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Book Review
Devotional classic
PAPPU VENUGOPALA RAO
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A FREE VERSE TRANSLATION OF AN ABRIDGED VERSION OF POTHANA’S BHAGAVATAM
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BAMMERA POTHANA’S SRI MAHA BHAGAVATAM — Abridged Version: Lanka Siva Rama Prasad — Tr. in English; copies can be had from 16-10-1294, Prasanthi Hospital, Sivanagar, Warangal-560002. Rs. 500.
Pothana’s Bhagavatam is one of the most favourite books of the Telugu people. Scholars sometimes consider Pothana’s Bhagavatam in some areas superior to Vyasa’s Bhagavata Purana, the original in Sanskrit. Like the Mahabharatam in Telugu, which was authored by the poetic trinity, this book has also gone through three more poets apart from Pothana. The majority of the work is attributed to Pothana. He hails from Warangal and that is one of the reasons why s
cholars and laymen alike from this area have a special liking for his poetry.
Episodes like the Gajendra Moksham, Prahalada Charitram, Rukmini Kalyanam and above all the 10th canto which deals with Lord Krishna’s life and His love sport with the cowherd maidens are dealt with magnificent poetic element by the poet. According to Pothana he undertook to translate the Bhagavata Purana into Telugu to attain salvation from further births.
Translations
It has always been an urge for scholarly Telugu people to let the non-Telugus know the greatness of Pothana’s Bhagavatam and the simplicity and devotion embedded in it. In this direction, there have been many translations into English and other Indian languages, some in prose and many in poetry.
This book is one such faithful attempt by Lanka Siva Rama Prasad. The author has tried to translate an abridged version of the entire Bhagavatam into free verse beginning with the first canto to the last. The translation has been ably and faithfully done in simple and lucid poetry.
The author has adhered to the original chapter classification but subdivided the selections topic wise. The selection of the poems is entirely based on his taste. Episodes like Aswathama’s ignominy, the destruction of Daksha yagna, Prahalada, Ambarisha, the churning of the milk-ocean, and many of the episodes of the 10th canto dealing with the incarnation of Lord Krishna are some of the highlights of the book.
What one looks for in such attempts is whether the translator has been successful in bringing out the heart of the poet of the original version. After reading this book, one would say the author has achieved this task to a large extent, basically because he possesses those qualities of being faithful to the original and committed to the content. It has been said in Sanskrit to understand Bhagavata Purana one requires devotion rather than knowledge and the author has both.
This book may not be of much use to those who can have access to the Telugu original, but will definitely help non-Telugus understand the aesthetics and indomitable devotion of Pothana’s Bhagavatam and his poetry.
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