Author Archives: Swedesna Sahoo

Sarala Das is the great epic poet of odisha, was a contemparary of famous odia emperor Kapilendra
Deva (1436-1466). He was born Kanakabalipur or Kanakpur Patna, near Jhankad, in the Cuttack district, at a distance of about 60 Km from the present Cuttack city towards the east. He belonged to a farmer’s family. It is said that he lost his parents at an early age and grew up under the care of his elder brother. His real, name was Siddheswar Parida. He assumed the name Sarala Das (‘Das’ meaning a servant as a mark, of respect to Goddess Sarala (the famous deity at Jhankad) under whose blessing, it is said, he was gifted with poetic power.

Sarala Das is generally considered the Father of odia literature, because even though in one form or the other odia literature had been existing earlier for about 300 years, it was mainly in the form of short compositians by Siddha and Natha poets and in proverbs, riddles and bachanas. Sarala Das was the first powerful poet who gave a shape to the language and created the first substantial odia literature. He wrote 3 books – Bichitra Ramayana, Mahabharata (in 18 vols) , and Chandipurana in that sequence by his own admissian, based on three great epics of the Hindus: the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata respectively.

The first one deals with the later part of the Ramayana known as ‘Uttarakanda’, beginning with the banishment of Sita from Ayodhya. It continues the narration till the end of the Ramayana. But for many years the scholars were only vaguely aware of such a work and its many translations in Telugu, and the first definitive edition of Bichitra Ramayana from palm-leaf sources was prepared by Satchidananda Mishra in the seventies and the book was published in 1980. The second work the Mahabharata was the poet’s greatest achievement. It has not only made the poet a household name in odisha, but it has given him status as the greatest odia epic poet.

The book is framed on the original Mahabharata though vastly changed, retold and localized, almost
making it an original work. The first definitive edition of the Mahabharata was prepared in the forties by ArtabaIIav Mohanty and the monumental work was published by the cultural Affairs Department of Government of odisha in the sixties. Recently a part of the Mahabharata was re-edited with corrections and emendations by K.C. Sahoo, and the book was published in 1978. Sahoo has edited Chandi Purana and it was published in 1984. This is otherwise called Debi Bhagavata, and it deals with the killing of Mahisasura by Chandi. Like his Mahabharata this is also heavily localized and it testifies to the popularity of Shakta cult and the worship of Mother Goddess (Devi) thraughout odisha.

Sarala Das borrowed from Sanskrit, but what he ultimately produced were three original books of great artistic merit. This has been particularly the case with the Mahabharata. From one point of view all three were excellent documents of contemporary odisha, not only political, but also social, cultural, and religiaus.That was a time of great glory and pride for the odias as a nation, as well as a time of intrigues and tension. All that has been reflected in Sarala’s works. Secondly, the immense strength of the compact, organic,village-based 15th century odia social life and its highly idiomatic and living, colloquial language, have provided an equal strength and livingness to Sarala’s works, and to his style. In fact Sarala Das created odia language, gave it a shape and defined it for future generations as Chaucer did for English or Dante did for Italian.

Odia Books By Sarala Das

Bichitra Ramayana
Mahabharata
Chandipurana
Vilanka Ramayana
Laxmi Narayana Vachanika