Leafing Through
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Some good reads in Kannada
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Janapada Mahabharata
A folk epic collected, collated,
edited and published by
Dr. P.K. Rajashekhara,
Rs. 1,200
Ramayana and Mahabharata have been a major influence on the Indian psyche. They command a far-reaching ethical and moral hold on the Indians. these The unlettered and illiterate majority of Indian populace drew their source of inspiration for narrating and inculcating moral and ethical values and made them their own through oral folk form. These epics being presented in various folk forms over the centuries in both oral and written traditions have co-existed and influenced each other to enrich the overall tradition and cultural heritage of India. For the first time, Janapada Mahabharata has been brought out in mainstream Kannada, published by the renowned folk scholar Dr. P.K. Rajashekhara. Prior to this, he has edited Maleya Maadeshwara (two volumes, 1973) and Piriyapattanada Kalaga (1990).
Janapada Mahabharata is a narration of the un-schooled and un-lettered rustic bard, Bettadabeedu Sidda Shetty. His work resembles the outline of sophisticated literary epic Mahabharata and upholds many of its facets by employing allusions, incidents, and implied values. Siddashetty, as an amazing storyteller, proves himself by recreating the characters of a great tradition, which he transforms into little or local traditions sustaining them with subtle "Karya, Karana, Sambandha" (cause and effect). Aabhinava Vyasa Siddashetty has a mammoth memory power and grasping quality.
Therefore, without his knowledge, he pas his writing with instances from other folk art forms. The 18 chapters of Mahabharata gets stretched into 159 chapters by drawing sub-stories from different folk forms and he inter-twines them into his narrative. Thus, Janapada Mahabharata runs into 54,000 lines, rich and varied, invariably in forty different chorus tunes with a mix of rhythmic prose and verse, expressing style, language, idioms and a variety in stories proving that it is a folk epic in the real sense.
Prof. Rame Gowda's elaborate and valuable critical introduction enhances the richness of this gigantic work.
Janapada Mahabharata is a monumental contribution to Kannada folklore. It is simply the editorial effort, devout scholarship and capability of Dr. P.K.Rajashekara that could produce such a work, something unheard off in the recent past.
B.S.Talwadi
Sri Haridasa Vijaya
Edited by Sri Gurupriya Vittaladasi
Gurukripa Granthamala, Rs. 150
Heard of Annavadootharu who composed songs in Urdu, apart from Kannada and Sanskrit? Want to be inspired by the life of Guru Govinda Vittaladasaru who lived among us in the 20th century, worked in the Public Works Department as engineering supervisor and yet gave "dasa deeksha" to more than 250 people? Go ahead and read "Sri Haridasa Vijaya" which delves into the lives of all the well-known and not so well known singing minstrels of the dvaita siddhantha or the Haridasa movement.
Thupaki Venkataramanacharya of Mangalore was a shirasthedar in the court of law. Despite his busy schedule, he composed over 300 songs in praise of Lord Krishna of Udupi and other deities and saints such as Vadiraja and Raghavendra. Halavanakatte Giriyamma of the 18th century was considered the Bhakti Meera of Karnataka.
Born in Ranebennur, she was a much-respected figure in north Karnataka. There were other women "dasis" too including Thurudgi Thimmamma and Oravai Lakshmidevamma. The songs of Varaha Thimmappadasa of Dakshina Kannada were brought to light by the Christian Basel Mission and the missionary-lexicographer Kittel. Bhakta Govindadasa of Kuthethoor served Lord Parthasarathy of Triplicane, Chennai, and attained rare spiritual heights.
The author, Srimathi Rao of Mangalore, who has obtained the "ankitha" of Gurupriya Vittaladasi, has summarised the lives and works of 63 dasas including Purandaradas, Vijaya Dasa, Kanakadasa, Karjagidasa and Hundekaradasa. The numerous books she has referred to include Sri Karnataka Bhaktivijaya of Belur Keshavadas. Inspired by Guru Govindavittaladasa of Mysore, the author has provided a good guide for newcomers to the world of Haridasas.
S. Venkatesh Bhat
Leafing Through is a monthly column that features Kannada books. Please send books to Friday Review, The Hindu, 19&21, Bhagwan Mahaveer Road, Bangalore 560001
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