Hoysala literature

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Hoysala literature during the era of Hoysala Empire (1000-1343) (Kannada: ಹೊಯ್ಸಳ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ) was dominated by the ascent of famous Kannada and Sanskrit poets. Sanskrit literature was mostly devotional. Many works by Madhvacharya and Ramanujacharya were rebuttals of Shankaracharya's Advaita philosophy as discourses between scholars of differing philosophical views became popular with the growth of the alternate religious theories of Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita. During this golden age of Kannada literature, distinctive metres, sangatya metre for compositions, shatpadi and tripadi (seven and three line verses) tradition in literature, and ragale metre in poetry were established and many works in the traditional champu metre were written.

Contents 1 Kannada 2 Sanskrit 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] Kannada

Famous among Kannada poets were Rudrabhatta, the first Brahmin poet (Smartha Brahmin), who authored Jagannatha Vijaya and was patronised by Chandramouli, a minister in the court of Veera Balla II. The writing is about the life of Lord Krishna in champu style leading to the fight with Banasura and is based on the earlier writing Vishnupurana.^[1][2] Another poet Janna, a student of the famous Kannada grammarian Nagavarma II, was the author of Yashodharacharite (1209) and Ananthanathapurana (1230).^[3] He was patronised by Veera Ballala II. Nemichandra wrote the romance work Lilavati, Neminathapurana or Ardhanemi (Ardha means incomplete). He died before completing the book. Written with Banavasi as the background, Lilavathi narrates the love story of a prince and a princess who eventually marry after facing many obstacles.^[4] Aggala authored Chandraprabhapurana. They were both patronised by Veera Ballala II.^[5]

Naraharitirtha, (1281) a minister in the court of Kalinga who was inducted into the Madhvacharya order composed many early devotional hymns (devaranamas) in praise of Lord Vishnu.^[2] Harihara whose greatest contributions are Girijakalyana in champu style, Basavarajadevararagale in ragale style, Pampasataka a centum of verses in praise of lord Virupaksha of Hampi and Sivaganadaragalegalu was patronised by Narasimha I.^[6] His nephew Raghavanka of Hampi, a prolific writer established the shatpadi style in Kannada and authored Harishchandrakavya. His Siddaramapurana describes the life of Siddharama of Sonnalige, Somanathacharite which describes the life of Somayya of Puligere (present day Lakshmeswara in Gadag district), Hariharamahatva a eulogy of Harisvara of Hampi, Viresvaracharita and Sarabhacharitra.^[7]

Nagachandra (1105), was a builder and scholar. He built the Mallinatha Jinalaya in honor of the 19th Tirthankara in Bijapur, Karnataka and wrote Ramachandra Charitapuranam and Mallinathapurana. He was patronised by Veera Ballala I. The Ramachandra Charitrapuranam is a Jain version of the legend of lord Rama in champu style and contains sixteen sections. Considered a complimentary work of Bharatha by Adikavi Pampa, the work earned Nagachandra the honorific, Abhinava Pampa.^[8] Rajaditya of Puvinabage (1190) showed skill in reducing to easy verse his mathematical subjects in his (ganita) works. He was patronised by Vishnuvardhana and authored Vyavaharaganita, Kshetraganita and Lilavati.^[9][10] Kereya Padmarasa who was patronised by Narasimha I wrote Dikshabodhe in the ragale metre and would later become the hero of another work Padmarajapurana.^[5]

Grammarian Keshiraja (1260) authored Shabdamanidarpana ("Mirror or word jewels"), a standard grammar book in Kannada. The book is written in a metre called kanda with prose commentary by the author and is off high value to a student of the language.^[11] Andayya wrote Madana Vijaya in 1235 ("Triumph of cupid"). The poem narrates the story of the moon being imprisoned by Shiva. In his anger, Cupid (God Manmta) assailed Shiva with his arrows only to be cursed by Shiva that he be separated from his beloved. Cupid then contrived to rid himself of Shiva's curse. The work which is also known as Sobagina Suggi, Kavane Gella and Kabbigara-kava is unique in that it was written in pure Kannada without any usage of assimilated Sanskrit words (tatsamas), limiting the words to indigenous words (desya) and naturalised Sanskrit words (tadbhava). Later works however have not maintained this effort.^[12] Bhanduvarma wrote Harivamsabhyudaya and Jivasambhodana, a work on morals and renunciation written addressing the soul. Sisumayana introduced a new form of composition in 1232 called sangatya in Anjanacharita and Tripuradhahana, works intended to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument.^[13]

Mallikarjuna, an ascetic compiled an anthology called Suktisudharnava in 1245. Kumudendu authored a Jaina version of Ramayana in shatpadi metre in 1275, influenced by Pampa Ramayana . Ratta Kavi work was Rattasutra (or Rattamala) in 1300, a work on treatment of natural phenomenon like rain, earthquakes and lightening planets and omens.^[13] Towards the end of the Hoysala rule, Nagaraja wrote Punyasrava in 1331 in champu style, a work that narrates the stories of puranic heroes in 52 tales and said to be a translation from a Sanskrit writing.^[13] Palkuriki Somanatha from Godavari district authored both Kannada and Telugu works. In Kannada his works are Silasampadane, Sahasragananama and Pancharatna, besides many poems in ragale metre and Vachanas. He is known to have humbled many Vaishnava poets in debates and finally died in Kailash.^[14] A romance work from Devakavi was Kusumavali in 1200, and Somaraja a Virashaiva wrote Sringarasara and Udbhatakavya in 1222.^[15] A work on poetics called Sringararatnakara is attributed to Kavi Kama. Sumanobana was the court poet of King Vira Narasimha II. Other Jain writers were Parsva Pandita, author of Paravanathapurana and Gunavarma II wrote Pushpadanta purana.^[5] Polalvadandanatha who wrote Haricharitra was a minister and was patronised by Veera Ballala II and Vira Narasimha II.^[5] Chaundarasa was the author of Abhinava-dasakumara-charite, a metrical version of Dandi's Sanskrit work Nalacharite.^[15]

[edit] Sanskrit

The Hoysala period was an age of great Sanskrit works^[16][17] Madhwacharya, propounder of the Dvaita philosophy wrote Rigbhshya on Brahmasutras, Anuvyakhya, a commentary on Upanishads and Bhagavadgita, an epitome on Mahabharatha called Bharatatatparyanirnaya, a commentary on hymns of Rig Veda called Rigvedavyakhya and a number of polemical works rebutting the doctrines of other schools of Vedas.^[18][19] Ramanujacharya expounded his Vishishtadvaita from his Matha in Melkote^[20][21] Vidyatirtha wrote Rudraprshnabhashya. These works were later absorbed and assimilated by Sayanacharya, brother of Vidyaranya.^[22] Bharatasvamin who was patronised by King Ramanatha (of the Hoysala branch in Tamil region) wrote a commentary on Samaveda, Shadgurusishya wrote commentary on Aitareya Brahmana and Aranyaka, Katyayana wrote Sarvanukramani. A family of hereditary poets called the Vidyacharkravarti (whose names have not been preserved) wrote Gadyakarnamrita describing a war between Vira Narasimha II and the Pandyas, Rukminikalyana (poems), Alankarasarvasva and Kavyaprakasa. Kalyani Devi, a sister of Madhwacharya and Trivikarma wrote many commentaries on the Dvaita philosophy and Naryana Pandita composed Madhwavijaya, Manimanjari and a poem called Parijataharana.^[23]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Kamath, Suryanath U. [1980] (2001). A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 809-5179. OCLC 7796041. 
• Sastri, Nilakanta K.A. [1955] (2002). A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar. New Delhi: Indian Branch, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-560686-8. 
• Narasimhacharya, R [1988] (1988). History of Kannada Literature. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0303-6. 
• Arthikaje. Religion, Literature, Art and Architecture in Hoysala Empire. History of karnataka. OurKarnataka.Com. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.