Economist M.V. Nadkarni translates Kannada vachanas into English and Sanskrit

Mangesh Venkatesh Nadkarni's trilingual edition of vachanas offers unique insight into Karnataka's literary and philosophical heritage.

Vachanas of the Shiva Sharanas of the 11th and 12th centuries are regarded among Karnataka’s greatest contributions to Indian thought and literature. A few scholars have translated them from Kannada into English, but 85-year-old economist and author Mangesh Venkatesh Nadkarni’s trilingual edition of vachanas stands apart because he has translated them into Sanskrit and English.

Prof. Nadkarni, former Vice-Chancellor of Gulbarga University and author of over 40 books and 150 research articles in academic journals, has penned the book Vacanamrtam – Nectar of Sayings, Selected Vacanas of Devotees of Siva (2024), published by Manipal Universal Press.

He noted that the social evils the vachana composers condemned and fought against are yet to be eradicated, making them relevant. “The vachana composers were far ahead of their times,” he said. The original vachanas selected for translation are presented in the Roman script with diacritical marks for the benefit of those who speak Kannada, but cannot read the script.

Besides translating works of Basaveshwara, Allama Prabhu, and Akka Mahadevi, Prof. Nadkarni has selected 34 other vachanakaras, some not so well known even to Kannada readers. He has selected 320 vachanas out of the corpus of 21,788 collected by Kannada writer late M.M. Kalburgi.

Vachanas in Kannada, including those of the post-Basavanna era after the 12th century, can be loosely translated as ‘sayings’, which are poems in free verse, rich in literary value, ethical and philosophical content, and free and bold thinking.

Prof. Nadkarni, who served as a professor at ISEC, Bengaluru, for many years, said, “Had it not been for Basavanna’s visionary and energetic leadership, Veerashaivism would not have gained its present mass base and influence in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.”

The author said Basavanna’s popularity even in his own time was so high that he attracted not only the working class into his movement but also the elite — Vaishnava and Shaiva Brahmins and even the Jains and trading communities. Basavanna found the caste system and ritualism abhorrent, and he disowned his Brahmana origin and embraced Veerashaivism early in his life. Basavanna was proselytising religion and successfully converted many to Lingayatism.