[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955) › c19.s3.8 # A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s3.8 A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s3.8 - **Language:** English ### [c19.s3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s3.8) Jaina writers continued to flourish under the later Hoysalas, and the lives of the Tirthankaras formed the theme of many Purāṇas in the form of Campūs. Nemichandra, court-poet under Vira Ballāla, wrote the Lilāvati, a plain romance with Banavase as its scene of action, where a prince and princess dream of each other, meet after delays, and are wedded to live happily for ever. Nemichandra undertook to write the Nemināthapurāṇa, at the instance of Ballāla's minister, but died before completing it, and the work came to be known as Ardha Nemi, ‘unfinished (life of) Nemi’. Janna was not only a poet but a minister and a builder of temples; he wrote the Yaśodharacarite (1209), the story of a king who was about to sacrifice two boys to Māriamma, but on hearing their story gave up the idea, released them and abandoned the practice of sacrificing live victims. The Anantanāthapurāṇa (1230) on the life of the fourteenth Tirthankara was also his work; his style is noted for its dignity and grace. Bandhuvarma, a vaiśya, wrote the Harivamśābhyudaya and Jiva Sambodhana. The latter is a work on morals and renunciation in the form of an address to the soul. A new form of composition, sāṅgatya, meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument, was introduced by Śiśumāyaṇa (c. 1232) who wrote two works in this style—Añjanā-carita and Tripura-dahana; the latter is an allegorical poem on the destruction of the triple fortress of Birth, Decay and Death. Aṇḍayya's Madana Vijaya (Triumph of Cupid), composed about 1235, is remarkable for its total avoidance of assimilated Sanskrit words (tatsamas), limiting itself to indigenous (deśya) and naturalized Sanskrit (tadbhava) words; the experiment was not continued by later authors. The story of the poem is that Śiva imprisoned the moon, and Cupid, in his anger, assailed Śiva with his arrows and was cursed by him to be separated from his bride; he contrived, however, to free himself of the curse and rejoin his bride. The work is known by other names—Kāvana Gella (‘Victory of Kāma’), Kabbigara Kāva (‘Poets’ Defender’), and Sobagina Suggi (‘Harvest of Beauty’). A brother-in-law of Janna was Mallikārjuna (c. 1245), an ascetic who compiled an anthology Sūkti-sudhārṇava, which arranges extracts from many works under eighteen topical headings, of which only fifteen have yet been found. Keśirāja (c. 1260), the son of Mallikārjuna, was the author of Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa (‘Mirror of Word-jewels’), the standard grammar of Kannada. The rules are set forth in kanda metre and followed by a prose commentary by the author himself; like other works of its class it refers to the usage of writers of repute and is of high scientific and historical value to the student of the language. Kumudendu (c. 1275) wrote a Rāmāyaṇa according to Jaina tradition in shaṭpadi metre; the work was largely influenced by the Pampa Rāmāyaṇa already noticed. Other works of note produced under the Hoysalas were: Raṭṭa-Mālā or Raṭṭasūtra (c. 1300) of Raṭṭa-kavi, treating of ‘natural phenomena such as rain, earthquakes, lightning, planets and omens’; Puṇyāsrava (c. 1331) of Nāgarāja, a Campū containing fifty-two tales of Purāṇic heroes said to be translated from Sanskrit for the guidance of house-holders; and a work on toxicology, Khagēndra-maṇi-darpaṇa (c. 1360), by Mangarāja I. - [Previous: c19.s3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s3.7) - [Next: c19.s3.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s3.9) - [Up: c19.s3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s3) ## Linked texts (8) - [Anantanāthapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.kannada.anantanathapurana) — Janna, Kannada - [Līlāvaī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.prakrit.lilavai) — Kouhala, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit - [Yaśodharacarite](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.kannada.yasodharacarite) — Janna, Kannada - [Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki) — Vālmīki, Sanskrit - [Sūktisudhārṇava](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vernacular.kannada.kavya.suktisudharnava) — Mallikārjuna, Kannada - [Nemināthapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.kannada.neminathapurana) — Nemicandra (Kannada poet), Kannada - [Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vernacular.kannada.sastra.sabdamanidarpana) — Kēśirāja, Kannada - [Tripuradahana](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.kavya.slesa.yamaka.tripuradahana) — Vāsudeva, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s3.8) · Pramāṇa