A Sanskrit epigrammatic verse form, typically a single self-contained stanza, expressing a polished maxim, observation or piece of worldly wisdom, collected by the thousands in dedicated Sanskrit anthologies from the classical period onward.
Facts
Place of OriginIndia, classical Sanskrit literary period. 1 StructureA single self-contained stanza, most often in the anushtubh (shloka) meter of four eight-syllable quarters, built to stand alone rather than as part of a longer narrative. 1 Notable ExampleBhartrihari's Shatakatraya, three centuries of subhashita verses on worldly life, love and renunciation. 1 Connections
Associated With
The Panchatantra, Works The Panchatantra frames many of its embedded verses as subhashita-style aphoristic wisdom sayings within its animal-fable narrative.
Form Of Genre
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Sources
1. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Princeton University Press
Subhashita (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Lead section, first sentenceQuote, Lead section, first sentence
A subhashita (Sanskrit: सुभाषित, subhāṣita) is a literary genre of Sanskrit epigrammatic poems and their message is an aphorism, maxim, advice, fact, truth, lesson or riddle.
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