Fonds SC44 - A Partial Translation of the Prabhu Linga Leelai

2 bound volumes handwritten

The custodial history for this item is unknown.

The source of acquisition is unknown.

Translations of Sections 5 and 8 of the Prabhu Linga Leelai named as the 'Prabhu Linga Lila' within the volumes. The translations are contained within bound volumes, the one containing section 8 has 'Brown's P.L. Lila' embossed on the spine. The translator states at the beginning of each volume 'Began reading 22nd April 1839, Began Translation 5th June 1839'. The translation is in prose rather than the verse form of the original though the verses are numbered within the margins. The volume containing section 5 also contains 'Notes on Prabhu Lingua Lila Section 3'.

"Prabhu Linga Leelai" is a 15th-century Lingayata work, written in Kannada, by Chamarasa. The poet had a dream in which Virabhadra, the son of Siva, asked him to write a long poem on the Lingayata saints of the 12th century. Chamarasa subsequently composed the entire Prabhulinga Leelai in eleven days. The book is based on the life and spiritual experiences of Allama Prabhu, a 12th century Virasaiva saint and teacher. The poet presented his poem to the court of his king Deva Raya II. This Kannada work was translated into Tamil verse by Sivaprakasa Swamigal, a Virasaiva poet and scholar, in the seventeenth century.

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• English

This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2023.