Two Measures of Bhakti

Late medieval poems from Kerala that still resonate in every Malayali s heart touchstones of faith in Kerala. Puntanam s Jnana-paana may claim to be the first original modern poem in Malayalam; simple and innocent, it still speaks directly to the reader. Melpattur s Narayaniyam is the last great hurrah of classical Sanskrit in India; the poem excerpted here, majestic in its humility, describes a vision of the Lord. With his elegant verse translations, Vijay Nambisan brings these poems to a new audience. Also translated is a poem by Mahakavi Vallathol which relates the story of Melpattur and Puntanam s meeting and how the Sanskritist scorned the vernacular poet. In his incisive Translator s Apology , Nambisan explores the dynamics of Malayali culture; places its literature in context; studies matters of prosody; and questions the attitude of an elitist language to a regional one.