Translations of Ramayana led to controversies, says scholar

The Voleti family has reprinted the ‘Sundarakanda’ and released it on the occasion of Srirama Navami.

Members of Voleti family releasing ‘Sundarakanda’ at their residence at Gandhi Nagar in Kakinada. Photo: Special Arrangement.

Those who translated Valmiki Ramayana into different languages had interpreted the epic in their own way and it led to a series of controversies over the essence of Ramayana, according to scholar and president of ‘Aaswadana’ literary organisation Gottumukkala Venkata Satya Narasimha Sastry.

The Ramayana was translated into Telugu by Venkata Parvateesa Kavulu way back in 1943 with financial support from the Raja of Pithapuram. The ‘Sundarakanda’ was incomplete owing to the sudden death of Voleti Parvateesam of the duo. His son Voleti Achyutha Ramachandra Murthy completed the work.

Making the centenary of the late Achyutha Ramachandra Murthy, the Voleti family here has reprinted the ‘Sundarakanda’ and released it on the occasion of Srirama Navami festival. A function was arranged at Voleti House at Gandhinagar, in which all the family members of Voleti Parvateesa Kavi participated.

‘Close to the Valmiki Ramayana’

Reviewing the book, Mr. Narasimha Sastry said that the translation made by Venkata Parvateeswara Kavulu was pretty close to the Valmiki Ramayana and there was hardly any scope for misinterpretations.

“Over 400 translations of the epic Ramayana are available all over the world in different languages. Those who cannot afford to read the original work are depending on the translations and going by the interpretations. There is no scope for any complaints against the epic, if the reader can go through either the Valmiki Ramayana or this translation,” he explained.

Simple Telugu

Mr. Narasimha Sastry said that simple but beautiful Telugu was used by the late Venkata Parvateeswara Kavulu and the late Achyutha Ramachandra Murthy to translate the epic, so that it could be enjoyed by both the scholars and the common men as well. “One can see the influence of poet Potana and poetess Molla in this work,” he observed.

Mr Akondi Suryanarayana Murthy presided over the function in which Mr U. Venkata Rao and Mr K. Gowri Naidu recalled their association with the late Achyutha Ramachandra Murthy and wished the family could reprint the remaining three parts of the Telugu Ramayana very soon.