A history of Telugu literature; - Cristo Raul

THE AGE OF TRANSLATION 43
labour of years reduced to ashes, cursed Nanniah and he
became mad. But as Nanniah and Atharvana were not
contemporaries the story is not worthy of credence. There
is also the fact that stanzas from Atharvana's Bhdrata are
given in later anthologies.
Five other books are attributed
to Nanniah, namely : (1) Andhra Sabda Chintdmani*
otherwise known as Prakriyakaumudl ; (2) Lakshana
Sara ; (3) Indra Vijaya ; (4) Chdmundl Vildsa ; and
(5) Rdghavdbhyudaya. But, in all probability, none of
these were written by him. As Chamundi was the titular
deity of the Chalukyas, it is possible that he wrote Chamundi
Vildsa ; but the existing work differs so much in style
from Nanniah's that we may well doubt his authorship
of it.
Nanniah's style is in Draksha Paka, 1
simple, sweet and
graceful. Language delicately responds to emotion and
gracefully adjusts itself to the changing action of the story r
and to the varying moods of the actors. The poet employs
a variety of metres suitable to the wide range of passions
and events so characteristic of the epic. Though a translation,
the Telugu Bharata is really an independent work
of art, superior to the original in many respects. Nanniah
wrote the Bhdrata in 'Champu.' 2
His prose is of two
varieties, one simple and the other more complicated, but
always less artificial and cumbrous than the stilted
stateliness of kavya prose. In his vocabulary, he employs
two-thirds Sanskrit and one-third Telugu words. Jakkanna,
a later poet, characterises his poetry as '
Rasa-
' '
bandhura Bhdvdbhi Rdmamu beautiful ideas in bright
emotional setting.' Nanniah began his epic with a Sanskrit
sloka of praise. His example was copied by Ranganatha
and others, till Tikkanna set a new fashion.
Narayana Bhat. A contemporary of Nanniah, Narayana
Bhat deserves mention, if for no other reason than for
the praise which he has received from Nanniah. He says,
'
Just as Krishna assisted Arjuna in the great war, Narayana
Bhat helped me in my labours. '
It is not clear what exactly
were the nature of the services which Narayana Bhat ren-
1 See above p. 34.
2 Ibid.