“I have seen him
The supreme maker of the entire universe”
High in the sky at Vishnupada by Professor Rajagopalachary published by Authorspress is a lovely collection of Annamayya’s sankritans in translation. Annamacarya (1408-1503) was a one of India’s greatest Bhakti poets having composed close to 32,000 sankirtanas of which only 14,000 are now available. Annamayya was a pioneer of the Pada tradition of poetry and Carnatic music. Annamacharya’s compositions are an enquiry into the vishistadvaita system. Music, melody and meaning is juxtaposed in these compositions. The writer says this of Annamacharya, “He is reckoned first amoung the hymnographers in Telugu not only from the point of view of chronology and also ‘for his superb artistry and the range of his feeling and thought.’ He is regarded as the Father of the Pada Tradition of poetry. As a saint-composer he showed the path of sankirtana to Purandradasu in Kannada, Venkatamakhi in Prakrit besides Tyagaraju and Ramadasu in Telugu. Annamayya’s sankirtanas are replete with unstinted devotion towards Lord Venkateshvara within the tradition of Visistadvaiata.”
The language of the sankirtans is stepped in native idiom, folklore and wisdom. The 15th century Rayalaseema dialect of Telugu is used by the composer. The poems and songs are filled with allusions to the Upanishads, the Alvar Dravida Veda, Bhagvad Geeta, the Puranas, the Bhagvata, etc. Annamayya was known as the author of the fifth veda. Annamayya authored both sringara (sensual) and adhyatma (spiritual) compositions.
Here is a sample of the wonderful translation :
Overpowering Hiranyakashyapu
Encompassing both heaven and sky
You have shaken both the sea and the worlds
You have overpowered the alienated Hiranyakashyapu
In the strong grip of your hands
Cast him off on your thighs, encircling him all over
And tore of his entrails with a crash ad laughed Ha ! Ha !
Roaring and heaving with contempt and anger
As the saliva oozed out
You have overpowered the giants
With your taunting warwhoops of a lion
You exude terrible valour
Making a hullabaloo with dreadful yells
As the teeth blazed bright
And the enemy’s blood gushed forth profusely
In all directions
Shining forth in great glory
In all your fury at Ahobala
Lord of Vankatadri has given us now
The ends of both this world and the other
Assuaging our agitation.
