A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s3.3

c19.s3.3

Ranna, who, with Pampa and Ponna, completes ‘the Three Gems’ who usher in Kannada literature in full panoply, adorned the court of the Chālukya king Taila II and his successor. Born in 949 of a family of bangle-sellers in Muduvoḷal, Ranna rose to the rank of Kavicakravarti (poet-laureate) in the Chālukya court and enjoyed the honours of the golden rod, *chauri*, elephant and umbrella. His *Ajitapurāṇa* (993) is a *Campū* in twelve *āśvāsas* on the life of the second Tirthankara. The poem was written at the request of Attimabbe, the pious wife of general Nāgavarma, who survived her husband for some years and promoted the cause of Jainism in many ways. The *Sāhasabhīmavijaya* or *Gadāyuddha* (982) is also a *Campū* of ten *āśvāsas* which reviews the story of the *Mahābhārata* with particular reference to the last fight with clubs (*gadā*) between Bhīma and Duryodhana, as well as the wars and achievements of Irivabeḍanga Satyāśraya on whom the poet confers the title Sāhasa-bhīma (‘daring Bhīma’). Two other works of Ranna—Paraśurāma-carita and Cakreśvara-carita are no longer extant; and a lexicon Ranna Kanda in which the verses generally end with kaviratna may well be his production also.