Essay on Telugu Literature. 



[Oct. 



poets have undertaken to model the amorous descriptions anew — neg- 

 lecting the theological discussions. Hence arose the Dasayatara Cha- 

 rifra or novel of the ten appearances ; and the yaxa-ganam Bhagavatam 

 —that is, the tale of Krishna arranged in musical melodies. In these 

 books (as in the Radha Madhava Samvadam and the D6vi Bhagavat) 

 the principal heroine is Radha, a nymph wholly unmentioned in the 

 original Bhagavat, and who owes her origin to the poetical imagination 

 of Java Deva, the Theocritus of India, author of the charming Gi;a 

 Govinda. 



The well known poem called Ahalya Sancrandana Vilasam, or the 

 intrigues of India (Jupiter and Alcmen^i) is the seventh book of the 

 Dasavatara Charitra. There is also a separate poem bearing the same 

 name in five books : but this is a mere cento of verses borrowed from 

 various poets. The author's name is Mulugu Papaya. 



It may be worth while to remark that /.hough the Telugus possess no 

 stated version of the fcur most celebrated Sanscrit poems, (the Magna, 

 the Cumara Sambhavam, the Megha Dtita and the Gita Govinda), their 

 bards have extracted and adapted ?$i the most attractive scenes. I am 

 aware that the Raghu Vamsam has been translated, as also the Sacun- 

 tala — but these are the work of ordinary Telugu composers, vastly infe- 

 rior to the celebrated originals. 



78. Narasimha, author of the Cavi Carna Ras'ayanam, or adventures 

 of Mandhata (c), a poem which has received very high applause. 



Sesham Vencatapati, author of the Tara Sasanca Vijayam (c), or 

 " Stella and the Genius, a Romance." This is an exceedingly popular 

 work. 



Vencata Natha (a Cshatriya), author of the Telugu translation of the 

 Pancha Tan tram (c). This was originally a " moral" work ; but as 

 treated by the Telugu author it properly belongs to the romantic class. 



To these may be added a long list of popular novels and " histories" 

 (Charitra) such as the Surabhand Eswaram (c), the Ra. lha Madhava 

 Samvadam (c) and the Ila Deviyam (c), also called Radhica Santwanam : 

 this is written by a poetess who has very elegantly remodelled the 

 Radha Madhava Samvadam into a new form : wherein she has polished 

 and perfected the style wherever it was rustic. The Cuchel-opakhyan 

 (t) in three cantos is likewise a very popular work. 



79. But whatever popularity has been attained by these poets phi- 

 lologists with one voice declare Ticcanna to be the unrivalled model of 

 style in the Telugu language. His first work seems to have been the 

 seventh book, or supplement (uttara canda) of the Ramayan which 

 bears the name of Bhascara. Ayyala Bhatta and Mallic Arjana were 

 Bhascara's coadjutors: the former completed the sixth book and the 

 latter wrote the fourth and fifth. After the seventh was completed by 



