Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c13.1

c13.1

Of the notices of authors in the inscriptions, some are of the first importance, especially for the history of Karṇāṭa or Kannaḍa literature. The earliest relate to Ganga kings, among whom Mādhava II is invariably mentioned as having written a treatise on the *dattaka-sūtra* or law of adoption (see Mr 73, DB 68, etc.). This work may be assigned to the third century. In what language it was composed does not appear, but probably in Kannaḍa. Then Durvvinīta, another Ganga king, who began to reign at the end of the fifth century, is said (Tm 23) to have had as his preceptor the divine who was the author of the *Śabdāvatāra*, that is, the celebrated Jaina grammarian Pūjyapāda; and he is also said (Mi 110) to have walked according to the example of his guru. Moreover, Durvvinīta, in most of the Ganga inscriptions (see Gd 47, etc.), is said to have written a commentary on fifteen *sargas* of the *Kirātārjunīya*, which is a Sanskrit poem by Bhāravi. This commentary was no doubt in Kannaḍa, as we know that the Jains were the first cultivators of that language for literary purposes, and Nṛipatunga, in his *Kavirājamārgga*, names Durvvinīta as one of the early distinguished Kannaḍa authors.