Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c15.s2.7

c15.s2.7

Śrīnātha, who lived in the latter half of the fourteenth century and the first half of the fifteenth, was a poet of exceptional parts and had easy command over both Telugu and Sanskrit. He was the court poet of the Reḍḍis of Koṇḍavīḍu and paid frequent visits to the Vijayanagar court. Even when he was only in his teens he composed the *Maruttarātcaritram*, and the *Śālivāhanasaptati*; and when he grew of age he translated the *Naiṣadham* of Śrī Harṣa and gave it to the world as his magnum opus. This Telugu *Naiṣadham* of Śrīnātha is considered to be a standard work for the Telugu scholar and finds an honourable place among the *pañcamahākāvyas* of the Telugu literature. It is a work of eight cantos containing in all 1337 stanzas. The author says that he has paid ‘due regard to delicate and choice expression and meaning, the far-reaching idea, interest and emotion, figure of speech and aptness to the context, and carefully avoided all errors of inapt or wrong expressions.’ ‘Full of sonorous and sweet *samāsas* the poem has the complicated symphony of an orchestra. Verses full of sibilant sweetness and labial liquidity abound. Descriptions of women are vivid, delicate and artistic. Lines linger in the memory like forgotten music. The book deserves all the praise that has been bestowed on it.’¹⁰⁴ Śrīnātha wrote a large number of other works among which may be mentioned the *Kāśikhaṇḍam* and the *Vīdhināṭakam*. The former is a Śaiva work, and the theme for it is taken from the *Skānda Purāṇa*. Though it is not a regular translation of the Sanskrit work it is a detailed Telugu account of the original. In the *Vīdhināṭakam* Śrīnātha describes women of various communities and incidentally throws a flood of light on the social customs of the age. He attempts in this work an account of the familiar scenes of every day life. The *Harivilāsam* of Śrīnātha is a Śaiva work in seven cantos dealing with Śiva and his doings. For the materials in this work he was indebted to Kālidāsa’s *Kumārasambhava*, Bhāravi’s *Kirātārjunīya* and Bāṇa’s *Kādambarī*. The book was dedicated to Tippaya Śeṭṭi, a millionaire who had large trade relations with foreign countries. The *Śivarātrimāhātmyam* for which the materials were taken from the *Īśanasamhita* of the *Skānda Purāṇa* is yet another of his works. In all his works Śrīnātha created a style for himself which was imitated by later writers. It is said that at the court of Dēva Rāya II he defeated the Gauḍa poet Diṇḍima Bhaṭṭa in a controversy, and hence the bell metal gong (*kañcudhakka*) of the latter was broken and Śrīnātha was dubbed *Kavisārvabhauma* or *Kaviratna* (best among poets).