A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s4.20

c19.s4.20

Krishnadeva Rāya’s Āmuktamālyada or Viṣṇucittīya, one of the five great Kāvyas in Telugu, is among the first fruits of the new movement; it also marks the beginning of the influence of Vaishnavism on Telugu literature. It deals with the life of the ālvār Viṣṇucitta (Periyālvār), his exposition of Vaishnava philosophy and the love between his foster-daughter Godā and God Ranganātha. The style is involved and complex, the similes are sometimes far-fetched, but all the same the effect achieved is majestic and sublime. ‘There is hardly a book in Telugu where there is such a continued flow of ideas, seeking an impetuous outlet in language which, though rich, is yet scarcely equal to the task of full and adequate expression. For insight into human nature, and for facility in depicting elusive moods by some striking phrase, Krishnadeva Rāya has no superior, and scarcely an equal.’ He was the author of a number of Sanskrit works also.