Who is the omni-present and the omni-potent of all Whose lotus like naval gave birth to all-creating Brahma By whose protective power all universes remain in calm That all powerful God, Mukunda, I always praise and pray!
kalanāTi dhanamu lakkara galanāTiki dācha kamalagarbhuni vaSamā? nelanaDimi nāTi vennela alavaDubē gāde bōya amavasa nisikin? (A ‘chāTu poem’ said by Allasāni Peddana)
కం. కలనాటి ధనము లక్కర గల నాటికి దాచ కమలగర్భుని వశమా? నెల నడిమి నాటి వెన్నెల అలవడునే గాదె బోయ అమవస నిసికిన్? (అల్లసాని పెద్దనదిగా ప్రసిద్ధమైన చాటుపద్యం)
Would it be possible even to the Lotus-born Brahma to keep The wealth of blessed day for the needs of later days upkeep? Would the middle-of-month’s moon-light that shines bright Be possible to hide in a granary for use on the darkest night?
This is one of the most popular ‘ChaTu’ poems in Telugu literature. The poem was said by Allasani Peddana who was considered the greatest of the eight great poets ‘ashTa diggajamulu’ (Eight great poets who are comparable to the eight celestial elephants which bear the wight of the earth staying on eight directions) who adorned the royal court of Srikrishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagar dynasty. Tenali Ramakrishna, who was popular as a great witty poet ‘vikaTakavi’ was also one of them. He found fault in the word ‘amavasa nisi’ which was placed there denoting the word ‘amavasya’ (the darkest of the dark nights) in the last line of the poem. On hearing this poem recited by Allasani Peddana, it was said that Tenali Ramakrishna immediate recited the following poem highlighting the fault and ridiculing Allasani Peddana in his own inimitable style.
క. ఎమి తిని సెపితివి కపితము బ్రమపడి వెరి పుచ్చకాయ వడి దిని సెపితో ఉమెతః కయ తిని సెపితో అమవసనిసి అన్న మాట అలసని పెదనా!
What did you eat and said the word ‘amavasanisi’ In this poem you alasani pedana! Had you hastily Eaten a raw bitter cucumber and said the poem Or had you eaten the raw thorn-apple and said!
The main ridicule Tenali Ramakrishna made was regarding the word ‘amavasa nisi’ – since the word ‘amavaSya’ itself means the darkest night, there is no need for placing the word ‘nisi’ which means darkness again after the word ‘amavaSya’ which became redundant and considered not an intelligent way or flawless way of writing poetry. The ridicule also included in the words he purposely placed such as ‘alasani’ pedana (for the correct word ‘Allasani’ Peddana) etc.
As a child with wet-soil makes and destroys Playfully oxen and buffalo, so the Almighty God Creates and then annihilates all living things And non-living, that is true, not to be doubted.
చిన్న పిల్లవాడు మట్టితో ఎద్దు మొదలగు బొమ్మలను చేసి, చెరిపేసి, అదే ఆటగా ఆడుకుంటాడో, అలాగే పరమాత్మ కూడా సకలచరాచర సృష్టి తానే చేస్తాడు, మళ్ళీ తానే చెరిపేస్తాడు. అది నిజం! అందులో సందేహించవలసింది లేదు!
Senses allowed to behave freely bring upon sorrows uncountable; When in full control they give calmness; Man has to protect his inner-self from the bad effects of the senses that are thought of as a batch of thieves.
As a shining lamp brightens up and shows Thing near it in good light, the glowing light Of a person’s relentless study frees his senses And mind from disorders and makes him bright.
వెలిగే దీపం ఎలాగైతే పక్కనే ఉన్న వస్తువులను తన వెలుగులో ప్రకాశవంతం చేసి చూపిస్తుందో, అలాగే నిరంత రంగా జ్ఞానసమపార్జనంలో మునిగిన మనసు అనవసరమైన విషయాల జోలికి పోకుండా చేసి అన్ని బాధల నుండి, రుగ్మతల నుండి కాపాడుతుంది – అని భావం.
Not much explanation is needed to understand the meaning of this poem. As a light shining in a room shows all the articles in good light, a mind filled with good knowledge and wisdom would save the person from all disorders and makes him look bright.
Forgiveness, non-violence, truthfulness, observance Of equality, control over senses, renouncing comforts Are qualities of a person immersed in spiritual meditation; These would finally become reasons for gaining salvation.
క్షమాగుణం కలిగి ఉండడం, హింసాప్రవృత్తికి దూరంగా ఉండడం, ఎల్లప్పుడూ నిజమునే మాట్లాడడం, పేద గొప్ప అనే అంతరం చూపక సమభావంతో ప్రవర్తించడం, ఇంద్రియాలను అదుపులో పెట్టుకోవడం, త్యాగబుద్ధిని కలిగి ఉండడం…వీటినే తపోధనుల ముఖ్యమైన లక్షణాలుగా చెబుతారు. ఈ లక్షణాలన్నీ పుణ్యలోకాలకు మార్గాలుగా కూడా చెప్పబడ్డాయి.
The part left out untranslated by Nannaya Bhattaraka (i.e., more than half of the 4th Canto, 5th and 6th Cantos full) in the AraNya Parvamu of Andhra Mahabharatamu was translated by the poet ErrapragaDa. The above poem was taken from the 6th Canto of the AraNya parvamu.
In simple and easily understandable words, the poem specifies the important qualities required to be possessed by any good human being. Those qualities are forgiveness, not harming any living being, always to be in favour of speaking truth, to see and treat all human beings equally, to have a good control over one’s own senses which are always tempting to go off the right path, renouncing the worldly comforts.
The person who succeeds in possessing these qualities would become more than a good human being. He would, in fact, be treated as a person having Godly qualities and would be revered by all.
Works done without making undue hastening With proper planning and good understanding Would always lead to full success, O dearking! Such a person secures fulfilment reassuring!
‘Slow and steady wins the race’ – is the popular dictum. There is no use in hurrying things that are to be done, without having proper idea and planning worked out well in advance. The above poem has brought out the same simple rule of success in a poem in the Santi parvam of Andhra Mahabharatam composed by Tikkana mahakavi.
While getting into achieving something desired, a person should not make haste and face the probability of failure. Instead, he/she should think about the way of getting things done and plan it correctly in consultation with the elders and then get himself onto the task of achieving it with the full knowledge and blessing of his/her elders. Such endeavours seldom fail. They more often than not give good results.
ముందు వెనుక చూసుకోకుండా, తొందరపడి చేసే పనిలో సుఖం దక్కదు. దాని కంటె కొంత ఆలశ్యమైనా అన్ని విధాలా ఆలోచించి చేసిన పని మంచి ఫలితాలను ఇస్తుంది కాబట్టి ఆ పద్ధతిని అనుసరించడమే మంచిది అని భీష్ముడు ధర్మరాజుతో చెప్పిన మాటలు పై పద్యం భావం.
A person who always stays on the path of knowledge Never gets hindered nor suffer any sort of misfortune; It’s always the one who is lacking in true knowledge That gets entangled in unworthy deeds and bemoan.
Elders always thought that the most virtuous of all deeds that can be performed by a human being is the hardships he undergoes for acquiring the knowledge of the highest kind which in Indian languages is known as ‘jnanamu’ – the knowledge that encompasses the material, philosophical and the spiritual aspects of things understandable by the human mind. They opine that a person who is totally immersed in acquiring such knowledge and always stays on that path would never face any obstacles in his endeavour nor he would get stuck by any unforeseen evil occurrences. Contrary to this, the deeds of a person who is engulfed in worldly pleasures, whose main aim is to obtain worldly pleasures would always get himself entangled in his trails of doing unwise things and would always suffer.
To the immoral persons who harm the pious And the poor men without remorse in heart Whether it is fit to be done to those or not, Would occur unforeseen fears and miseries.
ఈ పని చేయదగినది, ఇది చేయదగనిది అని మనసులో ఒక్క క్షణమైనా ఆలోచించకుండా, ఒకింతైనా విచక్షణా జ్ఞానం లేకుండా సాధువర్తనులైన వారికి, పేదవారికి పనిగట్టుకుని కష్టాలను కలిగించే నీతి లేని మనుషులకు, కారణం తెలియకుండానే వచ్చే ఊహించని ఆపదలనుంచి కష్టాలు సంభవిస్తాయి.
The story relevant to the above poem is as under:
After Dharmaraja relinquished the throne, the young King Parikshit, who was the only son of Abhimanyu and Uttara, bacame king and took reigns of the vast kingdom. After him, his son Janamejaya became the king.
Janamejaya was once performing, for obtaining ever lasting better living for the people in his kingdom, a grand Yagna that continued for many days. During one of the days, while the performance of the ritual as per Vedic methods was in progress, a small puppy named Sāramēya, the son of Sarama – a celestial dog, unknowingly came roaming into the vicinity of the sacred place of the ritual.
On seeing the puppy roaming in the sacred vicinity of the Yagna, the three younger brothers of the king Janmejaya – named Satrusena, Bhimasena and Ugrasena – beat the little puppy Sāramēya hard. After getting beaten by the three brothers of Janamejaya, the little puppy went crying to its mother and told her about the beating it had taken.
Sarama got very much pained and angry at the merciless attitude of the three brothers of Janamejaya. She immediately went to the king Janamejaya, accompanied by the little puppy and said to him “Oh king Janamejaya! Have a look at the condition of my little son. With out taking any pity on this little creature, your brothers who seem to be having no prudent mind, beat my little son mercilessly. Persons who act without first thinking even a moment whether their action is fit to be done or not, would be subjected by fate to unexpected and unforeseen fears and misfortunes!”
After saying those hard words, Sarama, along with its little son, disappeared, as the king Janamejaya kept on looking at it, in utter amazement.
Apes doing the deeds required and beneficial on their own, Floating of big boulders thrown into the water of the sea, Men waging war and winning over the monsters; RavaNa Thought unnatural but did not see in all the magic of Srirama.
Writing poetry, at times, appears is nothing more than thinking differently and presenting the idea differently. When a good idea strikes the imagination of the poet, the poet tries to present the idea couched in the finest of words possible at the earliest juncture possible. The above poem taken from the work Srimaduttara RamayaNamu, written by KaMkaMTi Paparaju is a good example for one such instance.
In the above poem, the poet says that the king of Asuras, RavaNa was thinking amazingly about the astonishingly disciplined hard work done by the apes, the unthinkable occurrence of big boulders thrown into the water of ocean floating so that they could be arranged in the form of a long bridge for the apes to travel on it and reach Lanka, the unthinkable dare of the human beings waging war on the powerful Asuras with a view to secure win over them – all these appeared to RavaNa as too unnatural but he could not see in all of them the divine influence and the power of Lord Srirama.
‘సీతాన్వేషణ’ అనే బృహత్కార్యంలో – అప్పటికి యేది ఉచితమైనదో ఊహించి ఆ కార్యాన్ని సాధించడానికి వానరములు పూనుకోవడం, సముద్రంపై వారధి నిర్మించే క్రమంలో పెద్ద పెద్ద బండరాళ్ళు వేస్తే అవి నీటిపై తేలడం, రాక్షసుల పేరు వింటేనే భయంతో వణికిపోయే నరులు రాక్షసులపైనే పోరుకు సిద్ధపడి యుద్ధంలో గెలవాలనుకోవడం…ఇవన్నీ రావణునికి విపరీతాలుగా అనిపించాయి కాని, శ్రీరాముడి ప్రభావంతోనే ఇవి సాధ్యమైనాయన్న అసలు సంగతి మాత్రం ఎంతకూ రావణుడి గ్రహింపుకు రాలేదు అన్నది పై పద్యంలో భావం.
TELUGU LITERATURE 
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