Legend has it that the sixteenth-century Telugu poet Nandi Timmana composed Theft of a Tree, or Pārijātāpaharaṇamu, 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 pārijāta, 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. 

Harshita Mruthinti Kamath is Visweswara Rao and Sita Kopakka Associate Professor in Telugu Culture, Literature and History at Emory University. 

Velcheru Narayana Rao is Krishnadevaraya Emeritus Professor of Languages and Cultures of Asia at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.