Biography
Bammera Potana was an Indian Telugu poet best known for his translation of the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit to Telugu. He was a Telugu and Sanskrit Scholar. His work, Andhra Maha Bhaagavathamu, is popularly called as Pothana Bhagavatham in Telugu.
Early Life
Bammera Potanamatyulu was born into a Niyogi Brahmin family in Bammera, Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh. His father was Kesanna and his mother Lakshmamma.
He was considered to be a natural Poet (Sahaja Kavi), needing no teacher. He was known to be very polite and was an agriculturist by occupation. Though he was a great scholar, he never hesitated to work in the agricultural fields.
Literary Career
At an early age he wrote Bhogini Dandakam a poem wrote in praise of king Sri Singa Bhoopalas concubine Bhogini. This was his first poetic venture which had the seeds of his great poetic talents. Bhogini Dandakam is the earliest available Dhandaka (rhapsody which uses the same gana or foot all through) in Telugu. His second work was Virabhadhra Vijayamu which describes the adventures of Lord Virabhadhra, son of Lord Shiva. The main theme was the destruction of a yagna performed in absence of Lord Shiva by Daksha Prajapathi.
As a young man, he was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Later, Pothana became a devotee of Lord Rama and more interested in salvation. In the view of Pothana there is no diference between Shiva and Vishnu and the same was reflected in his Padyam "ChethuLAranga Shivuni Poojimpadeni Nooru Novvanga hari keerthi salupadeeni dhayanu satyamulonuga thalupadeni kaluganetiki thallula kadupuchetu".One early morning during a lunar eclipse, on the banks of river Godavari, Pothana was meditating on Lord Shiva. At that auspicious moment, Lord Rama appeared dressed like a king and requested Pothana to translate Bhagavatam into Telugu and dedicate it to Him. This inspired him to translate Vyasa?s Sanskrit Bhagavatam into Telugu.
Persecution
The Padma Nayaka king of Rachakonda, Sarvajana Singha Bhoopaala, wanted Pothana to dedicate Andhra Maha Bhagavatham to him. The king himself is a scholar and wrote many works including Rudranavasudhakara, a well known Sanskrit drama. But, Pothana refused to obey the kings orders and dedicated the Bhagavathamu to Lord Rama, whom he worshiped with great devotion. It is said that Pothana remarked, It is better to dedicate the work to the supreme Lord Vishnu than dedicate it to the mortal kings. He was of opinion that poetry was a divine gift and it should be utilized for salvation by devoting it to the God. It is known that Pothana was patronized by this king in his early career, Pothana dedicated his first great work to this king, the king himself was a scholar, his contemporary reputation was immense (vide Srinatha's poems). It was common practice for many poets of the time to dedicate their devotional works to God himself and not necessarily to their patron-kings. The poem containing the derision against the "Karanata Kiraata Keechakulu" is a chatuvu (apocryphal) attributed to Pothana with no proof that he actually wrote it. Even if he did, it is unclear who the Karanata villains were, very likely the rulers of Karnaata Samrajyam (the contemporary term for the Vijayanagar empire) who were raiding Rachakonda at the time. The Rachakonda kingdom was under intense turmoil at the time, under attack by the Bahamani's from the west, Karanata (Vijayanagar) empire from the south and the Reddy Rajas from the east.
Rachakonda and it's king ceased to exist by the mid 1400's, absorbed into the Bahmani kingdom. There is yet another versan about his birth place. He indicated at one stranza that he belonged to 'Ekasila Nagaram',meaning single stone city.The same is now attributed to Warangal,an altered form of 'Orugallu'.Orugallu in daccan language(Tamil,the then ruling language)was 'Oru kallu'with same meaning.But there is another town called 'Ontimitta'in Kadapa district having the same meaning.A poem of Pothana unwilling to dedicate his works to local kings was inscribed on the pedastal of god Rama's statue in the Kodanda Rama temple.
Style
He was quite fond of using rhythm and repetition of sounds giving a majestic grace to the style of writing. He was very skillful in using alankaras (figures of speech) like similes and metaphors. Potana imparted the knowledge of the divine to the Telugu people along with lessons in ethics and politics through Andhra Maha Bhagavatamu. He lived for sixty years.
Significance
Even illiterate Telugus readily quote verses from chapters 'Gajendra Mokshamu' and 'Prahlada Charitra of his work, ?Andhra Maha Bhagavathamu,? the crown jewel of Telugu literature.
God's Writing
ala vaikuMThapuraMbulO nagarilO nAmUla soudhaMbu dApala......
This is a verse which describes the palace of Lord Vishnu in his divine abode (VAIKUNTHA), at the time the elephant king prayed for the Lord's kindness to deliver him out of the deadly grip of crocodile in a lake.
The story goes that Pothana wrote the first line of the verse, but could not continue (because he did not know how vaikuntha looks!). So he paused the writing at that point, and went to farm (he was a cultivator by profession). When he came back in the evening, he saw the verse completed.
He enquired his daughter about who wrote the other three lines. The daughter replied - "You yourself came in the afternoon and wrote some thing!". So Pothana understood that Lord Sri Rama himself came and completed the verse.
