48 



Essay on Telugu Literature, 



[July 



19. The Ramayan is more generally in vogue than any other sacred 

 legend, and .has been repeatedly translated into Telugu. The version 

 written in couplets (dwipada) by Ranga Naiha is an especial favourite, 

 and when we see circles of Hindus passing the evening sitting in the 

 moonlight to hear a volume chanted and explained for their amusement* 

 we shall generally find it is this " tale divine." But they irrationally 

 look upon the meaning as very generally superfluous, and think with the 

 Musulman and the Catholic that if they cannot understand a good book, 

 they at least have the merit of reading or listening to it. 



20. The version in $ta?izas (padya) bears the name of Bhascara; who 

 was assisted by other poets. The style is very poetical, but bdng, like 

 the Mahabharat, written in the Sanscrit dialect of Telugu (resembling 

 Johnson's and Pan's Latinized English) is sometimes above the compre- 

 hension of common persons : and accordingly 1 think this version is 

 much more applauded than read. All these versions are greatly abridg- 

 ed from the Sanscrit original. 



21. Another abridged version of the Ramayan is written in very flow- 

 ing Telugu verse by the poetess Mo'.li, who was the daughter of a pot- 

 ter — another called the Niro.sktha (or, non-labial) Ramayan, is a pedan- 

 tic composition : a mere feat of ingenuity, and merits little notice. I 

 mention it (as well as several other books in the present pages) to warn 

 the reader of the real value of puerile compositions which, among Bra- 

 mins have attained an undeserved celebrity. In this absurd poem, the 

 very name of the hero (Rama) is excluded because the letter M is labial, 

 and the poet chooses to write without using (p, ph, b, bh, m) a single 

 labial letter. 



22. The Ramabhyudaya, another poem on the same popular theme 

 (by Rama Bhadraya) belongs to an early age; it is always spoken of 

 with high applause, but manuscripts of it are rare: in fact I never saw 

 but one copy which I obtained from Vizagapatam. The Uttara Ra- 

 mayan has been elegantly translated by Canacanti Papa Raz, who also 

 wrote a pleasing poem called the Vishnu Maya Vilasam. The Adhyat- 

 ma Ramayan again is a separate poem written in an inflated (utprexa) 



style, and is little read. 



23. The Telugu version of the Mahabharat also enjoys a deserved 

 popularity as the great standard of the language : indeed the verse 

 flows as pure and sweet as that of Pope or Dryden in their happiest 

 translations. In this, it is contrasted with the Bhagavat, -the Telugu 

 version of which (like Pitt's version of Virgil), is more faithful but is 

 unpopular, being considered (zabbu) mean or unp«etical in style. The 

 Bharata, if printed in the same manner, would extend to nearly the size 



