Ratnākara

Ratnākara () was a Sanskrit poet in ancient India. His magnum opus, the '' Haravijaya'', containing 4,351 verses, is the longest extant ''mahākāvya''. His work has been praised in many Sanskrit anthologies and works on rhetorics.

Life

Very little is known about Ratnākara's life. He is referred to as a dependent of Bālabṛhaspati—generally assumed to be an epithet of Cippaṭajayāpīḍa—in the colophons of the ''Haravijayas cantos. In the '' praśasti'' of the ''Haravijaya'' he speaks of himself as the son of Amṛtabhānu, a descendant of Durgadatta from Gangāhrada in the Himalayas. Kalhaṇa's '' Rājataraṅgiṇī'' lists him as one of the poets active at the court of Avantivarman ().

Works

''Haravijaya''

The ''Haravijaya'', described as Ratnākara's magnum opus, is the longest extant Sanskrit ''mahākāvya'', containing a total of 4,351 verses in fifty ''sarga''s (cantos). The poem narrates Śiva's victory over Andhaka and also describes Śiva's iconographic features and gives an exposition of Śaiva philosophy. Peter Pasedach lists three commentaries on the poem: ''Viṣamapadoddyotā'' by Alaka, ''Laghupañcikā'' by Ratnakaṇṭha, and ''Haravijayasāravivaraṇa'' by Utpala. An edition of the work was published in 1890, prepared by Pandit Durgaprasad and Kasinath Pandurang Parab for the Kāvyamālā series. Another edition of the text was prepared by Dr. Goparaju Rama for the Ganganatha Jha Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapitha Text Series and published in two volumes from 1982.
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''Vakroktipañcāśikā''

The ''Vakroktipañcāśikā'', possibly Ratnākara's only other preserved work, contains fifty verses of dialogue between Śiva and Pārvatī, employing the device of ''vakrokti'' ("verbal distortion"); Yigal Bronner and Lawrence McCrea argue that Ratnākara may have invented this poetic device. Vallabhadeva has commented upon the work. An edition of the ''Vakroktipañcāśikā'', by Durgaprasad and Parab, including Vallabhadeva's commentary, was published in Number 1 of the Kāvyamālā Anthology series in 1886.
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Other works

The ''Ratnākarapurāṇa'', attributed to Ratnākara, is a now-lost chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, covering two "gaps" in Kalhaṇa's ''Rājataraṅginī''. The ''Dhvanigāthāpañcikā'', dealing with Prakrit verses in Ānandavardhana's ''Dhvanyāloka'', is sometimes attributed to Ratnākara. The identity of this work's author with the author of ''Haravijaya'' is "practically impossible", as it appears to be an abridged version of the relevant sections of the ''Locana'' of Abhinavagupta, who lived after the author of the ''Haravijaya''.

Legacy

Ratnākara's work has been praised in many Sanskrit anthologies and works on rhetorics.: "Ratnākara and his work found mention and praise in Sanskrit anthologies and
works of alaṃkāraśāstra. ..See S. K. , Appendix II for a comprehensive list." The ''Haravijaya'' is also held in high esteem by modern Indian Sanskrit scholars. Rājaśekhara complimented Ratnākara with the following verse:

References

Notes

Bibliography

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Hindu poets
Epic poets
Sanskrit poets
9th-century Indian poets
Ancient Indian poets