The Rise of Wisdom Moon

By Kṛṣṇamiśra
Translated by Matthew Kapstein
Foreword by J.N. Mohanty

The Rise of Wisdom Moon

“The Rise of Wisdom Moon” (Prabodhacandrodaya) was composed during the mid-eleventh century by Krishna·mishra, an otherwise unknown poet in the service of the Chandella dynasty, whose cultural and religious capital was Khajuraho. The early popularity of Krishna·mishra’s work led to its frequent translation into the vernaculars of both North and South India, and even Persian as well. Famed as providing the enduring model of the allegorical play for all subsequent Sanskrit literature, “The Rise of Wisdom Moon,” offers a satirical account of the conquest of the holy city of Varanasi by Nescience, the war of liberation waged by the forces of Intuition, and the freedom of the Inner Man that then follows the rise of Wisdom. But at the outset, when Nescience still has the upper hand, such developments seem unlikely. As one of his minions, Lord Lust, puts it:

Pleasing palace pavillions,
young beauties, vines buzzing with bees,
fresh jasmine blossoms,
moonlit night, perfumed breeze—
If these, my unfailing weapons,
win me the world by conquest,
of what use then is Wisdom’s rise,
what use Intuition’s bequest?

396 pp.  |  ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-4838-1  |  ISBN-10: 0-8147-4838-4  |  Co-published by New York University Press and JJC Foundation

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Download the title page and table of contents and one chapter of the book (in English and Sanskrit on facing pages), bundled together as a .pdf file. You can also download the CSL Front Matter (6pp, 1.3mb). It describes how we transliterate the Sanskrit text in the Roman alphabet and includes a guide to pronunciation. It also explains our system of representing phonetic fusion (sandhi).

You can set Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the Sanskrit text and translation in facing page view. Simply go to “View” in the toolbar, select “Page Layout” and click on “Facing.”

About the Translator

Director of Tibetan Religious Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris) and Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of Chicago.

About the Foreword Writer

J.N. Mohanty is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. His latest book, Essays on Consciousness and Interpretation (Edited with an Introduction by Tara Chatterjee), will be published by OUP India in June 2009.

Top 50 Verbs

RankUnique WordsNumber of Occurrences
1Like46
2Hail46
3Come39
4Enter35
5Look34
6Know33
7Get33
8Blessed31
9Looking31
10Said31
 
11See30
12Say30
13Living30
14Going29
15Rise27
16Set27
17Listen25
18Tell23
19Made23
20Enters23
 
21Seems22
22Approaching21
23Go21
24Live21
25Heard21
26Make21
27Introducing20
28Approach20
29Give19
30Called19
 
31Got17
32Bring16
33Put16
34Think15
35Taken15
36Stand15
37Approaches14
38Craving14
39Favor14
40Ask14
 
41Saying13
42Find13
43Thinking13
44Seem13
45Take13
46Please13
47Given12
48Meaning12
49Sit12
50Become12

Top 50 Nouns

RankUnique WordsNumber of Occurrences
1Lord103
2Man(men)101
3Faith97
4Peace96
5Nescience94
6Magnus90
7One87
8King83
9Lady82
10Friend81
 
11Dear80
12Master76
13Two75
14World(s)75
15Goddess72
16Vishnu63
17Upanishad59
18Intuition56
19Hail55
20Ascetic52
 
21Three48
22Indeed44
23Anger42
24Monk39
25Command(s)39
26Skullman39
27Way37
28Good34
29Victory33
30Four32
 
31Dispassion32
32Child31
33Six31
34Sir30
35Liberation29
36Interlude27
37Chief27
38Five27
39M’lord27
40Wisdom27
 
41Intuition’s27
42Water(s)27
43Moon26
44Charlatans26
45Nature26
46Mother26
47Charades26
48Mind26
49Hypocrite25
50Heart25