bAla krishna  
lIlAshuka bilvamangala
virachita
shrI kRiShNa karNAmRitam
...an euphony on krishna










shrI kRiShNa karNAmRitam
- is NOTHING to someone who cannot bask in the glories of childhood, toddlerhood or boyhood of any prodigy, whether it is krishna or christ - for a child is NOTHING but a god.
shrI kRiShNa karNAmRitam
This song is a madhura kAvyam - a yummy among Sanskrit poems,
 composed by poet bilvamangala turned into a saint named lIlAshuka, where lIla means frolicsome; shuka means a parrot. If the glory of krishna is a sprig of flowers, this poet-saint is a frolicking parrot flitting round that sprig, always agog at the fructification of that sprig and eager to eat it, the minute it is fructified.

Telugu literati have voluminously proved this poet to be a Telugu poet, resident of shrIkAkulam on the riverbanks of krishna. Some say that he belonged to a place called mukkutalai, originally mukti-sthalam, in kerala, which Telugu pundits refute by saying that lIlAshuka, 11 A.D., has covered a vast area of south India when Andhra, karnATaka and mahArASTra states were one province. Prof. S.K. Dey, krishnadAs kavirAj and other professors also said that this poet belongs to Andhra.

shrI chaitanya discovered this work in Andhra on the last day of his visit to Andhra and assigned copying work to a dozen copyists, instructing them to copy it overnight. They could copy only first chapter in that night; later, on his returning to vanga province, he found it to be incomplete, and then mahaprabhu sent disciples to Andhra to fetch a complete copy of this work. So goes the legend.

Prof. tangirAla venkaTa subbarao has a detailed dissertation on this poet in his publication of this book shrI kRiShNa karNAmRitam, which Telugu translation he assigned to a pundit of his acquaintance, namely shivashrii mallampalli sharabhayya, and published thru m/s Vishalandhra Bok House. There is another publication of surabhArati sAmskRika granthamAla, translated by Prof. B. Ramaraju, Dean of Arts, Osmania University, including the verses of velagapUDi vengaya amAtya, earliest known translator of this work transposing Sanskrit verses into classical Telugu verses.

There is a Telugu translation of this work, as early as in 1910, by one brahmashrii kArmanchi subbharAyalu nAyani. This is available online through Digital Library of India. This is comprehensive and though classical, it is in communicative Telugu.

One recent Telugu work is the cyclopedic work of late brahmashrI pAtUri sItArAmAnjaneyulu gAru, a publication of Tagore Publications. This contains a lot of info about the birthplace of the poet, showing evidence from rock edicts, temple-wall-scribings, findings of archeologists etc. This contains whole lot of bibliography, c.fs of Vedic purports, and what not.

 

This lIlkA-shuka is not just a poet but a grammarian, philosopher [vedAnti]. He wrote a commentary called puruShAkAraH on a grammar work called daivm, a treatise on pANini's aSThAdhyAyi, authored by a 12 A.D. grammarian called devaH. lIlAshuka also wrote a commentary on bhoja deva's kaNThAbharaNam, another grammar treatise. Prof. TVS Rao notes and cites some other works of this poet as:

1] tribhuvana; 2] karkoTaka stuti; 3] rAmachandra stuti; 4] abhava stuti; 5] krishna stuti; 6] vishvAdhika stuti; 7] sumangala stotram; 8] krishna charitam; 9] krishna bAla kriiDa; 10] abhinava kaustubha mAla; 11] krama diipika; 12] shankjara hRidayAngaNam; 13] bRindAvana stuti [ rAsa krIDa extolled in verses]; 14] kAla vadha [ story of mArkanDeya as told by krishna to gopika-s]; and 15] shrI krishNa karNAmRitam.

 

So far, only the following webpages have spotted to contain this shrI krishNa karNAmRitam, that too without easy locating facilty.

1] NIITAIVEDA > All Scriptures By Acharyas > Bilvamangala Thakura > Krishna Karnamrita

 

2] AHOBILAVALLI GRANTHA  MAALAA , pdf file from Ahobilavalli Series,Sri Leela Sukar's KrishNa KarNamrutam, translated by Dr.Smt.Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D

 

3]   At kundeshwari.com > rAgAnuga sweet texts  - Translated from the original by Madhumati dasi. Here, they are posting groups of verses, inclusive of matter drwan from different comentaris etc, in their sweetblogs.

 

Itrans encoding is taken from gauDIya grantha mandira, amended to suit Telugu recension. Variations in wording, names of metres etc are also amended as far as possible, but needs a through checkup, at a later time. grantha mandira notes at the end of their text that gauDIya-vaiShNavAcAryA-s could not ascribe some verses found here and there to this poet. Those verses are either avialable in this Telugu version, or have been 'nominally' cited in books like haribhakti rasAmRita sindhu of rUpa goswAmi, a publication of achyuta grantha mAla, vAraNAsi, or shown otherwise as belonging to this poet. These are  as elucidated by late brahmashrI pAtUri sItArAmAnjaneyulu gAru. Let us attempt those details as and when needed.

 

Anyway, let us take up these bickers and biographies at a later time, when this present attempt breaths some life; first let us proceed with text proper, presented yathA shakti...

pramAdo api dhImatAm

 

 

giirvaaNi shrI kRiShNa karNAmRitam - ch 1
shrI kRiShNa karNAmRitam - ch 2
shrI kRiShNa karNAmRitam - ch 3

 

 

desiraju hanumanta rao, Dec 08 / April 09

desirajuhrao at yahoo.com