Kshemendra (IAST:Kṣemendra;c. 990 – c. 1070 CE) was an 11th-centurySanskrit polymathpoet,satirist,philosopher,historian,[1]dramatist,translator[2] andart critic[3] fromKashmir.[4]
Kshemendra was born into an old, cultured, and affluent family.[5] His father was Prakashendra, a descendant of Narendra who was the minister to Jayapida.[6] Both his education and literary output were broad and varied. He studied literature under "the foremost teacher of his time, the celebratedShaiva philosopher and literary exponentAbhinavagupta".[5] Kshemendra was born a Shaiva, but later became a Vaishnava.[6] He studied and wrote about bothVaishnavism andBuddhism.[7] His son, Somendra, provides details about his father in his introduction to theAvadana Kalpalata and other works. Kshemendra refers to himself in his works as Vyasadasa (IAST:Vyāsadāsa;Slave ofVyasa), a title which was perhaps won or adopted after the completion of hisBhāratamañjari.[6]
Kshemendra was in great demand as a skilled abridger of long texts.[6] His literary career extended from at least 1037 (his earliest dated work,Brihatkathāmanjari, a verse summary of the lostNorthwestern Bṛhatkathā; itself a recension ofGunadhya's lostBṛhatkathā — "Great Story") to 1066 (his latest dated work,Daśavataracharita, "an account of the ten incarnations of the godViṣnu").[8]
Around eighteen of Kshemendra's works are still extant while fourteen more are known only through references in other literature.[6] In addition to the genres listed below, he also composed plays, descriptive poems, a satirical novel, a history, and possibly a commentary on theKāma Sūtra.[9]
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