How to Love in Sanskrit

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

For centuries, Sanskrit—often called the sacred language of the gods in India—has seemed forbidding 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, scholars, and storytellers, celebrated scholars Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh offer English readers a heart-swelling tour of one of the world’s richest traditions of love poetry.

Organized thematically, How to Love in Sanskrit captures the glorious spectrum of romantic intimacies, from the euphoric thrill of stolen glances to the complicated pleasures of longing, from the comic tangle of quarrels and 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.

Shortlisted for the 2025 ALTA National Translation Award in Poetry