Bombs and Shrapnel Drawing Verses

The article introduces and analyses selected Sanskrit poems composed by Harshdev Madhav (b. 20.10.1954 in Vartej, Gujarat), a renowned Indian poet honoured in 2006 with the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit. The compositions in question reveal the directions in which modern Sanskrit poetry is hoping to proceed: break with literary norms established by the rhetoricians of classical literature; exploration of contemporary themes and motifs; and introduction of new literary forms in Sanskrit writings. Analysis of Madhav’s free verses, haikus, typographic poems, and other compositions focused on the theme of violence shows how the language often considered ‘dead’ can become a medium for poetry-endowed with ingenuity and modernity-which tackles problems of interest to the contemporary readers.