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BOOK REVIEW |
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Devotional Songs of Annamaacharya |
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Published by Chintagunta Subba Rao, 12-10-146/8C, SBH Lane, Seethaphalmandi, Secunderabad 500 061. Price: Rs. 25; Pages: 40. Cell # 9949119418 |
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A little of the backlog, a little of fate, |
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In the vast stillness of the night, in the midnight hours, you look out to the flickering lights and strange shadows of hills… And there on one hill you see the light of lights. You have spotted His Abode—“the home of saints and sages”—Tirumala Tirupati. No words can capture that midnight scene where dark hills spread out in shadows. One can only shout in joy with the poet-devotee: “Adivo alladivo Sri Hari-vaasamu” [Lo! and see! that’s Hari’s abode]. Nowhere is the distinction between the local and the universal invisible or reduced to nothing as in religious poetry. For, when it comes to the divine vision, it would be meaningless to talk about religion, creed or cult—the “unpolarised Universal vision” is all that matters. It is keeping this truth in mind that the reader has to approach this booklet containing translations of thirty devotional songs of Annamaacharya. It begins with a brief, excellent introduction to the “Father of the Telugu Lyric and Preceptor of the Telugu Hymn: Thaallapaaka Annamayya.” Sri Annamaacharya’s lyrics in praise of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirumala Tirupati, composed in Telugu, date back to the 15th century A.D. The translation provokes the reader to think of the rich tradition of devotional poetry in the regional languages of India, much of which may defy translation. The present work is a step in the right direction. The translations here have an immediacy that is indispensable in Bhakti poetry, which is primarily meant to ignite the spark and awaken the slumbering soul to the reality of God in day-to-day activities. Among all the questions that arise regarding translations, the one that occupies the center stage is the question whether the translator has maintained fidelity to the spirit of the original. In his Preface, Tulasiputra Durgananda points out: “The liberties taken by the translator … are well-meant to soften the local color as much as might be, so that the unpolarised Universal vision may shine the better, gaining wider acceptability.” The translator has undoubtedly succeeded in imparting the spirit of these songs as these single lines themselves proclaim: “One and only One is God for all”; “Beyond the canopy lies Beatitude”; “O Age of Kali! your joys are dreamy stuff”; “Look here, O God! our ignorance is but natural.” The cries of the soul, its longings, its aspirations, its anguish, its repentance, are the hallmarks of devotional poetry. Annamaacharya sings of the omniscience, and omnipresence of the Lord of the Seven Hills. The translator has been successful in capturing the essence of ‘lived experience’ in these joyful, vibrant songs—songs which at the same time speak of the waywardness of mankind. The liveliness of tone and language as in “Fetch me my God in a wink of the eye” is so enchanting that finally the reader is left with the feeling of having inhaled a breath of fresh air from the hills—the abode of gods. |
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-- Dr. Nirmala P. G. |
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