• Vemana is immensely popular in the Telugu-speaking regions of India, with his wisdom spread through Sataka and various modes like family, schools, oral cultural forms, and Telugu cinema.
• His influence transcends literacy and reaches common sense in Telugu society, similar to the popularity of Kabir and Tulsi in Hindi-speaking India.
• The essay reflects on Vemana’s thoughts, agony, irony, and humour, illustrating his universal appeal and idealism that transcends time and space.
• Vemana is considered one of the great thinkers in India’s oral tradition. His compositions were initially spontaneous and only later written down on talapatra (palm leaves).
• Authorship authenticity of Vemana’s works is questioned due to oral to written transition, leading to possible tampering and additions by later generations.
• Despite the textual challenges, Vemana’s social and political ideas remain significant. He often criticized social, political, and status quo forces.
• There is ambiguity surrounding Vemana’s life. Reliable evidence comes from literary references within his own compositions.
• Unlike other literary giants, Vemana did not dedicate his work to a king due to his wanderer-mendicant lifestyle.
• Vemana’s works were impromptu, addressing issues of the time and audience, and were celebrated in Rayalaseemaregion, where his ideas spread through mathas.
• Scholars agree that Vemana lived in the 17th century, primarily in the Rayalaseema region, possibly born into a Kapu peasant family, despite beliefs he came from a royal background.
• Vemana’s political and ethical critique reflected a lack of legitimate authority after the decline of Vijayanagara empire and the rise of anarchy in Rayalaseema.
• The 1565 Talikota battle and the fall of the Vijayanagara empire left a power vacuum, leading to internecine conflicts and suffering among the people.
• Post-Vijayanagara, local palegars and vassal chiefs created lawlessness and coercive extractions, causing immense distress to peasants.
• Vemana’s works express the search for an ethical framework and a sense of order in the aftermath of lawlessness and violence in everyday life.

Subalterneity of Vemana

• Vemana’s compositions are popular among the illiterate rural folk, who easily recite them due to their everyday language, oral rendition, and simple common-sense messages.
• Vemana’s popularity can also be attributed to his rejection of hierarchy. Unlike Brahminical poets, he did not position himself as a superior guru but addressed his audience as a fellow seeker of enlightenment.
• His compositions often end with Viswadhabhi Rama vinura Vema, indicating his self-address as a seeker, not a teacher.
• Vemana’s humble attire, consisting of a loin cloth, symbolized his rejection of worldly desires and material possessions, which further endeared him to the masses.
• There is significant imitation of Vemana’s works, and identifying the authentic verses has been a challenge for literary historians.
• Despite Vemana’s widespread popularity among plebian classes during his time, colonial modernity shifted the perception of his work, especially with the rise of caste identity formation in colonial India.
• The emergence of caste movements for self-respect, justice, and equality influenced the reception of Vemana’s works, as his egalitarian messages resonated with the lower castes.
• In the 19th century, British scholars like C.P. Brown and Campbell attempted to collect and distribute Vemana’s compositions, but their efforts faced resistance from Brahmin teachers who objected to his criticism of Brahmins and their practices.
• Brown’s 1829 publication of Vemana’s verses faced a deliberate non-distribution by Brahmin teachers who dominated the traditional literati class.
• Brahmin literati opposed Vemana, dismissing his style and the libertine character of his content. Brown faced criticism, being labeled a Hindu hater.
• Vemana’s works were censored and omitted in government school textbooks in the early 19th century due to his criticism of Brahminism and rituals.
• The situation changed with the non-Brahmin movement and the emergence of an educated class from lower castes, who found Vemana’s ideas aligned with their cause.
• By the late 19th century, Christian missionaries and access to government schools increased Vemana’s appeal among the lower castes.
• A serious academic effort to study Vemana was initiated by C.R. Reddy, Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University, at the turn of the 20th century.