A. N. D. Haksar

A. N. D. Haksar
A.N.D. Haksar in 2015
Born (1933-12-03) 3 December 1933 (age 90)
Gwalior, British India
OccupationDiplomat, translator, writer
LanguageEnglish
Education

Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar (born 3 December 1933) is a well-known translator of Sanskrit classics into English.[1] Born in Gwalior, central India, he is a graduate of The Doon School, Allahabad University and Oxford University. He was a career diplomat, serving as Indian High Commissioner to Kenya and the Seychelles, Minister in the United States, Ambassador to Portugal and Yugoslavia, and he also served as Dean of India's Foreign Service Institute and President of the U.N. Environment Programme's Governing Council.[2][3]

Haksar is noted for his collection of translations from Sanskrit.[4] He has increasingly focused on the kathā or narrative Sanskrit literature, the manuscript archive of which may amount to some 40,000 volumes.[5] This is in part because many generations of orientalist scholars had overlooked this rich tradition in favor of more ancient religious texts.[6] His kathā translations include Shuka Saptati,[7] and the first ever renditions into English of Madhavanala Katha and Samaya Matrika, respectively published as Madhav & Kama[8] and The Courtesan's Keeper.[9]

  1. ^ "A.N.D Haksar". HarperCollins Publishers: World-Leading Book Publisher. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Penguin India".
  3. ^ "United Nations Environmental Programme". Archived from the original on 17 November 2004. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  4. ^ "A.N.D. Haksar". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  5. ^ Ingalls, Dan (1980). Sanskrit and OCR (Speech). Xerox PARC. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  6. ^ "An Interview with A. N. D. Haksar". 30 October 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  7. ^ Haksar, A. N. D. (2008). Shuka Saptati. Harper Collins India. ISBN 978-8-172-23370-9.
  8. ^ Haksar, A. N. D. (2006). Madhav & Kama. Roli Books. ISBN 978-8-186-93924-6.
  9. ^ Haksar, A. N. D. (2009). The Courtesan's Keeper. Rupa & Co. ISBN 978-8-129-11336-8.