KAN˜CARLA GOPANNA [RA¯MADA¯SU]
Kañcarla Gopanna, also known as Rāmadāsu, was the tax collector (tahsildār) at Bhadrâcalam under Abu 'l-Hasan Tanashah [Telugu Tanisah] of Golconda. He was the nephew of the famous Brahmin ministers Akkanna and Mādanna. The tradition has it that he took money from the treasury to build the Bhadrâcalam Rāma temple and was imprisoned for this for twelve years; during these years he composed beautiful kīrtanas to Lord Rāma (Bhadrādrirāmadāsu kīrtanalu), until Rāma himself, together with his brother Laksmana, went in disguise to the Sultan, paid him the cash that was missing (six lakhs of rupees), and insisted on taking a receipt—which they showed to the jailer in order to release the poet. Since that time, the rulers of Golconda and, later, Hyderabad have been patrons of the Rāma temple, to which they send gifts each year at the time of the rāma-navami festival.
Dāśarathi śatakamu
[5] Kañcarla Gopanna Dāśarathi śatakamu, in śataka-ratnamulu (Vijayavada: Sri Sailaja Publications, 1990), 34.
| He's fierce in battle, | |
| friend to those in pain, | |
| famed for his wild and furious aim | |
― 248 ― | |
| when he shoots burning arrows | |
| from his bow. | |
| No god ever | |
| equals Rāma, | |
| Daśaratha's son, | |
| flooded with compassion, | |
| on this earth. | |
| I'm going to climb onto a proud elephant and, | |
| beating a battle drum, pound these words | |
| into the air, until they permeate | |
| earth and space. | |
KāSULA PURUSOTTAMAKAVI
Many Telugu śatakas from the late medieval period sound a stylized note of attack: the temple is portrayed as damaged and in decline, and the poet playfully and somewhat bitterly denounces the god for his ineptitude and weakness in allowing this state to come about. The Venkatâcala-vihāraśatakamu adds the theme of Muslim depredation, in the face of which the god is unaccountably passive. To some extent, these works reflect the historical situation of Muslim advance deep into Andhra. On another level, however, their tone is a variation of nindā-stuti, "praise-through-blame"—a prominent form in medieval south India.
Kāsula Purusottamakavi was the court poet of Yarlagadda Ankinīdu Prasādu I of Callapalli, Krsna District (r. 1792?–1819), and perhaps of this king's father as well. The temple of śrīkākuleśvara-Visnu, known as āndhra Nāyaka, is a major shrine in the Krsna Delta; this temple is the site of Krsnadevarāya's famous dream, which impelled him to compose the āmukta-mālyada (see p. 168). The makutam refrain, characteristic for these śatakas, refers to the god as hata-vimata-jīva, "killer of false believers"—a suggestion of religious conflict of a new type in this period. The tone of taunting and upbraiding the deity is consistent throughout. Three other epithets complete the refrain: citra-citra-prabhāva, dāksinya-bhāva, śrīkākulândhra-deva—"god of many miracles," "darling of women," "lord of Andhra in śrīkākulam." We have distributed these ironic vocatives through the verses of our translation.
āndhra-nāyaka-śatakamu
[6] Kāsula Purusottamakavi, āndhra-nāyaka śatakamu, ed. Yarlagadda Balagangadhara Ravu (Visakhapatnam: Nirmala Publications, 1975).
| Your wife, the Earth, is the stable one. | |
| Because of her, they say you can bear anything. | |
| Your other wife, Goddess of Wealth, gives what people want. | |
― 249 ― | |
| Because of her, people say you are generous. | |
| Brahmā, who creates the world, is born out of you. | |
| That's why people think you're a big family man. | |
| The Ganges, who washes away evil, is your daughter. | |
| She's made you into someone who redeems the fallen. | |
| It's your wives and children who bring you fame. | |
| In yourself, god of many miracles, from the beginning | |
| you're a good-for-nothing. [7] Dāmodara, one of the names of Visnu, means to a "good-for-nothing" in colloquial Telugu usage. [26] | |
| Some people say your image is nothing but a rock | |
| carved with feeling, and you're not in it. | |
| Some say if you were there, | |
| you would surely show some sign. | |
| Some say you've taken the form of Buddha | |
| and sit there, impassive, seeing but pretending not to see. | |
| Some say God's ways are mysterious: | |
| who can know what will happen? | |
| That's how they talk, because now, | |
| killer of false believers, | |
| the temple life has gone dead. [11] |
| If śrīkākulam is famous among the 108 temples, | |
| if it's true that you are known in all lands as "lord of Andhra," | |
| if it's true that you showed your hair to confirm the word of your priest, [8] A priest at the śrīkākulam temple had a mistress to whom he used to give the garland meant for the god, before presenting it to the deity. One day the king noticed that the garland had a long hair in it and asked why. The priest, in a panic, lied: "The god has long hair." To confirm this, the king had a hole drilled in the back of the temple wall, through which he could view the image of the god from behind. The priest prayed all night to the god, asking him to help him, and when the king came in the morning to peep in, the image was covered with long dark hair.(This local myth at śrīkākulam was narrated to us at the site in February 1986.) | |
| if it's true that, though you live in heaven, you came of your own will | |
| into this image, [9] The arcâvatāra, in the poet's word. to be worshiped, | |
| then why don't you restore the daily rites and festivals? | |
| Otherwise, lord of Andhra in śrīkakulam, | |
| no one will ever know. [12] |
| The demon-king hit the pillar with anger, | |
| because he was confident you weren't there. [10] Hiranyakaśipu denied Visnu's presence in a pillar; the god emerged from the pillar as the Man-Lion, to kill him. | |
| Aśvatthāma sent an arrow at the womb of Uttara, | |
― 250 ― | |
| because he thought you weren't there. [11] After the Mahābhārata war, Ásvatthāma hurled his magic weapon to destroy all unborn embryos in the wombs of the Pāndava widows; Uttarā, widow of Abhimanyu, then gave birth to a stillborn child, who was revived by Krsna. | |
| The Kaurava sent his angry son to the forest | |
| where the Pāndavas were living, | |
| because he assumed you weren't there. [12] Dhrtarāstra sent Duryodhana to the forest, where he was captured by Citrasena, the Gandharva; the Pāndavas released him and his brothers. | |
| Duryodhana had Draupadi disrobed in his own court, | |
| because he was certain you weren't there. [13] Duryodhana ordered Draupadi to be disrobed publicly in his court, but Krsna supplied an endless series of saris to protect her honor. | |
| You weren't there, in any of these places, | |
| but then suddenly you were there. | |
| And you were certainly here before, | |
| killer of false believers. | |
| Why can't you come back now?[9] | |
| Darling of women, | |
| you should have feathers on your head. | |
| You're not a king to wear a crown. | |
| You should have wildflowers around your neck. | |
| Are you a lord of the land, to flaunt a pearl necklace? | |
| You should be holding a flute. | |
| You're no warrior, to carry a sword. | |
| Your body should smell like a cowpen. | |
| Are you a prince, perfumed with sandal? | |
| The whole world knows you're just a cowherd, | |
| god of many miracles. | |
| Don't pretend to be king. [19] |