Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
poet and writer.Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 23 He is considered to be one of the trailblazers in the native ''shatpadi'' (hexa-metre, six line verse) and '' sangatya'' (composition meant to be sung to the accompaniment of musical instrument) metric tradition that was popularised in Kannada literature during the rule of the
Vijayanagara empire
The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...
in modern
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. His most famous writing is the story of the Jain prince Bharata and is called the ''Bharatesha Vaibhava'' (or ''Bharatesvara Charite''). Known to be a troubled and restless person, tradition has it that Ratnakaravarni converted from his religion
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...
to Veerashaivism when a less-meritorious poet superseded him. During this brief time, he wrote the ''Basavapurana'', a biography of the 12th century social reformer
Basavanna
Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chal ...
. Later, he returned to the Jain religion and penned classics in the ''shataka'' metre (string of 100 verses).Shiva Prakash (1997), p. 210 His contributions to Kannada literature are considered trend setting.
Life and works
Ratnakaravarni of
Mudabidri
Moodabidri ( kn, ಮೂಡುಬಿದಿರೆ ''Mūḍubidire''; also called Mudbidri, Moodbidre and Bedra), is a town and taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. It lies 34 km northeast of the district headquarters, Mangalore, in Karna ...
(c. 1557) was a court poet under the patronage of Bhairasa Wodeyar at
Karkala
''Karkala'' also known as Karla in Tulu language, is a town and the headquarters of Karkala taluk in the Udupi district of Karnataka, India. Located about 60 km from Mangalore in the Tulu Nadu region of the state,it lies near the foothill ...
, modern coastal Karnataka, and is famous for successfully integrating an element of worldly pleasure into asceticism and for treating the topic of erotics with discretion in a religious epic, his ''magnum opus'', the ''Bharatesha Vaibhava''.Nagaraj in Pollock (2003), p. 373 One of the most popular poets of Kannada literature, his writings took to a fine line between the royal court and conservative monastery. His writings were popular across religions and sects for their secular appeal. In fact, an early 19th-century writing recognises him as an authority on erotics and the science of pleasure, rather than a poet with a spiritual bent.Nagaraj in Pollock (2003), pp. 374–375, 377 A radical and sensitive poet, he once claimed that spiritual meditation "was boring". Tradition has it that Ratnakaravarni converted to Veerashaivism when his ''magnum opus'' was initially scorned at (after a poet called Ravikirthi objected to a few verses in it) only to return to the Jain fold and pen other important writings.Nagaraj in Pollock (2003), p. 376 Written in epic proportions, the ''Bharatesha Vaibhava'' is in eighty
canto
The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry.
Etymology and equivalent terms
The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from the ...
s and runs into 10,000 verses. His other important writings are the 2,000 spiritual songs called ''Annagalapada'' ("Songs of the Brothers") and three ''shatakas'': the ''Ratnakara sataka'', the ''Aparajitesvara shataka'', a discourse on Jain morals, renunciation and philosophy and the ''Trilokya shataka'', an account of the universe as seen by Jains, consisting of heaven, hell and the intermediate worlds .Mukherjee (1999), p. 328Rice E.P. (1921), p. 47
Magnum opus
''Bharatesha Vaibhava'' is a version of the earlier ''Poorvapurana'' by
Jinasena
Jinasena (c. 9th century CE) was a monk and scholar in the ''Digambara'' tradition of Jainism. He was patronized by the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha I. He was the author of ''Adipurana'' and '' Mahapurana''.Adipurana'' written by Adikavi Pampa in c.941. Centered on the glorification of the enlightened Bharata, the son of the first Jain Tirthankar
Adinatha
Rishabhanatha, also ( sa, ऋषभदेव), Rishabhadeva, or Ikshvaku is the first (Supreme preacher) of Jainism and establisher of Ikshvaku dynasty. He was the first of twenty-four teachers in the present half-cycle of time in Jain ...
, Ratnakaravarni cleverly focusses on those aspects that the original by Pampa ignored.Shiva Prakash (1997), p. 211 Ratnakaravarni goes into minute details about prince Bharata, who according to the author serves as the ideal balance between detachment (''yoga'') and attachment (''bhoga''). Though married to "96,000 women", Bharata is depicted as one who at once can separate himself from worldly pleasures. Unlike Pampa who focussed on the conflict between the brothers,
Bahubali
Bahubali (), a much revered figure among Jains, was the son of Rishabadeva (the first ''tirthankara'' of Jainism) and the brother of Bharata Chakravartin. He is said to have meditated motionless for a year in a standing posture (''kayotsarg ...
and Bharata, ending with Bahubali's asceticism and Bharata's humiliation, Ratnakaravarni's eulogy of Bharata leaves room only for Bahubali's evolution towards sainthood. Eventually, Bharata attains ''
moksha
''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriologic ...
'' by burning himself in ascetic fire. The author showers encomium on Bharata in his various roles as a monarch, husband, son, friend and a devotee, a rare description of a "perfect human being" among Jain writings. Since details of the early life of Bharata as a young ruler did not exist in previous writings or in tradition, much of Ratnakaravarni's vivid description of that period was a product of his imagination. This work finds its pride of place in Kannada's epic poetry for being the lengthiest poem in the folk ''sangatya'' metre.Sahitya Akademi (1987), pp. 453–454