A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s4.7

c19.s4.7

The translation of the *Mahābhārata* was resumed by Tikkana (1220-1300), perhaps the greatest Telugu poet. He was a *niyogi* Brahmin of the court of Manumasiddhi, chief of Nellore and subordinate of Kākatīya Ganapati. The poet's grandfather was a minister and poet, and his father and cousin were renowned warriors. Tikkana himself was a successful courtier and diplomat, and on one occasion he secured Ganapati's aid for Manumasiddhi in regaining his throne. He performed a sacrifice and earned the title Somayāji. He commenced his translation with the *Virāṭa parva*, evidently because he did not wish to start where Nannaya's work had been so unhappily interrupted. Tikkana's translation is complete for the rest of the *Bhārata*. Many legends have grown up about Tikkana's prodigious learning and to account for his unfailing inspiration. His prologue was marked by originality, and it gave currency to certain conventions which have generally been adopted by his successors. He condemned incompetent poets and lavished praise on the true ones; he introduced a dream in which his grandfather delivered to him a message from Harihara-nātha asking that Tikkana's work should be dedicated to him; lastly he put in a hymn of praise with every word ending in the possessive case (*shashṭhyantamulu*). The first and last features are found in Nanne Choda's *Kumārasambhava* also. Tikkana's compact diction and his marvellous capacity for vivid portraiture and characterization earned for him the title Kavi Brahma. Before undertaking the translation of the *Bhārata*, Tikkana composed *Nirvacaṇottara Rāmāyaṇa*, an all-verse work on the story of Rāma after his coronation; for some reason or other he left the last canto of this work to be completed later by another hand.