VEMANA SATAKAMU - Learning Telugu

1 1 VEMANA SATAKAMUC P Brown AcademyThe Alpha FoundationHyderabad, IndiaTranslatorsK Srinivasa SastryandUsha K Srinivas (With transliteration and English translation)2 VEMANA SatakamuAuthor: VemanaManaging Editor: GRK MurtySenior Consultant: M Hanumantha RaoConsulting Editor: SS Prabhakar RaoAssociate Editor: G Ramesh BabuEditorial Support:Y Anand, C Rama Devi, D Sujatha DeviT Rajendra Prasad, V Aruna DeviChief Visualizer: A Bangaru BabuCover Design and Illustrations: B Anjaneyulu@ 2008 C P Brown Academy. All Rights effort has been made to make this book the most accurate, veritable and helpful means ofits kind.

2 However, the publisher regrets any error that may yet have crept in. The informationcontained in this book is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of orbinding in any way on the authors, editor, publisher or this book nor any part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming and recording or by any informationstorage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the copyright notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, andare used only for identification and explanation without intent to the publishers can export this book from India.

3 Infringement of this condition of sale willlead to civil and criminal Edition: 2008 Printed in IndiaPublished byC P Brown AcademyThe Alpha Foundation8, Dwarakapuri Colony, PunjaguttaHyderabad - 500 082, : , at:M/s. ICIT Software Centre Private , Technocrat Industrial EstateBalanagar Cross RoadsHyderabad-500 037, India. --3 PrefaceSchool going Telugu children of the 1940s and 50s invariably used to memorizeverses from VEMANA SATAKAMU . And today, wherever they are, these verses dorevisit them in one context or the other, for VEMANA s verses once memorized, stayinstalled in the mind as aide memoire for living like a good human s poetry is unlike anything written before him or after him.

4 His epigramis too short. Its soul is aphoristic. VEMANA responded to the happenings aroundhim through his spontaneous recitation all in an evaluative tone by goingbeneath the skin of the people s behavior that became poetry for his could have been one of the reasons why his verses often sound didactic like a father chiding his kid to poetry sprang out of bhavavesam the verses are spontaneous outpourings ofhis noble ideas outpourings of his quivering heart at mankind s irrationality inits disposition towards the society. That s why, though many of his verses are ofgreat force and beauty, of noble sentiment and of pastoral sweetness, some havea touch of indecorum.

5 Yet, they are well rooted in the native soil emitting anall too familiar in all, they are eternal truths said in easily understandable Telugu . For instance,his verses appulenivade adhika baludu ; anuvugani cota adhikulamanaradu needno explanation. They are simply dictums every man/woman of every age willcertainly benefit verses have a punch: verses such as yogi kadu lona bagu kakundene! onecannot become a pious man without cleansing his inner-self; Talalu bodulainatalapulu bodula? mere adorning of a monk s attire doesn t mean detachment fromthe longings; madamu nilcu varaku manasevvariki nilcu?

6 How can mind be calmunless lustful arrogance calms down first? hit the reader in the face. He so patientlyand fervently mused on society, its morals, and the need for man to behave; all inhis anxiety to make men/women sensitive to moral and spiritual is this rustic wisdom of VEMANA that we Brown Academy of AlphaFoundation want to make available for today s youth in Roman script, so thateven those who cannot read Telugu , can now read and relish his visionaryfervour laced with noble ideas. Feedback is ---- ----------GRK Scheme of Telugu AlphabetVowels (JK : Acculu)H YQ VVVK K [~ -&@~ _ _ }` ^ ^ ^ # | = ~ = + H Consonants ( : Hallulu)JPWDLT| | ZUS XFBJO J aaii.]

7 Kkhgghncch jjhntthddhntthddhnpph bbhmyr llvssshkshr.~.. 5 IntroductionVemana is one of the most popular and beloved poets in Telugu language. Hisintellect, simplicity and naturalness of expression, and originality render himspecial to all the Telugus, rich or poor, literate or illiterate. There is controversyover when and where VEMANA lived. After a lot of research and debate, scholarsestablished that he was born in a farmer s family and lived in the 17th century probably born in 1652 and passed away in the early decades of the 18th century,as suggested by the British civil servant and Telugu literary savant, did not disclose his family name.

8 Worshipper of Siva, he must be a jangam(a member of the sudra sect, usually Saivaite, but also largely dissenter of thetraditional religion). Many of the poems were supposed to be composed in thelatter half of the 17th century. Based on the dialect and idiom used in theverses, it is suggested that VEMANA belonged to Gandikota in Kandavolu (presentKurnool) district or Kondavedu in Cuddapah (Kadapa) district in theRayalaseema region of Andhra much is known about his life. As the writings of a poet are largelyautobiographical and reflections of his life, some extrapolations were maderegarding VEMANA s life story from his poetry.

9 One such compilation is that ofDr. N. Gopi, which says that VEMANA must have led a care-free life, become aleader among his friends and educated himself through interactions with templepriests and village heads and understood the good and bad of the society fromexperience but got immersed more in worldly vices, including getting infatuatedwith prostitutes. But subsequently, he realized his immorality, got fed up withhis base pursuits and when he wanted to correct himself, the society despisedhim. So he renounced the world and became a sanyasi (ascetic) and poured outhis experiences in the poems spontaneously.

10 His original name could not beestablished, as he dropped his family name calling himself simply Vema orVemana, which signifies a loom in Sanskrit. In course of time he came to bewidely known as yogi good and pious person is generally ignored by the society. Yogi VEMANA is noexception! Among the scholars who brought VEMANA to light is Brown,who approached Telugu language through VEMANA . He collected manuscriptsof VEMANA (talapatras: palm-leaves) from Machilipatnam, Vizag, Nellore, Guntur,Cuddapah, Madras, etc., got them compiled and printed Verses of VEMANA forthe first time in 1824.