Jain Journal 2000 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 40

196
JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXIV, No. 4 April 2000
During the Rāştrakūta period Kannada language and literature received greater impetus. The earliest extant Kannada work.. Kaņāța-Tikā, also known as Vaļņārādhane was authored by a great Jaina saint called Bhrājişņu. (circa 800 A.D.). It is a commentary on Śivakoti ācārya's Prakrit work Ārādhāna, a treatise on the varieties of death. Bhrājişņu's proficiency in Kannada, Prakrit and Sanskrit languages is remarkable. He quotes profusely from a number of Prakrit and Sanskrit texts. His work in Kannada prose stands unique in its narrative style. The Arādhanā-karnata-Tikā contains 19 short stories, each glorifying the virtues and special features of Jaina monkhood and nunhood. The work is a mixture of sage and prophet.
Pampa, Ponna and Ranna, considered as Jina-samaya-dīpakas' and 'ratnatrayas', took Kannada to a literary level not previously achieved. Of the trio, Ponna was a poet laureate in the court of KrsnaIII who conferred the title of 'kavi-cakravarti' on Ponna. Pampa (A.D. 941) had his laureateship in the court of Arikesari-II, king of Vemulavāda branch of Cālukyas and a feudatory of the Rāştrakūta. Pampa and Ranna started their carrier as soldiers and ended up as great epic writers of the age.
Pampa, the greatest of Kannada poets, has composed two epics in campū style, immortalising Kannada language. In Vikramärjuna Vijaya, he has freely rendered the story of Vyāsa Bhārata, in 14 cantos. Identifying Arikesari, his patron, with Arjuna of the Mahābhārata, and making him the hero of the epic is a special feature and an innovation of the poet. Similarly, Pampa has abridged the story of Rşabha in 16 cantos in his Adipurana, borrowing the theme from Jinasēna's work of the same title. His inimatable style is a happy blend of Sanskrit and Kannada. Pampa has been a model and a source of inspiration for many a poet. Pampa has translated the magic of Vyasa's Sanskrit into the magic of Kannada language. It is impossible to read even a page of the poem without being stirred in the depths of our consciousness. The verses are of freshing beauty and edifying.
Ponna, another celebrity of the epoch making age of Rāştrakūtas, has written Bhuvanaika-Rāmābhyudaya a laukika kāvya and Santipurana, an agamika kävya. Emperor Krsna and two brothers of a Jaina family of warriors, Mallapa and Punnamayya, were his patrons. Ponna was a direct disciple of Indranandi, a Jaina patrirach in Mānyakhēța.
Cāmundarāya, one of the greatest patrons of Jainism, took up the cause of his faith only towards the last decade of his life. Till then, he spent most of his time on the battle field, participating in a number of