Marula (poet)

Marula's verses are included in Sanskrit anthologies such as Jalhana's Suktimuktavali (13th century) and Sharngadhara's Paddhati (14th century). So, she must have lived in the 13th century or earlier, although her exact period is not certain.^[1]

She must have been a famous poet of her time, for a verse attributed to Dhanadadevas in Sharngadhara's Paddhati names her among four notable women poets:^[2]

Shilabhattarika, Vijja, Marula, and Morika are poetesses of renown with great poetic genius and erudition. Those who have command over all branches of learning, having participated in dialogues with other scholars and having defeated them in debates, are regarded as sound scholars and experts. Consequently, they alone are venerable in the scholarly world.

— Dhanadadevas, in Sharngadhara's Paddhati^[3]

Only five of Marula's verses are now extant.^[1] The following verse is about a woman separated from her lover:^[1]

Gopayanti viraha-janitam dukhamagre gurunam Kim tvam mugdhe nayana-visritam vaspapuram runatsi Naktam naktam nayana-salilair-esa adreekritaste Sayyo-pantah kathayati dasam-atape sosyamanah	Hiding away your grief at separation from your beloved one, why are you, my lovely lassie, checking the flood of tears, overflowing your eyes? The edge of your bed, dampened night after night by tears and dried in the sun (next morning), is bearing evidence of your sad plight.
—Marula, quoted in Jalhana's Suktimuktavali	—Translation by J. B. Chaudhuri.[1]