Potanamatya, a natural poet

He started Krishna’s tale with a poem on Lord Rama, ‘Palikedidi bhagavatamata, palikinchedivadu ramabhadrundata’. Through this poem, Potana said that he is all set to write the tale of Krishna as Lord Rama asked him to do so.

Potana (1450–1510) was an Indian Telugu poet best known for his translation of the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit to Telugu. He was both, a Telugu and a Sanskrit scholar and his work, Andhra Maha Bhaagavatamu, is popularly known as Potana Bhagavatam in Telugu. He has a cult following as a poet in Telugu literature. Potana was born in Bammera in Palakurthi mandal of Warangal district and was considered to be a natural Poet (Sahaja Kavi). He was known to be very polite and was an agriculturist by occupation.

At an early age, he wrote Bhogini Dandakam, a poetry work in praise of King Sri Singa Bhoopala’s 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 rhythm 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, Potana became a devotee of Lord Rama and was interested in salvation. In the view of Potana, there is no difference 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, Potana was meditating Lord Shiva’s name. At that auspicious moment, Lord Rama appeared dressed like a king and requested Potana to translate Bhagavatam into Telugu and dedicate it to him. This inspired him to translate Vyasa’s Sanskrit Bhagavatam into Telugu.

He started Krishna’s tale with a poem on Lord Rama, ‘Palikedidi bhagavatamata, palikinchedivadu ramabhadrundata’. Through this poem, Potana said that he is all set to write the tale of Krishna as Lord Rama asked him to do so.

The Padma Nayaka king of Rachakonda, Singha Bhoopaala, wanted Potana to dedicate ‘Andhra Maha Bhagavatam’ to him. The king himself was a scholar and wrote many works including Rudranavasudhakara, a well known Sanskrit drama. But, Potana refused to obey the king’s orders and dedicated the Bhagavatamu to Lord Rama, whom he worshiped with great devotion. It is said that Potana remarked, “It is better to dedicate the work to the supreme Lord Vishnu than dedicate it to the mortal kings.” He was of the opinion that poetry was a divine gift and it should be utilised for salvation by devoting it to God. It is known that Potana was patronised by this king in his early career. Potana dedicated his first great work to this king, his contemporary reputation was immense (vide Srinatha's poems). It was customary for poets of that time to dedicate their work to the king. But Potana defied all those existing norms by saying ‘Satkavul halikulainanemi’ (I would better be a farmer to feed my children rather than dedicate my book to the king).

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.

Even illiterate Telugus readily quote verses from chapters 'Gajendra Mokshamu' and 'Prahlada Charitra of his work, ‘Andhra Maha Bhagavatamu,’ the crown jewel of Telugu literature.