The Mahaabhaaratham has been translated into all the principal languages of India . Besides, several folk versions with many sourceless additions are also popular throughout the country .
Of all the translations ,the Telugu ( Thelugu) translation is considered the best . The Telugu translation was first undertaken around 1000 by Nannaya , who is considered to be the first poet ( though there were some written sources of poems before him , there is no source of a poetic composition before him ) in Telugu . Nannaya translated only the first two books and a part of the third book . Then around 1250, another great poet Thikkana successfully attempted to complete the task , but he did not touch the third book which remained unfinished till around 1350 . Then, another able poet Errana finished the third book and made the Telugu feel proud of a complete translation of the Mahaabhaaratham . Errana also translated the Harivamsham , which is considered to be the appendix of Mahaabhaarataham . Thus, we were given the comprehensive translation of the epic including the appendix, by the efforts of three able poets who lived in three different times over a span of three hundred years .
The Telugu translation was helpful to the scholars in deciding the correct text of the Samskritham text too . No doubt , the Telugu translators sculpted out a nice statute from the stone of the Samskritham source .