by Pierre-Sylivain Filliozat

Nilakantha Diksita, literary figure of the 17th century, traditionally believed to have lived at the court of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, enjoyed tremendous prestige in the literary circles of his time. The majority of his work deals with spiritual themes. This publication presents ten of his poetical works in Sanskrit, accompanied by a translation into French. These are short collections of verses that define and extol the virtues of religious life and renunciation of worldly life: the Kalivid?ambanam, Sabharanjanasataka, Anyapadesasataka, sivotkarsamanjari, Cand?irahasyam, Raghuvirastava, santivilasa, Gurutattvamalika, Vairagyasataka and anandasagarastava. A rich introduction in French is devoted to the author and his works.