Biographical Sketches of Dekkan Poets/Nannaya Bhatt
NANNAYA BHATT.
This poet flourished in a very remote period, and was contemporary with Rajah Rajnarindra, king of the Rajamahendry; from his very infancy his mind was turned towards religious duties, and he made very rapid progress in his studies of the sciences, he was very learned in the Vedes, and performed numerous sacrifices. He Wrote a grammar of the Telugu language, and entitled it Andhra Sabda Chintamani and Lakshanasara, in the composition of this work profound, learning and extensive reading is evinced, and Nannaya Bhatt was well qualified to compile a work on philology, as he had carefully studied the treatises written by Brihaspati and Vyasa. This poet also translated two volumes of the Mahabharat into Telugu, in conjunction with Narainbhat, a bramin of the Indra sect, but while employed in translating the third volume, Nannaya unfortunately died, and as no other poet would undertake to complete the translation, a disciple of Nannaya Bahtt named Balasaraswati who was a fellow student with Sarangadhara the son of Raja Rajnaraindra, completed the work after intense labor and application. Nannaya Bhatt it is said, met with a primature death, and although he was a celebrated poet, and his works held in very great estimation throughout the peninsula, yet authentic traditions furnish, but very scanty materials to compile his biography.