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Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c15.s3: Section IV. Kannada

Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c15.s3

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Section IV. Kannada

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In the Vijayanagar period, as in Sanskrit and Telugu so in Kannada, a large number of works were written dealing with different subjects. The authors were either Jain, Vīra Śaiva or Brahmanical in their religion and for their works they invariably drew their materials from their respective religious literature. Besides some works dealing with secular subjects were also written during the period.

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¹¹⁸ A *Hist. of Tel. Lit.*, p. 119.

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¹¹⁹ Brown, *Verses of Vemana*, intro., pp. i to iv.

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In the early Vijayanagar period one Gurudēva wrote a well known Sanskrit work called Vīra Śaivācāra Pradīpikā, as he himself says for one Siddhadēva. He was also the author of some stotras. Bhīma Kavi who was a poet in Telugu and Kannaḍa translated into Kannaḍa the Basava Purāṇa based largely on Palkuriki Sōmanātha’s Telugu work. Harihara II who was a good scholar was called a Karṇāṭaka Vidyāvilāsa (a cultivator of Karṇāṭaka learning).¹²⁰ The poet Madhura, who was also called Madhura Mādhava, lived during the period of Harihara II. He was a Jain and the author of the Dharmanātha Purāṇa which deals with the life of the fifteenth Tīrthaṅkara.¹²¹

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¹²⁰ E.C., VI, Kp. 34.

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¹²¹ Karnataka Kavi Carite, I, pp. 426-33.

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Fifteenth Century Poets :

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The reign of Dēva Rāya II was a period of great literary activity, and during that time there flourished a large number of Vīra Śaiva scholars. Mahāliṅgadēva wrote the Ekottara Ṣaṭsthala and Ṣaṭsthalaviveka. Lakṣmaṇa Daṇḍanātha wrote the Śiva Tattvacintāmaṇi, a highly philosophical work, which the author calls the sūtra of the Vīra Śaiva Siddhānta Tantra, the fundamental sūtra of all the Vedas and Āgamas. Kumāra Vyāsa and Cāmarasa wrote the Bhārata in Kannaḍa, but according to a legend preserved in some later works the former on account of his jealousy of him prevailed upon the wife of the latter and managed to destroy the work of Cāmarasa with her aid. But Cāmarasa wrote the Prabhuliṅgalīla having been inspired by Śiva himself. It deals with the life of Allama also known as Prabhudēva, who was an intellectual giant and a tower of strength to the Vīra Śaiva movement. This work was admired by all scholars to such an extent that it is even said that king Dēva Rāya II honoured the poet and himself adopted the Vīra Śaiva faith. The Prabhuliṅgalīla is a very popular Vīra Śaiva work and has been translated both into Tamil and Telugu. The Kannaḍa version of the Bhārata of Kumāra Vyāsa is one of the very best works in Kannaḍa (and they are not many) from the point of view of its diction. Perhaps with the exception of Pampa he is the greatest Kannaḍa poet. During the same period also flourished a large number of other poets and scholars like Maggiya Maggidēva the author of some Śatakas which move the heart of the reader and Candrakavi who has written a work describing the audience hall of the God Virūpākṣa of the temple at Hampi.¹²²

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¹²² Karnataka Kavi Carite, II, pp. 43-86.

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The period covered by the reigns of Mallikārjuna and Virūpākṣa was also marked by the literary productions of a few scholars. Many of them were Vira Śaiva writers. Among them mention may be made of Bommarasa, Kallarasa and Toṇṭāda Siddhēśvara. Bommarasa was the author of the Soundara Purāṇa, dealing in Kannaḍa with the life of the Tamil Śaiva saint Sundara. Kallarasa was the author of Janavaśya, otherwise known as Mallikārjuna-vijaya. The poet says that the work amplified the teachings of Mallikārjuna to his queen as to the way by which women could subdue men (in love affairs). The work abounds in references to Vātsyāyana’s Kāmasūtra and other works dealing with the same subject. Toṇṭāda Siddhēśvara who appears to have lived about the time of Virūpākṣa III¹²³ was the author of the Ṣaṭsthalajñāna-sārāmṛta. He was a very popular Vīra Śaiva poet; the esteem in which he was held was so great that works like the Virakta Toṇṭādāryaṇa Siddhēśvara Purāṇa and Santiśa’s Toṇṭāda Siddhēśvara Purāṇa came to be written about him.¹²⁴

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¹²³ E.C., XII, Kn. 49.

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¹²⁴ Karnataka Kavi Carite, II, pp. 97-100.

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Sixteenth Century Poets:

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A scholar that flourished during that period was Timmaṇṇa Kavi, the son of Bhāskara Kavi. He wrote the latter half of the Bhārata in Kannaḍa at the instance of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya. He specifically mentions in the colophons of the work that he wrote it “to render permanent the great fame of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya, the son of Narasa.”¹²⁵

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¹²⁵ Ibid., II, p. 189.

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In the days of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya there flourished Kannaḍa poets of renown. One Śantikīrti who lived in the early sixteenth century was the author of the Jain work Śantināthacarita written in the Saṅgatya metre. Oḍuva Giriya and Bombeya Lakka, two Vīra Śaiva authors of the period, have written the story of Hariścandra. Vīrabhadrarāja, another scholar of the period, was the author of the Vīrabhadra Vijaya dealing with the sacrifice of Dakṣa. One Mallaṇārya of Gubbi composed the Bhāvacintāratna, a work that expounds the greatness of Pañcākṣarī, and the Vīraśaivāmṛta Purāṇa, a voluminous work containing more than 7,000 stanzas written in the Ṣaṭpadi metre. Kumāra Vālmīki has given a Kannaḍa version of the Rāmāyaṇa on the lines of Kumāra Vyāsa's Mahābhārata. Books on medicine were produced in the period. Of them mention may be made of the Vaidyāmṛta of Śrīdharadēva. The Sūpaśāstra, a work on cookery, is an interesting work of the period.

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Among the poets who flourished in the latter half of the sixteenth and the early seventeenth centuries mention may be made of one Virūpākṣa Paṇḍita who wrote the Canna Basava Purāṇa about 1584. The style of the work is simple. This Purāṇa is as important on the Vira Śaiva theology as Sivajñānabodham is on Śaivasiddhānta theology. Among the Jain poets of the period mention must be made of one Ratnākara Varṇi, the author of the Bharateśa Vaibhava of ten thousand stanzas dealing with the story of Bharata, son of Ādinātha, the first Jaina. It is considered to be one of the best works in Kannaḍa literature. Bhaṭṭākalaṅkadēva was a great grammarian and poet of the period. He was the author of the Karṇāṭakaśabdānuśāsana, a grammar on the Karṇāṭaka language. He was the court poet of both Śrī Raṅga I and Veṅkaṭa II. He was sound both in Sanskrit and Kannaḍa and his work is a standing monument of his depth of learning. Sadāśiva Yōgi and Murige Dēśikēndra were two others of the period who were respectively the authors of the Rāmanātha Vilāsa and the Rājēndra Vijaya, both written in the Campū style.

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Tamil

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After the conquest of the Tamil country by Kampaṇa and its incorporation in the Vijayanagar empire there was a very peaceful atmosphere in the country and literary activity found encouragement. During the period of the Vijayanagar rule in South India there flourished many scholars who enriched Tamil literature by their works. Many of the works are of a religious character which deal with the Śaiva philosophy, and sing the praise of particular places of worship. But our present knowledge of the poets is too slender to help us to attempt a detailed account of their lives and works. However a few names deserve to be noted here.

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In the early fifteenth century there lived in South India the well known Tamil poet Śirrambalāḍi just four generations after the period of Umāpati Śivācārya who lived about A.D. 1313. A younger contemporary of his was Paḷutaikaṭṭi Jñānaprakāśar.

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The Sāḷuva chief Tirumalayya dēva, the son of Sāḷuva Gōpa and brother of Sāḷuva Gōpa Tippa, was a great patron of Tamil literature. He has been praised by the poets like Kaḷamēghappu-lavar, and the twin poets Mudusūryar and Iḷañjūryar generally known as the Iraṭṭaiyar.¹²⁶

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¹²⁶ M.E.R., 1925, para 31; see also Purnalingam Pillai, Hist. of Tamil Lit., pp. 274-75.

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Sixteenth Century Poets :

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During the days of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya there flourished a good number of Tamil scholars in South India. Though it cannot be said if Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya was a scholar in Tamil it is certain that he patronised the Tamil scholars many of whom have made reference to him in their works.

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Tirumalainātha was a poet who spent a good part of his life at Cidambaram. He was the author of the Cidambara Purāṇam, a translation of the Sanskrit work of the same name, and the Madu-rai Cokkanātharuḷā. His son was Parañjōtiyār who wrote the Cidambarappaṭṭiyal, a work on poetics. Śevvaiccūḍuvar was another poet of the period who rendered into Tamil the Bhāgavata-Purāṇam. Tattvaprakāśa Svāmigaḷ who lived at Tiruvārūr was a good scholar of the period. He was in some way connected with the management of the temple at the place; when the affairs of the temple were not getting on well, he reported the matter to Kṛṣṇa-dēva Rāya, who had the Śrī Bhaṭṭar of the temple removed from office and thereby restored order. He was the author of the Tat-tvaprakāśam which expounds the Śaiva philosophy. Vaḍamalai Aṇṇagaḷayyaṇ who was connected with the administration of the Tamil districts of the empire, and was well known for his devotion towards Viṣṇu and consequently bore the name of Haridāsar, was a good scholar of the time and was the author of the Iruśamaya Viḷakkam which praises the superiority of Vaiṣṇavism. Jñāna-prakāśa Dēśikar who lived at Kāñcī was another notable scholar of the period. He was the author of a mañjarippā in praise of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya as also of the Kacci Kalambakam, an important work describing the greatness of Kāñcī. Another contemporary of Kṛṣṇadēva was one Maṇḍala Puradar who was a Jain and a pupil of Guṇabhadra the head of the maṭha at Tirunaṛuṅkoṇḍai. He was the author of a Lexicon called Nikaṇḍu Cūḍāmaṇi. He also wrote the *Tiruppukaḷ Purāṇam* dealing with the lives of the Tīrthaṅkaras. Among the scholars patronised by Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya was a Brahman Kumārasarasvati who had a good knowledge of Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannaḍa besides Tamil. In his Tamil work dealing with the activities of his patron he largely uses Kanarese and Telugu words. Vaḍamalayar, a Vidvān Paṇḍit of Ārruvaṉpāḍi, was the recipient of a lands from Viśvēśvara Śivācārya of the Bikṣāmaṭha.¹²⁷ It has been suggested that he was the author of the *Maccapurāṇam* and the *Nīḍūrttalapurāṇam*.¹²⁸ But it appears that the author of the two works was different from the Vijayanagar scholar since the *Maccapurāṇam* was written in K.A. 882 (A.D. 1707), more than one hundred and fifty years after the period of our scholar. Vīrakavirāśar was another poet who lived in the period and was the author of the *Hariccandra-purāṇam*. Varadaṉ, generally known as Aruḷāḷadāsar, translated the *Purāṇa Bhāgavatam* into Tamil which deals with the ten incarnations of Viṣṇu and the sports of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Perumāḷ Kavirāyar was another notable poet of the period who lived at Tirukurugai. He wrote the *Kurukāmāṉmiyam* and the *Māraṉkilavimaṉimālai*, two works which extol the greatness of the God at Āḷvār Tirunagiri, *Māraṉagapporuḷ*, *Tiruppatikōvai*, *Māraṉalaṅkāram* and *Māraṉpāppāviṉam* besides a few others. Contemporaneous with them was Kavirāśapaṇḍitar, a Brahman scholar who translated the *Saundaryalaharī* into Tamil. He was also the author of two Tamil works, *Varākimālai* and *Ānandamālai*.

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¹²⁷ Abhidhānacintāmani, p. 480; 365 of 1912.

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¹²⁸ V. R., I.M.P., I, No. 166.

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Maraijñānasambandar of Cidambaram was a well known scholar who lived in the days of Acyuta Rāya and Sadāśiva. He was the author of a large number of works on Śaiva philosophy among which mention may be made of the *Patipaśupāśappanuval*, *Saṅkarpa-nirākaraṇam*, *Paramōpadēśam*, *Mundinilai*, *Śaivasamayaneri*, *Paramatatimirabānu*, and *Sakalāgamasāram*. He also wrote the *Kamalālayapurāṇam*, *Aruṇagiripurāṇam*, and the *Śivadharumōttaram*. Śivagrayōgigaḷ who lived at Sūryanārkōyil was a Brahman scholar of the period and was the author of the *Śaiva Sannyāsa paddati*, *Śaiva paribhāṣai*, *Śiva Jñāna Siddhiyār urai*, *Śiva neri pirakāśam* besides many others of value. Kamalai Jñānaprakāśa Paṇḍitar was a scholar who lived at Tiruvārūr. He was appointed the superintendent of the temples at Sikkil, Vaḍakuḍi, Vōḍāccēri and a few other places under the orders of Kṛṣṇamarā- śayyaṇ, son of Aḷiya Rāmarāśayyaṇ in A.D. 1561.¹²⁹ He was the author of a large number of works among which were Anuṭṭānu Agaval, Śivapūśai Agaval, Śivānanda Bōdam, Jñānappaḷḷu, Attuvakkaṭṭalai, Aṇṇāmalaikōvai, Āyirappaḍal, Tirumaḷuvāḍipurāṇam. He also wrote the Putpavidhi, a work that describes the flowers that could be used for worship, and the Pūmālai, a work that deals with the garlands that could be used for adorning God. Gurujñānasambandar was another notable celebrity of the period who was the author of some important works among which were Śivabhōgasāram, Śokkaṇātha Veṇbā, Muktiniccayam and the Paramānanda Viḷakkam. Contemporaneous with him was a Jñānaprakāśar of Tiruvorriyūr who was the author of works like Tiruvorriyūrpurāṇam, Saṅkarpanirākaraṇa urai and Śivajñānasiddiyār Parapakka urai. Nirambavaḷagiya Dēśikar was another scholar of the time and was good both in Sanskrit and Tamil. He was the author of the Sētupurāṇam, Tirupparaṅgiripurāṇam, Śivajñānasiddiyār urai and the Tiruvaruṭpayaṉ urai. Anadhāri was a poet patronised by Tiruviruṇdāṇ said to have been a minister of Virappa Nāyaka, son of Kṛṣṇappa Nāyaka of Madura. He was the author of a translation of the Sundarapāṇḍyam a work in Sanskrit.

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¹²⁹ 104 of 1911.

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Ativīra Rāma Pāṇḍya who was a subordinate ruler under Vijayanagar was himself a good scholar both in Sanskrit and Tamil. Among his works mention may be made of Naiḍadam, Kāsīkaṇḍam, Kūrmapurāṇam, Liṅgapurāṇam and the Verrivērkai. A contemporary of his was Parañjōtiyār, the author of the Tiruviḷaiyāḍar purāṇam. Ellappa Nāyaṉār was another important scholar of the period who was the author of the Aruṇaiantāṭi, Tiruvārūr kōvai, Aruṇācalapurāṇam, Tiruviriñjaipurāṇam and the Saundaryalahari urai.

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Seventeenth Century Poets :

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Towards the close of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century flourished Rēvaṇasiddhar, a poet from Cidambaram. He was the author of Akarāthi Nikaṇḍu, an important lexicon based on previous works, Tiruppaṭṭīśvarapurāṇam, Tiruvaḷañjulipurāṇam, and Tirumeṟṟaḷipurāṇam. Apattaraṇar was another poet of the period and he was the author of the Bhūkōla Śāstram, a work in Geography.¹³⁰

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¹³⁰ For the above account of the Tamil poets The Sixteenth Century Tamil Poets by S. Somasundara Dēśikar has been largely used.

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During the time of Veṅkaṭa there lived a scholar Ānanda Namaśśivāya Paṇḍāram by name, who was the disciple of one Cidambara Guru Namaśśivāyamūrti. The latter was the author of *Paramarahasyamālai*, *Cidambaraveṇbā*, *Aṇṇāmalaiveṇbā*, etc. He was the siddha who wrote the *Aruṇagiriyandāṇḍi*.¹³¹

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¹³¹ See 61 of 1887; *Abhidhānacintāmaṇi* p. 302; *North Arcot District Manual*, Vol. II, p. 288; V. R., *I.M.P.*. N.A. No. 614.

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Tāyumānavar, the great Tamil mystic poet and philosopher, appears to have lived during the time of Tirumala Nāyaka of Madura. He was a Śaivasiddhāntin and wrote a few works propounding the philosophy of his school. "As a poet he is unrivalled for sweetness blended with simplicity." According to an epigraph he died in A.D. 1662.¹³²

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¹³² 7 of 1918. See Purnalingam Pillai, *Hist. of Tamil Lit.*, pp. 305-07.

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Thus the Vijayanagar period was an age of great literary activity. Especially the reigns of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya and Veṅkaṭapati Rāya constituted the golden age of Telugu and Sanskrit literature. Many of the feudatory Nāyaks were also great scholars and patrons of scholars, not to speak of the emperors at the imperial headquarters. Vijayanagar under Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya and Veṅkaṭa can very well be compared with Athens under Pericles. Vijayanagar has been sacked and ruined, but its power through its writers to delight the Hindus is still left. Truly was the period one of great literary movement and the contribution of Vijayanagar to literature is considerable.

Cites (21)