Potana

Pothana
Pothana statue at Bammera village
Native name	బమ్మెర పోతన
Born	1450 Bammera, Bahmani Sultanate (now in Telangana, India)
Died	1510 (aged 60)
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Indian
Genre	Religion

Pothana (1450–1510) was an Indian Telugu poet best known for his translation of the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit to Telugu. He was a Telugu and Sanskrit Scholar. His work, Andhra Maha Bhagavatamu, is popularly called as Pothana Bhagavatam in Telugu.

Pothana was born at Bammera village, Palakurthy mandal, Warangal district in Telangana state (Currently in Jangaon district in Telangana state). His father was Kesanna and his mother Lakkamma. He was considered to be a natural Poet (Sahaja Kavi), needing no teacher. He was known to be very polite and was an agriculturist by occupation. Though he was a great scholar, he never hesitated to work in the agricultural fields.

At an early age he wrote Bhogini Dhandakam a poem wrote in praise of king Sri Singa Bhoopala’s concubine Bhogini. This was his first poetic venture which had the seeds of his great poetic talents. Bhogini Dhandakam is the earliest available Dhandaka (rhapsody which uses the same gana or foot all through) in Telugu. His second work was Virabhadhra Vijayamu which describes the adventures of Lord Virabhadhra, element of Lord Shiva. The main theme was the destruction of a yagna performed in absence of Lord Shiva by Daksha Prajapathi.

As a young man, he was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Later, Pothana became a devotee of Lord Rama and more interested in salvation. In the view of Pothana there is no difference between Shiva and Vishnu and the same was reflected in his Padyam "ChethuLAranga Shivuni Poojimpadeni Nooru Novvanga hari keerthi salupadeeni dhayanu satyamulonuga thalupadeni kaluganetiki thallula kadupuchetu".One early morning during a lunar eclipse, on the banks of river Godavari, Pothana was meditating on Lord Shiva. At that auspicious moment, Supreme Lord Rama appeared dressed like a king and requested Pothana to translate Bhagavatam into Telugu(Andhramu) and dedicate it to Him. This inspired him to translate Vyasa’s Sanskrit Bhagavatam into Andhra Maha Bhaagavatamu.

The Padma Nayaka king of Rachakonda,(Nalgonda District) Sarvajña Singha Bhoopaala, wanted Pothana to dedicate ‘Andhra Maha Bhagavatam’ to him. The king himself is a scholar and wrote many works including Rudranavasudhakara, a well known Sanskrit drama. But, Pothana refused to obey the king’s orders and dedicated the Bhagavatamu to Lord Rama, whom he worshiped with great devotion. It is said that Pothana remarked, ‘It is better to dedicate the work to the supreme Lord Vishnu than dedicate it to the mortal kings.’ He was of opinion that poetry was a divine gift and it should be utilized for salvation by devoting it to the God. It is known that Pothana was patronized by this king in his early career, Pothana dedicated his first great work to this king, the king himself was a scholar, his contemporary reputation was immense (vide Srinatha's poems). It was common practice for many poets of the time to dedicate their devotional works to God himself and not necessarily to their patron-kings. The poem containing the derision against the "Karanata Kiraata Keechakulu" is a chatuvu (apocryphal) attributed to Pothana with no proof that he actually wrote it. Even if he did, it is unclear who the Karanata villains were, very likely the rulers of Karnaata Samrajyam (the contemporary term for the Vijayanagar empire) who were raiding Rachakonda at the time. The Rachakonda kingdom was under intense turmoil at the time, under attack by the Bahamani's from the west, Karanata (Vijayanagar) empire from the south and the Reddy Rajas from the east. Rachakonda and its king ceased to exist by the mid-15th century, absorbed into the Bahmani kingdom. There is yet another version about his birthplace. He indicated at one stanza that he belonged to 'Ekasila Nagaram',meaning single stone city which is located in Kadapa(YSR) district .A poem of Pothana unwilling to dedicate his works to local kings was inscribed on the pedastal of god Rama's statue in the Kodanda Rama temple.