The Vacanas of Sarvajna

by Basavraj Naikar

The present collection contains the translation of 302 vacanas from the Kannad.a. The utterances chosen here are intended to represent the encyclopedic variety of Sarvajna's themes, though, of course, in brief. The second principle of selection is the translatability of the songs into English. Even here no word-to-word rendering is attempted. The chief aim has been to represent the structure of thought and the pattern of imagery as the case may be. The third principle of selection is the possibility of international appeal. Sarvajna has composed countless songs out of which many may be of only regional interest. But the songs selected for this collection are such as may engage the attention of the wider public even outside of Karna t.aka. The reader, who is interested in knowing more about the poet, may refer to the critical work by the present writer, The Poet Omniscient of Karnataka.The beauty of his colloquial language, which is redolent of the Lingayat dialect of North Karna t.aka, cannot, alas, be reproduced in an alien language.

100 pages, Hardcover

Published January 4, 2013

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