The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t9.8

v2.c15.s3.t9.8

The *Bhāskara-Rāmāyaṇam* is not a translation of the great Sanskrit epic of Vālmīki but is a free and independent rendering of the story of Rāma in the Telugu language. The authors of the work no doubt followed Vālmīki’s narrative closely, but they retold it in their own fashion without lifting any passages directly from his poem. The style of the poem is of course not uniform, since it varies with the change of author from *kāṇḍa* to *kāṇḍa*, but it is dignified and majestic throughout, eminently in keeping with the epic grandeur of its theme. From a literary and artistic standpoint, the *Araṇya-kāṇḍa* of Bhāskara is considered by competent critics to be the best. The style is severe and terse; the language is simple and direct, and is free from long Sanskrit compounds, and from excessive ornamentation; the flow of the verse is natural and spontaneous, and the narrative proceeds smoothly unclogged by superfluous descriptions. Mallikārjunabhaṭṭa’s style is more Sanskritic and ornate. He is at his best in the *Kiṣkindha-* and the *Sundara-kāṇḍas*. Huḷakki Bhāskara’s style is vigorous and dignified; the flow of his verse is spontaneous; his narrative is direct and the description of battle-scenes is spirited and well suited to the theme. Ayyalārya’s poetry bears close resemblance to that of Huḷakki Bhāskara whose unfinished *Yuddha-kāṇḍa* he completed. He seems to have made a deliberate attempt to imitate the style of his predecessor, so as to produce the impression that the whole *kāṇḍa* was the composition of a single writer. In this he was eminently successful. Ayyalārya was indeed a great poet. The fact that he was able to compose more than half of the *Yuddha-kāṇḍa* (1,556 out of 2,690 verses) in a manner quite indistinguishable from that of Huḷakki Bhāskara bears ample testimony to his lofty poetical genius. Though several *Padya-Rāmāyaṇas*, both adaptations as well as literal translations of Vālmīki’s great poem, have been written during the succeeding centuries, yet none can approach in grandeur, artistic perfection, and literary excellence the *Bhāskara-Rāmāyaṇam*, which justly retains to this day its position as one of the great classics of the Telugu language.