Kaviraja Madhava Kandali (circa. 14th century) was an Indian poet from the state of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. He is one of the renowned poets pertaining to the Pre- Shankara era. His Saptakanda Ramayana is considered the earliest translation of the

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

into an Indo-Aryan language, Assamese. This work was carried out by the poet as early as the 14th Century. Another significant work of his is the narrative poem ''Devajit'', which is about superiority of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

over the other

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

s of

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

. Kandali's

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

was the Barāha King Mahamanikya (mid 14th century) whose kingdom was located in the Kapili valley. Kabiraja Madhava Kandali was said to be inhabitant of Lanka of Undivided Nagaon.

Literary works

Saptakanda Ramayana

Madhava Kandali is credited with the task of translating ‘

Valmiki Valmiki (; , ) was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic ''Ramayana'', based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poe ...

’s ''

'' into the

Assamese language Assamese () or Asamiya ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a ''lingua franca'' in parts of Northeast India."Axomiya is the major langu ...

as early as the 14th century. The Assamese version of Ramayana conceptualized by Madhava Kandali is the first of its kind among all the regional languages of North and

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

. Although Madhava Kandali has written that “Saptakanda Ramayana podebandhi nibandhilo lambha parihari sarodhrite”, yet the “Adikanda” (first) and the “Uttarakanda” (last) cantos of his “Saptakanda” (seven cantos) Ramayana are not found. Therefore, in accordance with the advice of Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva, Mahapurush Madhavdev wrote “Adikanda” and Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva, wrote the “Uttarakanda” in order to compensate the lost cantos and thus completed the epic consisting of “Sapta Kanda” or seven cantos. Madhava Kandali has not translated the “Shlokas” (a couplet of Sanskrit verse) of valmiki Ramayana as it is. He instead abandoned some unnecessary verse narratives and long descriptive passages. He has written the Assamese Ramayana in a lucid and rhythmic pattern thus catering to the needs of the common Assamese people.He has also provided explanations for his inclusion of non-valmiki elements while composing the epic. Srimanta Shankardeva designated him as ''Purva Kobi Apramadi'' (''Peerless Bard of the Eastern Region''). Moreover, Madhab Kandali is often acclaimed to be the “ Kalidas of Assam”.

Devajit

Madhava Kandali is also credited to be the composer of another poetical work ''‘Devajit’'' where he portrays Lord Krishna as the greatest incarnation (avatar) of Lord Bishnu.

Musical instruments

He lists several instruments in his ''"Ramayana"'', such as mardala(a type of wooden Mridanga), khumuchi, bhemachi, dagar, gratal, ramtal, tabal, jhajhar, jinjiri, bheri mahari,

tokari The Tokari ( Assamese: টোকাৰী) is a stringed instrument played with the fingertips. The Tokari is the most widely used and popular stringed instruments in different parts of Assam. It is an ancient folk instrument of Assam. The instrum ...

, dosari, kendara,

dotara The ''dotara'' or ''dotar'' ( ''dütüra'', দোতৰা ''dütora'', ; ''dotora''), (literally, “Of r ‘having’two strings”) is a two- stringed, plucked musical instrument from South Asia, with most contemporary models having four ...

, vina, bīn, vipanchi, etc. (meaning that these instruments existed since his time in 14th century or earlier).Suresh Kant Sharma and Usha Sharma, 2005
Discovery of North-East India
Page 288.

References

Sources

* Goswami, Indira (1996). Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra. B.R. Pub. Corp. ISBN 81-7018-858-X * Kandali, Madhava.Saptakanda Ramayana, (in Assamese). Banalata. * Sarma, Satyendranath. (1976). Assamese literature. Harrassowitz. ISBN 3447017368.

Bibliography

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kandali, Madhava Translators of the Ramayana 14th-century Indian poets Assamese-language poets Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Indian male poets Poets from Assam