Theft of a Tree

Theft of a Tree, by the sixteenth-century poet Nandi Timmana, recounts how Krishna stole the parijata, a wish-granting tree, from the king of the gods. Krishna gifts the tree to his wife Satyabhama—who must temporarily relinquish it to enjoy endless happiness. The text is presented in the Telugu script alongside the first English translation.

A thousand-year-old story of Krishna and his wife Satyabhama retold by the most famous court poet of the Vijayanagara Empire. Legend has it that the sixteenth-century Telugu poet Nandi Timmana composed Theft of a Tree, or Parijatapahara?amu, which he based on a popular millennium-old tale, to help the wife of Krishnadevaraya, king of the south Indian Vijayanagara Empire, win back her husband’s affections. Theft of a Tree recounts how Krishna stole the parijata, a wish-granting tree, from the garden of Indra, king of the gods. Krishna does so to please his favorite wife, Satyabhama, who is upset when he gifts his chief queen a single divine flower. After battling Indra, Krishna plants the tree for Satyabhama—but she must perform a rite temporarily relinquishing it and her husband to enjoy endless happiness. The poem’s narrative unity, which was unprecedented in the literary tradition, prefigures the modern Telugu novel. Theft of a Tree is presented here in the Telugu script alongside the first English translation.