Vishnu, lord of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth,
father of Brahma on his spotless lotus seat,
the holiest in the world, generous protector of saintly
people like Sanaka,
the inspiration for the sweet and novel
narrative of the killing of the demon king Ravana:
Viranarayana of Gadugu, may you protect us all.

He who is always with his devotees,
serpent-adorned, at whose feet gods’ crowns are laid,
who is noble, unequaled, with a radiant eye on
his forehead,
who cleanses the sins of his pure-hearted devotees,
who clothes himself in elephant and tiger skins:
may he, Shiva, husband of Parvati, protect his devotees.

He whose head sparkles with precious gems,
whose face shines like moonbeam clusters,
whose vermillion-marked forehead boasts a playful lock
of hair,
whose face is like that of an elephant,
who holds a noose in one palm and sweetmeats in
the other:
may he, Ganapati, ward off every obstacle.

Goddess of autumnal freshness, seated on a lotus,
born of all precepts and principles, inspirer of speech
and writing; bestower of success in scriptures, ancient
lore, and doctrines;
grantor of unequaled expertise to Vishnu,
to Indra, king of gods, to all sages and scholars:
Sharada, dance on my tongue with rapture and love.

Viranarayana alone is the poet, Kumaravyasa
is only the scribe. The listeners
are wise and godlike humans moving among us like
the sage Sanaka.
This is not just a fanciful, charming poem;
it is beyond formal intellectual discussion.
Learned scholars, listen to my words with
single-minded attention.

I will narrate the story of Krishna in such a way
that all intelligent people on earth will admire it.
I will narrate the fifth Veda so that Krishna will be pleased.
The fifth Veda, in the form of the Bharata, is the water
to cleanse the heaped-up sins of many births,
and preeminent of all the holy scriptures put together.

Excerpted with permission from The Kannada Mahabharata, Volume 1, Kumaravyasa, translated by CN Ramachandran and Narayan Hegde, Murty Classical Library of India.