Love

Very cunning is my Kāna

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen (1915) · From Bangiya Padabali (trans. 1915)

Love

Rādha:
Very cunning is my Kāna,
Without any spell he broke my wrath!
He appeared to-day in a yogi's weed--
Who can explain such singular gestes?

At the will of my mother-in-law I went to give him alms,
When he saw my face, he began to murmur words of love,
And he said: 'The gift I ask is the jewel of your pride,'--
(Then I could tell what guile was his!)

'Tis shame to recite all that he said.
Nobody knows the Lord of lovers!
Vidyāpati says: lovely Rāi,
How can you plumb the depth of his cunning?

✦ ✦ ✦

Reunion after Wilfulness, LXXX

MLA

Vidyapati. “Very cunning is my Kāna.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/79/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “Very cunning is my Kāna.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/79/.

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