CHAPTER TWO. Pothana’s Works

CHAPTER TWO

Pothana’s Works

Pothana was not only devotional by the time he began to write the Bhagavatha but also very catholic in his religious outlook. He displayed great devotion and regard for Shiva as well as for Vishnu. We cannot say that his attitude was such even from the beginning. As his parents and the preceptor were then following the Virashaiva tradition, he might also have adopted the same religious faith in his youth. When his preceptor, Somashekhara, knew that he studied the Sanskrit and Telugu classics and was successfully practising the art of poetry, he encouraged him. to write Veerabhadravijayamu, saying, “Do not be afraid that you are young and have not studied many great works. You can compose good poetry with my blessings. Moreover, you have got the grace of God Shri Veerabhadreshvara also. ” Prompted by innate devotion towards Shiva and by the command of his preceptor, Pothana composed the poem Veerabhadravijayamu.

Some scholars think that Veerabhadravijayamu was written after the completion of the Bhagavatha. The following verse, which is found in the printed copies and not seen in many of the palm-leaf manuscripts, gives rise to such an opinion: “While composing the Bhagavatha very sincerely I gave vent to some undignified ideas in connection with the sacrifice performed by Daksha. To expiate the sin committed in that way, I shall now write Veerabhadravijayamu, which can be considered as an Agama of the Shaiva religion. ” From this it becomes evident that Pothana wrote Veerabhadravijavamu as an atonement for the sin of censuring Shiva through Daksha in the story of the destruction of Daksha’s sacrifice in the fourth skandha of the Bhagavatha. If this is true, it must be concluded that Veerabhadravijayamu was definitely written after the composition of the Bhagavatha. But many critics are of the opinion that the verse cited above is an interpolation. They hold that the censure made by Daksha in the fourth skandha is not merely an abuse but contains vyajastuti (indirect praise), that Pothana himself indicated this fact in that context, and that there was no necessity for him to write Veerabhadravijayamu as an atonement for any sin.

From this and from the difference in style between the Bhagavatha and the Veerabhadravijayamu, some opine that Veerabhadravijayamu was not written by Pothana at all and some others that it might have been written by another poet belonging to Pothana’s family and bearing the same name. But it is proper to think that it is a composition of Pothana himself as it is definitely stated that it had been written at the request of Somashekhara guru, as the genealogy given in it exactly tallies with that given in the Bhagavatha, as the style in Veerabhadravijayamu bears everywhere the stamp of Pothana, though it is not as ripe and perfect as that in the Bhagavatha, and as it is a fact that Pothana followed the Virashaiva religion in his early life.

The preceptor, while encouraging Pothana to write Veerabhadarvijayamu, clearly said, “‘Do not be afraid that you are young and that you did not study many great works. ” The usage of certain words, grammatical errors, peculiar yatis and prasas and the immature style of Veerabhadravijayamu indicate that he was quite young at the time of its composition. Moreover, the impact of the works of the Shaivite poets is clearly seen on it. Therefore, we can conclude that it was the first attempt of Pothana in poetical composition. It is indisputable that Pothana was more mature at the time of writing the Bhagavatha not only in age, but also in mind.

There are four cantos in Veerabhadravijayamu. The late Manavalli Ramakrishna Kavi suspected that as the fourth canto in the printed Veerabhadravijayamu is different from that in the palm-leaf manuscript obtained by him, it might not have been the composition of Pothana. But the late Chaganti Seshayya connected the sequences and proved that it is Pothana’s composition and that he drew the material from the Vayu and Brahma Purans. Pothana invoked in the beginning of the work the deities Shiva, Veerabhadra, Ganapati and Sarasvati and praised the Sanskrit poets Vyasa, Valmiki, Kalidasa, Bana, Magha, Shivabhadra, Bharavi and Bhoja and the Telugu poets, Nannaya, Thikkana, Vemulavada Bhimakavi, Ranganatha and others. Among Telugu poets, he mentioned the word Shringarakavinatha. It is an adjective to Ranganatha and does not refer to Shrinatha as some critics have imagined. Though he did not make a special mention of Nannechoda, Errana, Nachana Somana and Bhaskara, there is evidence in his works that he studied their works also very carefully. The verse meaning that I praise “those pious poets who are remote from Somasara (Bhava), who destroyed the bonds of Bhava by worshipping the lotus-feet of Lord Shiva and not seeing the non-Shaivites, and those who obtained the divine grace, having served Lord Shiva, ” is a clear evidence of his youthful zeal for Virashaiva religion.

Pothana’s story is nearer to the story of Vayu Purana than to that in Brahma Purana, Once when Shiva and Parvati were holding court on the Kailasa mountain, Gautama, Kashyapa and other sages came there and were praising Shiva. At that time, Daksha also came there and Shiva received him as he received the other sages but did not give him any special treatment though he was his father-in-law. Daksha felt it as an insult and after going home, performed a sacrifice and invited all the Gods and the sages except Shiva. Narada went to Kailasa and informed Dakshayani (Daksha’s daughter) of that sacrifice. She was astonished and prayed her husband to permit her to go and witness that sacrifice. Shiva gave his consent. When she went there, Daksha not only did not care to receive her with affection but also abused Shiva. She described to him the extraordinary greatness of Shiva but as he did not pay heed to her words she died offering her body to Yogagni. Shiva came to know of this and took a vow that he would destroy Daksha during the Manvantara of Vaivasvata. Dikshayani took birth as the daughter of Himavan and was wishing to marry Shiva. As Shiva was performing penance on the mountain Himavan, Himavan asked his daughter Parvati to do service to him. Shiva gladly agreed to that proposal.

The gods could not put up with the distress caused by the demon Taraka and prayed to Brahma to protect them. Brahma told them that only the son that would be born to Shiva and Parvati would be able to put an end to him. Then Indira sent Manmatha (Cupid) requesting him to make Shiva who was performing penance fall in love with Parvati. Rati the wife of Manmatha, begged him not to go, but Manmatha went and was burnt to ashes by the fire emanating from the third eye of Shiva. Akashavani consoled Rati who was in great distress at the death of her husband. Himavan took his daughter home. Shiva went there in the form of a fortune-teller and advised Parvati to do penance for obtaining Shiva as her Lord. Parvati began to do penance. Shiva went to her in the disguise of a Brahmachari and expressed a desire to marry her.

The marriage of Parvati and Shiva was celebrated with great pomp. While they were spending time in happiness and enjoyment, Parvati requested Shiva to tell her how he became a Garalakantha. Shiva narrated to her stories of the churning of the ocean and the swallowing of the poison.

After the advent of the Manvantara of Vaivasvata, Daksha again began to perform a sacrifice without Shiva and invited all the gods and the sages. The sage Dadhichi described the greatness of Shiva to Daksha and said that a sacrifice without Shiva would be useless. Daksha insulted him showering many abuses on him. Dadhichi went to Kailasa and informed Shiva of Daksha’s sacrifice. Then were born Veerabhadra and Bhadrakali through the anger of Shiva and Parvati respectively. Veerabhadra went along with the Pramathas and not only destroyed the sacrifice of Daksha but also cut off his head. Vishnu, the protector of the sacrifice, fought with Veerabhadra. His weapon, the Chakra, was broken to pieces and the other gods received the punishment of losing the nose and the ears. Then Veerabhadra went in triumph to Kailasa along with the gods. Shiva honoured Vishnu and restored to the gods their original forms. Even Daksha was treated with kindness. Shiva was overwhelmed with joy at the triumph of Veerabhadra.

According to the story of Veerabhadravijayamu, given above, Daksha performed the sacrifice twice. The first resulted in the renunciation of the body by Sati and the second in the destruction of Daksha’s sacrifice by Veerabhadra. It is the latter incident in the fourth canto that makes the name of the poem meaningful. There is some relationship between this and the story of the first sacrifice in the first canto. But the story contained in the second and third cantos does not have any close connection with the name Veerabhadravijayamu. Pothana might have introduced it in the poem as it was there in Vayu Purana and in the Kumarasambhavam of Kalidasa. Even the stories of the churning of the ocean and the swallowing of the poison were brought in contextually. According to the story current in the world, the destruction of Daksha’s sacrifice occurs before the marriage of Shiva and Parvati.

Nannechoda, the first Shaivite poet in Telugu, described the story of the destruction of Daksha’s sacrifice in his Kumarasambhava. He wrote that Daksha performed the sacrifice only once, that Ganadhipati destroyed it to retaliate the insult done to his mother after obtaining his father’s permission and that Daksha was imprisoned in that connection. There is no reference to Veerabhadra of the Puranas in his story. The opinion of some critics that Somashekhara guru might have induced his disciple Pothana to describe the victory of Veerabhadra, as told in the Puranas, considering that the story narrated by Nannechoda does not conform to that given in the Puranas and reduces the importance of Veerabhadra by wrongly attributing the destruction of the sacrifice to Ganadhipati, seems to be correct.

There are many verses in Veerabhadravijayamu, which Pothana wrote imitating Panditaradhya, Nachana Somana and Shrinatha. The conversation that took place between Rati and Manmatha, before Manmatha started to disturb the penance of Shiva, resembles in many respects the conversation written by Nannechoda in the same context. The part of Veerabhadravijayamu, wherein Sati taunts her father in anger, displays more emotion than propriety. Panditaradhya described in kanda metre the Dakshadhvaradhvamsha and Ganadambara (destruction of the sacrifice and the fury of the Ganas) in his Shivatattvasara and Pothana also wrote Kanda verses in that context. The verse wherein Pothana describes Manmatha before he discharges the flowery arrows on Shiva (Vilu Choochun Veli Choochu) resembles the excellent verse of Nachana Somana in the story of the fight between Satyabhama and Narakasura (Ari Choochun Hari Choochu). The sisa verse of Shrinatha in Kashikhanda where Dadhichi abuses Daksha is seen in Veerabhadravijayamu also with slight changes. The writers of palm-leaf manuscripts might have inserted it in the context.

In the third canto is mentioned the Nilakanthastava which was once recited by the Shaivites every day. Pothana described very vividly and beautifully the situations where Shiva sends the seven rishis as mediators to settle the marriage, Where he asks them to give the ring and return after eating the food with milk, where a clock is constructed on the pial (Vedika) to settle the Muhurta, where the party of the bridegroom takes presents to the bride while ladies are singing, where a curtain is erected between the couple, where Madhuparkas (new marriage clothes) are given, where the couple mutually pour yellow rice on the heads of each other and where the bride is handed over to the bridegroom. All these are indigenous marriage customs current in the Telugu country.

Though compounds and unnecessary words, found here and there in Veerabhadravijayamu, display the immature state of Pothana’s poetry, it is highly mellifluous and contains many good characteristics, the seeds of which gradually developed into the future great tree of Mahabharatha. Pothana wrote the story of the destruction of the sacrifice of Daksha in the Bhagavatha also. It is based on the Sanskrit Mahabhagavatha and is definitely more mature and dignified.