giving voice to the common people, Kṣemendra earned his rightful place as the people’s poet of Sanskrit literature.

CHARUCHARYA

Charucharya by Kshemendra is a 11th-century Sanskrit poem focused on ethical, healthy, and aesthetic living, featuring 76 verses on personal hygiene and moral education. While the original text is in Sanskrit, PDF versions often include Hindi translations, such as the one available at the Internet Archive. 

Content: The work is considered a manual for conduct (Dinacharya & Sadvrutta) designed for princes and individuals leading a refined life.

Availability: A digital copy featuring the Charucharya with Hindi translation by Shri Devdatt Shastri is available on the Internet Archive.

Alternative Source: Another version of Charucharya from the Shri Krishna Museum Kurukshetra is also available. 

" English translation PDF by Kshemendra is not widely hosted as a single file, you can access the text and its translations through the following resources:

Available Translations & Texts

Charucharya (Sanskrit with Hindi Translation): A complete digitized version of the text with Hindi commentary by Shri Devdatt Shastri is available on the Internet Archive.

Critical Discussion & Summary (English): A scholarly overview and critical discussion of Charucarya  (alternatively spelled Carucarya) can be found on Scribd.  This document provides context on the 11th-century work's literary and ethical significance.

Historical and Literary Review: For a medieval perspective focusing on the text as an Ayurvedic guide for personal hygiene, on can read this fine work.

Author: Kshemendra, a prolific 11th-century Kashmiri Sanskrit poet.

Subject: Charucharya is a treatise on moral education and personal conduct (niti). It consists of 100 verses that outline the daily routine and ethical behavior of a virtuous person, often illustrating moral points with examples from Indian epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Scope: The text covers various aspects of daily life, including personal hygiene, social etiquette, and spiritual discipline. 

Here we can see some moral codes one by one.

श्रीलाभसुभगः सत्यासक्तः स्वगापवर्भदः । जयतात्‌ त्रिजगत्पूज्यः सदाचार इवाच्युतः ॥ १ ॥

Śrīlābha-subhagaḥ satyāsaktaḥ svagāpavargadaḥ |
Jayatāt trijagat-pūjyaḥ sadācāra ivācyutaḥ || 1 ||

Translation:
          “Victorious be Lord Acyuta, who is the giver of prosperity and good fortune, who is devoted to truth, and who bestows heaven and liberation. Like righteous conduct (sadācāra), Lord Acyuta is worshipped by the three worlds.”

Just as righteous conduct (sadācāra) is honoured and victorious in the three worlds, Lord Acyuta (Krishna) is also worshipped in all the three worlds.

Righteous conduct grants heaven and liberation after death; similarly, Lord Acyuta, through proper conduct and devotion, grants salvation.

Both Bhagavan Acyuta and righteous conduct are united with Śrī (prosperity) and hence are auspicious and blessed.

Lord Acyuta is devoted to Satya (here referring to Satyabhāmā), while righteous conduct is devoted to truth itself.

This sloka echoes the same idea of Srmad BhagavataPurana’s sloka by Sri Vyasa: "Satyam Param Dhimahi" (सत्यं परं धीमहि) is a

Sanskrit phrase from the Srimad Bhagavatam's first verse, meaning "We meditate on the Supreme Truth (God)", referring to Lord Krishna as the source of all existence, consciousness, and bliss, who is beyond the illusory material world, and to whom even great sages meditate upon. 

·         सत्यं (Satyam): Truth, the Supreme Reality.

·         परं (Param): Supreme, ultimate, beyond all.

·         धीमहि (Dhimahi): We meditate, we focus our minds. 

This phrase is part of the Bhagavata Mahapurana mangalacharanam (introductory verse) which glorifies Lord Krishna as the ultimate cause and sustainer of the universe, the source of all knowledge, and the one free from material illusion.