Nachana Somanatha
Nachana Somanatha | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Nachana Soma |
| Citizenship | Vijayanagara Empire |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Years active | 14th century |
| Notable work | Uttara-Harivamsamu, Vasanta Vilasamu |
Nachana Soma-natha (IAST: Nācana Somanātha) was a 14th-century Telugu language poet from the Vijayanagara Empire of southern India. He translated the Sanskrit work Harivamsa into Telugu as Uttara-Harivamsamu, and also wrote the now-lost Vasanta Vilasamu, an early prabandha work.
Biography
[edit]According to a 1344 CE inscription (alternative readings suggest different dates), the Vijayanagara king Bukka Raya I granted Penchukaladinne village, also known as Bukka-raya-puram, to Nachana Soma-natha.[1]
In the colophons of his works, Soma-natha describes himself as a "master of structure/storytelling" (samvidhana-chakravarti) and as an "innovative poet" (navina-guna-sanathudu). According to Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Shulman, these epithets are justified: Soma-natha contributed to the transition from a Puranic style to the more intense Kavya style seen in the works of the later poets such as Srinatha.[1]
Works
[edit]Yes, I’m a whore. And you have power.
You defeated Indra and ordered your men
to catch me. It’s a game for you.
I'm a wreck. What can you get
from this body? The parrot gone,
what use is the cage? Can you make love
without love?
Uttara-Harivamsamu is Soma-natha's translation of the second part of the Sanskrit text Harivamsa,[1] with some adaptations.[2] The text features a Puranic theme, but also exhibits an early form of the prabandha genre. According to Kandukuri Veeresalingam, it is better than Errapragada's translation of the same text.[3] Soma-natha characterized his work as an appendix to Tikkana's Mahabharatamu,[2] and like Tikkana, dedicated his work to the god Harihara.[1] Veeresalingam states that Soma-natha is better than earlier poets such as Nannayya and Tikkana in some respects, such as style and language.[3]
The 18th century poet Kasturi Ranga-kavi quotes briefly from another work attributed to Nachana Soma-natha: Hari-vilasamu or Hara-vilasamu. Ranga-kavi uses both these titles: it is possible these were two different works.[1]
Soma-natha's Vasanta Vilasamu is a lost work, known from a mention by the 18th century poet Kuchimanchi Timma-kavi.[1] It featured a full-fledged prabandha style.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Velcheru Narayana Rao; David Shulman, eds. (2002). Classical Telugu Poetry: An Anthology. University of California Press. pp. 112–113. ISBN 9780520344525.
- ^ a b M.N. Sarma; M.V. Sastry; C.S. Rao, eds. (1995). History and Culture of the Andhras. Telugu University. p. 180. ISBN 9788186073070.
- ^ a b c G. V. Sitapati (1968). History of Telugu Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 17. OCLC 1208069.