Jagannatha Panditaraja
Jagannātha, also known as Jagannātha Paṇḍita or Jagannātha Paṇḍitarāja, was a famous poet and literary critic who lived in the 17th century.[1] As a poet, he is known for writing the Bhāminī-vilāsa ("The Sport of the Beautiful Lady (Bhāminī)"). As a literary theorist or rhetorician, he is renowned for his Rasagaṅgādhara, a work on poetic theory.[1] He was granted the title of Paṇḍitarāja by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan,[2] at whose court he received patronage.[3]:194
As a poet
Daniel Ingalls considered him one of the few geniuses of the modern period in Sanskrit literature.[4]
The Bhāminī-vilāsa
The Bhāminī-vilāsa is divided into four chapters, each called vilāsa, and containing about a hundred verses (in the manner of a śataka).[1] The number of verses per chapter varies between manuscripts:
- The first, anyokti-vilāsa, contains allegorical (anyokti) stanzas about life in general (nīti). It has 100 to 130 stanzas.[1]
- The second, śṛṅgāra-vilāsa, contains love poems. It has 101 to 184 stanzas.[1]
- The third, karuṇā-vilāsa, contains laments mourning the death of the beautiful lady (Bhāminī).[1]
- The fourth, śānta-vilāsa, contains verses on renunciation (vairagya). It has 31 to 46 stanzas.[1]
Example verses
- From the Rasa-gaṅgādhara
The Retort[1]
"Small-waisted girl why are you so thin?"
"Why do you concern yourself with other people's affairs?"
"Tell me nonetheless, and give me joy."
"Go away, traveller, your wife will tell you."
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
haksarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).— Translated by J. M. Masson
- From the Bhāminī-vilāsa
A Word of Warning[1]
My soul, I tell you, watch out. Don't take up with that cowherd.
Whose skin is the hue of fresh rain clouds, the one who pastures
His herd in Vrindavana. He's shrewd. He'll charm you first with his smile,
Then his looks. Your senses will fail, and then oblivion.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
haksarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Devotional poems
He composed five devotional poems, each of whose names contains the word laharī ("a large wave"):[2]
- Amṛta-laharī, in praise of the river Yamunā, 10 stanzas long,[2]
- Sudhā-laharī, in praise of Sūrya the sun god, 30 stanzas long,[2]
- Gaṅgā-laharī', addressed to the river Gaṅgā, 53 stanzas long,[2]
- Karuṇā-laharī, in praise of Kṛṣṇa (Krishna), 60 stanzas long,[2] and
- Lakṣmī-laharī, in praise of the goddess Lakshmi, 40 stanzas long.[2]
As a scholar
He was a junior contemporary of Appayya Dīkṣita[5]:348 of whom he wrote disparagingly.[5]:34 He wrote the Kaustubha-khaṇḍana, criticizing Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita's Śabda-kaustubha,[5]:130 and Prauḍha-manoramā-khaṇḍana (also called manoramā-kuca-mardana) criticizing the explanations of his Prauḍha-manoramā.[5]:279 Other minor works attributed to him include the Sāra-pradīpikā, a commentary on the Sārasvata Prakriyā or Sārasvata vyākaraṇa, an ancient grammatical work attributed to Narendra.[5]:426
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lienhard 1984, p. 103
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lienhard 1984, p. 144
- ↑ A. N. D. Haksar (2002), A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry In English Translation, New Delhi: Indian Council for Cultural Relations
- ↑ Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Sr. (1965), An Anthology of Sanskrit Court Poetry: Vidyākara's Subhāṣita-ratna-koṣa, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, p. 5 ("On the other hand, modern Sanskrit shows a noticeable decay in this respect. The modern poetry, except in the hands of a few geniuses like Jagannatha, tends to be loose and inchoate.")
- 1 2 3 4 5 Kashinath Vasudev Abhyankar (1986), A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar (3 ed.), Baroda: Oriental Institute
- Lienhard, Siegfried (1984), Jan Gonda, ed., A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit–Pali–Prakrit, A History of Indian Literature 3, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz