The Renaissance in Andhra

By K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAO, B.A., B.L.

I

BEFORE THE DAWN

It has been claimed for the Andhras that they are among the least Anglicised of the Indian peoples; that despite their long contact with the West, they have never permitted themselves to be weaned away from their predominant love of the mother-tongue; that they have thus been enabled to take a leading part in the vernacular movement of to-day.

This claim is in the main justified by facts. But while English never quite replaced the mother-tongue as the medium of social intercourse and of political propaganda, it nevertheless influenced powerfully the growth of Telugu literature in the last century. The greater number of our university men have, no doubt, looked upon the acquisition of English as a passport to government service and as a means of establishing commercial relations with foreign countries. But there were a few choice spirits, who drank deep at the fountains of English literature. They were inevitably dazzled by the splendour and the variety of the treasures laid bare to their view. They compared them with their own, much to the disadvantage of the latter. They were impressed by the almost total absence in Telugu of a great prose literature and the singular lack of variety in its literary forms.

The epic and the Prabandha (verse-tale) were the two chief forms of literary expression then current. The drama was non-existent, for, the crude variety known as Veedhi Nataka (street-drama) was despised by the cultured as being meant for the 'common herd' and as unfit to be reckoned as ‘high-class poetry’. The lyric and the elegy as distinct types of literary expression were unknown. We say ‘distinct’ because the epics as well as the Prabandha contained many passages of lyric charm and infinite pathos. The novel, biography, literary criticism, and history were yet to be born. These could come only with the growth of a prose literature. The Danda Kavilelu (local annals) that were extant were mere dry chronicles of fact and could not be classed as history in its nobler signification. Ballads and folk-songs of rare beauty abounded all over the land, and served to inspire and to enliven the hearers but these, like the street-dramas, were relegated to an inferior position. Even in our own day, they are but slowly winning their way to recognition in defiance of the self-appointed arbiters of literature.

The influence of English literature was the outstanding feature of this period; English was the touchstone of literary expression, and every production, ancient or modern, was adjudged meritorious or otherwise according as it did or did not conform to English standards. It was an age of nation depression when even the noblest among us were content to be told that ours was an inferior civilization, and that the only hope of advancement, social, political or economic, lay in a conscious imitation of the West. This tendency was not less pronounced in the literary sphere. The subordinate position assigned to the mother tongue at every stage of school and collegiate education served but to deepen this impression.

But the contact with a new culture had the wholesome effect of inducing some ofthe more ardent scholars in the last generation to study the Telugu classics with greater insight, and to preserve from decay the priceless treasures of the past. Eminent scholars like the late Rao Bahadur K. Viresalingam Pantulu and Vedam Venkataraya Sastri set themselves to the truly Herculean task of unearthing a vast number of old poems, and printing them for the first time. The great epics were also edited with great care, after collation of different manuscripts, and made available to the public. Earlier than these scholars, Mr. C. P. Brown, of the Civil Service, had endeared himself to the Telugus by editing the classic poems with the help of learned Pandits. Vavilla Ramaswami Sastrulu of Madras and the proprietors of the ‘Ananda Press’ had led the way in high-class publication work. The period from 1840 to 1900 was marked by the unceasing activity of a band of scholars, who, in addition to original productions of great value, helped to conserve all that was best in Telugu literature, and brought it within the reach of an ever-growing circle of readers.

Contemporaneous with this phase of literary activity, was that of the inheritors of the old classic tradition, who continued to write Prabandhas in the old style and to translate the epics anew from the Sanskrit. The Gopinatha Ramayanam was composed in the middle of the last century under the patronage of the Rajas of Venkatagiri; Mandapaka Parvateeswara Kavi, Madabhushi Venkatacharyulu, Tirupati Venkata Kavulu and a number of lesser lights kept the flame of classic poetry. In recent years, the Sanskrit Ramayana has been translated for the tenth or eleventh time into Telugu by Vavilakolnu Subba Rao, and the Mahabharata by Sripada Krishnamurti Sastri. These two poets set about their task with the avowed object of translating the Sanskrit epics ‘literally’ into the vernacular and not adapting them as their forerunners had done.

In the succeeding sections, an attempt will be made to indicate the main lines of literary advance during the period, and to appraise the literary value of the more important productions in prose and verse.

II

Telugu literature, like the literature of every land, has flourished on royal patronage. The ages of cultured Emperors like Raja Raja Chalukya and Krishna Deva Raya have been the ages of the greatest literary activity. With the break up of the Vijayanagar Empire, a number of principalities came into existence, owing nominal allegiance to the Sultans of Golconda or the Nawabs of the Carnatic, but enjoying complete autonomy for all practical purposes. The chieftains of this period built maginificent forts, maintained huge establishments, and delighted to surround themselves with poets and scholars of repute. According to traditional Hindu ideas, the acceptance of a kavya by dedication was one of the Saptasantanams (seven kinds of offspring) mentioned in the Sastras.

For over two centuries, therefore, the growth of Telugu literature was conditioned by the tastes and inclinations of a powerful class of noblemen, and, the poets., if they were to keep themselves above want, had to submit to the prevailing taste. The more famous among them wandered from court to court and received valuable presents by exhibitions of their poetic talents and learning. But the usual course for a poet was to attach himself to, some chieftain or land-owner, write a kavya on the model of the Manucharitra or the vasucharitra and dedicate it to his patron. The free play of intellect and emotion, so marked in the literary coterie of the Imperial Court of Krishna Deva Raya at Vijayanagar was lacking in the petty courts of these chieftains. Every poet, great or small, endeavoured to create a Prabandha out of some Puranic story and fill it in with the conventional varnanas (descriptions) of sun-rise and moon-rise, of the love-lorn maiden's invocation to the God of Love (Manmadha) and his maternal uncle, the Moon; of pitched battles of opposing hosts, and of the more tender warfare of love.

Peddana, the poet-laureate of Krishna Deva Raya had broken a way from the tradition of translating the Puranas, and set himself to the creation of a new form of literary expression, the Prabandha. But what with a poet of consummate genius like Peddana was the means of producing the loftiest poetry, soon became in the hands of less gifted imitators, a tiresome and soulless jargon. This is not to discount the value of some of the great Prabandhas that followed the Manucharitra like the Parijathapaharanam of Timma Kavi, or the Prabhavati Pradyumna and Kala Purnodaya of Suranarya, or the Vijaya Vilasam of Venkata Kavi. These are among the immortal classics of the language. But a tiresome repetition of themes and descriptions, an inordinate fondness for slesha (or double entendre) and for flambuoyant diction, soon resulted in a dead-level of mediocrity in poetic expression. The style of several of the Prabandhas of this period is comparable with that of the 'metaphysical poets' of England. The language was often smooth-flowing and the versification delightful, but somehow, the soul had fled.

The poetry of this period serves to illustrate the truth, that no great literature can be produced except in a period of great upheaval, - political, social or religious. In the days of Krishna Deva Raya and for a generation afterwards, the Telugus were witnesses – yea partakers - of glorious deeds. It was a period of unprecedented activity in all spheres of human endeavour, when men's souls were stirred to their depths. But the succeeding period, up to the time of contact with a completely new civilization - the British - was one of stagnation, of indulgence in pleasure - confined to the wealthy and powerful chieftains - of imitation rather than creation. The last gleams of - Andhra valour and romance shone on Bobbili, and naturally enough, the bravery of Rangarao and his illustrious band of Velama heroes, and the joyous self-immolation of Rani Mallamma Devi and her women, formed the subject-matter of soul stirring ballads and of a historical poem-the Rangarayacharitra of Narayana Kavi. It is remarkable that even this last mentioned poem was composed under the patronage of the Velama Zamindar of Narsaraopet.

This long digression has become necessary in order to indicate the conditions under which the greater portion of the literature immediately prior to the modern era was produced. It was frankly an age of patronage by noblemen. The poetry was marked by an oppressive prominence given to the eroticsentiment. It was marked, too, by a studied adherence to conventional modes of expression. There was little variety either in theme or in treatment. The poets merely conformed to the prevailing taste of their patrons, the noblemen, some of whom were themselves scholars and poets.

The common people would gladly congregate at the village temple and listen with real delight and devotion to the recitation of the Telugu Puranas. They thus acquired the culture of the past, even without being literate. They were not yet able to make their influence felt on the growth of literature. The poets, most of them poor Brahmanas, could not depend upon the patronage of a large reading public for the appreciation and sale of their productions.

Conditions have slowly changed during the last century, and the transition from princely to public patronage is now in progress. It would not be too much to say that even in our own day, much high-class poetry could not have been produced, but for the generous help of noblemen like Sri Ananda Gajapathi of Vizianagaram, and the Rajas of Pithapuram, Polavaram, Munagala and Venkatagiri. Others, not so highly-placed, have also supported literary men and made their path in life less wearisome and rugged than it would otherwise have been. But atthe same time, the standard is no longer exclusively set by a small group of individuals, however cultured or wealthy, but by an ever-widening public, which, if it cannot seek out and reward the obscure genius, has yet the ability to encourage literary men of approved merit.

The earlier careers of literary men are still strewn with thorns, but after a certain period of suffering and struggle, a talented writer may look to the general public for support, and he need not, unless he chooses to, attach himself to any patron. The careers of Viresalingam, Vaddadi Subbaraya Kavi, Venkataraya Sastri, Vavilakolanu Subba Rao, Chilakamarti Lakshminarasimham, and to some extent, those of Tirupati Venkata Kavulu and P. Lakshmi Narasimha Rao, afford ample proof of our contention. The opening of a number of High Schools and Colleges has made it possible for some of these distinguished scholars to be entertained as teachers, though their salary has never been sufficient for the bare necessaries of life. The Text Book Committee has also come to the rescue of struggling authors, and enabled them to continue their services to literature, by recommending some of their writings as text-books. We are conscious of the fact that this last species of patronage has, in some instances, been grossly abused but in the main, it has helped to keep up the drooping spirits of our literary men.

Thus, while the age of aristocratic patronage has not yet come to an end - indeed it will continue so long as rich men have a cultivated taste - it may be safely asserted that weare in the middle of the period of transition from princely to public patronage.

III

The late K. Viresalingam Pantulu was the most forceful personality in the Andhra country during the last generation. Reformer, philanthropist, and scholar, he left the impress of his intellect and energy on many spheres of Andhra activity. But we are concerned more especially with his career as a man of letters, and his achievement in other directions will be pertinent only in so far as it influenced his outlook and writings.

He has been called the 'Tikkana of Telugu Prose.' This implies that he is as great in prose as Tikkana is in verse, wielding his instrument with the freedom, spontaneity, and vigour, that is so characteristic of Tikkana's verse, as seen in his translation of the last fourteen Parvas of the Mahabharata. This then is Viresaligam's title to greatness - that he forged a new weapon and wielded it with consummate skill. There was Telugu prose before. Viresalingam, but it was either the sanskritised poetic-prose interspersed in the Puranas and Prabandhas, or the prose of the popular tales commonly deemed to have no pretensions to literary grace. Chinayya Suri, who is sometimes reckoned as the first great writer of Telugu prose in the 19th century, was not in touch with the living language of the modern era. The Telugu of his Neethi Chandrika, though possessing some charm, is archaic and highly reminiscent of the prose of the Prabandhas. His main object in writing it was that it should serve to illustrate his Telugu Grammar. The prose style of Viresalingam, on the other hand, approached considerably the spoken language of the cultured classes. He had no great prose literature before him to guide him in his new venture, and sometimes the construction of sentences and the very modes of expression appear to have been borrowed from English. But this was inevitable in a first, great experiment, and everyone will admit that for simplicity and ease his Telugu is unequalled.

Early in his literary career, Viresalingam wrote some excellent Telugu verse and even composed a Prabandha, the Rasikajana Manoranjanam. As a rebel against the decadent classicism of the 18th century, he showed a marked preference for ‘pure’ Telugu verse - free from the admixture of Sanskrit. He achieved great distinction as a writer of such verse. His translations of Sanskrit dramas, notably Sakuntala contain exquisite verse, but as we have indicated, his title to greatness rests more on his prose than on his verse.

In his battles against a hide-bound orthodoxy, he found his new weapon of incalculable service. He deemed it necessary to rally to his cause all the thinking elements of the Andhra nation, and not merely the pandits with Sanskrit learning, or the English-educated classes. He elaborate, his arguments for Hindu social reform in a series of essays and lectures couched in simple, telling prose, calculated to appeal to the intelligence and to captivate the heart of the Telugu public. But he did not trust solely to his theses. He made effective use of lighter forms of literature - the farce and the fable - to drive home his views on social questions. And in these the language was simpler than that of the essays, and easily comprehended by the illiterate among his compatriots. He sought to bring about a radical reform of social abuses by his biting sarcasm and open ridicule. No social institution, no popular religious belief, was too sacred to escape his iconoclastic zeal. He found little to love and cherish in contemporary Hindu life in Andhra Desa, and anyone reading through his volumes would carry away the impression that Telugu society in the eighties of the last century was a veritable cesspool of stagnation, or a miserable den of horrors. To him was not vouchsafed the gift of sympathetic portraiture

Of contemporary life, which we love to associate with Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham, the author of Ramachandra Vijayam, or the ability to effect a silent reform by gentle raillery, which is so prominent a feature of the writings of P. Lakshmi Narasimha Rao. Viresalingam was so much of a puritan that he refused to see the picturesqueness or the delicate grace of contemporary Telugu life. His vision was intense, but it was narrow. Like Martin Luther, he destroyed something that was beautiful along with much that was ugly. But who can blame the fiery reformer and noble philanthropist, who carried on a valiant fight for social justice, and whose predominant trait was a burning sense of social wrong? His was an uphill task, and circumstanced as he was, he felt that sledge-hammer blows were more effective than ‘sweet reasonableness’. He was essentially a fighter, and he gave and received hard blows. But the causes which he championed have gained general acceptance, and if to-day, we no longer hold up our hands in pious horror at the thought of the re-marriage of virgin widows, nor treat the question of women's education as open to debate, nor openly support the institution of Devadasis, the credit must be given to the self-less labours of heroic soul.

Being a very diligent student of English literature, Viresalingam set himself to enrich his mother-tongue with new and varied forms of literary expression. He was pioneer in literary biography and criticism, in the drama and novel, in scientific and political essays, in popular literature for women and children, in vernacular journalism and pamphleteering. He was a most copious writer, and for full twenty years, the Telugu country was flooded by his writings in prose and verse. He was the first among the writers that commanded an extensive sale for their publications and thus were placed above the necessity of pandering to the tastes of aristocratic patrons.

Rajasekhara Charitra, his novel of Telugu social life, was modelled on Goldsmith's, The Vicar, but he owed to Goldsmith little more than the bare conception - a simple-minded and devout householder, well-nigh overwhelmed by misfortunes, and in the end getting clear of them all by virtue of his innate goodness. It is the first, even as it is indisputably the best, social novel in the language. One sometimes regrets that later writers, with a few notable exceptions, should have neglected contemporary life, and gone a-begging for their themes to distant Rajaputana, or contented themselves with translating Bengali novels of doubtful merit into a Telugu style, which is a crude mixture of Bengali, Sanskrit, and Telugu. The freshness and the charm that Viresalingam's social novels possess seem to be memories of a by gone age.

Viresalingam's contribution to literary criticism and biography consisted of his Lives of the Telugu Poets. The work was the outcome of patient research spread over a number of years. He was at great pains to collect palmyra manuscripts from all quarters, and to publish the more important of them with brief literary notices. It is sometimes urged that his Lives of the Poets is a mere collection of biographical sketches, with precious little of real literary criticism. But Viresalingam was anxious to prepare the ground for future workers in the field, and he devoted his attention to determining the date, habitation, and incidents in the careers of literary men, and preparing a frame-work of Telugu literary history. This is an essential, though by no means the higher, function of literary criticism, and later writers have expressed their thankfulness toViresalingam’s pioneer work, even where they differed from his conclusions. The Lives of the Poets, has created an abiding love for Telugu literature in the hearts of the Andhras.

He translated Kalidasa's Sakuntala, Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and a few other plays into Telugu. He also wrote a number of original Telugu dramas, the most popular of them being Harischandra. But his talents as a dramatist found free-play in his longer farces - the Brhamha Vivaha and Vyavahara Dharma Bodhini. In the former he holds up to ridicule the pernicious custom of marrying young girls to old men for the sake of the latter's wealth.

The latter is a tirade on the evil practices obtaining in the law-courts. He was always at his best in showing up the corruption rampant in public and private life. He was a terror to evil-doers and bribe-takers. People in and about Rajamahendravaram are able to identify the more important of the characters in his farces, but even apart from such identifications, his productions, have a perennial interest, because they caricature Telugu society in an epoch of transition and we love them even though we may not be privileged to know in actual life the persons whom he has immortalised.

We do not propose to weary the reader with a narration of all that he did to enrich Telugu literature by coining a scientific terminology, and by making scientific knowledge available in easy popular Telugu. Enough has been said to make it clear that, as in social reform, so in literary expression Viresalingam was a pioneer. The present generation of Andhras has been fed upon the ideas which he struggled to make popular. We think his thoughts, we dream his dreams, and even without being conscious of it, we employ the turns of phrase and the literary expressions that were his. He was not a gifted poet; he was not a great dramatist; he was lacking in imagination and in breadth of vision. But by sheer force of personality, by an ardent love for the mother-tongue and a desire to modernise and enrich it with all that was noble in the culture of the West, and above all, by the exquisite charm of a new prose style he turned to a variety of purposes (the last of them being his autobiography), he stands out as the greatest literateur of the nineteenth century in Andhra Desa. No memorial has been raised to him, but we might say that with him, even as with the great architect of St. Paul's, you have only to 'look round,' and modern Andhra Desa is his memorial.