Sumati Satakamu and the Essays of

­‘SUMATI SATAKAMU’ AND THE ESSAYS OF FRANCIS BACON
(A STUDY IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE)

            Sumati Satakmnu is one of the better-­known ‘Satakas’ or Centuries of Verses in Telugu. The form Sataka was popularised, if not initiated, by Bhartruhari in Sanskrit. Like the Sonnet sequence in English and other European languages, Sataka consists of independent verses which together deal with a common subject or theme. A Sataka is a sequence of around hundred verses, often a few more than hundred, presenting reflections or meditations on morals or principles of conduct and behaviour, love and romance or detachment and devotion. Rabindranath Tagore’s rendering of his own Bengali pieces under the title Gitanjali with its one hundred and three verses could be regarded ‘as a magnificent example of a Sataka dealing with devotion. Nrisimha satakamu in Telugu is quite a popular devotional Sataka. Perhaps the best known Sataka in Telugu is that of Yogi Vemana uttering highest truths of life in the most telling verses. Charles Philip Brown who did to Telugu what Kittel did to Kannada or Pope to Tamil has rendered both Sumati and Vemana into English. It is fortunate that the Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Adademi (Academy of Letters) has brought out new editions of the two renderings.

            Sumati Satakamu is a Century of Verses addressed to a man of good sense, rather a person who would aspire to be one. Each verse concludes with the vocative ‘Sumati!’ which means, ‘man of good sense!’ The word Sumati must be related to the term Niti in order to understand the nature and value of the Sataka. Niti is normally taken in the sense of morality or ethical behaviour. Not only are selected verses from the Sataka prescribed for school children hut the whole Sataka is placed, sometimes, in their hands for their edification by well-­meaning parents and teachers without realising that many verses in the Sataka are not meant for them. Niti, among other things, means, according to the popular dictionary of the yester years.

Prudent behaviour, prudent counsel, policy. (Shankaranarayana, P: 438)

It is the Sataka’s concern with prudent behaviour, its offering prudent counsel that reminds one of Francis Bacon’s Essays.

            Sumati Satakamu is a manual of worldly wisdom as Bacon’s Essays are. It will, of course, be a vain endeavour to seek exact parallels between the verses and the essays. It may be noted though, as will be seen in what follows, there are whole passages in the two works which are very dose to each other. The sub-title of this paper,

A Study in Comparative Literature, is meant more to focus the attention of the discerning readers more on the exclusive worldly concern of both the works than on exact parallelism. The great visionary William Blake saw the Essays as counsels for Satan’s kingdom. Even others who are less harsh note their accent on worldly success rather than on the pursuit of values in life. There is at least one verse in Sumati Satakamu frequently prescribed for children which makes one feel that here is a counsel for Satan’s kingdom:

Akkaraku rani chuttam,
            Mrokkina varamini velpu, moharmuna da
            Nekkina parmu gurramu
            Grakkuna viduvanga gadara Sumati!

O man of good sense! You must give up forthwith a kinsman who is of no use, a deity who does not grant you boons (fulfil your wishes) on your prostrating to him and a horse that does not run when you mount it in the battlefield.

According to the poet a kinsman or a deity is like a horse on the battlefield meant only for utility. Relationship for its own sake, love and devotion for their own sakes, have no place in his scheme of life! This is monstrous, truly Satanic. And generations of teachers and parents have taught this verse to innumerable children!.

Bacon and the Telugu poet, we may say, teach us to get, even honour but not to get honest. There is one great differnece between Bacon’s “counsels civil and moral” and the “dharalamaina neetulu” or “the generous principles of conduct” which the [poet says would make your mouth water. The counsels of Bacon are those of a noble an to noble man or princes whereas the principles of conduct taught in the Sataka are those of middleclass man to men of middle class.

            Adigina jitambiyyani
            Midimelapu doran golachi
            midukutaka ten
            vadigala eddula gattuka
            madodunnuka brathaka vaclm madilo Sumati!

O man of good sense! It is better to eke out one’s livelihood tilling the field with swift bullocks than serving a haughty, proud lord who refuses to pay you the salary you ask for, all the time trembling before him.

One verse describing a rich man rises to a high poetic utterance rendering and no justice to the rhythm of the piece:

Adharamu kadaliyu kadalaka
            Maduramuagh bhashaludigi
            manavratadau
            Adhikara roga-puritha
            Badhirandhaka savamu chooda papamu Sumathi!

O man of good sense! it is a sin to look upon fl deaf and blind corpse infected by the disease of Power, who incapable of sweet speech, assumes a silence with lips which appear to move but do not. Sumathi Satakam deals with love, marriage, sex, family, studies, human relationship and several other aspects of life with the same practical sense as Bacon’s though not always with identical views.

Yet there is a verse in Sumriti Satakam, itself an adaptation of a Sanskrit text, which has very close parallel in Bacon:

            Paniceyu nedala dasiyu
            Nrmubhavmuna Rmnbha, mantra yalocanalan,
            tana bhukthiyedala dalliyu
            Nanadagu kulakanta yundanngura Sumati!

O man of good sense, it is possible
to have a housewife who could be a
servant at work, a courtesan that
delights, a minister in counsel and a
mother while she feeds.

Bacon writes in his essays on ‘Marriage and Single Life’,

Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age, old men’s nurses. (Bacon: 60).

The poet speaks of various areas of experience, the essayist the different periods of life.

To Bacon love has no meaning and marriage has its advantages as well as disadvantages. To the author of Sumati Satakam love is equally meaningless for his own reasons.

Like Bacon the Telugu poet equates the relationship between man and woman with that between man and man as friends:

            Ollani sati, Oilani pati,
            Ollani celikani viduva nollani vade
            gollandu kaka, dharalo
            gollandum golladaune gunamuna Sumati!

O man of good sense! He is not a shepherd who looks after sheep. (Shepherd is assumed to be ignorant, incapable of thinking). The true one is he or she who does not want to give up a wife, a husband or a friend who no longer cares for the relationship.

In more than one verse the Telugu poet expresses his inability to believe in a woman’s faith.

            Ledu sumi satula valapu lesamu Sumati!

There is not even a little of women’s love, he says in a verse. Elsewhere he equates a woman’s love with friendship with a serpent in which one cannot trust!

            Komali visvasambunu,
            Pamula toda celimi ..............

He believes that women care for husbands who have money, not others:

            Gadana gala magani jucina
            Nadugulaku madugu liduduru maguvalu tamalo
            Goda nudigina magani jucina
            Sada pinugu vaccenancu naguduru Sumati!

When they see a husband having earnings they express their intense devotion. When they look upon one who has no more they laugh at him as through he were a moving corpse.

Perhaps the fact that there are a large number of verses about prostitutes and their ways reflects the society in which the poet lived. Early in the paper it was pointed out how the Sataka is unfit for children. It is obviously addressed to adolescents who are shown the dangers of life as also its attractions (like art, erudition and noble life) and proper way to live their life. That Bacon also addressses readers of the same age ­group is clear from the subjects he writes upon.

It is not necessary to consider all the verses on the subject of prostitution. One typical verse would serve our purpose. It also happens to be beautiful as a poem.

            Kokkokamella jadivina,
Jakkani Vadaina, Rajachandrundainan,
            Mikkili rokkamuliyyaka
            Chikkadura varakanta siddhamu Sumati!

Whether erudite in the lore of sex or handsome, whether one is a prince of princes one cannot hope to win a courtesan without paying her through the nose.

The Telugu poet, like Bacon, reveals a complete understanding of human nature. That one cannot cast off one’s real nature is presented by the poet in the image of a dog and the essayist in the image of a cat.

            Kanakapu simhasanamuna
            Sunakamu gurdwndabetti subha Ingnamnan
            Danaraga battamu kattina
            Venukatigunamela manu gadara Sumati!

Even if you place a dog on golden throne and at an auspicious moment crown it a King it cannot leave its old nature.

Bacon writes in his Essay “Of Nature in Men”,

...nature will lay buried a great time, and yet revive upon the occasion or temptation. Like as it was with Aesop’s damsel, turned from a cat to a woman: who sat demurely at the board’s end till a mouse ran before her. (Bacon: 6)

The Telugu poet like the English essayist knew also the unexpected way in which riches appear and disappear:

            The poet says,
            Siri da vaccina vaccunu
            Sarasambagu narikela jalamula bhangin,
            Siri da boyina bovunu
            Kari mingina velagapandu kramamuna Sumati!

Riches may come in, if they do, like waters in a coconut or may disappear like the kernel in the wood-­apple swallowed by an elephant, that is, unnoticed. When an elephant swallows the wood apple the shell or the outer cover comes out intact in the excreta but without the kernel in it.

The English Essayist has an equally telling image!

Riches have wings, and sometimes they flyaway of themselves, sometimes they must be set flying to bring in more.

The Telugu poet has also a pithy comment on the wealth amassed by the fool!

            Cimalu pettina puttalu
            Pamulakiruvaina yatlu pamarudu dagan
Hemambu guda bettina
            Bhumisuni palu ieru bhuvilo Sumati!

Mounds of dirt and twigs built by ants (anthills) become the abodes of snakes. Gold amassed by the ignorant becomes the property of the rulers.

We have any number of such pieces of worldly wisdom for which we may not always have parallel in the Essays. Here is an example again concerning riches but in relation with relatives:

            Eppudu sampadda vacchina
            Appudu bandhuvulu vattu radi yetlannan
            Deppaluga cheruvu nindina
            Kappalu padivelu ceru gadara Sumati!

When one gets wealth, relatives flock around him even as when a lake is filled with water ten thousand frogs arrive there.

And yet, it is not only worldly wisdom we find in the Sataka or even in Bacon. The poet says,

Mataku pranamu satyamu

Truth is the life of speech.

Bacon goes a step further,

Certainly, it is heaven upon earth to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth. (Bacon: 229)

Here and there an example of pure morality could be culled from Sumati Satakamu as from Bacon. The following verse is a fine example:

            Upakariki nupakaramu
            Viparitam gadu seya vivarimpanga
            Napakariki nupakaramu
            Nepamennaka  seyuvadu nerpari Sumati!

To do a good turn to one who has been helpful is nothing extraordinary. He knows what is right who helps one who has harmed him without pretence.

It is not only in their attitude to life that the Telugu poet and the English Essayist are similar. Even in their style they have striking similarities. The poet could be aphoristic like Bacon,

            Iccunade vidya, ranamuna
            Joccunade magntanmbu, sukevaswar ualkurn
            Vaccunnde kidu summu vasudhanu Sumati!

Giving is learning, entering the
battlefield is masculinity, what
masterpoets admire is skill, to begin
an argument is evil.

Like Bacon again, he could soar to heights of poetic beauty.

            Kalakanthakanthi kanni
            Relikina ari inta nundanolladu Surmati!

When a sweet-voiced damsel sheds
Her tears, riches do not care to abide
in that abode.

Or sink to the mere matter-of-fact:

            Erukami kasugayala,
            Durukami bandhujanuia, doshati summi,
Parakumi ranamanduna,
            Mirakuni guruvunajana medina Sumati!

Do not gather unripe fruit, do not blame relations is wrong. Do not run away from the battlefield. Do not disobey the command of your Guru / precepto.

He could blend observation and thought:

            Talanunvishamu phanikini
            Velayanga to kanundu vrischikamunakun
            Klwlunaku na vella vishlnamu gadara Sumati!

A serpent has its poison in its heard a scorpion in its tail without the distinction of head or tail, poison flows through the whole body of an evil man.

In content as well as style, therefore, Sumati Satakamu reminds us of Bacon’s Essays.

Referenees cited

1. Sankaranarnyanit, P 1900 Madras.
2. Becon: The Essayas (Sukhamau Chuadhari) 1977, Delhi
3. Text of Sumati Satakamu used for the paper - (Ed.) Ranga Reddy 1975 Cuddapah.