A history of Telugu literature; - Cristo Raul

lopment of Telugu literature in the reign of Krishnadeva-
raya.
The word Purana means an ancient story or legend,
but in course of time it has come to indicate a literary
medium suitable for semi-didactic and semi-devotional
themes. As a matter of fact, the subject-matter of a Purana
is varied. There are in Sanskrit eighteen chief Puranas.
All these deal with the cosmogony of the Universe, with
incidental references to the history of the world, including
India and its future development. Most of these Puranas
belong to the realistic school of philosophy, which regard
creation not as Maya but as the Llla of God. We owe the
reconstruction of the Andhra dynastic story to the Vdyu and
Vishnu Puranas. Sometimes a Purana is merely a
philosophic exposition of a religion, such as Saivism or
Vaishnavism, in the form of a dialogue or story narrated by
a rishi. Not infrequently it is the story of a sectarian
religion with distinctly mytho-poetic tendencies, like the
Basava Purana. The proper function of a Purana is said, in
the Mahdbhdrata, to be the narration of the genealogy of
any great king of antiquity.
We have already seen that in the thirteenth century A.D.
Marana translated the Mdrkandeya Purana ; and in the
fourteenth, Errapragada translated the Nrisimha Purana ;
Srinatha, the Bhlmesvara and Basava Puranas ; and
Kamalanabha, grandfather of Srinatha, Padma Purana.
The outstanding poet of the first half of the fifteenth century
was Bammera Potana, who translated the Bhagavata.
Bammera Potana (A.D. 1400-75). The author of the
Bhdgavata Purana was a Niyogi Saivite. His birthplace
has been the cause of a protracted controversy. The
honour is claimed by Warangal, capital of Prataparudra
in the Nizam's Dominions, and Ontimitta in Cuddappah.
Potana was honoured in his day for his purity, integrity
and independence. In this he was a striking contrast
to his brother-in-law, Srinatha, who lacked the subtle
sense of self-respect. Srinatha basked in the sunshine
of royal favour ; Potana avoided kings aud courts.
Srinatha knew how to turn rhyme into rupees, Potana
preferred poverty with honour to riches and wealth;
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