telugu velugu
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guRRam ja'shuva
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jananm bamde napoorvavaiKarulatO, samgiita sa'hitya mam
Dana ! nii telgumiTa'ri cennapuri viiTan gajjemrOyimcucun
danuvuppomga bura'ta na'mdhra viBavOdya'namburEketta, mO
hana ga'nambula na'lapimpagadavayya' ! a'mdhra yOdaha'graNii !
okana'Da'mdhruni katti Sa'trava balavyooha'lapai raktana'
Takamun salpuTa vismarimpakumu, ga'Dhambaina pa'Sca'tya SO
Baku nii vippuDu lOBivaitivi, pradiiptambaina nii pra~na ma'
raka pOniika samuddarimpu konu ma'mdhra' ! viira yOdha'graNii !
bOLa'va'Davuga'na niidu viBavambun satkaLa' marmamul
ja'la'Ba'gamu kolla beTTitivi nii Sa'stra prapamcambulO
mEnellan gabaLimcina'ru paraBoomiSa'graNul, nETikin
bOlEdEmiyu diddukommu balagambun sviiya vi~na'namun.
talikOTa yuddha'na naLiya ra'muni valla
pridilipOyinadi nii viiradaTTi
ma'yana'yakura'li ma'ra'muDula cEta
Samiyimce nii ba'lacamdrarEKa
buddhima'lina cinni porapa'Tukatanamuna
vitamayye nii komDaviiTi paTima
utsa'hayutamaina yuDukunetturu lEka
pra'ptimpalEdu ra'shTra dhvajambu.
paruvu doolina nii yana'daraNa katana
mETi nii Ba'sha polimEra da'TalEdu
parula vi~na'namunaku sambaramu paDaka
kaDagi yottumu nii viira ka'haLambu
* ciina' pegODa'la sigamiidi pushpamai
poDame niiRa'ti cekkaDapu ceNuku
arava pa'Takula tamburaku pra'NamuvOsi
kulike nii cinna'ri teluguba'Ni
himavadirulada'ka jRumBimci pagava'ni
tarimi venna'De nii kaRakuTalugu
mogalu ra'jula saBa' BoomulanoorEge
nii jaganna'dha pamDituni paluku
emdu joocina nii yaSasvamdanamulu
naDacipOyina ja'Da lappuDunu galavu
diktaTambula yalara nettimpavOyi
telugu manniila pasuvu niggula pata'ka.
telugum gEsarul maharshulunu ga'mdhii Sa'mti sEna'patul
galara'mdhrapramuKul tvadiiyulu Bujaskamdhambu nadimtru nii
alaGa SrEyamuliinamOcinavi ra'shTra'rdhambu yatnimci nii
balamumgomciya ma'kaLimcukonara' ! praKya'ta viira'mdhruDa' !
---guRRam ja'shuva
KamDaka'vyam, 1956
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Look at one stanza in the above poem identified by an astrik.
Jashuva proudly declares the heritage of Andhra Desa in a sublime poetic
style here. There is no scientific balance avialble even till today
to weigh the stylistic elegance in Jashuva's poetry. His words of devotion
towards Telugu Talli came out right from the depth of his heart. What an
ardent patriot Jashuva was !
One of his works called "gabbilam" (the bat) is a remarkeable one till
today and widely acclaimed as a masterpiece of Jashuva's penmanship.
It appears from the essays written on Jashuva by literary critics that
Jashuva loved his "gabbilam" more than he did for his other works.
gabbilam has close resemblances with Kalidasa's mEGasamdESam and even
Jashuva admitted the fact that he chose mEGasamdESam as a model to write
gabbilam. According to Arudra, yaksha only suffered for one year from the
curse, but in gabbilam, the hero suffered from the curse not only in the
current life but in the previous lives. That curse is untouchability.
The hero in Jashuva's gabbilam had gone to such an extent, he remained as a
bachelor to make sure that he would not be blessed with children who would
inherit this curse - the untouchability. That hero had a sleepless night
one day and found this gabbilam from the nearby Siva Temple who
visited him. He wanted to use this gabbilam as a mediator who would
narrate his sufferings to Lord Siva. Look below in one such poetic cry:
dharmamunaku biRiki tana mennaDunu lEdu
satyava'kyamunaku ja'vu lEdu
veRavanEla niiku viSvana'dhuni mrOla
sRushTikarta ta'nu sRushTi viivu.
(Justice is never timid. Truth never dies.)
He requested his bat friend in the following manner to carry this message
to Lord Siva:
a'layambuna niivu vrEla'DuvELa
Sivuni cevi niiku gomta cEruvuga' numDu
mouni Kagara'~ni ! pooja'ri lEni vELa
vinnavimpumu na'du jiivita caritra.
Siva temples are gloomy in side and offer a safe abode for bats. (Side
track : If you ever visited Sri Mukalingam on Vamsadhara banks, you can see
several scores of Siva Temples in one town. Literally you can not go into
many temples as hundreds of bats live there hanging upside down onto the
roofs of blck granite rock. The bats sit on the Siva lingam, urinate and
defecate on the diety.) Jashuva says in the above poem "Oh! My dear bat
friend! You can go into the temple and you can go close to the ears of
Lord Siva. While the priest is away, please wishper my sufferings as I
told you in Lord Siva's ears." Different literary critics interpreted this
in different ways. According to Arudra, eventhough God grants the wish the
priest will not let the wish come true (dEmuDu varamiccina' pooja'ri
varamiyyaDu) and therefore the hero in Jashuva's gabbilam requested his
gabbilam friend to enter the temple while priest was away. But I feel that
since the hero was untouchable, he was not allowed to enter the temple.
The only way he could get his message conveyed to Lord Siva was through his
bat friend. Just examine the tragic irony of fate of this hero in
Jashuva's gabbilam! The animal (bat), who defecates and urinates on the
very idol (lingam), and hangs upside down on the roof top above the lingam,
is allowed to dwell in the temple. But, a fellow human being like this
hero in gabbilam, was kicked out of the society by being branded as
untouchable and was told that he was untouchable as his past karma dictated
his fate. Any way, Jashuva's gabbilam is a keep-sake and should be read by
the Telugu poetry lovers.
Prof. S. Gangappa of the Telugu Dept., Nagarjuna University (a highly
acclaimed literary critic) says that Jashuva's style of poetry writing is
exemplary and splendid and in this he was gifted. Jashuva's siisa padya'lu
will remind us of Sriina'dha's siisa padya'lu (Gangappa, 1993). One can
come across emotional outcries, patriotic devotions, sublime descriptions,
gentle requests in his poetry. Not to anybody's surprise, one can also
enjoy the nectar of compassion (karuNa rasa) in some of his poems. For
example in Jashuva's tEnepaTTu, the nectar of compassion overflows and
moves the readers' hearts:
Ori! dura'tma' ! biDDalu
lEra' ! okkimta karuNalEda' ? mammun
nOreruganaTTi nisugula
ga'rimcuTa niiku vEDuka'? daushTyamba' !
The above poem clearly depicts how a strong fellow tortures a weekling.
Jashuva cared for his fellow beings - the poor who struggle for a square
meals a day. In the following poem he says:
pooDuna' kooTi kalla'Du pEdalaDokka
muppooTa laBimatambuluPalimpa
naDucuna'dharmambu na'lgupa'damulatO
kulatatvamula ga'likumTulEka
Jashuva strongly felt that one should relinquish selfishness in order to
have a society that is not fragmented by narrow domestic walls such as
castes, haves, and havenots.
Going back to Gabbilam one more time, Jashuva brought out the religious
mockery, blind belief, and corruption in his poems. Jashuva reminded the
readers one more time how the people with power forget humanity and
love and treat others like slime molds:
padavula piiTalekki yanuva'ramu lamcapu ba'Di baRRelam
bidigigaDimci ka'rmikula pEdala cemmaTadecci ka'nkali
ccedaru parOpajiivulu, vicitrapu Baktulu vEshadha'rlu nii
kedurai vaccirE veladi niiceyi sa'cakumammu pakshiNii !
Look at the resemblances between the above poem and some of those written
by Sri Sri. This is certainly revolutionary poetry. Jashuva wrote this
after witnessing the rich and powerful and those so-called pious people
(who are self-dramatizing exhibitionists who often put a religious
disguise) during his times; but certainly this is the same case today too.
It seems certain things never change! If one says "People have changed and
times have changed", my reply to that is "Times do change but people are
people and people never change."
There are three powerful human sections in this society -
(1) kala va'Du
(2) tella va'Du (This scheme is according to my friend Tumuluri Prasad).
(3) maga va'Du
These three sections of human society always rule the society and set the
gorund rules. This maga va'Du, the male, dominates over the female and
tortures the female in many instances. This is universal. Even in the
most civilized countries and boastingly well-advanced nations, the female
has its own place. That will never change. Jashuva witnessed the
sufferings of women and wrote this out of love for the women world:
purushul nirmiticEyu sa'mGika maha'Bootambu pengOralam
dirikimpabaDi dushTaBartala kRupa'hiina pravRuttul hRudam
taramun RampapukOtagOyu nijahatya' nEramul cEyusum
darula nnii veTulooraDimtuvo maha'tma' ! prEmava'ra'nnidhii
(Jashuva - krottalOkamu)
The society built by males is like a monstrous devil. It is
male-dominated. The ground rules set by the males in society are like
gigantic fangs. Women are entangled in those venomous and gigantic fangs,
and can not withstand the cruelties that husbands subject them to, and
finally commit suicides. He is begging the almighty how to save and
relieve those poor women from such ghastly acts done by the male society
and husbands.
Jashuva's poetry oozes out his own life and sufferings and also is a
mirror reflecting the lives of socially downtrodden several. His poetry,
unlike the regular mirror, will show the images of people with right and
left sides unaltered.
Great soul Gurram Jashuva! My salutations to him.
----pa'lana
REFERENCES:
1) Arudra (1991) : samagra a'mdhra sa'hityam
2) N. Gangappa (1993) : sa'hitya'nuSiilana
3) Gurram Jashuva : gabbilam
4) Gurram Jashuva : KamDa ka'vyamulu (parts 1-5)
5) Hemalata Lavanam : Svati Issues
6) Lavanam : Personal Discussions at the 10th TANA conventions, 1995
7) Notes form High School Days
8) Discussions with Mr. Tumuluri Prasad - A Telugu poet in Columbus, OH
9) Discourse on Jashuva by Medasani Mohan at Columbus, Ohio (1995)
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POSTED TO NURTURE TELUGU CULTURE AND LITERATURE IN THE NORTH AMERICA.
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PALANA
CAS
COLUMBUS
OH
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above are not those of the CAS.
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