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When God is a Customer: Telugu Courtesan Songs by Ksetrayya and Others by A. K. Ramanujan, David Shulman, Velcheru Narayana Rao (Paperback, 1994)

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How is it that this woman's breasts glimmer so clearly through her saree? Can't you guess, my friends? What are they but rays from the crescents left by the nails of her lover pressing her in his passion, rays now luminous as the moonlight of a summer night? These South Indian devotional poems show the dramatic use of erotic language to express a religious vision. Written by men during the fifteenth to eighteenth century, the poems adopt a female voice, the voice of a courtesan addressing her customer. That customer, it turns out, is the deity, whom the courtesan teases for his infidelities and cajoles into paying her more money. Brazen, autonomous, fully at home in her body, she merges her worldly knowledge with the deity's transcendent power in the act of making love. This volume is the first substantial collection in English of these Telugu writings, which are still part of the standard repertoire of songs used by classical South Indian dancers. A foreword provides context for the poems, investigating their religious, cultural, and historical significance. Explored, too, are the attempts to contain their explicit eroticism by various apologetic and rationalizing devices. The translators, who are poets as well as highly respected scholars, render the poems with intelligence and tenderness. Unusual for their combination of overt eroticism and devotion to God, these poems are a delight to read.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
University of California Press
ISBN-13
9780520080690
eBay Product ID (ePID)
107927628

Product Key Features

Book Title
When God ISA Customer: Telugu Courtesan Songs by Ksetrayya and Others
Author
A. K. Ramanujan, David Shulman, Velcheru Narayana Rao
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Religious History, Poetry
Publication Year
1994
Number of Pages
158 Pages

Dimensions

Item Weight
227g

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
David Shulman, Velcheru Narayana Rao, A. K. Ramanujan
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

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When God is a Customer: Telugu Courtesan Songs by Ksetrayya and Others by A. K. Ramanujan, David Shulman, Velcheru Narayana Rao (Paperback, 1994)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Books

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest (Paperback, 2020)

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Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller by James Clear (Paperback, 2018)

Little, Big by John Crowley (Paperback, 2015)

Geronimo Stilton: #9 Fabumouse Vacation for Geronimo by Geronimo Stilton (Paperback, 2004)

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First Day by Andrew Daddo (Paperback, 2014)

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