Poems from the Shantivilasa,
(or The Diversions of Peace) by Nilakantha Dikshita  


Nilakantha Dikshita (1613 - ?)

This is the family which bore me,
the parents who made me their son.
These are the teachers from whom
I have learned all that I know.
I have seen disaster loom,
known happiness as well,
but nothing quiets my heart.
Which of my deeds is still undone?          
 

 
My feet know how to find the way
to the haunts of low-born men.
My tongue follows its crooked course.
of concealment and lies.
My mind sees only the faults of others.
But when it comes to my own good,
I stumble like a lame, dumb beast.
 
 
 
To please her I ignored both life and fortune
and put her love above my own salvation.
Now that I have exhausted my youth and wealth,
my wife regards me, Shiva, as less than dust.      
 
 
 
When they were young, I committed any crime
to care for them. I barely slept or ate
in my eagerness to teach them all that I knew.
But now my children forget their debt to me,
as though they were born of their own accord
already laden with wisdom from some former life.  

Nilakantha Dikshita
translated from the Sanskrit by Louis Hunt 

A short but helpful article on Nilakantha Dikshita can be found here:  https://www.prekshaa.in/nilakantha-dikshita.      

If you have any thoughts about this translation,   Louis Hunt  would be pleased to hear them