ఉదయనోదయము/Preface
PREFACE
DR. V. V. L. NARASIMHA RAO, M.A., Ph.D.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh took up for consideration the question of publication of the manuscripts on a variety of subjects keeping in view the cultural heritage of the country from this point of view, Holy Scriptures, literary works 19 poetry and prose, grammar, prosody, and poetics and inscriptions of historical and literary importance were chosen for publication. The Andhra Pradesh Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Institute has already brought out ten publications in Sanskrit, Hindi and English languages. These publications are illustrious of the intentions of the Government. Some rare unpublished works from the treasure of the Urdu, Arabic and Persian sections of this Manuscript Library are also under active consideration for publication.
Of the many rare and invaluable works taken up for printing, the present volume is an excellent poetical work in Telugu entitled 'UDAYANODAYAMU'
Udayaodayamu
"Udayamodayamu' is the eleventh publication in the series of Andhra Pradesh Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Institute. This is a rare unpublished Champu Prabandha of Naran Surana, a poet belonging to the second quarter of the sixteenth century A. D. The word 'Prabandha' is a Synonym for 'Kavya in Sanskrit. In Telugu, it evolved mainly into a champu pabandha which means a descriptive poem with an admixture of prose. During the period of Krishnadevaraya a number of such descriptive poems came out Parijatapaharanamu by Timmana, Manucharitramu by Peddana, Amuktamalyada by Krishnadevaraya and a number of other works composed during the sixteenth century appear in glittering gold in the history of Telugu literature and hence the very age is called the golden age of prabandhas. Udayanodayamu of Narana Surana which has not, so far, seen the light of the day belongs to this age and by virtue of its poetic excellence it occupies its own place in the gallaxy of the great champu prabandhas
Narana Surana
Surana, son of a Niyogi Brahmin couple-Narana and Akkamba—possibly belonged to Cuddapah district. In the colophon of the poem it was made clear that the cream of his poetry was the benevolence of Lord Indreswara. The temple of Indreswara ts in Chintalapotturu, a village in Cuddapah District. Further, the patron of Udayanodayamu—namely Bhaskaramatya—was a resident of Mudivemula or Mudiyam Agraharam, which is in Jammalamadugu Taluk of Cuddapah District. Thus it is seen that the patron and the poet belong to the same district.
The Dedication and date of the work
Available evidence points to the fact that the poet suffered for want of patronage for his work. It was only after the death of the poet, his son, Narana (named after his grandfather) dedicated Udayanodayamu to Bhaskaramatya at the latter's request.
Bhaskaramatya was the counsellor and chieftain of Kondavidu (Guntur District) duly appointed by Bayakara Rama Pradhani. Rama Pradhana was a great counsellor and army chieftain under the Karnataka kings. He was an expert musician and also the author of 'Swaramela Kalanidhi' an authentic work on music. His very title 'Bayakara'[1] reveals that he was a great musician.
Bhaskaramatya, the patron of 'Udayanodayamu' was grateful to Ramayamatya who appointed the former as chieftain of Kondavidu.
The dates of Ramayamatya's inscriptions which range from 1539 to 1556 AD are to some extent helpful in deciding the date of Bhaskaramatya and Narana Surana. Since Udayanodayamu was dedicated to Bhaskaramatya after the death of Surana, Surana must have been alive upto the date a little earlier than 1539 AD. There is no evidence to show that he brought out any of his poetical exercises during the period of Krishnadevaraya. Further, Surana's poetry reveals that he was inspired by poets like Peddana and Timmana.
It may, therefore, be concluded that Surana must have composed his works sometime during the early second quarter of the sixteenth century. Sri Changanti Seshaiah, in his "Andhra Kavitarangini" (Vol IX-P 85) confirms this date.
Vanamali Vilasanu and Udayanodayamu
Vanamali Vilasamu is another champu prabandha written by Narana Surana. It must have been written by him earlier than Udayanodayamu. A paper manuscript of Vanamalivilasamu which has neither introductory nor concluding lines, but contains 446 poems (including prose lines) is now available at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad of Kakinada. The Parishad got it copied from the palm-leaf manuscript available with Sri Manavalli Rama Krishna Kavi sometime during the year 1938 (?) Sri Manavalli Kavi comments that although this work is only a maiden attempt (Balakavitvamu) of the young poet, Surana, it reveals good taste and poetic spirit. The work was dedicated to one Kondum Akkaya, a chieftan whose antecedents are yet to be unearthed.
The content of Vanamalivilasamu is the love story of Sri Krishna (Vanamali) and the famous Princesses — Rukmini and Mitravinda who were eager to marry him. Since the poem is incomplete, it is to be presumed that the love story of Si Krishna concerning a few more Princesses also might have continued. From the point of view of poetic craftsmanship, the poem can be said to be an early exercise of the poet who was preparing himself for the masterly work, namely 'Udayanodayamu'.
“Udayanodayamu is the story of Vatsaraja, popularly known as Udayana. The story was so popular that Kalidasa in his Meghasandesa (1-31) made a mention that in Avantidesa there used to be aged county story-tellers who specialised the story of Udayana. Poet Bhasa, anearlier playwright who was a fore-runner of Kalidasa had chosen the story of Udayana as the source material for his famous plays, 'Swapna Vasavadatta' and 'Pratujnayaugandharayana'. Gunadhya's Brhatkatha supplied material for many such famous works. Narana Surana is the only poet who rendered the story of Udayana into a champu prabhanda in Telugu (the fifth canto which appears to be the last is incomplete). He followed Somadeva's Kathasaritsagara in which the second lambaka (a substitute for chapter) contains the story of Udayana's birth and has marriage with Vasavadatta. The gist of the story is provided separately by Sri N Venkata Rao in the following pages under the caption "The story of Udayana "
According to the assessment of Manavalli Kavi, Udayanodayamu of Surana ranks among those of the best literary works in Telugu.[2] With all has appreciation for the work, he endeavoured to publish it in the year 1912 itself. His efforts, however, did not materialise. But the credit of bringing this Manuscript to public notice for the first time, undoubtedly goes to him.[3] For the last seventy years, men of letters, interested in Telugu classical poetry have been eagerly looking forward to the publication of the full Text of 'Udayanodayamu'. The Eadeavours of Andhra Pradesh Government
Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Institute
The Andhra Pradesh Government Onental Manuscripts Library and Research Institute took up the publication of this work. A detailed editorial review in Telugu on the work of Sarana has been provided by Dr Aruna Kumari of the Andhra University, who entrusted the task of editing this work.
Her impressions about the text and the method of editing chosen by her have duly been recorded in her editorial review in Telugu. The following is the English version:
“In this book there are many poems which are incomplete and hence the thread of narration is broken. Had all these poems been available in accomplished form, the work would have been more appealing and tasteful. Although the mistakes that crept into syllables and alphabets of the script have been, to a large extent, corrected, the missing compound words and lines have not been supplied by me, as I did not venture to do so The readers may, therefore. accept the original text as it is"
True, it is a sound principle of editing provided the health condition of the original script is normal. But when it is so critical that the reader cannot make out the full meaning which the poet intends to convey it may, however, be the duty of the editor to come to then rescue. In such a case, I personally feel, there is nothing wrong if a sincere suitor makes the necessary corrections and supply the omissions But honesty requires that the edno should present what is original and what is supplied in a clear manner. With this principle kept in view, the department of Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Institute ventured to prosecute the editing work with the help of the microfilm copy and paper manuscript copy available in the department and also the paper manuscript copies brought from the Andhra Sahitya Parishad, Kakinada.
The editing work has been accelerated to the extent possible and this critical edition of 'Udayanodayamu' is the result.
The Critical Edition
The crux of the problem of editing this work is that the original palm-leaf manuscript No 356, available in the Tanjore Library is not complete. It contains 104 leaves upto a portion of the fifth Canto. Mistakes are innumerable Scribe's hand is illegible. At some places the leaves are broken and torn out[4] There are a number of blank lies and the reader finds it extremely difficult to make out the meaning of the remaining portion.
This palm-leaf manuscript is the only original text to arrive at a correct reading.
There is of course. another paper manuscript (T3-25 of Andhra Pradesh Government Oriental Manuscipts Library and Research Institute) available is department. This was purchased from Sri N Venkata Rao. Even this is almost a faithful and true replica of the Tanjore palm-leaf manuscript with interpolations over-writing in certain places and a handful of poems missing here and there.
With the help of these two manuscripts a preliminary press copy has been prepared. A major portion of the omissions has been supplied and the blank columns have been duly filled in, just to help the common reader to have a comprehensive idea of the poera, without berg hindered at every stage. I know very well that this is a bold venture on our part, but we are aware that experienced editors like Sri Manavalli did not hesitate to make the necessary corrections and supply omissions in the text.
Further, the condition of original text is such that it is too difficult for the common reader to understand at a number of places. Hence it has become a due necessity to make corrections and supply omissions. But the accepted norms have been followed to do full justice to the author. The following are the norms.
The Norms of Editing
Faithfulness to the original text must be the basic principle of editing. Under any circumstances the poet's version should not be tampered with. The editor's honesty will be ablished only through this principle. At the same time the needs of the reader also should be kept in view. If at all, any correction, are made and omissions supplied, they should be made clear though footnotes etc.
It is really a hazardous task to supply omissions and fill in the blanks. As a matter of fact, no editor has the right to alter even a single syllable of the original text of the poet At the same time the scribe's short-comings also cannot be attributed to the author It is, therefore, necessary to identify the scribe's short-comings and eliminate them. What is original and what is not should clearly be shown Meticulous care has been taken in doing this highly responsible job. The detailed footnotes speak of the faithfulness and honesty with which the critical edition has been prepared.
In this connection, I have to make a mention of one important aspect. After preparing a rough copy of the critical edition, I have brought (on 23-11-1981) the paper manuscript copies of Udayanodayamu and "Vanamalivilasamu' available at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad, Kakmada, for corroboration of the readings, particularly in 'Udayanodayamu'. The A S P Manuscript is a transcript of the Tanjore manuscript copy available with Sri Manavalli (as evident from Sri Kottapalli Surya Rao's note dt 18-10-38 left at the end of the A S P copy) The date on which Sri Manavalli copied the Tanjore Manuscript is not known as it was not recorded in the Tanjore Manuscript Library1 However, the A S P copy, when compared to the microfilm copy of Tanjore Manuscript available in thus department, appears to contain a number of corrections, with a few omissions supplied and blanks filled in Since the A S P copy is a true replica of Manavalli's copy, it is to be presumed that these corrections etc, must have been made by Manavalli Kavi himself And therefore this copy has been very helpful to me for comparing the corrections etc, made by me with those of Manavallı Kavi I am extremely happy that a good number of corrections tally with those of S Manavalli. My job became a little easier in finalising the conection and textual icadings The pre-requisite of an editor, in my opinion, is to have a sympathetic vibration with the poet's heart and then catch his cechiul nerve It is this sincerity and honesty which help the editor to discharge his duties creditably. I humbly say that this is the only reason for the similarities, if any, in some of the corrections etc, made by me and those made by the great veteran manuscript-hunter and scholar-poet, Sri Manavalli. I have pointed out such instances of similarity in the footnotes of the text in detail.
While concluding my prefatory remarks I am reminded of Sri Manavalli's observations made in his introduction to Vol I of Natyasastra p 63 on Abhinavagupta's original reading
The originals are so incorrect that a scholar fiend of me is probably justified in saying that even if Abhinavagupta descended from heaven and saw the Manuscript he would not easily restore his original reaching It is in fact an impenetrable jungle through which a rough path now has been traced
In response to my enquiry, the Administrative Officer of the Tanjore Manuscupts Library, wrote to me in his letter dt 10-11-1981, that as per the records available with them It was one Mr T S Venkatramayyar who copied the palm-leaf manuscript on 11-11-1921
I presume that Manavalli Kavi must have copied the Tanjore palm-leaf manuscript sometime earlier than 1912 as he included Udayanodayamu also in the list of books got ready by him for print even by 1912 (vide introduction by Sri N Venkata Rao to Prabandhamanibhushanamu-- second edition p 39 foot-note)
For about 63 poems of the first canto of 'Udayanodayamu' the A S P pandits prepared two more copies on loose sheets in which a few corrections were made and omissions supplied to the textual readings of Sri Manavalli The propriety of these changes has carefully been examined and to the extent acceptable in this critical edition, they have also been incorporated with clear footnotes The original Tanjore Manuscript of Udayanodayamu may not, however, be an impenetrable jungle. But it is undoubtedly a rough path difficult to walk along. If Surana and his son descend from heaven and see this critical edition, I hope, they will be happy to trace a smooth passage to restore the original reading.
However, the indefatigable and unceasing labours of the department for over a period of our year and a half rendered this critical edition possible and it is upto our enlightened readers to judge the nature of the work
For the convenience of the readers and research scholars a number of appendices have also been provided. The abridged and critical edition of “Vanamalivilasamu" included in these appendices may further help the research scholars to have a clear perspective of the gradual maturity of the poet s mind and heart In fact, Surana was a great scholar in many sastras, partucularly in music, astronomy etc Some of his poems bear testimony to this fact Apart from this his poetic imagery, his fancy and imagination, his coinage of compound words both in Sanskrit and Telugu and above all the felicity of his expression in a novel method will no doubt endear him to good many It is perhaps this novel quality which might have misled Sri Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu to conclude (in his Andhra Kavula Charitra) that Surana was a modorn poet. Sri Manavalli, with all his good humour and subtle wit, exclaimed that it would have been better, had Mr Kandukuri kept quiet even without saying that Surana was a modern poet (Vide Manavalli's article published in Bharati, July 1925)
Sri Manavalli is justified in having a very high esteem and regard for the poet. But crowning him as the greatest among all the Telugu poets and ranking 'Udayanodayamu' as the noblest of all the literary works may be a little over-doing.[5] It is enough if it is regarded as one of the good literary works of the times. But the unusual imaginative faculty of Narana Surana displayed the ough his poetic and strikingly novel imageries makes him stand firmly above the head and shoulders of many a popular poet of the prabandha age. The work is now placed in the hands of the literary adjudicators. It is upto them to decide
An Appreciation and Acknowledgement
The Andhra Pradesh Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Institute has sincerely done its job. A word of appreciation may now be necessary for the responsibilities shared by the staff of the department. Mr Kodavali Satyanarayana, Mi K. Vittal Reddy, Mr S Radhakrishna Sastry, Mr K Rama Sastry and Mr B Sanjiva Reddy have carefully discharged the duties entrusted to them in comparing the manuscript copies with the microfilm copy while making corrections and arriving at proper readings of the text, in correcting the proofs, in preparing the appendices, in making available the relevant portions of Somadeva's Kathasaritsagara and in preparing the typed copies of this critical edition respectively.
It may not be out of place, if I make a mention of the suggestion made by Sri N S Sundareswara Rao in fixing the norms of editing While informing me the availability of the required paper manuscripts he has supplied a few printed books also for my reference in this regard.
The goodwill and courtesy of the draiment of AP Government Archaeology and Museums in lending the paper manuscript copies of "Udavanodayamu" and 'Vanamalivilasamu from the Andhra Sahitya Parishad of Kakinada are hereby acknowledged with thanks.
The department of AP Govt Text Book Press has extended its hearty co-operation in carrying out the heavy corrections at the proof-reading stage The patience shown In this regard, by the staff concerned deserves a special mention.
I am grateful to the Government of Audha Pradesh for the interest evinced by them in developing this department to render its humble service to a worthy cause.
Tanaka, Hyderabad-7 March 1983 V V L Narasimha Ran. DIRECTOR. Andhra Pradesh Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Institute
- ↑ Raghunatha the king of Tanjore, in his 'Sangita Sudha' explains the term 'Bayakara' thus It is a corrupt form of 'Ubhayakara which means "Vaggeyakara'— the composer of both matu (Vak) and dhatu (Giti)— Vide Prakirnakadhyaya of Sangita Sudha.
- ↑ Sri Manavalli's article published in Bharati, July, 1925.
- ↑ See the preface dt 18-6-1911 written by Manavalli Kavi to Prabhandba Manibhushanamu - A collection of poems by old poets in Telugu.
- ↑ Remarks on Udayanodayamu, recorded in the descriptive catalogue of Tanjore Manuscripts Library, edited by P P S Sastry and published by Andhra University 1933 p 29.
- ↑ See Manavalli's article published m Bharati, July 1925.