Translation of Oral Literature

T. Sai Chandra Mouli & B.B. Sarojini

A language and the people are known by the literature they produce. Earlier, culture and language of the people were preserved through oral transmission. Even today the nuances of the language and literature are preserved through oral transmission, not withstanding the rapid strides made in the fields of print media and information technology. This, in turn, offers a penetrating, clinical vision and evaluation of tradition of the languages concerned. The perspectives of the communities in which such literatures blossomed are amplified.

Generally, written form is accorded greater status than oral form. The former is identified with ‘high brow’ or ‘classical’, while the latter is equated with ‘popular’ or ‘folk’ literature. Orally composed and transmitted texts are as old as language itself for thousands of years man communicated orally, not with the stylus or pen.

Ideas of proven, lasting utility have immortalised certain poetic expressions in every language. Oral literature is the material recorded from oral traditions in every age and every language. Earlier, in India, oral literature assumed greater significance over written form. Intellectual acumen was assessed on the basis of one’s ability to memorise and recite at will, leading to the exquisite poetic rhapsodies, mesmerizing masses and at the same time enlisting encomiums from the elite.

These exercises were characterized by spontaneity, wit and verve. Such expressions are still remembered fondly, recited with regard and debated animatedly revealing one’s own respect for the language and linguistic exercises of his community.

With the advent of printing technology, explosion of electronic media and inconceivable impact of information technology, oral literature and oral tradition might have looked marginalized and much forgotten. Persistent efforts of written mode of communication to establish its mark of authenticity and authority also might have made the oral literature look outdated, though not obliterated. It lives in the minds and lives of ordinary people who may not look elitist.

“The legacy of respectability attached to orality in ancient India continued in the literatures of modern Indian languages”. (Bh. Krishna Murthy, 1995).

A good poem is remembered and recited with love. At times it is related to new contexts or used to recreate nostalgiac moments. They circulate in oral tradition. As Vemana, the great Telugu poet declares:

Nikkamaina indra nilamokkati chalu
Taluku beluku rallu tattedela
Chatu padyamokati chalada bhuvilona
Viswadabhi rama vinura vema.

Suffice does one real sapphire
What for a basketful of glittering stones?
Thought over, isn’t one pleasing poem enough
Beloved of the Bounteous, Vema, listen                         1

Such verses are known as ‘chatus’ in Telugu and Sanskrit (meaning: ‘charming utterances’) and ‘tanippatal’ in Tamil (meaning: ‘single stanza’). Great scholars like Veturi Prabhakara Sastry (in Telugu) and M. Raghava Aiyengar (in Tamil) have collected and published anthologies of chatu verses. C.P. Brown; however, was the first to publish them.

The ‘Alankara’ theoreticians recognized chatus as a free standing stanza or a cluster of stanzas; unconnected to a narrative sequence. Many chatus were composed as independent verses. There are some which are anthologized as independent verses, often lifted out of context from a longer narrative poem. These are known as ‘Muktaka chatus’.

Some ‘chatus’ which are circulated orally are remembered poems. These are used in social communications. The chatu defines, expresses and communicates shared knowledge and ideologies among communities.

Some of the chatus are spontaneous, some are inspired. Srinadha, a great Telugu poet, tormented by thirst in the dry Palnadu region addressed Lord Shiva:

sirigala vaniki chellunu
tarunula padiyarevela taga penoladan
tiripemuna kiddarandra
Paramesa Ganga Vidumu Parvati chalun.

A rich god like Krishna can marry
thousands of women,
For a beggar like you, even two is too many.
Siva, let me have Ganga.
Parvati is enough for you.                                              2

(Ganga is river ganges, Siva’s second wife, held in his matted locks. Siva is famous for his form as Bhikshatana murthi, the wandering beggar)

A chatu is remembered, known by heart and recalled where required in social communities. It is an integral part of shared knowledge with strong inter textual connections. The shared chatu verses actually created a public place for literary and cultural discussions. The chatu enjoyed patronage and popularity for some time.

Some chatus are often quoted for the subtle humour as is the following one in Sanskrit:

‘nidra-priyo yah khalu kumbhakarno
hatah samike sa raghuttamena
vaidhavyam paadyata tasya bharya
srotum samayati katha puranam

‘Kumbhakarna loved sleep.
After Rama killed him in battle,
Sleep was widowed.
Since then, she spends her time
at lectures’.                                                                   3

(Kumbhakarna, the demon Ravana’s brother, used to sleep six months a year. Widows often attend religious discourses)

The chatu tradition though looked marginalized, subsequently survived. In the twentieth century also we come across instances of patronage extended to poets with competence to recite chatus. ‘Tirupathi Venkata Kavulu’ are remembered even today for their exquisite poetry.

A. Rama Krisha Rao was librarian in Andhra University for a long time. His chatus are well known and appreciated by all. One day the Principal, Prof. Mahadevan, a geologist, advised Rama Krishna Rao to attend a meeting convened with the Vice-Chancellor to discuss budget for the library. As he was not certain of the venue, Rao went to the Arts College, then to the Geology department and finally to Vice Chancellor’s residence. Failing to find him anywhere, he composed the following verse. Those were the days when the water scarcity problem was acute.
“bhumimida levu, bhugarbhamuna levu
minta levu, visi inta levu,
chachichi poyinavo, sambho mahadeva
etaku povu Rama Krishnaravu”
You are nowhere above ground
nor down below in the deeper strata.
You are not in the V-C’s house,
and you are not in the sky.
Mahadeva, my lord, did you go and die?
If so, where can Rama Krishna Rao go?                        4

Apart from chatus, songs depicting family ties, domestic atmosphere, lullabys and rain songs also enrich oral literature.

It may be stated that oral literature is a part of our day-to-day life. It will be an interesting and admirable task if all the available songs and verses are recorded and translated into a global language like English. Thus, Indian life and culture can be preserved and disseminated.

References

l. K.Srinivasa Sastry & Usha K. Srinivas: Vemana in English verse. Ygadi Publishers, pp. 40, Hyderabad, 2001.
2.V.Narayana Rao & David Shulman: A Poem at the Right Moment, O.U.P, pp114, New Delhi, 1999.
3. Ibid: pp38
4. Ibid: pp198