10 h 40 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A king listens to a parrot, and a world of love, grief, and rebirth opens before him.
At the court of King Śūdraka, a speaking parrot begins a story he once hears from the sage Jābāli. One tale opens into another, leading from the Vindhya forest to Prince Candrāpīḍa of Ujjayinī. Raised beside his loyal friend Vaiśampāyana, the prince rides out to conquer the earth—and meets a love he never plans.
Beside lake Acchoda, Mahāśvetā lives in austerity, grieving for the young sage Puṇḍarīka. Her friend Kādambarī vows not to marry while she suffers, yet meets the prince. In this Sanskrit prose romance by Bāṇa and Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa, friendship and desire meet the demands of vows, while curses and past deeds bind lives together.
What you’ll discover
- Tales within tales Follow a speaking bird into a sage’s story, where each telling opens another door.
- Love bound by vows Meet two friends whose promises place love beside loyalty, grief, and the pain of waiting.
- A richly pictured world Linger among forests, lakes, and palaces in prose that invites you to slow down.
- Friendship beside romance Discover the deep loyalty that binds Candrāpīḍa to Vaiśampāyana, his companion since childhood.
- Lives joined across rebirth Explore a story where deeds and curses follow souls beyond a single lifetime.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy rich description, stories nested like boxes, and Indian literature, with tales of love, friendship, kingship, curses, and rebirth.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A king hears a talking parrot
- The parrot's youth in a hermitage
- Prince Candrāpīḍa grows up with a friend
- A hunt leads to a hidden lake
- Two women, two vows, and a growing love
- What the story means and how it is told
Who’s who
- ŚūdrakaA learned and powerful king of Vidiśā who listens to the parrot's tale and holds the frame of the whole story.
- The parrotA speaking bird raised in a forest hermitage, who tells the king the long story he once heard from a sage.
- JābāliAn old sage of the Vindhya forest who sees across lives and tells the tale that explains the parrot's nature.
- CandrāpīḍaThe crown prince of Ujjayinī, brave and well taught, who rides out to conquer the earth and meets a love he did not plan.
- VaiśampāyanaThe minister's son and the prince's dearest friend, raised beside him and bound to him by deep loyalty.
- MahāśvetāA gandharva princess who lives as an ascetic beside the lake Acchoda, shaped by love and grief.
- KādambarīThe gandharva king's daughter, who has vowed not to marry while her friend suffers, and who meets the prince.
- PatralekhāA captive princess who becomes the prince's trusted companion and carries messages between the lovers.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 10 h 40 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Kādambarī von Bāṇa
by Bāṇa; Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa · 650
A talking parrot tells a king of a prince whose love is bound to vows, curses, and lives beyond his own.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Kādambarī is a Sanskrit prose romance written in India in the seventh century by Bāṇa, a poet at the court of King Harṣa. It is one of the longest and most ornate tales in the Sanskrit tradition, and it gave its name to the Sanskrit word for a novel in several Indian languages.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A king hears a talking parrot
The tale opens at the court of King Śūdraka, who rules from the city of Vidiśā. He is a mighty ruler, learned in the arts and admired by all. One morning a young woman of the Chandala people, a group treated as outcastes, enters the hall. She carries a cage, and in it sits a parrot that can recite verses and speak like a scholar.
The girl explains that her father has raised the bird and sends it as a gift. The king is amazed. He asks the parrot how it learned such skill, and the parrot, with calm good manners, agrees to tell its own history.
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What is the Kādambarī about?
It is a Sanskrit romance about a prince, Candrāpīḍa, his friend, and two women of the gandharva world. It is told through nested tales and deals with love, friendship, kingship, curses, and rebirth.
Who wrote the Kādambarī and was it finished?
Bāṇa wrote it in the seventh century, but he died before finishing it. His son, called Bhūṣaṇabhaṭṭa, completed the work, following the plan his father had set out.
Is the Kādambarī a true story?
No. It is a work of imagination, with talking birds, divine singers, and curses. Bāṇa did serve a real king, Harṣa, but the Kādambarī itself is a fictional romance drawing on older Indian tales.
The author
Bāṇa
585–650 · Indian Sanskrit prose writer
Asthana Kavi in the court of King Harsha and pioneer of complex ornate Sanskrit prose style.
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