author
active 12th century Sriharsa
A 12th-century Sanskrit poet and philosopher, this writer is best known for blending dazzling literary style with sharp intellectual argument. His surviving works range from a celebrated court epic to a famously demanding text of Advaita thought.
1 Audiobook
Nala och Dayamanti: En indisk dikt ur Mahabharata
by active 12th century Sriharsa
About the author
Very little about his life can be pinned down with certainty, but Sriharsha is generally placed in 12th-century India. Traditional accounts connect him with the courtly world of northern India, and modern reference works agree that the details of his biography remain uncertain.
He is best known for the Naishadhiyacharita (also called Naiṣadha), an ornate Sanskrit mahakavya based on the story of Nala and Damayanti. The poem became admired for its verbal richness, technical skill, and ambitious style, helping secure his reputation as one of the major poets of classical Sanskrit literature.
Sriharsha is also remembered as an important philosopher. His Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya is a major work of Advaita Vedanta and is known for its dense, argumentative critique of rival philosophical positions, showing that he was not only a master poet but also a formidable thinker.