An essential ancient guide to love for modern readers—and a perfect gift for any loved one.

Love seems to have dulled?

Just go give it a good polish

on that whetstone

called the lover’s tiff.

For centuries, Sanskrit—often called the sacred language of the Gods—has been synonymous with antiquity to English-language readers. But Sanskrit writers were preoccupied with the same subjects that animate literature everywhere—none more so than love, in all its unruly forms.

Drawing on 3,000 years of verse from courtly poets like Kalidasa and Banabhatta to anonymous monks and storytellers, celebrated Sanskrit scholars—and real-life married couple—Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh now offer readers a heart-swelling tour of one of the world’s richest traditions of love poetry.

How to Love in Sanskrit captures the glorious spectrum of romantic intimacies, from the euphoric thrill of stolen glances to the maddening desire of longing, from the comic tangle of misunderstandings to the profound ache of heartbreak. Featuring translations that are fresh, playful, and irreverent, Rao and Mahesh reveal how sophisticated but instantly relatable this ancient poetry can be.

About the Authors: 

Anusha Rao is a scholar of Sanskrit and South Asian religions, and a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto.

Suhas Mahesh is a scholar of Sanskrit and Indian literature and a materials physicist with a doctorate from the University of Oxford.