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.
Nachana Somanatha | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Nachana Soma |
| Citizenship | Vijayanagara Empire |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Years active | 14th century |
| Notable work | Uttara-Harivamsamu, Vasanta Vilasamu |
Biography
editAccording 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
editYes, 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?
Urvashi to Narakasura, who wants to have sex with her, in Nachana Somanatha's Uttara-Harivamsamu[1]
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.