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Makers of India Literature. Pothana. By D. Venkatavadhani. Sahitya Akademi. CHAPTER ONE. Pothana’s Life, Date and Place
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Makers of India Literature
Pothana
By D. Venkatavadhani
Sahitya Akademi
First Published: 1972
Second Printing: 1983
Swatantra Bharat Press, Delhi
CONTENTS
1. Pothana’s Life, Date and Place
2. Pothana’s Works
3. Shrimad Bhagavatha
4. Pothana’s Method of Translation
5. The Stories and Upakhyanas in the Bhagavatha
6. Bhagavatha-Bhakti
7. Pothana’s Poetry
8. Pothana’s Personality
CHAPTER ONE
Pothana’s Life, Date and Place
The name of Pothana has long been a household word in Andhra. There is perhaps no literate Andhra who has not heard of his Andhra Mahabhagavatha, It is a devotional as well as a literary classic. It enunciates the path of devotion which is easy to all in preference to the paths of knowledge and action that are more difficult to follow. It describes beautifully the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the saviour of his devotees, and the childhood pranks of Shri Krishna, the fondest baby of Yashoda. Its style is extraordinarily mellifluous though full of Sanskrit words and compounds. Like light and air it has spread even to the remotest corners of the Telugu country and even today it is no exaggeration to say that every educated Andhra knows at least four or five of its verses by heart. It is a repository of the natural sweetness of the Telugu language and a rare and ever-shining ornament to the Telugu Muse.
Shrimad Bhagavatha contains twelve ‘skandhas’ or books. Among them the fifth was written by Bopparaju Gangana, the sixth by Erchuri Singana, the eleventh and twelfth by Veligandala Naraya and the remaining eight by Bammera, Pothanamatya. Though the colophons in the end of the second, third, fourth and the latter half of the tenth skandhas, are in the name of Pothana, an impression is prevalent in the country that as some portions of those skandhas were damaged; Naraya filled them out of devotion to his Guru. Accordingly in some palm-leaf manuscripts there is an indication at certain places, “Here begins the poem of Naraya. ” It was inserted in some printed copies also on the strength of the manuscripts. If this is a fact, we have to conclude that the Stories of Banasura, Kuchela and others were written by Naraya and not by Pothana. But many scholars have not accepted this conclusion as the stamp of Pothana’s poetry Is clearly seen in those stories. Naraya might have filled in only some words or parts of verses that were damaged for some reason.
There are three different views regarding why the great Purana was written by many. According to the first, Pothana, after completing the twelve skandhas, placed the whole work in the box where the idols of God worshipped by him were kept, enjoined upon his son to protect it very carefully and breathed his last. The son opened the box after some time and found that many portions of it were eaten away by white ants and these portions were afterwards filled in by Gangana and others.
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The source for the second view is a verse written by Thimmakavi in his Sarvolakshanasarasangraha, It states that when Pothana, after completing the composition, was thinking of dedicating it to Lord Vishnu, Sarvagna Singabhupala asked him to dedicate it to him. And as Pothana did not agree to do so, the king was incensed and had it buried in the earth. In course of time, some portions of the work had been damaged and those portions were afterwards filled in by Naraya and others. This view is widely current in the Andhra country.
According to the third, Pothana, while himself composing the more devotional and philosophic portions, entrusted the ‘writing of the fifth, sixth, eleventh and twelfth skandhas to Naraya and others, who were either his disciples or friends. We know from the authorship of Bhaskara Ramayana that such a practice was not unusual in Telugu literature. This view seems more credible. The truth is still shrouded in mystery, but it is an uncontroverted fact that only eight skandhas were written by Pothana and that these skandhas alone contributed to the popularity and preeminence that Bhagavatha enjoys in the world of Telugu readership.
There is some controversy regarding the birth-place of Pothana. According to one school of thought, he belongs to the village Bammera in the Warangal district and according to mother, to Ontimitta in the Cuddapah district. The originator of the second school is the late Puranam Hayagriva Shastry and it was strongly supported by the late Vavilikolanu Subba Rao, the famous translator of Valmiki's Ramayana into Telugu. This is entirely based upon the opinion that the “Ekasilanagara’, mentioned by Pothana in the Bhagavatha, is not different from Ontimitta. But many critics have not accepted this view but held that ‘Ekasilanagara’ is Warangal (Orugallu) and that Pothana belongs to Bammera in the Warangal district. The village Bammera is about 30 miles from Warangal and it is quite common that the name of the village is taken as the surname by many people. Moreover some remnants are still seen in that village which bear testimony to the fact that Pothana lived there.
The Kakatiya Kings ruled over a major part of the Telugu country with Orugallu as the capital and the name Ekasilanagara has been frequently used as a substitute for Orugallu both in History and in the Inscriptions. Koravi Goparaju stated in his well-known poem ‘Simhasanadvatrimsika’ that Orugallu became famous with the name Ekasilanagara and that it was a city where the royal splendour of the Kakatiya kings had flourished. The words mitta and metta in Telugu mean a high place. Sila means a stone. Therefore, the exact synonym for Ekasila is Orugallu (one stone) and not Ontimetta. The poets Gangana, Singana and Naraya who completed the Bhagavatha did not only belong to Telangana but also were either disciples or friends of Pothana. They completed those portions as a token of their regard and devotion for Pothana or to please him by carrying out his desire. This fact also supports the view that Pothana belongs to Telangana. The village Palakurithi, the birth-place of the great Shaivite poet Palakuriki Somanatha, is about two miles distant from Bammera. It is a noteworthy fact that the two great poets who composed the great works that helped the propagation of Shaivism and Vaishnavism hailed from the same region.
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Pothana clearly described in the beginning of the Bhagavatha the circumstances in which he wrote that great Purana. Though Pothana was born in a Virashaiva family, he gradually cultivated devotion to Vishnu by studying Shrimad Bhagavatha and other works in Sanskrit. “As a result of the fruition of the penance that he had performed in his previous births and of the study of the Shrimad Bhagavatha, he was eager to describe the stories of Lord Narayana, went to the Ganges (Ganga) with the high and sacred waves touching the sky, at the time of the lunar eclipse on the night of a certain full-moon day, bathed in it and sat on the sandy shore with half-closed eyes contemplating upon Lord Shiva (Maheshvara). At that moment, Shri Ramachandra appeared before him along with Sita, commanded him to translate the Bhagavatha into Telugu and disappeared. Then he opened his eyes, thought over the greatness of Bhagavatha, came to know that he became blessed by the grace of Lord Vishnu and taking refuge under the Parijata tree of the Mahabhagavatha, returned and having come to Ekasilangara after some days began to compose the Bhagavatha at the behest of elders and relatives. ”
From the account given above, it is evident that he returned to Bammera after taking a bath in the river at the time of the eclipse, went to Ekasilanagara after some time and composed the Bhagavatha there. The Ganges mentioned by him is the Godavari and not the Bhagirati. Nannaya described the Godavari in his Bharatha as the Southern Ganges (Dakshina Ganga). Goparaju used the word Ganga with the adjective “born of the summit of the mountain Tryambaka’’. Even now the tradition of referring to the Godavari as Ganga is prevalent in parts of Telangana which are on the banks of the river Godavari. Therefore, it is in the river Godavari that Pothana bathed at the time of the eclipse. Some hold that it must be near Bhadrachalam but this is merely a conjecture. This episode also clearly indicates that Pothana might have been born and lived in the village Bammera in the Warangal district.
Though there is some controversy about the time of ‘Pothana also, the different schools agree as far as the century is concerned. Some are of opinion that he lived in the former half of the 15th century while some others hold that he lived in the latter half. Many stories indicating that Pothana was a contemporary of Kavisarvabhauma Shrinatha and that they had some family relationship also are prevalent in the country. There are reasons to believe that Pothana might be an younger contemporary of Shrinatha but the general belief that they were brothers-in-law requires further proof. The verse of Shrinatha praying to goddess Sarasvati for help before visiting the court of Singabhupala of Rachakonda is well-known. There are three kings bearing the name of Singabhupala in the Recherla dynasty of Rachakonda. Among them the Singabhupala whom Shrinatha visited is the same as the Singabhupala connected with Pothana’s Bhogini Dandaka. He is the son of Pochamamba and King Kumarannapotha, the grandson of the Kind Ravusinga, the brother of Vasanthavaninatha and the holder of the title Sarvagna. He is also called Mummadi Singabhupala who ruled from 1430 to 1475. It can be said that both Shrinatha and Pothana lived for some years curing that period. As Pothana is younger than Shrinatha we can presume that he lived longer in the latter half of the 15th century while Shrinatha lived longer in the former half of the century.
The late Chaganti Seshayya held that Pothana might have lived from 1450 to 1510 while others are of opinion that he might have lived from 1400 to 1470. His contemporaneity with Shrinatha would not be possible if he did not live for at least some years in the first half of the 15th century. Therefore, it is proper to think that he was born around 1430 and lived till the end of the century.
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This can be supported by other sources also. Poets Kesana and Mallana who dedicated their poem ‘Dakshayaniparinaya’ to Gurizala Chinamallana Somayaji are Pothana’s great grandsons. It is known from palm-leaf manuscripts that one Poduri Pedaramamatya prepared a copy of the ‘Dakshayaniparinaya’ on 18th October 1756 (Monday, the tenth day of Asvayuja of the year Dhata), at the request of Peramantri, the son of Parvatishwara, who is the great grandson of Chinamallana Somayaji, the dedicatee. Peramantri lived five generations after Chinamallana Somayaji, a contemporary of the poets Kesana and Mallana who lived four generations after Pothana. If we count 30 years for a generation, Pothana might have lived (9 x 30) = 270 years prior to Peramantri who was living in 1736. This approximates to (1756 – 270 = 1486) the year 1486. We know that Haribhattu, a poet who wrote separately the sixth, eleventh and twelfth skandhas of the Bhagavatha, and the twin poets Nandi Mallaya and Ghanta Singana who wrote the sixth skandha with the name Shringara Shashthakamu, lived about 1510 and 1480 respectively. It is beyond dispute to say that Pothana composed the Bhagavatha prior to that time. From this also we can conclude that Pothana lived from about 1430 to 1500.
There are verses describing the lineage of Pothana both in Veerabhadravijayamu and the Bhagavatha. In the former the names of the two elder brothers and the two younger brothers of Ellana, the grandfather of Pothana, as also of his two paternal uncles are mentioned. The genealogy there begins with Mallaya, the father of Bhimana. The genealogy given in the Bhagavatha is more brief, but it does not differ from that found in Veerabhadravijayamu. From those we can know that the family of Pothana belongs to Koundinya gotra and Apastamba sutra. The word Amatva suffixed to the name of Pothana in the colophons of the Bhagavatha indicates that he belongs to the Niyogi sect of Brahmins. Lakkama and Kesana are the parents of Pothana, Thippana his elder brother, Ellana his grandfather and Somana his great grandfather. Gourama and Annaya are the parents of Somana, and Bhimana and Mallaya are his grandfather and great grandfather respectively.
Pothana described his father as one very much yearning to know the Shaiva philosophy in Veerabhadravijayamu and as one well-versed in the religion according to Shaiva shastra in the Bhagavatha. His mother Lakkama resembled Arundhati, Ganga, Sachi, Gauri, Bhumi, Bharati, Lakshmi and Kunti in Various good qualities. She never set her foot outside the home, never mentioned the qualities of other men, never transgressed the commands of her husband and never lacked in the virtues of kindness and generosity. She was described in the Bhagavatha as a woman, who brought succor to the people in distress by giving them presents who was a repository of charity, virtue, intelligence, honour, delicacy and magnanimity and who was comparable to Bhavani in worshipping at the feet of Lord Shiva. Pothana stated in the Bhagavatha that his elder brother was ever desirous of serving God Ishwara and in Veerabhadravijayamu he described in detail his good looks, as also the qualities of his head and heart.
It is said that Pothana had a son by name Mallana, but this is not borne out by adequate evidence. Kesana and Mallana, the authors of ‘Dakshayaniparinaya’, mentioned that Pothana was their grandfather while praising the older poets. But critics hold that he was their great grandfather. Their father was Proudha Sarasvati. He had two wives, Appalamma and Veeramba, and had Kesana through the former and Mallana through the latter. If Proudha Sarasvati was Pothana’s grandson, it would have been possible to assume that he was the son of Mallana and gave the name of his father to one of his sons. But that view cannot be entertained as the twin poets definitely stated that Pothana was their grandfather. Ajjarapu Perayalingakavi stated in his Odayanambivilasa that he had one son and daughter through Yellama, the daughter of Appama and the poet Kesana who possessed the title Proudha Sarasvati. From this it must be concluded that Kesana himself had the tithe Proudha Sarasvati. But as the twin poets themselves stated definitely that they were the sons of Proudha Sarasvati through his two wives there is no reason to disbelieve it. From this it is evident that Pothana had a son by name Proudha Sarasvati. It is not certain; but we can say that even after Pothana the current of poetry was flowing in his family uninterruptedly.
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Pothana stated that he wrote Veerabhadravijayamu at the suggestion of his preceptor, Ivaturi Somashekhara. The scholars of the Ivaturi family were very famous among those who propagated the Virashaiva religion belonging to the Vedic and Aradhya tradition. Pothana mentioned that his parents and elder brother were great devotees of God Shiva. From this, it can be presumed that Pothana like his parents loved Shaivism and was following its practices and tenets in his childhood. As age advanced, he might have understood the truth about God and might have adopted Shivakeshava-Advaita. By the time he wrote the Bhagavatha he attained a state in which he could treat both Shiva and Keshava with equal devotion as he said in an oft-quoted verse that “the person whe does not worship Shiva and who does not sing the praise of Lord Vishnu whole-heartedly is merely a burden to his mother’. It is to be noted here that Shri Ramachandra, the incarnation of Vishnu, appeared before him when he sat on the sandy shore of the River Godavari. The God whom he was contemplating was Shiva and the divine form that appeared before him was Shri Ramachandra. Such was the perfect identity that he maintained between those two divine forms.
In Veerabhadravijayamu, Pothana stated about himself that his Aksharabhyasa was performed by his father and he got the gift of poetry by the grace of Lord Veerabhadra and in the Bhagavatha he wrote that he was a Sahaja Panditya and that he obtained the rare poetic talent by the kindness of Parameshvara. After having been initiated into study by his father, he might have learnt Sanskrit and Telugu from him alone in his childhood. Ivaturi Somashekhara might have been mainly his religious preceptor. The title, Sahaja Panditya, does not mean that he was a scholar by birth or scholarship came to him of its own accord. He might have studied for some time under the guidance of his father and acquired some scholarship, studying Telugu and Sanskrit works as also philosophical works by himself. He might not have learnt the Shastras sitting at the feet of a master like Shrinatha and others. Of all the Puranas in Sanskrit, Bhagavatha is the most abstruse and Pothana might have acquired sufficient scholarship to understand it by his own effort and by close contact with great scholars. We cannot say that it was negligible. In Telugu he might have made an exhaustive study of the works written by the Kavitrayam, Nachana Somana, Palkuriki Somanatha, Nannechoda, Bhaskara and others and the impact of those works is clearly visible in his Bhagavatha. In addition to self-effort, he might have had God’s grace in a large measure. He was a devotee from the beginning and he had great faith in the grace of God. That is why he always considered that he was endowed with the talent of writing poetry’ by the grace of God. In fact originality or pratibha is a gift of God and not a thing that can be acquired by effort.
Though Pothana might have lived in the village of Bammera in his boyhood, he had probably gone to the neighboring cities like Orugallu and Rachakonda prompted by his love for study and poetry where he might have made the acquaintance of the poets and scholars living there. As the late Komarrjau Lakshmana Rao Panthulu had pointed out, while Pothana’s elder brother might have been doing the duties of Karanam in the village, Pothana, as he was a scholar and gifted poet, might have gone to those cities to work for the maintenance of the family, or as Shri Arudra indicated, he might have been well versed in accountancy like some of the predecessors of his family and might have gone there to eke out his livelihood as an accountant. After he became more spiritual and devotional he might have become averse to the so-called civilized life of the city, returned to his village and taken to agriculture feeling content with what he got from the land. The story that the great poet Shrinatha once visited him and having satirically asked him “Are the cultivators doing well? ” received a good repartee from him, is quite well-known.
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After the fall of the Kakatiya empire, the Telugu country came to be divided among the kings of Vijayanagara, Reddis of Kondavidu, Velama Kings of Rachakonda and the Gajapatis of Cuttack. As they were fighting with each other, the Bahmini Sultans took advantage of the situation and occupied large portions of their country without much difficulty. The whole of Telangana was than in a state of chaos on‘ account of the constant battles between the kings of Rachakonda and the Bahmini Sultans. Though the kings of Rachakonda re-occupied the fortresses like Orugallu and Bhuvanagiri with the help of the Gajapatis, they could not keep them under their possession for long. By 1475 the kingdoms of Rachakonda and Devarakonda passed into the hands of Mohammadshah II. The result was that there was neither peace nor safety in Telangana on account of these battles. The late Mallampalli Somashekhara Sharma held the view that this political unrest might have been to some extent responsible for the damage caused to some portions of Pothana’s Bhagavatha.
The Vijayanagara emperors tried their best to uphold the Vedic Dharma. Sayana wrote an authoritative commentary on the Vedas and helped the propagation of the Vedic religion. But there were some who disliked the Vedic religion and traditions. The Vaishnavites belonging to the Mahanubhava school, the Virashaivas, the Buddhists and the Jains were the most important of them. Pothana might have, after seeing their emotional outbursts and hearing their incoherent prattlings, become distressed and come to the conclusion that the Hariharadvaita propounded by Thikkana was the best. It is evident from the Vaishnavite work that Nynacharya, the son of Vedanta Deshika, came to Rachakonda, defeated the scholars following other religions and converted Singaya Madhavendra to Vaishnavism. This campaign for Vaishnavism might have been to some extent the cause for Pothana becoming devoted to Lord Vishnu.
Chaitanya and Vallabha, who propagated Vaishnavism, giving special importance to devotion to Krishna in Bengal and North India, were more Or less contemporaries and lived in the last quarter of the 15th century. Among them, Vallabha, who initiated Shuddhadvaita or Pushtimarga, was a Telugu Brahmin. There are reasons to believe that Shri Chaitanya also visited the Andhra country. As the authoritative scripture for both of them is the Bhagavatha, they might have studied or heard about Pothana’s inimitable translation. There are some people who say that Pothana was much influenced by them and made the tenth skandha an ocean of Madhura Bhakti.
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