Paper short abstract:

My presentation will focus on several hagiographical accounts written in Telugu and Kannada during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in an effort to understand the relation between a text’s language, its devotional vision, and its reception in its original language and in translation.

Paper long abstract:

The Śivabhakti tradition of the Kannada-speaking regions, known today as "Vīraśaivism" and "Liṅgāyatism," has produced throughout the centuries devotional literature in several languages. In addition to writings in Kannada, which includes the Vacanas, collections of saints stories, and theological tracts, we can also find original literature written in Sanskrit and Telugu that is associated with Kannada Śivabhakti. In this presentation, I shall present two competing accounts about the twelfth-century Kannada saints: the early thirteenth-century Śivaśaraṇara Ragaḷegaḷu, written in Kannada, and the mid-to-late thirteenth-century Basava Purāṇamu, written in Telugu. I will argue that the two texts are different not only in their language and other poetic choices, but also in terms of the authors' understanding of what it means to be a Śiva devotee in their respective milieus. I will then turn to consider the significances of the appearance of the translation of the Telugu Basava Purāṇamu into Kannada in the middle of the fourteenth century, and explain why the original Telugu text was marginal in the history of Telugu literature, its Kannada translation gained an immense popularity in the Kannada devotional audience. Finally, by building on the successful reception of the Kannada translation of the Telugu Basava Purāṇamu among Kannada devotional communities, I will suggest considering a textual translation in premodern South Asia as a literary event that opens up new possibilities in terms of the original text's themes, form, and its potential appeal for new audiences.