Yerrapragada

This is aTelugu name;the family name isYerrana or Yerrapragada.

This article is about the Telugu author. For the Mesopotamian goddess, seeNayana.

Yerrapragada Yerrana
Born	Erranna Yerrana
Occupation	Poet, writer
Period	Reddi Kingdom(1325–1353)
Genre	Poet
Notable works	Andhra Mahabharatam

YarrapragadaorErrannawas aTelugupoet in the court of KingProlaya Vema Reddy(1325–1353). The surname of Erranna wasYerrapragadaorYerrana,which are epithets of the fair-skinnedLord Skandain theTelugu language,but became attached to his paternal family due its having notable members with fair or red-skinned complexions. He was honoured with the titlePrabandha-paramēśvara( "Master of historical anecdotes" ) andŚambhudāsuḍu( "Servant of Lord Śiva" ).

Birth and Ancestors

Errapragada Erranna was born in the village ofGudlur,located in Pakanadu (presently [Nellore district]]), and lived in Chadalawada, Nellore district. He belonged to the Śrīvatsa-gotra and Āpastamba-sūtra of theNiyogī Brahma-bandhucaste. His father was Errapragada Suranna and mother was Errapragada Potamma. His grandfather was Errapragada Errapotanna whose name was given to him and his grandmother was Errapragada Peramma. His great-grandparents were Errapragada Bolanna and Errapragada Polamma and his great-great-grandfather was Errapragada Bhimanna. His family followed the Smārta tradition of theVedic religion.Although Erranna was a devotee of LordŚiva,he also worshipped theSupreme Personality of Godhead.

Contributions

TheSanskritMahabharatawas translated intoTeluguover a period of several centuries (from the 11th to 14th centuries CE). Erranna was one of thekavitrayam( "Trinity of Poets" ) who rendered theMahabharatamfrom Sanskrit into Telugu. The other two poets wereNannayaandTikkanaof theAndhra Mahabharatam( "Andhra Mahabharat" ). Tikkana translated the remaining books starting from the 4th, leaving the third book titled theAranya Parvamu( "Book of the Forest" ) half-finished, for Erranna to complete.Tikkanadid not touch this part because it was considered to be inauspicious to translate this book, which was left half-finished byNannaya.Erranna started the remaining half of theAranya Parvamuwith the style of Nannaya and ended it with the style of Tikkana as a bridge between the parts translated by Nannaya and Tikkana. Just like Nannaya and Tikkanna, he used halfSanskritand halfTeluguin his Telugu translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata. He translated theHarivamsamuandRamayanamufrom Sanskrit, dedicating both works to the founder of the Reddy Dynasty, King Prolaya Vemareddy.

Nrusimhapuranamuwas his own independent work.Erranna received his inspiration for the Nrusimhapuranam from his grandfather Errapotanna. According to tradition, one day when Erranna was meditating, his grandfather appeared and advised him to write theNarisimhapuranamu.This work was based on theBrahmandapuranamuand theVishnupuranamu.

According to theViṣṇu Purāṇa,King Hiraṇyakaśipu was the powerful demonic sovereign of the Earth millions of year ago at the beginning of theYuga Cycle.The subjects of the Earth were described asManavas( "descendants of Manu"; "humans" ). The subjects of King Indra were described asDevatas.King Hiraṇyakaśipu fought a war with KingIndraand, having emerged victorious, took over the heavenly planets. Under the rule of King Hiraṇyakaśipu, most of the Devatas either "converted to" or disguised themselves as Manavas for the fear of King Hiraṇyakaśipu. Another contemporary of King Hiraṇyakaśipu was also gate keeper of Śvetadvīpa, the Vaikuṇṭha planet in this universe, in a previous life, Śrī-hari who ruled in theKṣīra-sāgara(the "Sea of Milk" ).

See also

• Reddy dynasty
• Telugu literature
• Kavitrayam