Odia Books

Narayanadasa was born in 1735.He mainly known for his “Khandikia Harivamsha(1762)”. “Achutananda (16th century)” before him had composed an Oriya version of ‘Harivamsha’ in seven books. Narayanadas composed another version in a single book and hence the epithet ‘khandikia’ which means ‘single’. Narayandasa happens to be the predecessor of Pitambaradasa who mentions in his Narasimha purana that he himself was Narayanadasa on a previous birth.

Khandikia Harivamsha is in the form of a discourse between Shukla and Parikshita in the line of the
Bhagavata-purana. The lila (pastimes) of Krishna and the Vaishnava philosophy are the main themes of
Khandikia Harivamsha. The poet also narrates the controversial episode relating to the cremation of Krishna’s mortal remains after his death. It is stated that the Pandavas set Krishna’s body on the burning
pyre, but it did not burn. A heavenly voice ordered that the body be thrown into the sea.The body floated on the sea and reached the seashore of Puri where it was transformed into a log of wood. From this log of wood the present image of the deity, Jagannath, was carved.

The poet thus shows that Krishna and Jagannath are same At the same time he mentions Jagannath as Buddha and says that Jagannath existed before the creation of the universe. The poet was conversant with the whole of the Yajurveda, and was a profound scholar in Sanskrit literature though out of humility he tells us that he was illiterate.

Khandikia Harivamsha
Achutananda