Description
"First published in 1984, Shrikant Verma's Magadh is considered a masterpiece of Hindi poetry. Told by an array of speakers, including commoners, statesmen, wanderers, and those striving for power who have not quite achieved it, the unreliable narrators of these fifty-six poems offer both prudent and duplicitous advice for monarchs. The collection takes its name from an ancient Indian empire that ruled from the sixth to the second century BCE, which serves as a mesmerizing metaphor for power. Set in a despairing world, the voices that populate Magadh seek to realize the potential of democracy. In stark verse, they ask essential questions about the identify of nationstates, the desire for power, and the loneliness of individuals subgugated by it. Masterfully translated by Rahul Soni, Magadh enchants readers by stepping back into antiquity to witness the foibles of leaders: their corruption, ignorance, arrogance, and guilt. Behind this veil of cultural memory lurks, unexpectedly, the present day"--