Bammera Pothana (1450-1510) was a Telugu poet, best known for his translation of the Bhagavatam from Sanskrit. His book is popularly called as Pothana Bhagavatham in Telugu. Pothana was a telugu and sanskrit pandit. He was born into a Niyogi Brahmin family in Bammera, a village twenty miles away from Warangal, Andhra Pradesh. His father was Kesanna and his mother Lakshmamma. There is a popular myth that he was related to Srinatha, another famous Telugu poet. He was considered to be a natural Poet (Sahaja Kavi), needing no teacher. Pothana was known to be very polite and was an agriculturist by occupation. Though he was a great scholar, he never hesitated to work in the agricultural fields.At an early age he wrote Bhogini Dandakam a poem wrote in praise of king Sri Singa Bhoopala’s concubine Bhogini. This was his first poetic venture which had the seeds of his great poetic talents. Bhogini Dandakam is the earliest available Dhandaka (rhapsody which uses the same gana or foot all through) in Telugu.[1] His second work was Virabhadhra Vijayamu which describes the adventures of Lord Virabhadhra, son of Lord Shiva. The main theme was the destruction of a yagna performed in absence of Lord Shiva by Daksha Prajapathi.
As a young man, he was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Later, Pothana became a devotee of Lord Rama and more interested in salvation. His conversion from Shaivism to Vaishnavism was triggered by an incident. One early morning during a lunar eclipse, on the banks of river Godavari, Pothana was meditating on Lord Shiva. At that auspicious moment, Lord Rama appeared dressed like a king and requested Pothana to translate Bhagavatam into Telugu and dedicate it to Him. This inspired him to translate Vyasa’s Sanskrit Bhagavatam into Telugu.
The Padma Nayaka king of Warangal, Sarvajana Singha Bhoopaala , wanted Pothana to dedicate ‘Andhra Maha Bhagavatamu’ to him. The king himself is a scholar and wrote many works including Rasdrnavasudhdkara a well known Sanskrit drama. But, Pothana refused to obey the king’s orders and dedicated the Bhagavathamu to Lord Rama, whom he worshiped with great devotion. It is said that Pothana remarked, ‘It is better to dedicate the work to the supreme Lord Vishnu than dedicate it to the mortal kings.’ He was of opinion that poetry was a divine gift and it should be utilized for salvation by devoting it to the God.
He was quite fond of using rhythm and repetition of sounds giving a majestic grace to the style of writing. He was very skillful in using alankaras (figures of speech) like similes and metaphors. Potana imparted the knowledge of the divine to the Telugu people along with lessons in ethics and politics through Andhra Maha Bhagavatamu. He lived for sixty years.
Even illiterate Telugus readily quote verses from chapters 'Gajendra Mokshamu' and 'Prahlada Charitra of his work, ‘Andhra Maha Bhagavathamu,’ the crown jewel of Telugu literature. Telugu people are greatly indebted to the most beloved poet Bammera Potana.
