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Showing posts from July 13, 2009


Book: Puntanam and Melpattur: Two measures of Bhakti – English Translations of Jnanapaana and Narayaniyam

The book ‘Puntanam and Melpattur: Two measures of Bhakti’ contains the English translations of the Malayalam Jnanapaana poem by Puntanam and Sanskrit Narayaniyam of Melpattur. The book also contains a small poem by Mahakavi Vallathol. The verse translation in English of the poems is done by Vijay Nambisan. The book is published by Penguin Books India and is part of the Penguim Classics. Jnana Paana by Puntanam and Narayaniyam of Melpattur is considered to be gems of medieval Indian literature. Narayaniyam is a Sanskrit classic and is dedicated Lord Guruvayoorappan (Lord Krishna). It is a condensation of the Bhagavad Purana in 1036 shlokas (stanzas). Jnanapaana is a Malayalam classic and is an important literary work in the Bhakti tradition. Apart from the translations, the book also contains a detailed introduction on these literary gems. The flyer of the book says For four centuries, Jnana-paana and Narayaniyam have been touchstones of faith in Kerala. Pu